Wow/Grape Jam is the second album by the rock band Moby Grape. It was first released in April 1968. It is different from most double album releases in that it was released as two different albums in separate covers, but packaged together and sold for only one dollar more than price of a single LP.
The 'Grape gave us a double album for their follow-up, but it's more like two separate records, and anyway it's the first one (Wow) which deserves the lion's share of attention. The crazy energy remains from the debut, but right from the jump the mood has completely changed, replaced by a severely manic-depressive frame of mind. "Can't Be So Bad" is the only track which resembles anything from the first record. "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" typifies the kind of music you will encounter here. Even the intended humorous stuff smacks of desperation. It's accentuated by lots of Sgt. Pepper-style sound effects and generally a more complicated production approach. The second album, Grape Jam, consists of 4 laid back blues-based songs (only 1 with vocals, "Never"), and one very experimental collage/spoken word thing called "The Lake". It's OK, but doesn't do anything that Wow already did. I like this, but I can see how and where other listeners will find frustration, because overall, even I have to admit it's a spotty record. But certainly a worthy companion to the debut.
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