TITAN

You miss those organ-drenched, fuzzed out, space rock jams of the '70s, don't you? Tee Pee knows that, which is why TITAN's "A Raining Sun of Light and Love, for You and You and You…" will be released on February 6. As it turns out, "stoner rock" is not an ill-fitting descriptor for this band (come on, it's Tee Pee),especially when one considers the cosmic journeys that await the herb-enhanced listener when these four long songs are set into motion. But KYUSS this is not. The album recalls the extended jam glory days of DEEP PURPLE and the mind-altering moments of URIAH HEEP. The sounds created — right down to the fuzzy guitar tone, earthy bass, and ample organ – were heard on many a hazy night on 8-track tapes across the nation.

TITAN succeeds where some jam bands fail. That is, the tunes truly work as an adventurous trip, and often an appealing one at that. This is fun stuff and boy does it rock! Aside from vocals (really more like chants) on the introductory section of album-opener "Annals of The Former World", this is an instrumental album. The twists and turns will keep you listening and the rock factor rarely diminishes. Sometimes it's a laid back, starry-eyed section to break up the free jams of a song like "Hashishin Ohel", and other times a single note is left to wander through the darkness while you pack another bowl during "Obelisk Orbit Overdrive".

But mostly, this is the sound of a band with musicians that smoothly play off one another in true free-jazz fashion. These are the type of songs in which things are seemingly going in several directions at once, yet the otherworldly glue that holds it all together never comes undone. Oh sure, you might need to be in the mood for this type of thing, but once you are, fasten your seatbelt, lean back, close your eyes, and prepare for launch.