In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

They were both a part of the LA psychedelic scene with The Seeds and The Strawberry Alarm Clock, and somehow, on the 17-minute title track here, accidentally prog. "In-A-Gadda- Da-Vida" was the sound of the Summer of '68 in the States. They were briefly perceived as more vital than Jimi Hendrix, C.C.R. or The Doors. It sold a million within a year and has since passed thirty million! Not bad for "forgotten" one-hit-wonders. "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was truly an amazingly heavy song and album for 1968 and was definitely part of the foundation on which Heavy Metal was built. This album will definitely take you back to the sixties, both lyrically and musically. Put some flowers in your hair!

With its endless, droning minor-key riff and mumbled vocals, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is arguably the most notorious song of the acid rock era. According to legend, the group was so stoned when they recorded the track that they could neither pronounce the title "In the Garden of Eden" or end the track, so it rambles on for a full 17 minutes, which to some listeners sounds like eternity. But that's the essence of its appeal -- it's the epitome of heavy psychedelic excess, encapsulating the most indulgent tendencies of the era. Iron Butterfly never matched the warped excesses of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," either on their debut album of the same name or the rest of their catalog, yet they occasionally made some enjoyable fuzz guitar-driven psychedelia that works as a period piece. The five tracks that share space with their magnum opus on In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida qualify as good artifacts, and the entire record still stands as the group's definitive album, especially since this is the only place the full-length title track is available. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine