Kourosh Yaghmaei Back From The Brink: Pre Revolution Psychedelic Rock From Iran 1973-1979

This is a difficult album to review because it feels more like a fascinating historical document than a piece of music. To criticise this album would be like criticising the Bill of Rights or the Domesday Book. It gives us a rare insight into pre-1979 Iranian popular music, which is largely unfamiliar outside the country itself and the expat community. All pop music was virtually eradicated from Iran in 1979 after the deposition of the Shah and arrival of Ayatollah Khomeini in power. Recorded in a pre-revolution Iran in the 1970s, Kourosh had to conceal his music once Islamic fundamentalists seized control and began burning record companies and harassing musicians. Several pre-revolution musicians fled Iran, but Kourosh stayed out of loyalty to his birth country despite going on to have his voice banned for 17 years. In these years he published children stories on books and cassettes. His picture was only allowed to be published in his albums after 24 years.

This particular collection revisits Kourosh’s music from 1973-1979, which was recorded as a trio with his brothers Kamran and Kambiz. It is fundamentally a rock record, with obvious Western influences floating atop an undercurrent of traditional Iranian music. In fact, Kourosh is widely regarded as one of the first Iranian rock musicians. Armed with rented, second-hand instruments and records by The Ventures, The Kinks, The Doors, the brothers merged Western garage rock, psychedelia and Iranian folkloric music to create a truly original sound. Later, inspired by the unlikely duo of Elton John and James Taylor, the music took a sophisticated turn, and he churned out funky, progressive rock that is reminiscent of a similar development taken by musicians around a similar time in Africa (such as Fela Kuti) which lead to the development of Afrobeat.

The music is highly intriguing; it sounds mostly like nothing I’ve ever heard, despite the obvious nods to Western psych bands in places. But Kourosh was – and remains – a pop star, not a cult artist. Hearing this music fresh feels as though you’re enjoying it for the wrong reasons – the context, after all, is a huge element of what makes this an interesting compilation. For Iranians, it’s a powerful reminder of their pre-1979 world, which is something we will never be able to share. It is arguably enough to simply enjoy the music, but it feels as though it isn’t. Regardless, it still makes for an intriguing listen, and the history surrounding its creation and subsequent near-destruction is a story of musical and personal triumph amidst a horrendous political climate which will always be fascinating regardless of how you feel about the music itself.