SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RAIN PARADE – CRASHING DREAM (DELUXE REISSUE)

RAIN PARADE
CRASHING DREAM (DELUXE REISSUE)
LABEL 51 RECORDS

Paisley Underground flourished in Los Angeles in the 80s as a response to cotton candy electro dance that was dominating the charts at the time (think Kaja Goo Goo) and punk not going anywhere. The goal was to revive those sounds of the late 60s that the 70s mostly ignored and to give them the perspective of (then) current times.

Rain Parade were certainly one of the more prominent exponents of Paisley Underground, leaving behind them some excellent neo-psych albums, Crashing Dream, surely being one of them.

The original version of the album, no matter how good, was marred by disagreements with their then record label it seems, as they label this version ‘lost double album’. This new version is not only remastered but has an additional full album of previously unreleased, live, and alternate versions of tracks recorded at sessions and venues.

Yet, with all the additions the key question remains—how does the original album sound 40 years on and do all these new additions bring something new worth the listener’s attention? The answer to both questions is a resounding yes for a band that should have fared even better than it did.

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