Product Description

In 1977, our super heroes of prog rock, Captain Beyond, regrouped and released their third album Dawn Explosion - considered by many fans to be a very solid comeback album. It also proved to be the quartet s final swan song during the classic rock era.

No holds barred, their new label Warner Brothers Records was quick in sending a strong message to the radio and retailer community, with the succession of merchandising materials that pre-promoted this fine release. An excerpt from one promotional poster at the time reads:

Captain Beyond is getting promoted. By airplay. By word of mouth. By its brand new record company. And rightly so. These ex-members of Johnny Winter and Iron Butterfly, whose first two albums left 300,000 people breathless, have made a bold new album. It s called DAWN EXPLOSION. So, when you hear about Captain Beyond s promotion, don t be surprised. THIS IS A MAJOR ROCK BAND WE RE TALKING ABOUT.

With newly enlisted lead vocalist Willy Daffern replacing Rod Evans of Deep Purple fame, the core original band members, Rhino (Iron Butterfly), Bobby Caldwell (Johnny Winter), and Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly), put their creative energies together and nailed down an incredible grand finale fit for a king.

Along with their solid producer John Stronach, Captain Beyond s final sessions were recorded and mixed at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California in 1977.

Dawn Explosion netted them decent airplay throughout North America. Memorable tracks like the crowd pleasing opener Do or Die and the powerful Icarus, and the rocking Fantasy were staples on coveted play lists around the states, which also helped score them a tour to help support the album.

To this day, Captain Beyond s Dawn Explosion has had an active afterlife due to the undying support of fans and outlets like satellite and internet radio that still play all of their albums. Prog rock truly wins hands down with this historic release on Friday Music. The folks at Friday Music have gone back into the Warner Music vaults and have found the original session tapes, while providing you the listener with the best sounding version of this disc ever! Impeccably remastered by Joe Reagoso (Deep Purple, Johnny Winter), Dawn Explosion finally gets the royal treatment it deserves with this new edition.

Rock On!

Track Listing

1. Do Or Die
2. Icarus
3. Sweet Dreams
4. Fantasy
5. Breath of Fire Part 1
6. Breath of Fire Part 2
7. If You Please
8. Midnight Memories
9. Space Interlude
10. Oblivion
11. Space Reprise

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34745 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-09
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Captain Beyond Rules
All three Captain Beyond albums are true gems (Captain Beyond #1)(Sufficiently Breathless #2) (Dawn Explosion #3). The albums take you on a journey and make you feel like you've been somewhere and done something. This to me is always a sign of great musicians. I thoroughly enjoy my CD's and play them often and LOUD. I never tire of them, and they always lift my spirits. Buy all three so you have the collection, you won't be dissappointed. Every song is a true work of art and the first album is a masterpiece. If you are interested,visit the Captain Beyond webpages on the net, they are really cool and you can learn more about the band then and now. Yes, now! I've learned that the heros are back!!! Bobby Caldwell (drums), Larry Reinhardt (Rhino)(guitar), Dan Frye (Keyboards), Jimmy Interval (lead vocals), and Jeff (Count) Artabasy (bass guitar). A new line up for the 90's! But to buy the CD's, get them at Amazon, it's easy/quick. This time around lets hope that Captain Beyond is highly recognized as they most definitely deserve it! These guys are amazing musicians and I look forward to new albums (hopefully they will be putting some out)! Thanks to Amazon you can buy the three albums, get yours TODAY!!

Dawn Explosion has it's moments
The last and best song on the album is Oblivion, an appropriately named instrumental that is the last time we hear from Rhino, Dorman, and Caldwell - three awsome muscians who's talents shine in albums one and two. Unfortunately, Dawn Explosion most often misses the energy and creativity of the first two albums. Oblivion...an appropriate name for their wherabouts... until 1999!!!! Rhino,( now Ryno) and Caldwell are back with a new Captain Beyond band, currently beginning a tour in Europe, with rumors of an album to be released this year!!

This is a great album!
I don't think any band could follow the sheer brilliance that Captain Beyond gave the musical world with their debut, but I think this album is a very respectable effort and it's always been a big favorite of mine. Willie Daffern has a great voice, just different from Rod Evans is all, and all the naysayers just aren't being open-minded. In fact hearing him on this record made me seek out anything else that he might have lent his voice to, and there's precious little that I can find: Gary Moore's
G-Force album, Pipedream (with Tim Bogert!), and a solo LP under the name Willie Dee. Too bad, I think he has a classic voice.

But back to this record: I think it's way better than the more laid back Sufficiently Breathless, and I can't help but wonder if that's due to the return of Bobby Caldwell. Even without attempting some more of those great odd time signatures that are all over the debut, there are some great tracks here, with "Do or Die" and "Fantasy" being two standouts.

Compared to the first record or not, you can't go wrong with this one.
Willie D, where are you, man?!!