Odessey and Oracle

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Odessey and Oracle

Studio album by The Zombies
Released	April 19, 1968 (UK) June 1968 (US)
Recorded	"Changes" recorded November 1967, Abbey Road. All other tracks recorded June-August 1967, Abbey Road and Olympic Studios.
Genre	Psychedelic pop Baroque pop
Length	35:18
Label	CBS
Producer(s)	The Zombies, Al Kooper (American reissue)
All Music Guide link Pitchfork 93% 2 August 2004 Rolling Stone link
The Zombies chronology
Begin Here (1965) (UK) ---- The Zombies (1965) (US)	Odessey and Oracle (1968)	New World (1991)

Odessey and Oracle is a rock album by the Zombies released in 1968. The famous misspelling of "odyssey" in the title was the result of a mistake by the designer of the LP cover, Terry Quirk (who was the flatmate of bass player Chris White). The band, however, claims that the title was deliberate.

Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967 after the Zombies signed to the CBS label, and was only the second album they had released since 1965. As their first LP, Begin Here, was a collection of singles, Odessey can be regarded as the only true Zombies album.

The group began work on the album in June 1967. Some songs were recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, where earlier in the year the Beatles had recorded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. By the time the recording was finished, in late 1967, the Zombies were effectively disbanded, due to lack of financial success. Odessey and Oracle was released in the U.K. in April 1968 and in the United States in June. The single "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit in early 1969, and Columbia Records (in the United States) re-released Odessey in February, with a slightly different album cover.

Since its release the LP has come to be regarded as one of the greatest of all pop albums, with indelible melodies, complex harmonies, and an air of nostalgia and longing that makes it comparable to such albums as Love's Forever Changes and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.

In 2002, Rolling Stone placed Odessey in 80th place on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time^[1].

In November 2006, Odessey charted at #34 on the Rate Your Music greatest ever albums list [1].

The first song on the album, "Care of Cell 44" has been covered by such notable artists as Elliott Smith.