Without Reservations – SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND***

60 Minutes Of Your Love-A Lot Of Love (Medley)/Love/Get Of My Bach/There’s A Little Picture Playhouse/Day Time Night Time/I See The Light/What Is Soul/Teacher Teacher/Amen/Who Cares/Reservations

Without Reservations was the sole album release from the British psychedelic pop group Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. Unfortunately it omits their big UK hit Kites. They would later transmute into the progressive rock group Gentle Giant.

“This band is best known for their hit Kites and for the fact that they would come to be known as Gentle Giant some years later. Kites was one of the first psychedelic songs I ever fell in love with. It's such a fantastic song and it's a great shame that it's not included on this album. Overall this disc isn't anything very special but it's quite entertaining in some parts. None of these songs is a masterpiece or a forgotten classic but on the other hand there's not much total garbage in here either, most of the songs being OK or average.”

“A rather unimpressive offering, they sound more like a lounge act than a decent pop one. Of course, after a major change in direction, and a name change, to Gentle Giant, they would go on to much better things.”

“The band had one massive hit with Kites which included the most psychedelic arrangements they could imagine, featuring a female actress spouting random Chinese words during the song.”

“The music is typical of the late 60s club scene in Britain after the first flush of flower power. Check out their version of Sam Cooke's classic Amen and rock to Reservations. You will soon realise that the track Kites is really atypical.”

“If you've ever wondered what Gentle Giant were up to before Gentle Giant, this LP reveals all. Derek Shulman’s voice is here in all its glory, the instruments are all here, violin, trumpet, saxophone, keys, guitars, drums, percussion, even vibes and marimba as well as mellotron, and the orchestrations and arrangements are tasty and well thought out. No, you're not going to hear any songs that are much like Gentle Giant, but what is here is very good. Just as you'd expect from Gentle Giant, they always seem to find a way to do things a little differently than their peers.”