Balaklava is one of the most extraordinary, sublime and sophisticated protest albums of 1968. To many, this album (the group's second for ESP-Disk') represents Tom Rapp's surrealist song-craft in perfection. Not a foot-stamping anti-Vietnam war album, but a complex and psychedelic masterwork that touches on Tennyson & Tolkien in a sublime metaphorical fashion. Tom Rapp is among the most erudite, intellectual songwriters of the American '60s era. The two records the Pearls cut for ESP-Disk' are extraordinary releases in the avant-garde label's catalog, yet they make perfect sense in the uniqueness of their production. There is little else like Balaklava - an indispensable album to any serious '60s rock collection. Also available on LP (GET 1010).
