Where has this album been all my life? I’ve heard a lot of Peter Green, but never anything quite like this. Free-form jazz/rock – hard psych – blues-rock with some of the most wicked guitar work you’ll ever hear. In fact, all of the musicians put on amazing performances, even though Green’s blistering guitar is the stand-out.
Each track here is instrumental, and each carries its own flavor. The opener, Bottom’s Up, features a driving blues-rock jam with Green running cricles around his fretboard. Timeless Time is slower, more psychedelic in nature, with a slight avant-garde jazz feeling. Descending scale is another psychedelic workout that’s more like a trip than a song, with each player finding room to explore. Burnt Foot is a more straight ahead, driving heavy blues rock piece with some heavy drumming and killer bass lines. Hidden Game starts out sounding almost like mid 70’s jammin’ Grateful Dead, with Green’s guitar tone eerily like Jerry’s. Then the song slows down and becomes yet another psychedelic soaked ride, reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s more piano dominated tracks, with a slow yet wicked solo. The final cut, and title track, The End of the Game, is simply a masterpiece. Green and company break out the free-form element in the extreme. Green’s guitar howls, moans, wails, cries and even sighs, all the while surrounded by hazy bass and crashing, scattered drumming.
However impressed I had been with the great guitar work of Mr. Peter Green, after hearing this gem of an album I’m even more impressed. Highly recommended. —Doug
