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Tomorrow — Permanent Dream
(Spirit of Unicorn SOUMCD065, 1967/2023, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-10-02

Permanent Dream Cover art

Many readers will know Tomorrow as the psychedelic band Steve Howe was in before he joined Yes, a group that released a single album during their existence. Here are the things to know about Permanent Dream:

  • According to Howe, this is the album the band would have made if they had the means.
  • It contains remixed and remastered versions of all the songs on the original Tomorrow album with the exceptions of “Colonel Brown,” “Shy Boy,” and “Auntie Mary's Dress Shop” but adding “Why,” “Claramount Lake,” and “Caught in a Web,” two of which were single B-sides.
  • It also has two live tracks, “Now Your Time Has Come” and “Shotgun and the Duck.”
  • The sound quality is really extraordinary on the studio tracks, with brilliant clarity and separation of the instruments, conclusively proving that Tomorrow was indeed one of the best bands of the British psychedelic era, with a fierce creativity and energetic delivery far from the more genteel work of some of their contemporaries like The Pretty Things, The Zombies, and The Beatles.
  • There are liner notes written by Howe and drummer Twink Adler (not available to me as a reviewer).
  • The new cover art seems to be divisive. Certainly the original art looks a bit dated now, but this looks a lot like a late 80s Yes cover.

This leaves a few questions for individual listeners to decide. If you already own the original album, it may be worth getting for the improved sound and the extra tracks, but given the missing tracks, you’ll want to hang on to the original. If you don’t have the original album, Permanent Dream is an excellent introduction to the band, but if you end up really liking it, you’ll want to seek out the other three songs. There you have it — you have everything you need to know about this release.

Filed under: Reissues, 2023 releases, 1967 recordings

Related artist(s): Steve Howe, Tomorrow, Twink (John Alder)

More info
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/tomorrow-permanent-dream-cd-edition/

 

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