Art/ Supernatural Fairy Tales Dec 20 '09    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line A very good psychedelic and progressive hard rock album, but not worth paying more than 30 bucks for.      Art was vocalist/keyboardist Mike Harrison, guitarist Luther Grosvenor, bassist Greg Ridley and drummer Mike Kellie before singer/keyboardist Gary Wright joined them and they became Spooky Tooth. Art released just this one album, Supernatural Fairy Tales back in 1967. I had never even heard of this album until I read the liner notes for the most recent two CD version of the first Black Sabbath record. According to the liner notes, Sabbath really liked this album and considered it an influence on them for both the music and the lyrics, and they even used to play one of the songs from it called Room With A View. It is considered somewhat of a collector's item and a very pricey one at that...you should see what they are asking for it on Amazon! I got my CD copy from e-bay for about 20 to 25 bucks, the lowest price I have ever seen for it!   I was introduced to Spooky Tooth through the two LP set Gary Wright and Spooky Tooth/That Was Only Yesterday (that album contains "I Know", which is my favorite Gary Wright song). I own most of Spooky Tooth's albums and while I do like some of their songs, I don't consider myself a big fan and rarely ever listen to their albums (if I do, it's their second album, Spooky Two, that I listen to). In my two months of having Supernatural Fairy Tales, I have listened to it more than I have all of Spooky Tooth's albums combined. When I first heard it, I have to admit I wasn't exactly overwhelmed by it and didn't see what the big deal was. After a few more listens, more and more of it began to catch on and I now really like the album quite a bit. I'm finding more and more things I like about it every time I listen to it. The songs are... I Think I'm Going Weird 3:19 What's that Sound (For What It's Worth) (Stills) 2:47 African Thing 4:04 Room With a View 3:38  Flying Anchors 2:40  Supernatural Fairy Tale 3:34 Love Is Real  3:19  Come on Up (Cavaliere) Brothers, Dads and Mothers 3:27  Talkin' to Myself 1:39  Alive Not Dead 2:12  Rome Take Away Three 3:00 (All songs written by Grosvenor, Harrison, Ridley, Kellie except where indicated.) Though this doesn't sound like Black Sabbath (it's heavy at times, especially for 1967, but not THAT heavy), I can see why the members of Black Sabbath liked it and think that people (such as myself) that like that band will also enjoy this album. You can tell that Ozzy was a fan of the title track, as he would later borrow one of the lines ("...telling people what they desire..") for the song Black Sabbath. I prefer the heavier and more progressive songs on here, like I Think I'm Going Weird (which has a spooky and strange vibe to it), Room With A View, the slow and nearly hypnotic Flying Anchors, the afore-mentioned title track (the most progressive piece and my favorite song here) , the Rascal's cover Come On Up and Rome Take Away Three. All of these have tough, catchy guitar riffs and occasionally some decent piano and organ lines as well, some strong singing by Mike Harrison and occasionally some good guitar solos, especially for Come On Up, the one track where Luther Grosvenor really cuts loose. The songs are relatively short and only song outstays it's welcome. That song also happens to the longest, African Thing, whose African-bongo drum jam goes on too long and is pretty dull for a drum jam, as the rhythm doesn't change at all and neither do the dynamics. The guitar riff and the lyrics for the first half of the song are interesting, though and the inclusion of a bongo drum jam just adds to overall quirky personality of the album. One song that doesn't really work for me is Love Is Real. It's a slow psychedelic pop song that definitely sounds like something from 1967. The backing vocals are also another weak point of the album, making Art almost sound like a soul group at times. The production is not the greatest, with the bass nearly inaudible in the mix. And some of the songs do feel a little underdeveloped. The hard rock and progressive songs (which take up most of the album) are definitely to my liking, however and make Supernatural Fairy Tales feel a few years ahead of it's time. Overall, this is a very good album. I'm glad I bought it. I give it a rating of 3.75 stars.

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