The Moon (4) – Without Earth

The reissue is here! Comes out 5/9/25! Pre Order at Rough Trade for $30! Finally a brand new reissue of the masterpiece. Just ordered mine!

Everybody's been talking up the music, but what no one has mentioned yet is how GREAT this pressing is. It’s warm and full of life, with excellent stereo separation and clarity for the time. You can tell these guys were studio wizards as well.

I much prefer it to the Rev-Ola CD, which has the beautiful harmonies sounding shrill with little dynamic range.

A legit psychedelic masterpiece. Start to finish this takes you on a whimsical trip that usually is produced by acts from the UK. This rivals some of the best from across the pond and to this day is still affordable. If you don't have this already stop everything and buy a copy.

Underrated beatles esque psychedelia, very intricate mixing of instrumentation for its time.
The cover of "Brother Lou's Love Colony" by Colours on this album is one of the best songs I've ever heard.

Just as good as yer Kaleidoscope’s, Apple, Blosssom Toes and sundry other more obscure Psych acts whose OG albums now cost an arm and a leg.
A good bit of psychedelic action up there with some of the most catchiest offerings from the bigger names.
Those that know have known about this album for many years, about time it got some recognition. Their second is nowhere near as good….

This album delivers in every aspect... such a good listen. On par with Skip Bifferty ? Grab it before prices go up !

Even with their Peter Max influenced album jacket and Magical Mystery Tour influences, The Moon traveled virtually unnoticed, delivering spacey soft-pop psychedelic arrangements [more worthy than those delivered by Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd], where fuzzed out distorted acid-laced guitars, shimmering backward cymbals, and outstanding harmonies melted into melodic melodies dripping with intoxication, over which vocal echoing visions sought to convey an actual LSD experience. And as good as all this sounds, the band, with their fragile beauty, never managed to make much of an impression ... lacking both a ive single and the nurturing of their record label. Yes, the song “Someday Girl” was heavenly, and could often be heard on very late night radio, or serving as background music to a liquid light show as the audience drifted into a venue ... and that’s a real shame, because The Moon had genuine talent, treading lightly on the progressive baroque elements [championed by groups like Smoke, The Left Banke, and The Zombies] that were just around the corner, moving with a consistency that should have had them sitting in the first few rows, and not the balcony.

Headed by David Marks and Matthew Moore, The Moon spun from impressive backgrounds. David Marks had been a member of The Beach Boys, playing rhythm guitar on their first four albums, and then with Dave & The Marksmen ... while Matthew Moore perfected his craft while heading Matthew Moore Plus Four, with both having a series of notable singles. Be all that as it may, none of the tracks found on Without Earth even managed to chart on Top 40 Radio, leaving The Moon off course, awash in a sea of music that was rapidly changing, and finding a home, if not a bit of cult status, in the hearts and minds of those for whom pop-psychedelic was totally irresistible.

Make no mistake ... Without Earth should be heard on vinyl, allowing it to be a vision in and of the times.