The Pretty Things - Balboa Island - CD

The Pretty Things run through the body of Rock & Roll like a backbone. Fundamental yet invisible. Throughout a career lasting more than 40 years, what stands out is their strength, self-belief and indelible power - all required to sustain this great cult act that is as relevant today as it was when they first prowled the stage in 1964, sporting the world's longest hair and the worst Rock & Roll attitude ever seen. The Pretty Things were founded by lead vocalist Phil May and lead guitarist Dick Taylor who was the Rolling Stones' original bass player until he left to form The Pretties and return to playing guitar. Much wilder than the Stones, along the way The Pretty Things created some memorable moments: jailed for possession of a 12 guage shotgun, banned (still) from Australia & New Zealand, originators of the world's first rock opera - SF SORROW, (recorded alongside SGT PEPPER'S and the Floyd's PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN, in Abbey Road), recorded PARACHUTE - Rolling Stone Magazine's first 1970's Record of the Year, and were the first signing to Led Zeppelin's seminal Swan Song label to name but a few. In 2006, The Dirty Pretty Things pay homage by 'borrowing' their name.
And now, in this - their 11th studio album - The Pretties have opened their deepest vein with BALBOA ISLAND. The power, intensity, depth and passion of this record is unsurpassed by any of their contemporaries. The Stones, Van, The Who - none of the class of '64 has enough gas left in the tank to make a record like this. The sheer scale of 'Blues For Robert Johnson' and the bleak landscape of 'It Ain't Easy' slice through preconceptions like a switchblade, while 'The Beat Goes On' could have been recorded in 1966, the energy is so vibrant, and with the stadium sized rock of protest song 'All Light Up' (already the anthem of choice for the anti-smoking-ban brigade and smoker's rights organisation Forest) The Pretty Things prove that 'rebellion' is irrevocably in their blood. Phil May's astonishing, disturbing voice, overlooked for so long by the movers and shakers, is a force of nature - unique in its power, depth and delivery. BALBOA ISLAND features 13 new songs, mostly originals but notably includes an acoustic cover of the early Bob Dylan song 'The Ballad of Hollis Brown'. This is a black record - doomed, brooding, powerful, mysterious and full of edge. It may just be the greatest record The Pretty Things have ever made and maybe now they'll finally get some of the luck they always deserved but never, ever seemed to find - "If it wasn't for bad luck, they wouldn't have no luck at all".