1968 Garage Rock Hippie Pop: Faine Jade - Introspection: A Faine Jade Recital 1968 (1993 Sandiland)

 It's hard to imagine that a 20-year-old New York guitarist fresh out of garageland would have been infatuated with Syd Barrett in 1968. However, Faine Jade's 1968 album sounds as if he was besotted with Pink Floyd's first LP, which was barely known in the States at the time. Jade's vocals and songwriting uncannily evoke an American Syd Barrett with their evocative, cryptic lyrics, thick organs, and psychedelic guitar lines. "On the Inside There's a Middle" and particularly "Cold Winter Sun" never fail to inspire comparisons to Barrett when played for those unfamiliar with Jade. Faine,

it's fair to say, is somewhat blunted in comparison to Barrett's madcap edge. More laid-back and grounded, he also deals more explicitly with hippie-era concerns like being hassled for being different and the necessity of being compassionate toward your brother, without being sappy or preachy. [Reissues contain remasterings from the first-generation tapes by Faine himself, and also add a few bonus cuts: backing instrumental demo tracks for a few of the songs, the previously unreleased brief instrumental "Piano Interlude," and a 1993 "reunion" performance. The extra tracks are of only minor interest, and it's disappointing that the Introspection-era demos released on It Ain't True were not included as well.](R.Unterberger, allmusic.com)

The greatest resemblance of these two musicians is perhaps in the similar vocal style. But to deduce a consequent similarity of the music, e. g. through the use of a swelling organ, is quite puzzling to me. There is a clear lack of the uncompromisingness with which Barrett enveloped his sound collages without thinking about an audience. And I do not mean this in a negative way. This is an excellent Garage Rock album with not only lyrical but also musical reminiscences to the hippie culture of 1968. Also the wonderful melodies here make this record a listening pleasure. Conclusion: A wonderful garage rock hippie pop album.(Frank)

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