Where Is The Line

In 2013, Future was re-released on the Big Beats label featuring outtakes, alternate versions, and extensive liner notes by Alec Palao.
Though the Seeds' third album, 1967's Future, was pegged by critics as the band's attempt to ride the wave of baroque/psychedelic/orchestral magic the Beatles defined with Sgt. Pepper's, the recording was actually complete before the release of the Beatles' far more popular breakthrough album, making it impossible for the influence to touch the uncannily similarly minded flower power tones of Future. The Seeds had their own relatively huge smash with the raw high-pressure garage thumper "Pushin' Too Hard" the year before, and saw nothing wrong with recycling that tune's melody on more than a few songs on their first two albums…

This vocal quartet originally started life as an extension of jazz band the Hi-Lo’s. From that prominent '50s band came Don Shelton, who decided to form Singers Unlimited after the Hi-Lo’s broke up in 1964. After retreating to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked on a series of television commercials, he enlisted fellow Hi-Lo’s veteran Gene Puerling of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to join him in the city in 1967. The group was formed along with Len Dresslar and Bonnie Herman, with the express intention of recording commercials in the doo wop/vocal group idiom. Shelton’s connections in the industry ensured the group was able to exploit the market successfully, and lucrative work rolled in. However, the 30-second snatches of songs hardly satisfied their artistic ambitions, and when they found themselves with studio time left over after one session, they recorded a take on the Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill." Through visiting jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, the demo of the a cappella recording was passed to MPS Records in Germany.

Saul may not be Handel's most dramatically coherent oratorio, but it is full of moments of high drama, and this recording with Harry Christophers, leading the Sixteen and an outstanding group of soloists, does a terrific job of making those moments throb with vitality. The singers bring an operatic intensity to their roles. Baritone Christopher Purves is a grippingly anguished protagonist, and his voice has plenty of power and authority. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly's David is vocally exceptional, a model of dignity and warmth, and her dramatic performance is subtly modulated. As Saul's daughters Merab and Michal, Elizabeth Atherton and Joélle Harvey have clearly differentiated voices and each brings a focused, vibrant soprano to her character. Among the principals, only tenor Robert Murray as Jonathan is disappointing for the unevenness of his vocal production.