This disc actually contains two albums:
Black Power from 1994, and selections from
Happiness Finally Came to Them, from 1987.
Black Power is impossible to classify. Absurdist lyrics are laid over saxes, guitars, and military snares. The vocals sound a little like a mocking
Neil Young. It's a little bit jazz, a little bit prog rock. The obvious comparison is to
Frank Zappa. But these guys are not to be categorized. Just one song, "The Ballad of Jim Jones," starts off sounding like
Dylan backed by
the Band, turns into hard rock, and was last seen galloping over a hill. And then there's the klezmer number. The selections from
Happiness Finally Came to Them are even weirder, and have even more primitive production values. Its version of
the Beatles' "Name" is, predictably, a travesty. Unless you have a twisted sense of humor, you should probably leave this CD alone. ~ Kurt Keefner