Ceremony - SPOOKY TOOTH**

Have Mercy/Jubilation/Confession/Prayer/Offering/Hosanna

For their Ceremony album rock group Spooky Tooth teamed up with French avant-garde electronic music composer Pierre Henry, who added overdubbing to the tracks. This innovation was not to the taste of the majority of fans. (US:92)

“This was definitely one of the boldest and daring experiments in rock music, not only at the time, but since, when the band decided to cooperate with Pierre Henry, whose ‘musique concrete’ was at the forefront of contemporary classical music's quest for new areas of development.”

“The band's main composer, vocalist and keyboardist Gary Wright wrote six new compositions, which together formed a sort of religious rock mass. Considering the group was in top form, the music they recorded is absolutely stunning and the level of musicianship is astounding. After the recording was completed, the tape was sent to France, where Pierre Henry overdubbed the group's music with his electronic contributions.”

“Ceremony may not have been the best tactical move for this band, but it is a very good album. Most of the songs stand up as hard rock, though the music on here is far darker than on their first two, blues-based albums. The electronics can be distracting, but only because the songs hold up by themselves.”

“It is strange because on the surface, it sounds like a typical heavy rock album from the era. But things get much more interesting with the blips and bleeps that Pierre Henry provides, and the strangely Christian content of the lyrics. While many of the songs start off slow, they end strongly and create quite an uncomfortable atmospheric tension.”

“I've never been so annoyed with a good album. If you listen to the music alone, this is by far Spooky Tooth's best album. But there are two huge factors that conspire to make this album unlistenable. First there are the horrible Christian lyrics, the second being the stupid sound effects.”