Brave New World

Steve Miller Band: Steve Miller (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Lonnie Turner (bass, vocals); Ben Sidran, Nicky Hopkins (keyboards); Tim Davis (drums, vocals).
1969's BRAVE NEW WORLD is the album that not only fully integrates the blues-rock stomp and hazy trippiness of CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE and SAILOR, but also adds a newfound pop gloss. Indeed, elements of this album would reappear throughout Miller's stratospherically successful mid-'70s commercial heyday: the slyly humorous centerpiece rocker "Space Cowboy" was name-checked on "The Joker," and the main riff of "My Dark Hour" (a studio collaboration between Miller and Paul McCartney) would later reappear as the intro to the huge hit "Fly Like An Eagle." BRAVE NEW WORLD also benefits heavily from the contributions of famed British keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. Acid rockers like "Can't You Hear Your Daddy's Heartbeat" and "Got Love 'Cause You Need It" are wisely kept to the 2:30 mark, saving them from getting bogged down in the monotonous jamming that ruined so many albums of the period, while forward-looking experiments like the noise-rock interludes on the title track give the album a freshness that belies its recording date.