Nirvana
's third and final album for
Island
(sometimes titled
Dedicated to Markos III
in discographies) was extremely rare in its first 1969 LP issue, the U.K. release limited to a few hundred promo copies. The group's cutesiness was toned down considerably for this LP, though they were still offering the kind of light orchestrated
pop-rock
that they had on their previous
records, with some
jazz
and
classical
influences. It's a more mature product than their first two albums, but a little tired-sounding, and lacking in the more psychedelic ambition that produced some of their best songs, like
"Rainbow Chaser"
"I Believe in Magic."
In fact they sometimes sound rather like film composers or
pop
-
-vocals singer/songwriters caught in a different era, what with the rather grandiose (and certainly grandiosely arranged) Euro-romantic sweep of most of their songs. Although the orchestration, often combining strings with harpsichord, is often sumptuous (if just short of cloying) and the melodies pleasant, not much of this sticks to the bones. The somewhat more soulful, straightforward
rock
of
"Christopher Lucifer"
"It Happened Two Sundays Ago"
provides some nice relief, if only because it's different from the wistful fantasy aura that predominated in
's world. This rarity gained easy availability with its 2003 CD release on
Universal
/
, which despite remastering still has some noises that sound suspiciously like tiny vinyl bumps at the beginning of
"Black Flower,"
one of the more dramatic and better numbers. Also in the package are extensive liner notes, though these (like those on all the 2003
reissues of
's first three LPs) contain annoying undue repetition of the text that appears on the liners to the other
re-releases. ~ Richie Unterberger