Remastering The Zombies Mono Album Odyssey And Oracle Colin Blunstone Breaks It Down

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees and “British Invasion” pioneers, The Zombies, todayannounce the release of Odessey & Oracle Mono Remastered on September 26th. The album, thefirst of four definitive physical reissues from their catalog, includes the classic songs “Time OfThe Season,” “Care of Cell 44,” and “This Will Be Our Year” and is a regular entry in “BestAlbums of All Time” lists in publications like Rolling Stone, NME, and Mojo Magazine. Therelease, which coincides with The Zombies’ documentary, Hung Up On A Dream, marks the firsttime the band's original mono mix, remastered from studio tapes, has appeared on LP since therecord's British issue in 1968, presenting the album as they originally intended it to be heard.Pre-order the album on all formats here.Recorded primarily at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios in 1967, Odessey & Oracle wasself-produced in Mono on a shoestring budget by primary songwriters Rod Argent (keyboards/vocals) and Chris White (bass/vocals). Under last-minute pressure from their record label, thealbum was hastily remixed in the newly emerging Stereo format, which sacrificed key elementsfrom the Mono recording, most notably the beloved horn parts in “This Will Be Our Year”.The band today also share the first track off the album, the mono remastered version of “ThisWill Be Our Year”, with the horn parts restored. Although never released as a single, this deepcut has found a new life thanks to prominent uses in TV and film, including memorable scenes inMad Men, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Schitt's Creek, and covers by artists like FooFighters, OK Go and Susanna Hoffs. Its positive and uplifting message has been embraced bycouples as a popular wedding song, and become a staple of New Year’s playlists. Listen here.The album also includes new liner notes from famed writer, David Fricke. Read an excerptbelow:Odessey and Oracle is very much of and about its time: songs of youth and love – thelucky strike of attraction ("I Want Her She Wants Me"); flickering memories held tight("Brief Candles"); longing that defies the odds ("Maybe After He's Gone") – from pop'shigh season of amour, a crowded nirvana of landmark debuts (Pink Floyd, the Doors, theJimi Hendrix Experience) and definitive accounts of Britain's psychedelic bloom…Thisalbum was also built to stand the test of time, at the 11th hour by a band with everythingto prove. "We were always dissatisfied with the production of our records," Argent said in1971 of the Zombies' Decca work. "We wanted to produce an album before we broke upto satisfy ourselves." The result was a fearlessness that still rings fresh, that inventiondriven by the Zombies' stringent resources and their confidence in the songs. Most of "ARose for Emily" is simply piano and vocal, an Argent-Blunstone duet with streaks ofchoral sigh.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-view-from-the-writing-instrument--1023245/support.