Angel Pavement - Maybe Tomorrow (1969) (2005)

Fans of the Iveys or Badfinger, or the Bee Gees circa Horizontal and Idea, will probably love this 23-song CD, derived from the highlights of the extended efforts by Angel Pavement to deliver a complete LP. They never did get that out, and three singles scarcely ever saw the light of day, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't worth hearing. Their elegant mix of pop/rock (including an ornate cover of the Iveys' "Maybe Tomorrow") and late psychedelic whimsy, highlighted by exquisite harmonies (heavily influenced by the Hollies, the Zombies, and the Beatles) and refined yet powerful playing, is difficult to resist -- it was probably a little late, coming at the end of the decade, but divorced from those commercial concerns, numbers like "Time Is Upon Us" and "Green Mello Hill" -- which sounds like "Penny Lane" as it might have been done by the Kinks circa Village Green Preservation Society -- make a compelling variant on sunshine pop crossed with British psychedelia. And the truly astonishing thing about the music represented here, apart from its quality and the fact that it was never heard until now, is that most of it is original material -- how these guys missed at least a serious grab at success by getting this stuff released is anyone's guess, but here it is, 35 years late and still amazingly fresh and enjoyable, and well-nigh essential listening for anyone who loved those late-'60s British pop/rock sounds. by Bruce Eder