Customer Reviews

Epic Forest

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first bought the LP release of this album in 1974 and was loath to part with it in 1987 when I sold off my entire record collection and shifted into CDs. This used to be one of my clear favourites and parting with it wasn't easy. Getting it on CD with this re-release has been a really fantastic experience. Listening to it again has reinforced my earlier, long-held conviction that this group should have made it big back then. Why they never did is inexplicable. Every number on this album is worth listening to over and over again. This collection of songs will likely never go out of style, and I'd venture to say that it is not out of place even in today's prog-rock music environment. Someone should give this album some airtime. I would not be surprised in the least if the market clamours for more of it. Give it a listen. You won't regret it.

I first heard Rare Bird in late 1973 and fell in love with "Hey Man". I bought the album (remember albums?), then lent it to a friend in the late 70's and never saw it again. For 25 years I've tried to find a copy and was amazed when I saw Epic Forest available on Amazon. As soon as I received and played the CD it brought me right back to the 70's. Yet the sounds of this band are timeless. I hear shades of Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Stevie Winwood, Steely Dan and Jethro Tull in the unique style of Rare Bird. The vocal harmonies, acoustics, and hard licks are in great diversity, but make the listening very easy. I realize that I had pretty good musical tastes 30+ years ago. I just wonder why the band wasn't a greater commercial success. This was a purchase that I will cherish for a long time.Epic Forest

Rare Bird's third album, and first after a major lineup and record label change. This one is perhaps not as progressive as As Your Mind Flies By, but it is a tad softer and more melodic. The harmonies are exceptional, the songs well-crafted and very fluid. There simply is not a weak song in the bunch, including the three bonus tracks of the Epic Forest recording session not included on the initial U.S. release on Polydor, and the remaining three bonus tracks consisting of unreleased or alternate versions of material the original lineup recorded in 1969-70. The songs here on the Epic Forest +3 CD will amaze you if you have never heard Rare Bird before. This one is brilliantly done, soft at times, yet a good hard rocker at others. Get this one, and you won't be disappointed. There is plenty of the Rare Bird keyboard sound, but the guitars are much more prominent on this album compared to the original lineup. Why this band was not more successful is inexplicable.

Epic Forest is a fantastic cd from a superb band.This band can rock with the best, but also has a melodic side, and with the fine vocals of Steve Gould and the sublime keyboards of David Kaffinetti the quality of the music is sustained throughout.
This Album was first released in 1973, but such is the quality of the music and the musicians ,it easily stands the test of time.This CD is highly recommended!!

This album must rate as the most underated rock album of all time What a diamond that was left undiscovered There is not a single bad track on this album.With fantastic harmonies and the double guitars and amazing keyboards this is an unforgettable album if you have it you were a true conniseur of good music if you missed it its not too late to buy the CD now

Want to know what it feels like to have tears of joy? Then you're going to LOVE this Rare Bird album called Epic Forest.

Growing up in southeast Pennsylvania, I grew up around Amish country, lots of fields, and spent quite a lot of my childhood walking up and down the fields having my own little adventures with the outdoors. That's what's so great about being a kid- just having fun and exploring life. This album brings back all those memories, and makes me feel those special times again.

Something about the way the vocals come across on this album is just amazing- they sound similar to Crosby, Stills and Nash sometimes, and other times remind me of Joe Walsh (such as on the title song) and this is yet another fine example why the 70's are as good as they were.

There's also some Doobie Brothers influences such as on "You're Lost". Boy these guys knew how to make a song good and very listenable, and it's a shame they weren't more popular, especially here in the States. Don't worry about the fact this is much different from the earlier Rare Bird albums- this stuff is really just as good as the older stuff.

This album just breathes life and special memories to me, and you may find yourself experiencing the same thing whether you grew up in the 70's or not. Give this album a chance.

I first heard this album in the summer of '73 when my best friend's older brother played it for us. We were only six at the time and our musical tastes were being shaped by our older siblings' record collections, as well as Top 40 radio of the day. Rare Bird's 8 track provided a lot to listen to and one track, Hey Man, was played over and over again. After about a week or so, we had moved on to other stuff and didn't listen to the tape anymore.

This past weekend, I was visiting St. Louis with my wife and daughter and stopped in to a small independent music store. Lo and behold, there was a used import copy of Epic Forest. As we drove, I popped it into my car's player and hit track 2, Hey Man. To my surprise, I not only remembered all the words, but recalled the riffs and instrumentation as well. After 34 years, mind you! The disc holds up and is great stuff.

"Here I'm standing alone, on my island, watching as the world and people pass and things go by..."

Cool Stuff.

I bought this album in 1973 and liked it alot more than most of my friends did, at that time. I am a musician (guitar player) and I think that it was over the heads of my surfing buddies. I found it on Amazon recently and bought it 37 yrs later just to see if my memory of it was wrong. It was not. Though this album never got off the ground, so to speak, in the US, it rocks. Great Harmonies, songwriting and variety, make it a classic for those of us fortunate enough to have heard it in the 70's. If you are readig this and considering buying it, DO IT. You won't be dissapointed.

After As Your Mind Flies By, the original Rare Bird broke up, with organist Graham Field teaming up with ex-King Crimson and future Greenslade drummer Andy McCulloch to form Fields, who released a self-entitled album in 1971. As for drummer Mark Ashton, well, he knocked around the music business, nothing apparently of interest to prog rock fans. That left the two remaining Rare Bird members, vocalist Steve Gould, and keyboardist David Kaffinetti to resurrect Rare Bird. This time they decided to include guitarists, and even Steve Gould decided to switch from bass to guitar. Andy "Ced" Curtis also helped on guitar as well as Paul Holland, with Fred Kelly on drums and Paul Karas on bass. They switched from Charisma to Polydor, and 1972's Epic Forest was the results.

OK, this out of the way, the music is less progressive than what the original guitarless lineup on Charisma has done, but they still managed to create some excellent music. The band was now going for a more West Coast-influenced rock, with some Crosby, Stills & Nash influences, but with generally more progressive arrangements than CSN. Steve Gould's vocals really seemed to be downplayed here, I suspect the other guys were handling most of the vocals. I really wished there was more of Steve Gould, since he was an excellent vocalist, and I really appreciated his vocal presence on those first two albums. This pretty much sounds like a whole new band who happened to be calling themselves Rare Bird (although as mentioned, Gould and Kaffinetti are the two in common with the original 1969-70 version). "Hey Man" shows that this isn't the old Rare Bird, although it's a catchy song and could have been a potential hit. The title track is the "epic" of the album showing the band can still make great prog rock. It might not be "Flight" (from As Your Mind Flies By) because of the guitars, but they sure put some great jams, before ending more in the soft rock vein. "Turning the Lights Out" is another great high point for me. Much of the music on this album ends up reminding me of their former Charisma labelmates Capability Brown (who happened to cover a couple of Rare Bird songs off their 1972 debut, From Scratch, "Beautiful Scarlet" and "Redman", Rare Bird's version of the latter would not appear until their final album, Born Again in 1974, while the former appeared on their 1969 self-entitled debut, of course). "Her Darkest Hour" is a stunning acoustic ballad, while "Title No. 1 Again (Birdman)" is a rather intense piece showing a bit of that Crosby, Stills & Nash influence.

I figured why Rare Bird went for a totally different approach after two albums was they were certain they could not continue on the same route as their debut and As Your Mind Flies By, and they probably could not top what they done on those albums, so instead they chaged their sound. And admittedly, it did not hurt the band. Don't buy this expecting another As Your Mind Flies By, but it's still a great album.

I purchased this album back in the early seventies on vinyl and it came with a bonus record which includes the bonus material on the CD. Epic Forest has been one of my favorite albums of all time. There is not one bad track on this album. My favorite song may be Roadside Welcome. I highly recommend this CD as well as two of Rare Birds other albums "Somebody's Watching" and "Born Again". Great music from a great band that few people have ever heard about.