It's rare to find an album from the early 1970s that has never been officially reissued on CD; a case in point is the legendary 1971 underground milestone from Company Caine - A Product Of A Broken Reality. This highly regarded artifact is one of the last albums from the glory days of the Australian progressive-psych scene to attain a new lease of life in the modern digital age.
Alongside the likes of celebrated entities such as Spectrum, Kahvas Jute and Blackfeather, the name Company Caine continues to fire the imagination of progressive-psych aficionados around the world; original vinyl copies are highly sought after and can fetch high prices indeed. The story of Company Caine is based around delightfully eccentric singer/songwriter Gulliver Smith and nimble-fingered guitarist Russell Smith, who formed the band in March 1970.
Several line-ups came and went before the band broke up at the end of 1972. A Product Of A Broken Reality included the sprightly single 'Trixie Stonewall's Wayward Home For Young Women', with the rest of the album ranging from pastoral moments such as 'It's Up To You' and 'Woman With Reason' to the spacey sounds of the 10-minute 'Symptoms' and on to the head-spinning avant-jazz leanings of the unhinged 'The Day Superman Got Busted'. Included on the CD are six bonus tracks: the 1972 single 'Dear Carolyn' / 'Now I'm Together' and live sessions from 1971, digitally remastered by Gil Matthews, with colour booklet and liner notes by noted Australian Rock writer Ian McFarlane.