Odessey and Oracle
Occupation
- Vocal: Colin Blunstone
- Guitar: Paul Atkinson
- Bass: Chris White
- Drums: Hugh Grundy
- Keyboard: Rod Argent
Odessey and Oracle is the second album by the British band The Zombies and was released in April 1968.
Recording
The bulk of the album was recorded in South London in 1967 from June to August at Olympic Studios. The band was previously due to failure no contract extension with their old label Decca Records and switched to CBS. Unlike her debut album, Begin Here, it was more of a compilation of their early singles and also contained some cover versions, Odessey and Oracle was completely self- written.
In November 1967, including the song Changes was completed at Abbey Road Studios. The band broke up before the release of the album, Odessey and Oracle, so that was their previous studio album of the zombies to Reunion 1990.
The typo in the title ( instead Odessey Odyssey ) goes back to the designer of the cover.
Importance
The album sold initially disappointing, however, is considered in retrospect as a classic and submerged in many compilations of the best albums of all time.
So the album is ranked in the German edition of Rolling Stone list of the 500 greatest albums of all time at number 87 and in the English edition ranked 80th The German -language edition of Rolling Stone writes in his edition: The distinctive sound of the zombies was equal parts beat and rhythm and blues, and its main building blocks were Rod Argent's bluesy, jazzy keyboards and Colin Blunstones soft voice. [ ... ] The result of this ingenious dance song [ was ] overwhelming.
Care of Cell 44, the first song of the album has been covered, for example, by Elliott Smith and Of Montreal.
The song Time of the Season was late but still gecovert a hit single in the U.S. and later also by artists such as the Dave Matthews Band or Sage Francis and is for example used in an episode of The Simpsons.
Tracklist
A-side
B-side
Singles
Were couples all Singles Friends Of Mine / Beechwood Park ( 1967), Care Of Cell 44 / Maybe After He's Gone (1967) and Time Of The Season / I'll Call You Mine (1968).