LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Who or what on God's earth is fred? In Swedish, fred means "peace", a good idea for any decade. In music, fred is an upstart band of pseudo-bumpkins (aka hippies) from the hills of central PA (really just kids from mid-Atlantic suburbia lost in the purple haze) who took Greenwich Village by storm in 1974.Their 1st CD (creatively named "fred") contains cryptic lyrics and heavenly vocals floating over fuzzed-out guitar, crafty keys, drums and bass like a freight train, and a serene electric violin freshly liberated from the bonds of classical training. By CD #2 ("Notes On A Picnic"), the music evolved toward the nether realms of instrumental fusion featuring intricate scored parts, tight ensemble playing, sophisticated multi-tracking, and lots of room for inspired rock improvisation.They say good things come in 3's. So it is with the 3rd CD in the fred trilogy on World in Sound: "live at the bitter end".Recorded over the summer of 1974 while fred was headlining at NYC's world famous nightspot The Bitter End, these are raw, in your face live performances that will lift you up and blow you away. It is high octane, aggressive electric instrumental music with a pulse pounding beat, wailing gutsy guitar, and wild violin pyrotechnics. "live at the bitter end" features all new original music, ranging from tender to tortured, demented to delirious, always energetic, edgy, enigmatic, and full of surprises. With strong melodic themes over innovative rhythms, six pieces of the puzzle are carefully arranged into a seemingly endless variety of combinations, and then each is set loose over elegant structures for solo flights in the twilight zone of improvisation.Influenced by Mahavishnu, Zappa, Jethro Tull, Yes, Spirit, King Crimson, Bartok, and Stravinsky, as well as inspired by musicians like Jean-Luc Ponty, Jerry Garcia, Bill Bruford, Herbie Hancock, John Bonham, Jerry Goodman, Robin Trower, Joe Zawinul, Chris Squire, and Stephane Grappelli, fred had by 1974 assimilated and fused a staggering array of disparate elements into their sound.So who or what on God's earth is fred? Moody art-rock? Mysterious, jam band psychedelia? Or some kind of twisted, progressive fusion? How about future music from the past for thrill-junkies everywhere? "live at the bitter end" is exquisitely packaged with stunning original graphics that are themselves music for your mind's eye.