VANILLA FUDGE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The beatdown summer of 1967 saw to many an album-length caramelisation, among them US rockers Vanilla Fudge's self-titled debut album, which saw the band take an unconventional route to psych rock pinnacling success, leaning heavily on slowed-down, dramatically reimagined covers as opposed to original songwriting. The record pairs three brief instrumental interludes with expansive versions of pop tracks, most famously their rework of 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' (Holland-Dozier-Holland), which was released in an edited single version and charted in its own right. Despite some parts of the stereo LP being mixed in mono, the record climbed to number six on the US Billboard and found international success. Critics later noted its unorthodox structure: freeform intros, drawn-out vocal harmonies centred on the Hammond organ, and explosive closing jams. Polarising in style, we've a shiftless snapshot of late-60s American psych on our hands here, leaving us in no wonder as to why it was their most successful record.