Andrew Gold’s pastiche psychedelic masterpiece The Fraternal Order of the All – Greetings from Planet Love will be released on CD on July 28th, 2023 via Esoteric Recordings.

Initially released in 1997, the album was conceived by Andrew Gold as a tribute to late 60s psychedelic rock. His remarkable compositions were wonderful stylistic evocations of artists such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds and The Doors.

The project saw Gold create the fictitious band The Fraternal Order of the All, in reality Andrew playing most of the instrumentation and singing, along with guest musicians such as 10cc legend Graham Gouldman.

Also available as a limited edition double LP, it is pressed on 10-inch colored splatter vinyl and features a newly designed lavish gatefold sleeve.

In truth, and much like us all, I wouldn’t wonder, I have always had a warm spot for some of Gold’s hits, namely the high-school buddies anthem Thank You For Being A Friend (later misappropriated by the TV show Golden Girls) and Lonely Boy, another high-school anthem for guys like me.

I was almost an outcast, saved from that fate only by my own well-disciplined and valuable but small following which was made up of boys and girls who had been stupidly rejected by the cliques which I had no use for whatsoever.

But, I digress, for I had always considered Gold to be a nice sounding one trick pony, talented but limited in depth and staying power. That was before I heard Rainbow People in the mid-naughties, and started tracking it down, and ended up with the title of a wonderful album I couldn’t buy for any amount of money for several years!

As time passed, I discovered that Rainbow People was part of an album Gold produced merely to satisfy his own creative urges, and perhaps satisfy a few of his rabid fanboys. That album’s name varied over the years, much like the sightings of the Yeti, but is generally known as Fraternal Order of the All -- a make-believe band where Gold made himself the lead singer/guitarist/instrumentalist of just about everything, just to have all kinds of sonic fun spoofing the great masters of sixties through eighties rock and roll!

Now loving restored and remastered by Esoteric Recordings in the UK (under Cherry Red Records), this 20-track recording is as magnificent, as cultured, as fun and as musically impassioned as I have ever heard before.

Clearly falling into the niche of vanity production, sure, why not, perhaps mainly because there are scant credits for other artists besides Gold himself, that does not matter one single iota, as the album is so clean and so much fun to listen to that you really don’t care if there was a cast of a one or thousands having made it!

As for the music itself, the British rock, Beatles-styled psychedelic sounds truly abound on this album, in the production values, instrumental work, and songwriting style. Highlights include Tuba Rye and Will’s Son/Balloon in the Sky (with its Beach Boys-like vocal intro), Rainbow People, Freelove Baby, the three instrumentals that help the mood along (Swirl, Twirl, and Whirl, lest we forget the Groovy Party at Jimmy’s Magic Pad), and the trippy title track, of course.

1. Greetings from Planet Love 2. Rainbow People 3. Love Tonight 4. Chasing My Tail 5. Swirl 6. Tuba Rye and Will’s Son / Balloon in the Sky 7. King of Showbiz 8. Whirl 9. Freelove Baby 10. Groovy Party at Jimmy’s Magic Pad 11. It’s Beautiful 12. Wink of the Third Eye 13. It Has No Eyes But Sight 14. Twirl 15. Space and Time 16. Time Is Standing Still 17. Ride the Snake 18. Mr Plastic Business Man 19. Ccosmicc Ccarnivall 20. Tomorrow Drop Dead

Andrew Gold Official Website