''The Weirding'' is an album by American

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Astra. It was their debut album, released in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2009, and on June 23 of that year in the United States. It was released on the independent label Rise Above Records. The album was released and received overall positive reviews, noting that the music was very similar to that of 1970s progressive rock bands like

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

, along with the space-rock outfit

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' said "The quintet's lengthy gestation period has resulted in a sublime debut that evokes various '70s colossi - panoramic Pink Floyd, mellotron-era King Crimson, Black Sabbath in philosophical mode - without ever stooping to pastiche". The album was released as both a compact disc and a double LP set. The latter comes with a bonus 7" single disc containing demos of two older, unreleased songs: "Winter Witch" and "Cosmic Wind".

The Weirding/Cocoon Synchronicity

Shortly after The Weirding's release in 2009, rumors have been circulated on the Internet stating that The Weirding was written as a soundtrack for the 1985 science fiction film '' Cocoon''. Observers playing the film and the album simultaneously have reported apparent synchronicities.

Track listing

Bonus 7" single

Personnel

*Richard Vaughan – vocals, guitars, Mellotron, ARP Odyssey Synthesizer, Echoplex *Conor Riley – vocals, guitars, Mellotron, ARP Odyssey Synthesizer, piano, keyboards *Brian Ellis – guitars, Moog synthesizer *Stuart Sclater – bass *David Hurley – drums, percussion, flute

Production

*Arranged & Produced by Astra *Engineered by Astra & James Mullen *Mastered by Noel Summerville *Album sleeve art, design & illustration by Arik "Moonhawk" Roper

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weirding, The 2009 albums Astra (band) albums Rise Above Records albums