Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500: #25 - 1

Welcome back to Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500, in which I count my personal fave psych songs from 500 all the way down to #1! Today, let's see what's happening in the end, my only friend, the end, from 25 to 1...

25. The Left Banke- "Desiree" (1967), in which the normally mellow Left Banke pound out a spiraling prog riff worthy of King Crimson.

Review: The Cranberries' 'Live at the London Astoria II, 1994'

A whopping nine months before finally releasing their second album, The Cranberries played half of No Need to Argue during a set at London Astoria II. They also played seven tracks from their superior debut album, on which Dolores O'Riordan was really on fire, sounding particularly possessed as she whispered and snarled through a demonic "Not Sorry" and hopping happily on the band's best song, "Dreams". 

Review: 'The Bad Seed' Blu-ray

In 1954, William March published a book about a child who kills not because she's an invading alien, like the kids in The Midwich Cuckoos, or because she's the antichrist, like the kid in The Omen, but because she's entitled, covetous, and completely immoral, like Donald Trump. Because of its all-too-human monster, The Bad Seed was a genuinely scary novel, and with its tight storytelling and clearly defined characters, it was ripe for adaptation into an equally chilling movie.

 The problem was it was a little too ripe. Producer/director Mervyn LeRoy should have sat on The Bad Seed until Hollywood was ready to make a picture about children killing children without pulling punches. Instead, Warner Bros. rushed it into theaters in 1956, forcing LeRoy to defang March's tale with camp eight years before Susan Sontag even got a chance to define the term.

Review: 'The Star Trek Archive: 100 Objects and Stories from the Final Frontier'

Star Trek has been granted longevity that few franchises could ever dream of because it was smart, well-written, had a specific point of view, and was full of memorable, lovable characters. But, like all enduring sci-fi works, it was also full of stuff. Just as Star Wars had its lightsabers and landspeeders, Star Trek had its phasers, tricorders, Enterprises, tribbles, and pointy ears. 

Review: 'Forbidden Planet' Limited Edition Blu-ray

There have been many, many Shakespeare adaptations, but one of the most creative picked up the relatively obscure Tempest and plopped it down on some distant planet in the future. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that screenwriter Cyril Hume or director Fred Wilcox ever copped to the origins of Forbidden Planet, but come on! You have a mad genius daddy and fetching daughter living in isolation only to have a crew of travelers invade their paradise and turn their relationship upside down. Daughter wants to make off with one the ship's captain. Daddy wants to rain down holy hell by commanding the elements. Sure Shakespeare probably never considered an interstellar angle, nor did he conceive of a zany animated Id Monster or Anne Francis in a series of miniskirts short enough to get his play banned in Spain, but the parallels are undeniable.