CMU - Open Spaces (Reissue) (1971/2008)

A weird eclectic group that ended up recording two albums on a folk specialist label Transatlantic, CMU is not a folk rock group as often described. Their line-up was never really stable during the group's existence, but at the time of their debut album, they were a sextet featuring male and female vocals (something very common in folk and folk rock circles), but also multi-instrumentalists like guitar/flute or keyboards/guitars/violin.
Opening on the quirky and mad Henry track, CMU offers a cool eclectic music that borders pop music, but remains "rock" enough to interest most progheads, with plenty of tempo changes and fun twists. Voodoo Man is a blues with an early-Doors vibe. As you'll guess by reading the title of the following track, we have another blues-rock track, this time more pedestrian and acoustic and overstaying a bit its welcome, even if it has a controlled chaos passage and ending. Chantecleer is probably the most experimental track of the album with its electronics twiddlings..