British Psychedelia, Psychedelic Pop/Rock: Complex - Complex 1970 (1999 Wooden Hill)

Complex were an English band formed in 1968 consisting of lead guitarist Brian Lee, lead vocalist and drummer Tony Shakespeare, bass guitarist Lance Fogg and rhythm guitarist Tony Fisher. After some initial personnel changes, in early 1970 the line-up consisted of Lee, Shakespeare and Fogg with the addition of Steve Coe on keyboards. They were based in Blackpool in North-West England.

In November 1970 they cut their first album, entitled simply "Complex", which was released in May 1971. Originally devised as a demonstration record (demo) for bringing the band to the attention of major record companies for the purpose of obtaining a recording contract, it was recorded at "107 Studio" in St. Annes, engineered and mixed down by Graham Atkinson. 99 (vinyl) copies of the album were pressed by Craighall Studios in Scotland. The reason for such a limited release was the imposition of Purchase Tax on quantities greater than 99. Due to a manufacturing defect, the sleeve was slightly smaller than the record, so plain white sleeves were used to store both the album and sleeve. The album went on to become quite famous in "psych" album circles - "... one of the 'Holy Trinity' items of rare British psychedelia ..." and at one stage was fetching $6,000 on eBay for each copy.
Later in 1971, they recorded a second album, The Way We Feel, released in August that year.

An unauthorised bootleg of the self-titled debut was made in 1991, released on Swank Records, but the quality was poor. 1999 limited-edition re-releases of both Complex and The Way We Feel were authorised by the band on Wooden Hill records (Vinyl and CD versions). This was of much better quality soundwise, had bonus tracks and was quickly sold out. In 2011, Complex was reissued on CD without the bonus tracks but including an interview with the band members. The following year, Spanish label Guerssen reissued both albums on 180g vinyl, with the original artwork. (wiki)

The album starts with the song ''Funny Feeling'', a wonderful piece of psychedelic pop. The next song ''Message from the Year 2000'' is wonderful Baroque Pop. Green Eyed Lucy'' then picks up the tempo with a bass organ accompaniment and is a great psychedelic rocker. ''Josie'' surprises with reggae rhythms and comes across as pretty poppy. A song you wouldn't necessarily expect on this album. ''Witch's Spell'' is a hardrock song that is not bad, but also not really extraordinary. The next song ''Norwegian Butterfly'' convinces with wonderful lead vocals and hookline. ''Self Declaration'' is baroque pop with 'Doors' organ. Images Blue'' is great psychedelic pop and one of my favourite songs on the album. Wow!!! The band then picks up the tempo again in the song ''Storm On Way''. Madamoiselle Jackie'' sounds like British folk with French chanson. ''Live For The Minute'' is a rocker who convinces with strong vocals and good hooks. The finale is ''Hush'', that I find a bit disappointing, because it is too much oriented to the original. Somewhat surprising, the band proves on the album how versatile they are. Here on the 'Wooden Hill' release are three alternate versions of ''Images Blue'', ''Green-Eyed Lucy'' and ''Norwegian Butterfly''. Enjoy.(Frank)

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