Aorta [Import]

Aorta | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 18, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Buy Or Die Records
• ASIN: B000006Z4F
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,788 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A psychedelic masterpiece, March 19, 2000

By 

Book Maven (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aorta (Audio CD)

Aorta was a truly great band. One of the very best to come out of the 1960s. This, the first of two albums they recorded, is not only their masterpiece, but stands out as one of the finest rock albums ever produced. Recorded in 1968 at the height of the Flower-Power movement, Aorta was America's answer to Sgt. Peppers. The theme of "Main Vein" reoccurs throughout the album, fusing together a wide variety of beautiful pop songs that flow non-stop like a mighty river of liquid ear candy. The song "Strange" could have been a huge hit with "Ode to Missy Mxyzosptlk" a perfect follow-up. Throw in "Sprinke Road to Coark Street" and "Catalyptic" and you're in heaven. It just doesn't get any better than this! Why this band never really caught on will be one of those eternal unsolved mysteries that litter the annals of Rock n' Roll. All we can do is enjoy the beautiful gem that Aorta left us and pray for a reunion.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aorta, April 9, 2000

By 

Chris Hays (Bloomington, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aorta (Audio CD)

This album was truly one of the most magnificent recordings of the late 60s. Why it never caught fire with the listening public has always been a mystery to me. I have owned a copy since the early 70s and still take it out and play it several times a year. The creativity and imagination that went into this album, not to mention the strong songwriting and performances of the band, make this one of the best albums in all of rock history. And to add icing to the cake, they were excellent singers as well! Where do you hear voices like that nowadays? I wish I still had a copy of their 2nd album, as I recall that it was also quite creative but strikingly different from their 1st. Where are they now?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Incredible LP - atrocious CD, November 5, 2010

By 

Archiver (The Heartland) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aorta (Audio CD)

The music is 5 stars and then some. My rating is based entirely on how horribly the music was transferred on this CD.

"Aorta" is one of the best LPs ever recorded, a psych-pop masterpiece which deserved a far wider audience that it achieved. Issued on Columbia in 1969, it was not well promoted but still managed to chart and then remain in print (as an LP) for over ten years, far longer than most LPs of its genre.

It might have fared better initially had Columbia issued a banded version for radio. As it is, a seamless song cycle (even the necessary gap on the LP between the end of side 1 and the beginning of side 2 is not present on the master tape), it was difficult for radio to program or play it. The one single taken from the LP, an edited version of "Strange" backed with "Ode to Missy Mxyzosptlk," presumably spelled with the middle "os" to avoid any potential problem with DC Comics, barely escaped and received no promotion at all. The same fate befell the group's debut single on Atlantic, pairing their version of "The Shape of Things to Come" (a hit for Max Frost and the Troopers, from "Wild in the Streets") with "Strange" on the flip.

Axis has transferred the LP with relatively good sound, but it has inexplicably left incredibly annoying gaps at the end of each track. This completely destroys the continunity of the LP. Nor is this the result of silent 2-second CD gaps. The gaps are in the tracks themselves.

So, what we have is a brilliant LP utterly ruined by astoundingly careless mastering. Buy or Die got it right with its 1994 reissue on CD, which flows smoothly, exactly as it should. Unfortunately, its sound quality is a bit lacking, but it remains the only way to get a halfway decent CD of this amazing album. Why Sony Legacy does not produce a reissue is beyond me.

Get the Buy or Die CD, or better yet, pick up the original LP, to hear this outstanding psych effort--and forget this shoddy transfer.