The band USofA are kind of like the moon landing – a leap in progress that’s not been bettered

The sixties was a time when popular music made quantum leaps from bubble gum pop to high art and experimentation. Sergeant Pepper gets rightly credited with putting popular music into space with its huge leap in redefining the role of the studio. But the credit for the musical moon landing goes to the far lesser known album The United States of America by the band of the same name.
Listening to the USofA you have to pinch yourself to remember it’s from the sixties and not the eighties or nineties. Forget all the stuff about Kraftwerk and Gary Numan pioneering synths – USofA were there first. They also spearheaded the idea that popular music could be a high art form that can be both intriguing and enlightening. Something the likes of the wonderful Yes and King Crimson took further, but only after the USofA.
Anyway, judge for yourself….