The Ventures In Space – THE VENTURES****

Out Of Limits/He Never Came Back/Moon Child/Fear/Exploration In Terror/War Of The Satellites/The Bat/ Penetration/Love Goddess Of Venus/Solar Race/The Fourth Dimension/Twilight Zone

US instrumental group The Ventures most highly regarded LP was In Space. All the unique, unworldly sounds featured on the album were made with musical instruments, rather than with electronic devices. (US:27)

"This was not only their best, but also their most experimental album, at times totally demented yet simultaneously innocent, pre-LSD psychedelia." "The mysterious, all-night feel of an album that exudes sheer confidence, combined with a pre-psychedelic embrace of experimentation, bizarre for its time."

"Ventures In Space includes covers of tracks like Out Of Limits and the Twilight Zone theme, alongside space age themed originals. So far so predictable, but the imagination, and advanced guitar effects involved, meant that the band ended up with probably the first ever recorded example of psychedelia - years before anyone else had done much other than R & B."

"An incredible album to listen to - one of the bridging points between the early rock 'n' roll, and the music that we've now come to call rock."

"The Ventures In Space will always be ahead of the times, this music is so classically futuristic that they could be listening to this in the third millennium and it'd still be making sense."

"The twelve tracks on Ventures In Space are not just songs, they are so visual, so artistic, so compelling at times it's hard to believe that this LP was made in 1963. It is just so ahead of its time, the production value so crisp, clear and creative. When you listen to the album now, its difficult to think of anything this creative to have been produced in a pre-Beatles world. That is a testament to The Ventures and they can be proud to know that they made a masterpiece."

"The bizarre and wonderful Ventures In Space - this strange fusion of surf music and weird sci-fi inspired noise is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest rock albums ever."