WRITING ON THE WALL - POWER OF THE PICTS - 1st UK Press Vertigo Swirl Prog
£
311
$
412
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Description
WRITING ON THE WALL -
POWER OF THE PICTS
MIDDLE EARTH
1ST UK PRESS 1969
machined matrices
Companies, etc.
- Distributed By – Pye Records (Sales) Ltd.
- Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse
- Made By – Garrod & Lofthouse
Credits
- Engineer – Andrew Hedrixon*
- Producer, Conductor, Arranged By – Dave Howson
Notes
Released on an aqua blue Middle Earth Label. First cat.nr. on cover, second on label.The cover is the textured version of this, and of very thin board.
A4 credited to ''Composer Unknown''.
On the back cover the title of A5 appears as ''Virginia Water'', the label lists it correctly.
Engineer appears like this on the back cover, on the label it's erroneous too: ''Andrew Hendrixson''
Barcode and Other Identifiers
- Matrix / Runout (Side A label): MDLS.303-A
- Matrix / Runout (Side B label): MDLS.303-B
- Matrix / Runout (Run-out side A): MDLS 303 A1 - <> H STEREO
- Matrix / Runout (Run-out side B): MDLS 303 B1 - <> H STEREO
Great Playing Record! Great Audio and Cover. Original UK PRESS A fantastic 1st ever Complete Pressing in Superb investment condition throughout!!! Only a few hundred were ever pressed up. This is the only original press on Middle Earth.
Musical reference points would probably be Deep Purple, Crazy World of Arthur Brown and of course Black Sabbath.
This is a rare and hugely collectable 1st ever UK press of their only psychedelic/prog heavy album. These were being released in extremely small numbers, this album is a really scarce item indeed. This album has in recent years been appreciated for its progressive leanings and has appreciated in value in recent years. Finding this album in this wonderful condition is getting harder and makes this a very special chance to own a genuinely rare collectors pressing in TOP condition.
A brilliant package, and an ultimate collectable, getting rarer by the day! Only three have come up for sale in one year.
The Power Of The Picts is one of the darkest and heaviest pre-Sabbath albums you're gonna find out there. I have a theory that any album cover with a human skull on it is going to rock. And rock this one does. You may love or hate the singing. For me it works and this band really benefits from the guy's voice. But I've heard others comment on it being too soulful for this type of music. It's perfectly fine for my ears so you be the judge. The organ also gives the album a very strong Doors flavour throughout, but not to the point of ripping them off. For me this is what a love child between Black Sabbath and The Doors would sound like. You could also make Purple/Heep comparisons and I certainly wouldn't disagree ;). The fourth track, Aries, is straight out of a psych ward. Some may be turned off by the preachy, "I believe in God, do you believe in God!?!" lyrics in the song, but I see it more as a jittering psychopath sitting in his padded white cell trying to come to terms with a horrifying truth in the back of his mind - that we are all truly alone and no one is watching over us. However you interpret it though, it is still one of the heaviest and most demented songs on the album.
The underground press called this band really heavy and very evil, and after listening to their album you'll see why. All in all this is a fantastic find if you're looking for dark and heavy proto-doom from this period of time. There are countless forgotten bands from the era to choose from, but these guys are one of the very best and certainly among the darkest and gloomiest. What's even more amazing is the fact that they came before the mighty Black Sabbath. Few bands from the 60's can contend with the heaviness these guys had. Download or YouTube the music if you have to, but if you dig what you hear then buy the album!(from: rateyourmusic.com)
HOLY GRAIL PSYCH/HEAVY PROG LP ESPECIALLY IN THIS GREAT CONDITION! PLAYS AWESOME ON EACH SIDE!!! AS YOU CAN SEE THE COVER IS IN GREAT CONDITION, SEE PICS! TRY TO FIND ANOTHER COPY LIKE THIS ONE!!! A FANTASTIC COLLECTOR'S COPY!
Vinyl: EX. A super copy!!! I have played this in full> There are NO jumps, NO clicks and NO sticks!!! It still retains a beautiful glossy sheen. Even under an intense light it looks great with only a few wispy paper sleeve retraction traces. The audio is stunning all the way and this album sounds fantastic. All tracks play with strong gusto and the channel separation is just awesome! I have played this on my Linn-Sondek, Rotel, B&W system. It totally went under the radar and is now extremely scarce especially as a first issue on the extremely collectable MIDDLE EARTH label. This is the best I have seen or heard ever!!
Sleeve: VG+ to EX. Iconic matt sleeve without creases, in great condition with just light storage wear. A great spine and crisp opening. This sleeve defies it true age of 51 years. Ring wear to the rear. An extremely thin sleeve and most that will ever turn up will be obliterated. The opening is super crisp and shows it has been looked after very well. The spine is 100%. NO writing, NO tears, NO splits etc..
Labels: EX. Light spindle traces only.
This is a unique investment opportunity!!! This album hardly sold at all. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Condition is what counts and this album really delivers, an upgrade for most collectors. A very hard album to find in any condition these days, leave alone in this EX condition. This album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price. How many would be left??? But in this great condition ....? Golddust!!
Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00. Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.
Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly! PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST, if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one! I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem! This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem. Thanks again!!
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