Description
Help is the sole album by the American psychedelic rock band Azitis, independently released on Elco Record Company in 1971. The album was recorded at Pavilion Studios in Vallejo, California; with John W. Cole producing.
Azitis features Dennis Sullivan on piano and organ, Michael Welch on guitars and flute, Donald Lower on bass, and Steve Nelson on percussion.
Azitis (Pronounced “As it is”) is one very few Christian-themed albums that is solidly psychedelic in sound from beginning to end. Every song from this four-man Sacramento band’s custom LP is a winner, saturated through and through with psychy swirling organ sounds. Add to that strong melodies, gentle vocals, fuzz, phasing, reverb, wah-wah, flute and you’ve got a virtual time machine to the flower power era. The responsible parties are Dennis Sullivan (organ, piano), Michael Welch (guitar, flute), Steve Nelson (percussion) and Donald Lower (bass guitar). «(Creation) Lord I Saw You Cry» starts things off with dissonant organ crescendo, chanting and wah-wah guitar, followed by the melodic ’60s pop/psych of «There Is An Answer» and «Who Will Be», the later propelled by heavily fuzzed bass guitar. «The Prophet» is one of the album’s most powerful tracks, reaching intense fuzz/organ peaks as it deals with Revelation themes. «Time Has Passed», trips out with moody surreal passages that sound like they were lifted from the middle of Iron Butterfly’s «In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida», followed by «From This Place», another killer track that builds to climaxes of thunderous drums, discordant guitar strums and surging frenzied organ. «Hope To Save» brings in piano and acoustic guitar for a lyrical ballad. That leaves the apocalyptic «Judgement Day» with its varied guitar effects and eerie echoed proclamations to close the album. Exceptional cover art of a gold cross emerging from planet earth. Mega rare, too. I can’t emphasize enough how cool this album is. It’s a true five-star monster if ever there was one. Re-issued on both vinyl and CD. The band also had a couple 45’s with non-LP tracks. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th Edition]
When Cross Rhythms originally reviewed this CD re-issue of a classic piece of Jesus music from 1970 our reviewer clearly didn’t get it. It’s taken us years but we’ve finally got around to writing, we believe, a more balanced review. This obscure Sacramento-based four-piece offered full on psychedelic rock. Add to their strong melodies haunting vocals, lashings of fuzz guitar, plenty of flute interjections and some funky wah-wah playing and you have an album that though clearly a period piece deserves all the praise it gets from today’s band of fanatical pop/psyche collectors. «The Prophet» deals with Revelation themes aided by fuzz guitar and Hammond organ; «Times Past» has some surreal passages vaguely reminiscent of «In-a-gada-da-vida»; while «Hope To Save» brings in piano and acoustic guitar for a lilting ballad. There is still time for the apocalyptic «Judgment Day» featuring varied guitar effects and some eerie vocal sounds. Apparently the original vinyl on the Elco label will set you back hundreds of pounds, that’s if you can find it. All in all, ‘Help’ is truly an historic piece of groundbreaking Jesus music. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, May 2011]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/help/4577255)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “(Creation) Lord I Saw You Cry” – 6:09
A2. “There Is An Answer” – 3:43
A3. “Who Will Be” – 3:22
A4. “The Prophet” – 6:08
Side Two
B1. “Time Has Passed” – 4:56
B2. “From This Place” – 3:27
B3. “Hope To Save” – 3:59
B4. “Judgement Day” – 4:45
Note: The band released a two-sided 7-inch vinyl single on Elco featuring “From This Place”, b/w “Hope To Save” (both were album tracks featured on the Help LP). Previously the band also had released the two-sided 7-inch vinyl single “Life Worth Living”, b/w “Questions Why” in co-operation with Capitol Records.
Life Worth Living + Questions Why (7-inch single)
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