A record that virtually defies categorization,
Pearls Before Swine
's 1968 epic
Balaklava
is the near-brilliant follow-up to
One Nation Underground
. Intended as a defiant condemnation of the Vietnam War, it doesn't offer anthemic, fist-pounding protest songs. Instead,
Rapp
vented his anger through surrealist poetry, irony, and historical reference: Balaklava was the 1854 Crimean War battle that inspired
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
to write his epic
The Charge of the Light Brigade
; in reality, the "Charge" was a senseless military action that killed scores of British soldiers.
begins with
"Trumpeter Landfrey,"
an 1880's recording of the actual voice and bugle charge of the man who sounded the charge at Balaklava. It makes the transition into
"Translucent Carriages,"
a mix of acoustic guitars, a basic vocal, and ghostly narration ("Jesus raised the dead...but who will raise the living?"), all the more stunning.
"Images of April"
continues the mystical feel, combining flutes, cricket chirps, and frog croaks for a nether-worldly effect.
virtually cries
"I Saw the World,"
backed by a powerful string arrangement that makes the song even more impassioned. Like
,
is somewhat unfocused:
"There Was a Man"
is a little too
Dylan
-esque, and
Leonard Cohen
's
"Suzanne"
detracts from
's compositions. Unfortunately, the record closes with
"Ring Thing,"
a morbid piece that refers to
Tolkien
's famous
Lord of the Rings
trilogy. Still, this is superb psychedelic music, successfully merging exotic instruments like marimba, clavinet, French horn, and swinehorn with
's unique lisping vocals. But
isn't just acid-trip background music. It's probably the best example of what
calls "constructive melancholy" (also the name of a recent CD collection of
Pearls
songs), a combination of the real with the surreal, and it's indispensable to any serious '60s rock collection. ~ Peter Kurtz