Breathe Awhile

Recorded in 1969.
Personnel: Robert Ellwood (vocals, guitar); Miguel Sergides (vocals, 12-string guitar); Alan Ellwood (vocals, organ); Graham Best (vocals); John Albert Parker (drums).
Photographer: Michael H. Evans.
Arranger: Arcadium.
Arcadium's sole album, like that of many also-ran rare psychedelic LPs of the late '60s, was something of a bad trip soundtrack in its reliance upon minor melodies, swirling churchy organs, loud distorted guitars, pained vocals, hints of blues, and ghostly harmonies. Sole songwriter and lead vocalist Miguel Sergides had an enigmatic, sometimes unfathomable worldview, but one that always projected discontent and struggle. Aside from being derivative of bigger psychedelic groups with somewhat similar heavy sounds and troubled attitudes, the record suffers from an overreliance on minor-key tunes and a lack of sufficient variety between the individual tracks. As was the fashion of the day, as well, some of the tracks went on for seven-to-twelve minutes, with the ambitious "Birth, Life and Death" clocking in at ten minutes, for example. The CD reissue on Akarma adds two tracks from a non-LP 1969 single that sound very much like the ones that made the album. ~ Richie Unterberger