(Psychedelic rock) Lovecraft - Valley of the Moon (1970) - 2008, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Following H.P. Lovecraft's collapse the band members scattered. Singer George Edwards stayed in California trying to form a new band, before giving up and returning to Chicago where he did some production work, including recording some material with friend Terry Callier. Drummer Michael Tegza also returned to Chicago where he joined The Bangor Flying Circus. The band signed with ABC's Dunhill subsidiary, recording an album, before calling it quits.

In 1969 Edwards and Tegza decided to resurrect the band. As the lone carryovers from the original lineup, they started recruiting musicians, eventually rounded out their lineup with former Aorta bass player Michael Been and lead guitarist Jim Donlinger. The foursome returned to California, settled into a big communal home, subsequently recruiting ex-Buckinghams keyboard player Marty Grebb and started rehearsing. Having shortened their name to 'Lovecraft', the band were signed by Reprise. Naturally another personnel disaster struck; founding member Edwards dropping out of the project. In spite of his departure the group continued on, recording 1969's self-produced, "Valley of the Moon" as a quartet. Musically the set proved a major disappointment on the heels of earlier efforts. With Donlinger and Been contributing the majority of material (Grebb kicking in three tracks), material such as 'Never Gonna Go Back', 'Two Step Tussle', 'Hopefully We'll All Remain Together' and 'Dear' found what was essentially a totally new band somehow managing to replicate some of H.P. Lovecraft's trademarked vocals harmonies, but losing much of the band's unique sound in favor of a commercial mixture of guitar rock. Certainly not as distinctive as earlier efforts, the collection was still worth a listen though it did little commercially. - rateyourmusic.com