Icarus – The Marvel World Of Icarus (1972) (24/44 Vinyl Rip)

Review by Kingdhansak from Progarchives:
A great addition to the Prog Archives and a real pleasure to be giving it it's debut review here. I must say though, where they got the jazz/fusion tag from is anyone's guess. The LP is actually pretty commercial sounding – more of that in moment, a bit of brief history first.
All members of Icarus were huge fans of Marvel Comics, hence the basic concept of this LP. As you can see from the track list, each title is based on a marvel character. Sadly at the time, the head of Marvel found out about this shortly before release and demanded a 50% share of the royalties. Instead of giving in, the record company simply withdrew the LP. Several copies of the originals slipped out of course. I'm glad to say one of these slipped and found it's way into my record collection, where it will be staying. Like most rarities of this nature, it has been re-issued. Not sure if Marvel are getting their cut this time round though. I'm sure they're making enough from the recent spate of films.
Anyway the music: As said before, pretty commercial sounding. No lengthy or wild instrumental passages at all here. What makes this one stand out is the sheer variety of compositions and brilliant songwriting. Tracks like 'Fantastic Four' and 'Thor' are pretty bluesy, 'Iron Man' veers into a Psych territory and 'Madam Masque' is a beautiful ballad. Due to the nature of the concept, it is simply great fun to listen to. All musicians are competant and the singer has a great voice.
As a result of the withdrawn LP, the band split. Yet another of these one album wonders. As usual leaving me thinking, imagine if they'd made more, we'll never know. Well worth a purchase!
P.S.: As read a few years ago in a reputable music mag, this band were the first to play in Romania. Apparently they went down a storm!

From MySpace:
Given the obscurity in which the majority of the most valuable early Seventies progressive rock albums were made, its hardly surprising that there continues to be great confusion over the histories of some of the bands involved. When, in 1997, Record Collectors magazine ran a feature on the 1972 album "The Marvel World Of Icarus", it seemed to shed new light on one of the most elusive, mysterious releases of the era. Unfortunately however, the article relied on the memories of two musicians who only joined Icarus once the bulk of the album had been recorded. As a result, it was claimed that the band had only come together in 1972, specifically for the making of the album - which was nonsense. In fact Icarus had been pretty much continuously active since 1968, recording a highly collectable psychedelic-era single for the Spark label before signing with Pye at the end of the decade. There have been one or two bootlegs of the album in the past, but this first-ever authorised from-the-masters reissue of "The Marvel World Of Icarus" - which adds an album outtake that only appeared in the US, both sides of an unreleased 7" single from 1969 and the band's debut single from the previous year finally reveals the full, previously uncharted history of Icarus. – David Wells

This is a Swedish release, sides A and B were reversed on this issue, I've put the tracks in the right order again. On some tracks you hear a singer that reminds me very much of John Latimer from "Light of Darkness", he was a scotsman. Richard Hudson and John Ford, who played with Icarus earlier, afterwards became part of the Strawbs, also a Scottish band, might there be a link?

Tracks
01. Prologue 0:35
02. Spiderman 2:49
03. Fantastic Four 3:18
04. Hulk 3:00
05. Madame Masque 3:44
06. Conan, the Barbarian 4:03
07. Iron Man 2:51
08. Thor 4:43
09. Black Panther 3:19
10. The Man Without Fear 3:54
11. Silver Surfer 4:01
12. Things Thing 1:58
13. Captain America 2:30
Total time: 40:39

Musicians
Steve Hart: Vocals
David Plotel: Guitar
John Plotel: Bass
Jimmy Wiley: Bass
Iain Hines: Keyboards
Peter Curtain: Drums
Norrie Devine: Sax, Flute, Clarinet