rank the songs on the zombies' "odessey and oracle"

Great post, hd.
When I first discovered this album I became a bit obsessed with 'I Want Her She Wants Me', which has always been a personal favourite. It often gets neglected and rarely mentioned as a highlight, but for me it's still probably my favourite. I was relistening to this the other day too and started really getting into 'Butcher's Tale' as a great bit of Crimsonesque proto-prog.

hung up on a dream is such a unique and gorgeous song

yup, that's the top one for me.

This Will Be Our Year is too good. the whole album is great. fwiw i love "Beechwood Park" as a mood poem and song (killer middle eight).

I have hippie friends who despise this song because of "who's your daddy? Is he rich like me?" That weird bit of braggadocio makes me fonder of it somehow

always took this to be mocking of material wealth in favor of spiritual wealth. thus the line goes "Is he rich?" "Is he rich like me?" still bragging but it's a new consciousness rather money/possessions.

'Hung Up On A Dream' is the best track on the LP, followed by 'Brief Candles' ...

I just love those chord changes.

Love hardcore dilettante's write-up despite disagreeing with a lot of it! 'I Want Her...' is the only less-than-great song here and yeah both 'Brief Candles' and 'Beechwood Park' are near the top for me.

Thanks, folks! I don't know if I agree with everything I wrote, even. And re-reading it, I sound way harsher on the bottom half of songs than I really feel. My inner critic goes ape when unleashed. In truth, I love this record front to back and never skip a song. I think today I'd switch "brief candles" and "I want her".

Care of Cell 44
Hung up on a Dream
I Want Her She Wants Me
Brief Candles
Changes
This Will Be Our Year
A Rose for Emily
Time of the Season
Friends of Mine
Maybe After He's Gone
Beechwood Park
Butcher's Tale

'Maybe After He's Gone' rules so much. This album should have been huge - in terms of songwriting it absolutely annihilates Sgt. Pepper's...

http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/the-zombies-rip.html

Did you guys see this "follow-up album" creation?

Worth a look...

Disappointed that so many people here are putting Butcher's Tale as their least favourite. That song rules.

Disappointed that so many people here are putting Butcher's Tale as their least favourite. That song rules.

― josh az (2011nostalgia)

I can help with that. It's always been one of my favourites.

Care of Cell 44
Butcher's Tale
Friends of Mine
A Rose for Emily
Beechwood Park
Maybe After He's Gone
This Will Be Our Year
Time of the Season
Brief Candles
Hung up on a Dream
I Want Her She Wants Me
Changes

ugh this is like ranking childrenbeloved cats

hung up on a dream
care of cell 44
friends of mine
brief candles
this will be our year
beechwood park
a rose for emily
time of the season
i want her she wants me
butcher's tale
maybe after he's gone
changes

I like all of the songs individually - but find the album as a whole too much to take.

...Though will be seeing them play the album in London later this month.

the version I originally heard had Imagine The Swan on the end, and that version makes sense to me

Had a real blast seeing the Zombies playing this album this evening at the Palladium in London. I find it impossible to rank the songs, but Hung Up on a Dream was the clear highlight for me.

Really nice vibe as a gig; a very faithful recreation of the O&O album, lots of emotional late middle-aged men bonding and agreeing how wonderful it was, and late middle-aged couples holding each other and gently dancing together.

how have I only just discovered this? esp with tt claiming it might be her favourite album. a VERY GOOD SHOUT tbah

Brief Candles
Hung Up On A Dream
A Rose For Emily
Care Of Cell 44
Butcher's Tale
This Will Be Our Year
Friends Of Mine
Time Of The Season
Changes
Beechwood Park
Maybe After He's Gone
I Want Her She Wants Me

12 is merely good. 9-11 are really good. 5-8 are amazing. 3-4 are extraordinary. 1 and 2 are pure psychedelia

for some reason this album finally clicked with me last week, and I now have no idea how I ever didn't love it

"Time of the Season" not v representative of the album, so that being the standout hit doesn't do it any favors

Already boggling at my low ranking of Maybe After He's Gone just there. It's that kind of album

what instrument plays that high tone in the chorus of brief candles? is it mellotron?

sounds like a hammond to me

it doesn't really sound like mellotron to me except that it doesn't have any attack like other mellotron sounds
xpost

According to the ever useful Planet Mellotron site, it is a mellotron - strings. In fact, according to Rod Argent it's a mellotron:

... we wanted to do it by reproducing every single note that was on the original album. Things like 'Hung Up on a Dream,' 'Brief Candles,' 'Changes'—these all require extra harmonies which we overdubbed at the time, and extra keyboard parts which I did on the mellotron.

Oh hold on though, on listening to the song, the high pitched tone, that could be a guitar!

It's hard to tell. I'm listening to the Marquis Enterprises Ltd. version on Spotify and it says "Mono Version," but that ain't mono.

Played as a lead guitar part here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at1rYffo8dw

thanks. it sounds more keyboardy than guitary to me on the original recording but it's also buried in the mix a little so who knows