Lost In Tyme Blog

(us cover)

Actually credited as 'Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come', anyone expecting to hear something along the lines of 'Fire' was probably disappointed by 1974's "Journey". This time around the Brown and company opted for a surprisingly aggressive set that mixed progressive moves such as the extended opener 'Time Captives' with extended instrumental segments. With the focus on synthesizers (courtesy of keyboardist Victor Peraino), various electronic production enhancement and an irritating Bentley Rhythm Ace drum machine, to my ears heavily orchestrated tracks such as 'Gypsy' and 'Superficial Roadblocks' just never seemed to get going. Luckily, when spotlighted, Brown's eccentric voice and mannerisms remained instantly recognizable. While rather far and few between, the album managed to cough up a couple of redeeming moments. 'Spirit of Joy' and 'Come Alive' boasted fairly conventional rock structures (the latter had some nice guitar from Andy Dalby), while Brown's blood curdling screams on 'Conception' were pretty cool - they certainly upset the family cat. Kind of a curiosity to me, but while the liner notes credit Dennis Taylor as producing the set, Taylor only handled two tracks. Turns out that Dave Edmunds (credited with 'remixing' the album) actually produced the remaining five tracks at his Rockfield Studios.

(this is the uk cover)

This somewhat hard review from Badcat Records, I think that doesn't acknowledge the fact that the combination of orchestra, drum machine, bluesy-spacey guitar and soulful vocals was never heard until the release of "The Journey". It surely has not much resemblance with "Fire", except Brown's vocals, but it is, nevertheless a very interesting (early) attempt into space-rock (reminding sometimes Hawkwind)

Track listing:
A1. Time Captives
A2. Triangles
A3. Gypsy
B1. Superficial Roadblocks
     a. Lost Time
     b. Superficial Roadblocks
     c. Corpora Supercelestia
B2. Conception (instrumental)
B3. Spirit of Joy
B4. Come Alive