Young Flowers - Take Warning: The Complete Studio Recordings [2CD] (2012)

Both of Young Flowers' studio albums (1968's Blomsterpistolen and 1969's No. 2) are included in their entirety on this two-CD compilation, which also has a 1967 non-LP single and the three songs they contributed to the 1970 Quiet Days in Clichy soundtrack, as well as three live September 1969 recordings. With English-language liner notes, it's the definite collection of this Danish psychedelic group. As the back cover points out, they were "the first Danish hippy band, the first home-grown rock band to sing in Danish [though the majority of their recordings were in English], and the first to play the States." These are substantial achievements, so it makes a reviewer feel like a party pooper to point out that in many respects, they were a run-of-the-mill late-'60s act. Their debts to Jimi Hendrix and Cream, in both the song structures and the guitar distortion (particularly in the wah-wah department), can be overwhelming, especially on their debut album. Those influences remain present on No. 2, but that LP had more diversity, with the pensive "And Who I Should Be 4" showing off some freaky phasing, "Calypso 4" going into (you guessed it) calypso, and "Kragerne Vender" boasting some flute-paced cacophony à la Hendrix's "If Six Was Nine." Much of their output is rather ponderous psychedelic blues rock, however, albeit with a slightly over-the-top manic edge at times. Even Bob Dylan's "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" (one of the live 1969 tracks) is given a heavy blues-rock treatment, while the buzzing boogie of "25 Øre," whether intentionally or not, recalls Canned Heat's "On the Road Again." They're better when leaning in the direction of Cream's more tuneful material, as they do on "To You" and the 1967 single "Like Birds"/"City of Friends."