This is where The Incredible String Band began to change their musical format to a more electrified-based set-up. By this point, the Hippie dream of the Summer Of Love and Woodstock was quickly becoming a distant memory, both of which were events in which The Incredible String Band had their cultural and musical roots based in. The 1970s had dawned and it became apparent that the group needed to change their style in order to survive. Even so, could The Incredible String Band still make great music as the 1970s continued to unfold? Let’s find out.

The Talking Of The End begins with acoustic guitar, fiddle, flute and some organ. This still sounds really excellent, even if people had moved on from the Hippie years of the late 1960s. Even so, this still retains a large part of the format and sound of the earlier works by The Incredible String Band. The vocals are gorgeous and majestic and the themes and sounds from this band continue on with this album. The vocal harmonies present in this piece are, again, stunning to listen to. These are deep and dark to listen to. Following it is a bunch of acoustic guitars, bongos and a strangely unique Chinese Music-styled feel to the sounds at hand. All the same, this is a really bold, brilliant and wonderfully played piece of music to listen to. It sounds truly great and nicely mixed. Towards the midsection, this briefly halts, followed by some cool Sitar work that would make George Harrison secretly jealous. Seriously cool to listen to, nonetheless. The music sounds totally awesome and dynamically layered throughout. This abruptly changes with the harpsichord and beautiful singing throughout. Once again, The Incredible String Band prove themselves to be a very legendary band indeed. The Sitar and acoustic guitar mesh together in the second half so well, followed by slide guitar work. Regardless of anything, this is truly pleasant and amazing music. Anyone who loves Psychedelic Folk will truly appreciate this wonderful and timeless music. Very, very good. The music flies by, even with its five-minute-long length. An excellent and quirky mixture of the finest sounds of the 1960s. Great, in other words.

Dear Old Battlefield begins with punchy drumming and electric guitar to match. This has some gorgeous vocals on top, like a cherry on top of vanilla ice cream. Even though this is a more Rock-oriented piece, it still sounds fresh, amazing and instantly loveable to this very day. The Incredible String Band obviously had a real knack for what is great musically. The guitar work throughout is fantastic, and along with the quintessentially awesome vocal harmonies, this is stunning listening. A much more powerful, punchy and interesting listen than most of the music of the era, The Incredible String Band do incredible things in a musical sense. A great, great listen. A short number at three minutes long, this is inspired music. It proves that the group, even in their dying days, had major musical chemistry. Brilliant.

Cosmic Boy begins with some cool and clever-sounding piano playing, which is nice yet different. It will definitely bring a smile to your face. The vocals are again, absolutely sublime. They match the tune wonderfully. The song here references being high (a drug reference, obviously). Bear in mind that these guys were Hippies. In any case, this is a loveable, memorable and sweet piano-driven ballad that sounds super top-notch. The piano work is in a league of its own. Excellent music to play with your friends who like 1960s and 1970s-based music, there is no doubt that the music at hand is absolutely a joy to listen to. The fact is that this music needs to be heard by more, and the simplicity and beauty of the music at hand is nothing but brilliant. A great and wonderful piece of songcraft from start to finish.

Worlds They Rise And Fall begins with some clanging acoustic guitar and nice singing to match the key of the guitar work. Piano enters as well. This timeless music is absolutely worth listening to. The Incredible String Band are absolutely a retrospective artist to enjoy to the full. This does sound absolutely sweet and awesome. The keyboard and fiddle-led breakdown is nothing short of pleasantly surprising to listen to. Indeed, this is a really cool and killer listening experience from start to finish. This music is a fantastic example of something that has largely been ignored to this very day. A great mixture of acoustic guitar, keyboards, fiddle and genuinely cool singing, this is amazing to listen to. Fantastic overall, this does illuminate one’s soul upon hearing.

Evolution Rag is a quirky song from the start. It has a ukelele, organ and some odd lyricism matched by cool singing. These guys deserve credit for adding some quintessentially quirky British humour to listen to. All in all, this song will make you grin with pleasure when you hear it. A breakdown is followed by some prominent fairground organ thrown into the mix, and some other fresh and excellent sounds throughout that just sound fantastic. Fantastically great, this is exactly the strange and odd song you can play to your friends for a laugh. Admittedly, this music would no doubt sound great when high. Even so, hearing this stone-cold sober is just as good. The mixture of bizarre instrumentation throughout makes The Beatles Let It Be…Naked a bit of a pointless exercise, not necessarily in music (that is a good album) but in terms of its stripped-back nature. Regardless, this song is like Pink Floyd’s Corporal Clegg, it is not at all meant to be taken seriously. A moving and upbeat tune, this is very much a different and joyful listen from start to finish. Sweet but not sour, The Incredible String Band were amazing. Weird but definitely wonderful.

Painted Chariot begins with chiming Fender guitars, which are electric and different. Soon into it, a gloriously refreshing vocal enters, and this launches into an electric guitar song that is absolutely wonderful to listen to. Seemingly, The Incredible String Band may have inspired the legendary Rock group the Eagles later on down the line in the 1970s with some of their music. A fantastically glorious and soothing listen, this music demands 3D glasses on and a freethinking mindset to appreciate. This song may inadvertently refer to John Lennon’s Psychedelic Rolls Royce (the story of which is worth Googling). The breakdown here with the organ is magical, and the guitars and drums nicely match this tune. If there is at all a slight flaw of this album, it is that the music present with its Rock Music overtones, does sound a little forced. Still, these guys had musical talent and had a mission in their sound. A great, great listening experience, once again.

Adam And Eve begins with some drum hits and launches into a very weird, pseudo-reggae song. This, admittedly, is a weird listen and refers heavily to the Christian concept of the evolution of man. Regardless of whether you are Christian or not, this is a good listen. This is unlikely the best song on the album, let alone in the history of The Incredible String Band, but its quirkiness and musicianship are very irresistable listening. A really superb and adventurous listen, with a clean electric guitar solo, this is a bizarre yet good listen. Indeed, the Bible is a very interesting explanation of events (whether you believe in it or not) and with references to the opening story in the chapter of Genesis, this is a good listen without being a hugely perfect one. Still, it sounds good.

Red Hair begins with a 12-string acoustic guitar and pleasant singing throughout. This is a majestic and pretty listening experience that is simple, beautiful and amazing to listen to. The violin here is delicious, and this sounds fresh, decent and amazing to this very day. A really great piece of music, this is a good stew of sounds and musicianship that is rivalled only by a few to this very day. Even some of the best music of the 1960s does not compare to this fantastic and beautiful songcraft. A good two-minute-long sonic adventure.

Here Till Here Is There begins with a lone vocal, which is different. This is a moody and moving listen, it just sounds pure and natural. Bear in mind that in 1971, the personal computer did not exist and all recordings were done on tape. Admittedly, this is magical. Eventually, a swap around of vocals occurs along with some backing music playing along with organ and flute, which is super cool. A really adventurous listen that is music for the mind, not for the body. A gorgeous piece of music through and through. The Incredible String Band live up to their name to this day. Sweet, cool and great. In the second half are some multitracked vocals that are fine and tuneful. A very weird piece by today’s standards, but normal to hear back in the early 1970s. Awesome.

Tree is a more upbeat and joyous listening experience with a bunch of stringed instruments, excellent singing and a euphoric feel to the music at hand. This is a great and adventurous listening experience. Even though the times had changed, The Incredible String Band continued to prove their musical worth throughout this album. A pleasant, upbeat and wonderfully articulate piece of music. If you enjoy the musicianship of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones, then you really should hear this music. A really awesome listen that sounds fine and fantastic. A great song that proves the beauty and majesty of this album.

Medley: Jigs & Reels begins with fiddle and dual keyboards, which sound really great. This is an instrumental, but nonetheless, full of colour, depth and interesting sounds for your ears to explore. Ukelele follows, along with some bass guitar and this music is a fantastic joy to listen to. Nonetheless, this is a fiddle-laden village-style tune that looks back throughout English history to celebrate a different type of music in 1971. This music is fresh like a peppermint and is irresistibly sweet to enjoy listening to. Soon enough, a change with a brief vocal call occurs and this gets fast and frenetic towards the end. A very lovely listening experience.

Darling Belle is the final song on this album and is nearly 11 minutes long. It begins with some melodic acoustic guitar and has some clear and fine vocals to listen to. This sounds gorgeous and amazing throughout and refers to young love. Super cool, this adds some organ to the acoustic guitar and vocals. An absolutely marvellous tune, this may be pigeonholed as Hippie Music (which, to be fair, it mostly is), but it has made a huge and lasting impression on the music world. The lyrics are very different and refer to the days of youth and all the good and bad things about being young. A fantastic and sweet listen musically, this is exactly what a serious music listener can and should hear. This extended piece carries a brilliant story throughout. A very pretty, sweet and natural-sounding piece of music that continues to impress today as much as it did in 1971. The Incredible String Band have a pretty and wonderfully unique take on acoustic-based Psychedelic Folk. There is a breakdown and change near the midsection, which has an air of melancholy about it. The music present is nonetheless stunning, even for music that is clearly for intellectual enjoyment rather than jumping up and down whilst dancing. The middle of the song sounds mysterious and interesting, reminding one of Gypsy-styled culture musically as well. A really superb tune, this sounds different and interesting. A very cool piece of songcraft. There is a brief breakdown, followed by banjo and clarinet afterwards, just in case you couldn’t believe that things weren’t weirder. Vocals re-enter and this music sounds joyous. Were these guys inspired by The Beach Boys 1966 Pet Sounds album? Quite possibly so. The second half pushes through with stunning vocals, acoustic guitar, nimble bass guitar and a real sense of professionalism to the music and musicianship at hand. This gets a little trippy afterwards, with some harmonica, whistling and multitracked vocals. There are a ton of dramatic changes present and is matched with surreal lyrics to boot. A great and simply powerful and amazing listen, just like the rest of the album. Near the end, a prominent organ enters to illuminate this tune, followed by more trippy multitracked vocals. This beats down most of anything that Punk musicians (who loathed this sort of music) made years later in the late 1970s. The organ continues to finish up this piece in a dramatic sense with more multitracked spoken word vocals, very Psychedelic. It ends soon after.

This is yet again proof of the amazing quality of music that The Incredible String Band did during their time as a band. This is better than expected musically and lyrically. It is not simply a band changing to suit the times to make more money. Instead, it is a band changing out of artistic discovery and intent. That is a huge difference overall. This isn’t even the greatest album released by The Incredible String Band, and it retains its freshness and innovation as much as it does today as it did in 1971. Should you listen to this album? Yes, you should, but only after you have heard their earlier works, especially the classic 1967 album The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion.

Brilliant music from a change within.

9/10