International relevance: ***
Ranked #21 on the blog's Top 25 list
”Resan” is one of those incredibly
rare major label releases, with copies in good nick being in the same
rarity league as Life's 1971 album. Actually, ”Resan” is like the
inofficial second Life album, with guitarist Anders Nordh, bass
player Paul Sundlin and drummer Thomas Rydberg all appearing on the
album. While both Nordh and Sundlin have co-written some of the
tracks on the album, it's more than anything Rydberg's project.
Not as heavy as its informal
predecessor, ”Resan” relies a lot more on a West Coast sound
approaching Tripsichord, David Crosby and Quicksilver Messenger
Service in style. The songs are well-crafted, here and there with
rich harmony vocals enhancing their inherent dreamy qualities. Some
tracks take use of Nordh's heavy guitars, such as ”Hunger och
svält” (one of the lesser tracks on the album, much too similar to
The Impressions' ”People Get Ready”) and ”Solens vän”, but
the overall feel is far more laidback than that of ”Life”. And in
the end, it's a much more rewarding and splendorous album than
”Life”.
I think of the collectors market as a
stage often open to an utterly vulgar behaviour, with inflated prices
causing sensible people to become competitive, greedy predators. At
the time of writing, there's a NM copy for sale on Discogs at €1,500.
That's appalling, no matter how rare an album. Still, I understand
why collectors lose their minds over ”Resan” – it is, after
all, a masterpiece. Thankfully, the album has been reissued, making
it obtainable even to us without a fancy house to sell for big bucks
or a mother to kill for inheritance.
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