The Mirror 1974 Album

Spooky Tooth

Well, the last so-called classic-era Spooky Tooth album would not be complete without a few more lineup changes, and these are fairly interesting. First, Bryson Graham returned, replacing Mike Kellie. Second, and more important, Mike Patto was the replacement for Harrison as second lead vocalist, and he also brought in a bass player by the name of Val Burke. Unlike Harrison, Patto was quite the capable songwriter, and furthermore, was noted far and wide for his quirky personality, having been in lots of bands since the early 60's, including one named after him which was moderately successful. It would remain to be seen how his ego would mix with Wright's. As it turned out, not very well, because the new lineup recorded just this one album, toured, and apparently broke up a month after it was released. But the album itself is pretty good, mainly because Patto's presence seemed to have injected some much-needed energy into the slumbering Spooky Tooth mound. Most of the material generally fits into a nice arena-rock mold which is quite radio-friendly, but at the same time, not so banal that it would turn hard rock fans off. "Fantasy Satisfier" and "Two Time Love", the opening two tracks, fit the above description to a tee - dumb, sex-obsessed lyrics, but lots of good time grooves to be had. The better material here are these mystical ballads - moderate pre-cursors to Wright's solo career, I guess - like "Higher Circles", "I'm Alive", and the title track, where him and the band really gets out there on a psychedelic limb, kind of like the old days.