Icarus - The Marvel World of Icarus (1972) [FLAC]
2007, Wooden Hill WHCD016
1. Prologue (0:34)
2. Spiderman (2:50)
3. Fantastic Four (3:20)
4. Hulk (3:02)
5. Madame Masque (3:45)
6. Conan The Barbarian (4:05)
7. Iron Man (2:52)
8. Thor (4:46)
9. Black Panther (3:21)
10. The Man Without Fear (3:56)
11. Silver Surfer (4:02)
12. Things Thing (1:59)
13. Captain America (2:34)
Bonus Tracks:
14. Love Is A Thing (2:41)
15. Yellow Balloon (3:23)
16. There's An Easy And A Hard Way Of Living (3:32)
17. The Devil Rides Out (2:32)
18. You're In Life (2:55)
Total: 56:09
Peter Curtain - drums
Norrie Devine - sax, flute, clarinet
David Plotel - guitar
John Plotel - bass
Steve Hart - vocals
Iain Hines - keyboards
Jimmy Wiley - bass
Review #1:
Each of the players on this fast-rocking album with a strong progressive touch
presents themselves as comic character, ranging from Spiderman via Conan the
Barbarian to the Hulk. The lyrics likewise deal with the vicissitudes of these
heroes, lending the album a comparatively agreeable degree of fun. As the
instrumental and vocal abilities of the band are no less than good, the only
flaw is the lack of outstanding compositions, although a few highlights are
present nonetheless. These include the scary intro to 'Hulk', the propelling
rhythms of 'Conan The Barbarian', almost all flute parts, almost all of the
opening track on the B-side, 'Thor' and the slightly psychedelic 'Silver
Surfer'. All in all fun to listen to, though a bit overestimated.
Review #2:
First time on CD for this sought after British prog collectable. Although it had
all the trappings of an exploitation album, The Marvel World of Icarus was
created by an actual band named Icarus. The band was infatuated with the heroes
of Marvel Comics and came up with the misguided idea to create a concept album
based around the various characters. This was all done with the blessings of
Marvel - in fact Stan Lee takes a writers credit for "The Fantastic Four".
Although the band gigged quite a bit the album sank like a stone and has been an
expensive rarity since then. Each track is thematically about a different hero -
"Spiderman", "Hulk", "Thor", "Captain America"...well you get the idea. Although
John Ethridge is attributed to the band, he actually joined after the album was
recorded. The music falls squarely in that proto-prog sound: lots of organ
splashes and wild guitar solos all compressed into short tracks. The vocals have
a bluesy gruff quality which contrasts with the goofy lyrics about the son of
Odin. This set comes with 5 rare bonus tracks including 2 that were never
released before. Copious liner notes and photos are included.
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