Chinese White/No Sleep Blues/Painting Box/The Mad Hatter’s Song/Little Cloud/The Eyes Of Fate/Blues For The Muse/The Hedgehog’s Song/First Girl I Loved/You Know What You Could Be/My Name Is Death/Gently Tender/ Way Back In The 1960s
The Incredible String Band live up to their name with their astounding second album The 5000 Spirits. It mixes folk and psychedelia with exotic instrumentation to create a heady brew, enhanced by the contrasting musical styles of the two songwriters. (UK:25)
"Messrs. Williamson and Heron hit an astonishing artistic and creative peak with this, their second album. An essential recording for anyone with more than a passing interest in music which defines the spirit of the late 1960s, but far more than just a fashion statement. This is music which still sounds fresh and amazing, but which has its roots deep in Celtic (and other) traditions. Sometimes baffling, always fascinating, trippy, weird and completely wonderful. Contains the classics First Girl I Loved and Hedgehog Song, but every track is a wondrous treasure."
"One of those albums that are essential to hear at least once in your life. The Incredible String Band's The 5000 Spirits is their second studio album and it is also one of the definite classics of the 60s psychedelic music."
"Here we have the first album where Mike Heron and Robin Williamson begin to live up to the promise of their band's name. Without Heron and Williamson's song-writing, chemistry as performers, and the bizarre fusion of world music, more traditional blues and folk, progressive song structures and budding interest in world religions, The Incredible String Band might just sound like every other British 60s folk revival group. They never really collaborated in co-writing, yet there's a wide-eyed optimism and mystical euphoria that pervades both writers' contributions. Heron's songs for their whimsy and pop instincts, Williamson's for their focus on narration and more abstract, eerie imagery."
"The music on the album is acoustic psychedelic folk with some progressive elements. The instrumentation is varied throughout the album. There are lots of harmony vocals in the songs which adds an extra dimension. The atmosphere is mostly jolly but there are darker moments too which gives the album good variation."
"This album with it's strange musical alchemy, surreal lyrics, and gentle whimsy placed The String Band in the vanguard of the burgeoning psychedelic movement."
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