Kingston Wall - II (Psychedelic Rock)

In the early 90s, where grunge and eurodance were all the rage, the Finnish psychedelic rock band Kingston Wall really stood out with its sound. The sound was considered retro at the time, and it drew from 60s-70s psychedelic rock, hard rock, prog and Middle Eastern music. This album really showed a more refined sound compared to their debut album and allowed their diverse influences to really shine.

Sadly Kingston Wall dissolved some time after the release of their Tri-Logy album in 1994. The band's frontman Petri Walli left for India. Shortly after his return, on June 28th 1995, he jumped to his death from the tower of Töölö church in central Helsinki. Rest in Peace.

As told by AllMusic:

II was the album where Kingston Wall most successfully merged their hard rock, progressive, psychedelic, and Middle Eastern sounds. Much of this owes to the bandmembers' instrumental interplay, which is given freer rein and allowed to stretch out more than on their other two albums. Ranging from the soaring guitar (acoustic and electric) and violin piece "Istwan" to the Zeppelin-esque blues of "And It's All Happening" and "Shine on Me," to the high octane jamming of "Palekastro," the stylistic palette is varied. Unfortunately, this variation also accounts for the one downright bad song, "Love Tonight" (think "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"-era Rod Stewart or bad Scorpions). On the other hand, Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" is actually a somewhat successful merging of disco and hard rock. The reissue bonus disc is composed of "Between the Trees" and "She's So Fine," originally from the "We Cannot Move" single, plus a live track, "Can't Get Through."