The Millennium - Begin (CD)

All Music Guide

This record can truly be described as a bona fide lost classic. The brainchild of producers Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher, the group was formed out of the remnants of their previous studio project, Sagittarius, which was preceded by yet another aggregation, the Ballroom. On The Millennium Begin, hard rock, breezy ballads, and psychedelia all merge into an absolutely air-tight concept album, easily on the level of other, more widely popular albums from the era such as The Notorious Byrd Brothers, which share not only Usher's production skills, but similarities in concept and construction. The songwriting, mostly by Joey Stec and Curt Boettcher, is sterling and innovative, and yet never strays into the area of psychedelic overindulgence which marred so many records from this era. "It's You," for example, by Stec, is as powerful and fully realized as you'll ever hear from the era, easily on par with songs by the Beach Boys and the Byrds, and, yes, even the Beatles. Begin was at the time t...he most expensive album Columbia ever produced, and it sounds like it. An absolute necessity for any fan of late-'60s psychedelia and a wonderful rediscovery that sounds as vital today as it did the day it was released. [Disc three of the 2001 Sundazed three-CD release Magic Time: The Millennium/Ballroom Recordings includes everything from the Begin album, as well as the unreleased "Blight"/"Just About the Same" single that was added to the 1990 Begin reissue, and the single versions of "It's You," "I Just Want to Be Your Friend," "5 A.M.," "Prelude," "To Claudia on Thursday," and "There Is Nothing More to Say." The other two CDs have tracks from other acts Boettcher was involved with during the late 1960s (most of them by his prior group, the Ballroom), as well as previously unreleased instrumental versions of three songs from the Begin album: "It Won't Always Be the Same," "There Is Nothing More to Say," and "To Claudia on Thursday."] - Matthew Greenwald, All Music Guide Read more Less