Group 1850-Paradise Now (1969)

The Netherlands is a fertile ground for brilliant progressive rock bands, as evidenced by Focus, Kayak, Ekseption, Golden Earring, Solution, and Pantheon, just a few examples of the vast array of bands that emerged in the 1970s. However, Group 1850 has the distinction of being, if not the first, certainly one of the seminal bands in their country oriented towards the avant-garde genre. They were already active in 1966, playing concerts in their local area, and their album "Agemo's Trip to Mother Earth" (1968) was the first official, purely conceptual album to come out of the land of tulips. A year after this debut, they released their second album, "Paradise Now", where the band, led by keyboardist Peter Sjardin (the only constant member of the group throughout its career), showcased a rich blend of psychedelic and space rock, a sound that in some ways links them to early Pink Floyd. An album where atmospheric keyboards, dissonant guitars, voices under hallucinogenic effects, and avant-garde and improvised passages with subtle folk and blues moments predominate.