Future Games (Spirit album)

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Future Games
Tampa
Genre
Length43:38
LabelMercury
ProducerDr. Sardonicus
Spirit chronology
Farther Along
(1976) 		Future Games
(1977)
...Potato Land

(1981)
Singles from Future Games
  1. "All Along the Watchtower"
    Released: May 1977

Future Games (subtitled A Magical-Kahauna Dream) is the ninth studio album by American rock band Spirit. Released in April 1977, it was their final album for Mercury Records and the last of their four "comeback" releases of the mid-1970s. It is essentially a solo project for frontman Randy California, who recorded it with drummer Ed Cassidy, though he later expressed dissatisfaction with the recording.

An album of psychedelic, rock and pop music, Future Games features 22 short tracks and is characterised by its textural guitar work, disorientating sound, fizzy production, concise melodies, use of sound collage and dialogue samples from American television, film and radio – in particular, the science fiction series Star Trek and the episode "Turnabout Intruder". The record reflects California's interests in science fiction, Hawaii and The Urantia Book; among its songs are two collaborations with Kim Fowley and a cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", which was released as a single.

Housed in a sleeve depicting a half-naked California pulling a macho guitar pose, the album was the follow-up to the commercially unsuccessful Farther Along (1976). Future Games was similarly unsuccessful and did not chart in either the UK or the US. Music critics have drawn attention to the record's eccentric content and conceptual focus. It has since been sited as an early example of a 'collage-pop' album due to its heavy dependence on samples.

Background and recording

Future Games (subtitled A Magical-Kahauna Dream

hedonistic elements of his lifestyle for a fitness regime.[5]

As Farther Along had been a commercial failure, Future Games was crafted in part as a response.

Tampa,[9] in a manner likened by critic Steve Burgess of Dark Star magazine to "sitting at home with a console."[8] The record features California's stepfather Ed Cassidy on drums, while Dr. Demento was on hand as an extra presence during the sessions.[3] "Dr. Sardonicus" is credited as producer.[9] According to Phil McMullen, California had been "germinating, hatching and sifting" over the record since his April 1973 sojourn in Hawaii, where he subsequently moved to.[7] The musician later expressed dissatisfaction with the album, telling an interviewer in June 1978 that he had not listened to it "for a long time". He added "there was a certain point I reached, while making that album, where I felt that there was a real cosmic type of all-involved great sound to it and then I changed it, y'know, 'cause people were telling me not to do this or not to do that – there were a lot of influences in it..."[8] The record was mastered by Wally Traugott.[9]

Composition

Musical style and themes

Captain Kirk from Star Trek
, whose dialogue is sampled on the album.

A

tone colours, acid whimsy, sound collage and multi-textural guitar rock",[6] while critic Max Bell calls it a conceptually confusing album which blends Spirit's "Hendrix meets Zappa" elements into "22 tracks of interwoven dementia".[11]

California's interests in

Urantia and that "the planet is part of a larger galactic federation called Uversa."[12] Lester wrote that California used science fiction "as a means to express his own altered state" and that the use of such themes was well-timed, as the record's release coincided with that of Star Wars and the then-current public demand for "all things interstellar". He also contends that despite being "weird", the "bright and buoyant" album appeared on paper to be a commercial project, due to it being "a series of infectious pop songs" interlaced with snippets from Star Trek, at the time "the world's biggest TV sci-fi show".[3] Overall, Lester describes the record as "pretty druggy, steeped in FX and episodes of Star Trek," noting the heavy amount of sonic trickery but with California's pop sensibilities intact.[3]

Songs

The album opens with "CB Talk", which features music from a

Beach Boys-style vocals and has been compared to "throwaway moments of bliss" from that group's "Magic Transistor Radio" (1973); it is followed by Spirit's heavy version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", a less faithful cover than California's earlier interpretations of "Hey Joe" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'".[11] Preceded by connecting sound effects, the recording shows the musician moving into "his Jimi Hendrix mode" with expressive guitar lines, but is considered to be uncommercial, as with the following song "Would You Believe?",[13] whose intro features unsettling reverbed voices phased between left and right speakers in a manner comparable to Throbbing Gristle.[13]

Excerpts from Star Trek, especially the

Cobo Hall.[11] "Freakout Frog", which has drawn comparison to Richard Meltzer, samples Kermit the Frog of the Muppets and features a "zonked lyric" working incongruently against the riff, while "Monkey See Monkey Do" uses Ronettes-style echo and back-up vocals from Kaptain Kopter and Terry Anderson.[11] According to critic Joe Viglione, it is "a fusion of nutiness and pop that sounds inspired by drugs and a Dr. Demento programme".[13] The final track, "The Journey Nomad", is a protest song about the Cold War and was co-written by California with Tom Hall.[11]

Release and promotion

Future Games was released in April 1977 by

macho guitar pose that has been compared to Ted Nugent,[3][11] while on the back cover, he is depicted half-naked in what Viglione calls "a blatant and egotistical move, almost claiming that he is Spirit."[13] As Viglion highlights, the back cover also gives "thank you" messages to Dr. Demento and Anderson, but not to Gene Roddenberry.[13] Future Games was commercially unsuccessful,[3] failing to chart in either the US or UK.[14] In May 1977, "All Along the Watchtower" was released as a single with "Further Along" as its B-side; this also failed to chart.[3] Following the album's release, Spirit headlined a tour of the United Kingdom, with the Police as support.[16] In August 1977, the original Spirit line-up reunited for a one-off concert which ended acrimoniously when Neil Young, who joined the band for their encore of "Like a Rolling Stone", was knocked off stage by California.[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Great Rock Discography
4/10[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[19]

In a contemporary review for

New Musical Express, Bell deemed Future Games to be Spirit's weirdest and most impenetrable release, featuring "a myriad of sound, effect and stone beauty in composition" that almost result in a 1970s equivalent to Hendrix's Electric Ladyland (1968). He wrote that, unlike the "flashbacks" that constitute the previous two Spirit albums, Future Games is "solid window pane" that openly disregards standard rock techniques, which is why listeners do not "decipher the solos" or follow Cassidy's drumming, and concluded that: "Hearing is believing that Randy California has tripped out on his own genius. Again. If I had my way I'd make you buy this record."[11] Walrus reviewed their album in their section on LPs they consider to "have an extra edge" and commented: "Making it with minimums is a high art. Randy California has developed the ability to suspend sound portraits across a wall using lovely melodies and marvelous images. He creates his own space, he is very conceptual."[20]

Less favorably,

sound effects department might dream up to accompany a film or play about the old days in Haight-Ashbury."[10]

In a retrospective review for

populist. It also explains why Future Games still sounds like the future, 36 years on."[3]

Legacy

Lester states that as Future Games is composed of television and film samples, it is arguably "the first

jeu d'esprit harking back to Spirit of 76 in its loose, freeflowing, impressionistic ethos."[12]

Track listing

All songs written by Randy California except where noted.[22]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."CB Talk" 0:42
2."Stars Are Love" 2:29
3."Kahauna Dream" 2:44
4."Buried in My Brain"California, Fowley, Blair Mooney, Carla Savage2:55
5."Bionic Unit"California, Fowley, Mooney2:52
6."So Happy Now" 0:19
7."All Along the Watchtower"Bob Dylan4:27
8."Would You Believe" 3:13
9."Jack Bond Speaks"California, Burt Shonberg1:17
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Star Trek Dreaming" 2:16
11."Interlude XM" 0:26
12."China Doll"California, Cassidy2:00
13."Hawaiian Times" 0:10
14."Gorn Attack"Timothy Blanton, California2:10
15."Interlude 2001" 0:25
16."Detroit City"California, Cassidy3:55
17."Freakout Frog"California, Cassidy1:57
18."The Romulan Experience" 0:57
19."Monkey See, Monkey Do" 1:39
20."Mt. Olympus" 0:25
21."The Journey of Nomad"California, Tom Hall2:30
22."Ending" 3:50

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of Future Games[9]

  • Randy California – guitar, vocals, bass, engineer
  • Ed Cassidy – drums, percussion
  • Joe Kotleba – synthesizer
  • Terry Anderson – backing vocals ("Monkey See Monkey Do")
  • Blair Mooney – engineer
  • Jim Schubert – art direction
  • Hauser and D'Orio – photography
  • Wally Traugott – mastering

References

  1. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series: Sound Recordings. United States: Library of Congress. Copyright Office. 1978. p. 580. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Bell, Max (June 18, 2014). "California Dreaming: The Wild and Tragic Story of Spirit". Classic Rock. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lester, Paul (5 March 2013). "Hidden treasures: Spirit – Future Games". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  4. ^ Lester, Paul (March 2004). "Spirit: Spirit of '76". Uncut. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Bell, Max (March 1997). "Randy California". Mojo. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e Lester, Paul (July 1997). "Spirit: The Mercury Years". Uncut. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c McMullen, Phil (March 1997). "An Appreciation Of The Career Of Randy California, Who Died On January 2nd, 1997". Ptolemaic Terrascope. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d Burgess, Steve (June 1978). "Spirit: From The Time Coast — Randy California Interviewed". Dark Star. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e Future Games (liner). Spirit. Mercury Records. 1977.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ a b c Clerk, Carol (June 16, 1977). "Sounds Around". Gazette and Post. Acton: 11. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bell, Max (March 19, 1977). "Spirit: Future Games — A Magical Kahauna Dream (Mercury Import)". New Musical Express. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  12. ^
    ISBN 9781844130931
    . Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Viglione, Joe. "Future Games: A Magical-Kahauna Dream Review by Joe Viglione". AllMusic. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  14. ^
    ISBN 1-84195-827-1
    .
  15. ^ a b Tobler, John (2000). "Spirit". Rock's Backpages. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  16. ISBN 1-85828-457-0
    .
  17. ^ Allmusic review
  18. ISBN 1-85227 745 9
    .
  19. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 661.
  20. ^ "New Releases" (PDF). Walrus: 30. February 16, 1977. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  21. ^ Marsh, Dave (March 19, 1977). "Record reviews (Rolling Stone)". The Morning Record and Journal: A 7.
  22. ^ "Spirit – Future Games (A Magical-Kahauna Dream) (1977, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1977.
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