Six psychedelic rock albums that deserve more love

The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle

The Zombies started out riding the initial wave of The British Invasion, having big hits with "She’s Not There" (1964) and "Time of The Season" (1968). The latter was a precursor for their album masterpiece Odessey and Oracle, released the same year.

Still, even with the success of the single, the album never caught the ear of the wider audience at the time but gradually developed a cult following, particularly among the other artists. In many ways, this album, one of the best-developed concept albums of the time, brought in a series of experimental elements within the music, presenting The Zombies as one of the progenitors of what is known as baroque pop.

Along with intriguing instrumentation and arrangements, bringing in wider use of elements of classical music and jazz, it was the vocal harmonies that truly caught the ear.

And while the album doesn’t feature the guitar histrionics and spaced-out elements often associated with psych rock of the late sixties it is conceptual elements and experimentation that went into other directions that set it apart, not only at the time, but still as one of rock benchmarks.