Taken from the Acid Archives, as reviewed by Aaron Milenski:
“There is no album I own that has as much emotional complexity and depth as HARVEST OF DREAMS. Bobb Trimble’s previous album, IRON CURTAIN INNOCENCE, is of equal musical value, but HARVEST OF DREAMS is the one that exposes all of his inner demons, all of his hopes and all of his joy. Everything about this album, from the strange album cover to the name of his publishing company, can be interpreted in multiple ways, and every listen to the record reveals new nuances.
How far a listener can go with Bobb’s music depends in large part on their reaction to his high, fragile voice, and the many effects he uses on it. Within two seconds of my first listen to Bobb’s music, I was transfixed and had that rare feeling that this was music that could change my life. This obviously won’t happen to everyone, but I find his voice to be as beautiful a male singing voice as there is anywhere in rock and roll. His music is essentially 60s-style pop, with a bit of a folk-rock influence. Bobb is heavy on effects, from echo to delay to phasing to flanging, and the overload of altered sounds give every song a trippy, otherworldly feel, equal parts psychedelic 60s and new wave 80s. Like all transcendent music, his music is *of* his time, but lacks the trendiness that causes much music of the time to age badly. A number of traditional psychedelic sound tricks (including backwards recording and heavy echo effects) are augmented by more unusual layers of sound: telephone dial tones, incessant talking, noises from the video game “Defender,” bouncing ping pong balls, lingering layers of white noise caused by the heavy phasing. The effect is that of being drawn into a world where there’s nary a moment’s peace, to have a mind that’s so full of ideas (often contradictory) that the talking in your head never stops. Even on “If Words Were All I Had,” which is just guitar and voice, the heavy echo on the voice creates a bouncing wave of sound. Psychedelic music can be an expression of mania and psychosis, just as hallucination can come from high fevers or mental exhaustion, and the exact source of the sounds in Bobb’s head are unknown, maybe even to him.
When I met Bobb, more than twenty years after the release of this album, he asked if “the shadow had moved all the way across the album cover yet.” He says that there’s a shadow on the album jacket that wasn’t in the original photograph, and over the years it’s been moving. This is a perfect metaphor for the album itself (whether you might think this notion impossible, and whether you and I can see the shadow is immaterial.) The album is full of shadows, personal mysteries that float throughout and are turned into art, feelings and obsessions that can eventually be resolved (i.e. excised) by multiple listens to the album, or by years of personal change and growth. The album ends with “a confrontation between Bobb and the Devil in living stereo.” Is this the ultimate attempt to make sense of the barrage of voices in Bobb’s head and on the record? Inclusion of a “song” of pure silence is equally significant. For about two and a half minutes the voices stop and the mind is cleared. This is perhaps the *only* way to clear the mind. Nonetheless, the imperfection of privately pressed vinyl creates a few little crackles in all copies of the LP–silence is golden, but complete silence is ultimately impossible.
The front cover of the album is a photo of Bobb, looking at a fake “unicorn” (apparently, a single horn was glued onto a goat’s head.) Historically, the unicorn is a symbol of truth, purity and love, all essential elements of Bobb’s world. The unicorn is also, however, symbolic of the loss of purity, the single horn taking the virginity from young girls. Thus it represents both innocence and its loss at the same time. The fact that the unicorn on the album cover is a creation rather than a reality (something that Bobb apparently did not know when the photo was taken) creates an additional dichotomy: it is a false symbol of “truth.” The lies that Bobb sings about on the album, the difference between fantasy and reality, love lost, gained and imagined, the innocence of children vs. Bobb’s own tormented soul, all spring from the unicorn itself. Bobb’s ultimate message is one of hope (a note on the back cover explains the album title: “Harvest those dreams that had failed to Grow. Love, Bobb”), and even in its deepest moments of despair, there’s an uplifiting feel to the record. Yet at the same time it’s hard to tell whether the optimism is realistic or not. “Premonitions” is the most exhilarating musical expression of love I’ve yet heard. The song is full of joy and peace. Yet it may not just be about the joy and thrill one experiences at the beginning of a new love, but it may be the last happy gasp before something goes horribly wrong. On alternate listens to this album, one feeling or the other can dominate. The album isn’t just the artist sorting out personal contradictions, but also a mirror (or a shadow) of the listener’s own mood and feeling.
It was quite a leap from IRON CURTAIN INNOCENCE to HARVEST OF DREAMS. Though the first album had moments of powerful intensity, it did not have this same kind of thematic unity, or the deep personal nature, of HARVEST OF DREAMS. On the back cover of IRON CURTAIN INNOCENCE, Bobb asks “if I’m a good boy and work real hard, may I please be the 5th Beatle someday.” This time around John Lennon is dead, and Bobb’s focus has changed from his own youthful daydreams to the future of the contemporary youth. Bobb firmly believed in the youth and their future, and thought that music (including his own) was a way to rise up from a world of lies. The only clue to this mindset on IRON CURTAIN INNOCENCE is that it is “dedicated to a children of a dynasty destined to ruins who build their dreams on the darkness they buy…and steal.” This time around he’s often just as cryptic, but much more effusive. Children are everywhere. His publishing company is “Boysongs Unlimited,” a song is entitled “Premonitions Boy” and most importantly, the “Kidds” are omnipresent. Bobb had formed a band with young (pre-teen) kids, and they’re let loose throughout the record. They can be heard speaking and laughing between (and during songs), the silent “song” is credited to “The Kidds and Bobb,” the Kidds are credited on one song with “inspirational sounds of life and love,” and their only recorded song, “Oh Baby,” is on the album, despite the fact that it sounds nothing like Bobb’s music. The Kidds song and the silent “song” were not included on the JUPITER TRANSMISSION CD, which also excised some of the between-song banter and changed the name of “Premonitions Boy” to “You’re In My Dreams.” This is the most glaring way that hearing the HARVEST OF DREAMS songs in the context of the CD leaves out an essential part of HARVEST’s emotional and thematic base.
Side one of the album is titled “Dimension One – Truth.” It opens with “Premonitions – The Fantasy.” Marc Johnson is credited with “drums of the heartbeat,” and the song definitely is the ultimate expression of the heart. A bouncy melody, the most upbeat on either of Bobb’s albums, is augmented with cheery harmonica and, on the backing track, equally pretty flute. The song is pure joy, as Bobb finds everything he’d ever want “with every twinkle of your eyes.” Bobb’s delight is expressed with glory on a brief “whoo” and an occasional “yeah yeah” at the end of verses. It’s hard to imagine the exuberance of this song not winning over a listener, drawing them into the darker and more musically unusual moments that will follow. A stop-start section near the end of the song adds one last moment of excitement. “If Words Were All I Had” is a sparse guitar and voice ballad, an ode to unrequited love, ending with Bobb basically giving up. Just two songs into the album, both sides of love and obsession have been fully presented. “The World I Left Behind,” two and a half minutes of silence, follows, giving the listener time to mentally prepare him or herself for “Armour of the Shroud,” Bobb’s most psychedelic and frightening song. “Armour” is a howl of anguish full of backwards sections, heavy flanging, phone lines that can not be answered, the sound of Jesus being crucified, Bobb’s mournful lead vocal, otherworldly harmonies and, on the song’s coda, inhuman howling. Many of Bobb’s songs, even upbeat songs like “Premonitions,” end verses with chord changes that take the melody into slightly dissonant and/or unexpected places. With “Armour,” the *entire* song feels out of place, out of sync. At one point Bobb sings “God save you dreamers,” and goes on to mention “the cross that still crucifies in A.D.” A few years after this album, Bobb would record some Christian-themed songs. At this point in his life, though, he was certainly struggling with the Christian concepts of good and evil. That struggle would be played out further in “Another Lonely Angel,” but here Christian history is sinister and confusing. In the notes to this song, the “Voice of America” is credited with “Double Talk,” “Judas” with “Crucifixion of Christ,” and “Whales” with “Mourning Cries” (the howling, or part of the howling, mentioned above.) Without giving the listener a second to catch his or her breath, side one ends with a repeat of “Premonitions,” this time subtitled “The Reality.” The reality isn’t really much different that the fantasy, and in fact is the very same recording, just with the removal of a few backing instruments, and the addition of some studio chatter (Bobb counts the song off with A-B-C-D rather than the traditional 1-2-3-4.) This time Marc Johnson is credited with “heart of the drumbeat.” The song ends with a quick Donald Duck noise that is missing from the first version. As fantastic as this song may be, and as much as it does to change the pace from “Armour’s” bleakness, twelve minutes of it (both versions are about six minutes) is admittedly a lot. Bobb has explained that he recorded two versions (actually two different mixes; it’s the same recording) because he intended to release the song as a single and he thought the general public would prefer the less densely arranged version. The second version ended up on the album because when it was time for release Bobb wanted to include absolutely every recording he had. Looking at it now, accidental as the duplication may be, it adds a lot to the feel of the album. The fantasy/reality dichotomy of the two titles reflect the heart and soul of the album. Since the two versions of the song are essentially the same, are the contents of Bobb’s mind his actual reality? If he’s the only one who can see the shadow, doesn’t that still mean it’s there? Is fantasy a “safe” version of a forbidden or impossible reality? The lyrics to “Premonitions” find Bobb as the fanasty-fulfiller to his love object. As much as Bobb may be creating his own fantasy, he equally wants to give back the same. As Bob Dylan once said, “I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours.”
Side two is titled “Dimension Two – Harmony.” The concept of harmony has already appeared in “Premonitions,” (“I’ll sing your every harmony”) and musically takes form in another utterly lovely melody, “Take Me Home Vienna.” The Kidds are all over this song, counting to four at the beginning, raising a background cheer in the middle, screaming “we love you Vienna” at the end, and after the song is over, arguing about the lyrics. Their excitement at being part of this musical project is only matched by the glorious beauty of the song, which Bobb has dedicated to John Lennon. Vienna is as likely to be a person as it is a place (or simply an image: “I was talking to a figment of my imagination’s oasis/my God I was feeling so damn foolish/ I was just a victim of self-hypnosis”), but whatever it may be it symbolizes happiness, and obsession: (“you’re on my mind every second, every minute of every hour of every day/every week, every month, every year gone by.”) A cheery violin solo in the middle perfectly expresses the happy-go-lucky nature of this song (or at least helps mask the mania), just as the harmonica did in “Premonitions.” “Selling Me Short While Stringing Me Long” follows. It has another lovely melody, but with a darker tone, as with “If Words Were All I Had,” breaking the happy spell. The lyrics again speak to love lost, or at least not satisfied: “when I hold you in my arms, you’re a million miles away.” Some synthesizer effects on the bass are used to great effect. 

The Kidds then have their shining moment, a brief (minute and a half) punk rock song called “Oh Baby,” which was once described as “sounding much like what The Shaggs might have if they’d been boys weaned on Kiss’ LOVE GUN.” It’s silly, and musically unlike Bobb’s songs, yet somehow it fits right in to Bobb’s world. The depth of pain and emotion on his own love songs can be contrasted with the naïve innocence of the Kidds’ lyrics (they ask “Mr. Bill” of Saturday Night Live for help getting their girl back.) The mood shifts back to melancholy and emotional wreckage for “Paralyzed.” If it wasn’t for the sound effects, fuzz guitar, backwards instruments, and random background comments from the Kidds, this song could have passed for MOR radio fare. The melody, jazzy chord progression and bass/guitar arrangement is that smooth, that likely to stick in your brain. The contrast between the Kidds’ silly comments and Bobb’s tortured lyrics and singing only serve to deepen the emotion of the music. He is pouring his heart out to an audience that isn’t mature enough to understand his vision(s). The various communication barriers throughout the album become even more massive when seen in this light. The album closes with “Another Lonely Angel,” the aforementioned confrontation between Bobb and the devil. Bobb takes on two vocal styles, presumably one for each character, and begins in an uncharacteristically low range. The song soon slows down, and Bobb’s voice shoots up to hit his usual high notes. The heavy vocal effects make this song every bit as mind-bending as “Armour of the Shroud.” The struggle itself is cryptic, with references to Bobb’s music (selling his music/soul?), searching for your soul inside yourself, the ever-present “lies,” and the plight of “another lonely angel headed for the borderline.” The devil is credited with “background vocals and temptation.” The song, and album, ends as a verse dies off in the middle. Has the lonely angel fallen off of the borderline? Or has the angel stopped before reaching it? While this particular song is hard to sort out, clues to the source of the struggle are all over the rest of the album. Many interpretations of those clues are possible (and, indeed, the analysis presented here is just one of them, and in many ways just the tip of the iceberg.)
The liner notes go on to state “all moments experienced and recorded at MCM Recording Studio,” which is an accurate depiction of this music-it’s definitely an “experience” and is certainly a collection of “moments.” Bobb can’t resist also assigning a recording studio to the silent “World I Left Behind.” The title to the silence opens up yet more possibilities. What has he left behind? If he’s left behind an imposed silence, will he begin living his life the way he chooses? Or does it mean that in his new world the voices in his head can never stop? That everything expressed on this album is “truth,” whether a listener can figure out what it means or not? Has he left behind anything he really believes is of value?
Bobb’s final statement is “as people of world peace, we must join together and confront the Opposition of Indifference with the Spirit of Totality in the Loving Memory and Tradition of Mr. John Lennon.” It’s partially an afterthought, as a good portion of the album was written and recorded before Lennon’s murder, but there’s no doubting the effect Lennon’s death must have had on Bobb, and much of Bobb’s sorrow can be felt in the music.
Despite the emotional depth and darkness throughout, Bobb never loses a sense of playfulness. In the midst of “Armour of the Shroud” he references the local band (and Bobb’s friends) the Prefab Messiahs, and even had two of them play on the track. The liner notes also credit the song’s tambourine player (Seth “Xerox” Feinberg from the Prefabs) with “good vibes.” Even Bobb’s darkest songs have rays of hope and positive spirit. The previous album’s ode to insanity “Night At The Asylum” includes the lyric “come up and see me sometime.” Nothing in Bobb’s world is without some sort of joy or hope; his music is intended to be enjoyed. The liner notes are full of in-jokes (most listed above); “Premonitions” and “Take Me Home Vienna” are filled with musical and lyrical joy. This album is not by any means a downer; it’s as uplifting as it is complex. Most of all, it’s proof that rock and roll music is as valid an art form as any other, that it can open up new worlds as well as help explain ours.
Thanks to Kris Thompson for clarifying some details about this record.”
Bobb Trimble
Harvest Of Dreams
MediaFire DL Link
Tracklist:
01. Premonitions – The Fantasy
02. If Words Were All I Had
03. The World I Left Behind
04. Armour Of The Shroud
05. Premonitions Boy – The Reality
06. Take Me Home Vienna
07. Selling Me Short While Stringing Me Long
08. Oh Baby
09. Paralyzed
10. Another Lonely Angel
