Only days after the pope announces plans to release a God-themed prog-rock album, I stumble across this similar effort by Golden Avatar, dedicated to the wonders of the Hare Krishna's own Vedic beliefs. What is ostensibly a fairly standard folk-prog affair, is lifted into the realms of oddity by both the pronounced nature of its theme - replete with multiple "Hare Krishna" chants per song - and its propensity for cheesy, orchestral jazz and funk sweeps. The lyrical content - often the downfall o f such albums - manages to avoid any horrendous mis-steps (despite repeatedly referencing 'the soul' and other potential cliches), and there are some genuinely epic riffs underpinning it all. Far catchier than many of the more famous examples of the genre, and yet concurrently far less pompous, the album is the kind that makes you wonder why it relishes in relative obscurity, whilst the likes of Yes!, ELP, or even Pink Floyd have become household names. I suspect the answer lies in its more heart-felt approach - though offering the convoluted trimmings the prog genre is known for, its content is grounded in a very real, very earnest belief in its subject matter. It also has a fine drawing of some fairies on the front cover.
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