Gandalf's self-titled album has some attractive baroque-
psychedelia with a spacey air, though its quality depends 
very much on the standard of the material. Generally 
they're better the more they rely on the slightly weird 
and spacey production, as on "Scarlet Ribbons" and their 
cover of Tim Hardin's "Hang on to a Dream." On tracks 
like "You Upset the Grace of Living" there's a nice 
cusp between pop, progressive rock and psychedelia. "Can 
You Travel in the Dark Alone," one of the few originals 
(by Peter Sando), is nice, harmonic sunshine pop with a 
slightly experimental feel, along the lines of some of 
the better things being done by Californian cult figures 
like Gary Usher and Curt Boettcher at the time. Other 
selections are nothing special, however. — Richie 
Unterberger