We’re a bit late to the party with this disc which was officially released at the end of May. In our defence it was only a few weeks ago that the mail man delivered it; post from the States these days is a bit of a hit and miss affair. Anyhow, there was huge excitement at Blabber’n’Smoke as we tore open the package and delved into this remastered, deluxe edition of Rain Parade’s second album. It follows on the heels of the excellent reissue of their seminal debut album, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, perhaps the pinnacle of the Paisley Underground sound.
Back then hopes were high for the follow-up but an unholy combination of bad luck, corporate music bigwigs, fickle press and line up changes led to Crashing Dream being considered a pale shadow of its predecessor. It did have its champions however and by and large they are vindicated when one listens to this remastered and extended edition.
The band were lauded on the release of their debut album, followed by a live disc and a mini album, all released on the independent Enigma Records, and so Island Records waved their cheque book at the band but with some stipulations. Jim Hill, their regular producer was sidelined, Island preferring their in house man, a situation of which Matt Piucci said, in an interview with Americana UK , “Although our producer was a nice guy he didn’t really get us.” This situation has been oft posited as the main reason that the album failed but we reckon it’s much more nuanced than that. The remix offered here is little different from the original with the primary changes consisting of adding two live songs to the original album set list and substituting a different version of one song, Sad Eyes Kill, taken from an earlier session, produced by Jim Hill and originally released on a flexi disc by the great magazine Bucketful Of Brains (and generally preferred by the band).
Taken as a whole, Crashing Dream is only a smidgeon away from Emergency Third Rail Power Trip. There’s trippy psychedelia on the title song which, strangely enough, was not included on the original album but is inserted here midway through, a live recording. Then there’s the Hendrix like introduction to Shoot Down The Railroad Man while Don’t Feel Bad contains the full smorgasbord of the tidal wave of psychedelic rock which peaked around 1968 with its hint of exotic Eastern guitar tunings which rival The Byrds’ freakier moments. Listening to the starry eyed Fertile Crescent is a fine reminder that Rain Parade were hailed as heroes by a host of later bands including many of the Scottish jangle pop brigade along with the likes of The Stone Roses.
Crashing Dream wasn’t a success and the band were set adrift by Island Records, eventually splitting up although various members of the band continued to record together. The aftermath is well collected on the second disc of this Deluxe reissue. It features some live cuts (Rain Parade covering Television and Cream), some demos of songs which featured on Crashing Dream and, more excitingly, a brace of songs recorded for what would have been their third album. Of these The Sniper is a pulverising acid trip of a song which weighs into the heavier side of psychedelic rock and Novocaine is an edgy and kaleidoscopic freak out while Tranquillity Base slouches toward Bethlehem with an unnerving sense of dread woven within its hypnotic delivery.
We had to wait 38 years for the third Rain Parade album to come out but this collection offers a rare and rewarding glimpse into what a third album might have sounded like back in the days. Altogether, and it goes without saying really, this finely packaged reissue of Crashing Dream is highly recommended.