The Psych Ward–In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly
The Psych Ward–In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly’s second album shares the name with their only hit song, the 17-minute epic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”. Defined by distinctively heavy keyboards and a distorted guitar sound that gave the music a hard edge, the album probably sounded trippier in 1968 than it does today simply because there wasn’t much out there at the time to compare it to. Heavier (ironically) than the band’s debut Heavy, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was innovative, yet Iron Butterfly is rarely cited as an influence. The reason for the band’s lack of reverence is up for conjecture, but it most likely has to do with their reliance on cliché. The album ventures into hokey territory at times and, while that can be charming, that’s its curse.
The reason for the band’s lack of reverence is up for conjecture, but it most likely has to do with their reliance on cliché.
One of the six songs on the album is called “Flowers and Beads”, which could hardly scream “cliché” louder. To make matters worse, the song has nothing to do with flowers and beads. It’s a love song that just name-checks those items in an apparent effort to seem hip.
With its pulsing beat, harmony vocals, classical-sounding keyboard breaks, and tagline of “I just want to make you happy”, “Most Anything You Want” is an enjoyable number that is my favorite on the album apart from the title track.
Composed by vocalist/keyboardist Doug Ingle, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”, the grandiloquent, final cut on the album, is perhaps the most infamous song from the psychedelic 60s. It’s rife with excess and often ridiculed for it, but the song is loved by many. It’s an epic jam that features a classic and highly recognizable riff. There’s an extended drum solo in the middle of the tune and a lovely keyboard section in the latter half of the song, which also features some fine guitar playing by Erik Brann, who was just 17 when the album was released.
Supposedly, the band was so stoned during the recording of the song that they didn’t know how to end it, which is why it continued for 17 minutes. Given the spirit of the times, that sounds plausible.
In any case, the song and the album are classics, crucial to the development of hard rock, and undeniable artifacts from the original psychedelic era.
I encourage everyone to read Serene Dominic’s comical take on this album from his column Psychedelic Skeletons in the Closet in this publication.
Related: The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of the Golden Age
The Top 100 Psychedelic Rock Artists of All Time
The Top 200 Psychedelic Songs from the Original Psychedelic Era
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