Editing Odessey and Oracle (section)

{{redirect|Odessey|the epic poem by Homer|Odyssey}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Odessey and Oracle
| type         = Studio [[album]]
| artist       = [[the Zombies]]
| cover        = Odessey and Oracle.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = {{start date|1968|04|19|df=y}}
| recorded     = 1 June{{snd}}7 November 1967
| studio       = [[Abbey Road Studios|EMI]] and [[Olympic Studios|Olympic]], London
| genre        = * [[Baroque pop]]<ref name="BBC Music">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/d8p2 |title=The Zombies Odessey & Oracle – 40th Anniversary Edition Review |first=Chris |last=Jones |date=22 February 2008 |work=[[BBC Music]] |access-date=10 February 2012}}</ref><ref name="vanyaland">{{cite web|last1=Donaldson|first1=Jonathan|title=Live Review: The Zombies stand the test of time, and the season, at the Wilbur Theatre|url=http://www.vanyaland.com/2015/10/09/live-review-the-zombies-stand-the-test-of-time-and-the-season-at-the-wilbur-theatre/|website=Vanyaland|date=9 October 2015|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Long05">{{cite book|first=Pat|last=Long|editor-first=Robert|editor-last= Dimery|year=2005|title=[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]] (2016 Edition)|chapter=The Zombies - "Odessey and Oracle"|publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell Illustrated]]|location=London|page=153}}</ref>
* [[chamber pop]]<ref name="PsychChamber"/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Krewen|first1=Nick|title=The Zombies live on – thanks to a 50-year-old cult classic album|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2017/03/30/the-zombies-live-on-thanks-to-a-50-year-old-cult-classic-album.html|website=The Star|date=30 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Long05"/>
* {{nowrap|[[psychedelic pop]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Umile|first=Dominic|title=Mods and Mellotrons: The Zombies at Abbey Road, PopMatters|url=https://www.popmatters.com/166784-mods-and-mellotrons-the-zombies-at-abbey-road-2495787881.html|access-date=2021-05-17|publisher=PopMatters|date=15 January 2013}}</ref><ref name="PsychChamber">R. Unterbeger, [{{AllMusic |class=artist |id=p5908/biography |pure_url=yes}} "The Zombies"], AllMusic, retrieved 3 July 2010.</ref>}}
* {{nowrap|[[pop rock]]}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boehme |first1=Mike |title=The Zombies"Odessey and Oracle" (1968) |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-17-ol-63611-story.html?_amp=true |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=17 November 1994 |access-date=19 January 2022}}</ref>
* {{nowrap|[[avant-pop]]<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Grimstad |first1=Paul |title=What is Avant-Pop? |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2007/9/music/what-is-avant-pop |magazine=[[The Brooklyn Rail]]|access-date=October 3, 2024}}</ref>}}
| length       = {{duration|m=35|s=18}}
| label        = 
*[[Columbia Records|CBS]] (UK)
*[[Date Records|Date]] (US)
| producer     = The Zombies
| chronology   = [[The Zombies]] UK
| prev_title   = [[Begin Here]]
| prev_year    = 1965
| next_title   = [[New World (The Zombies album)|New World]]
| next_year    = 1991
| misc         = {{Extra chronology
 |artist=[[The Zombies]] US
 |type=studio
 |prev_title=[[The Zombies (album)|The Zombies]]
 |prev_year=1965
 |title=Odessey and Oracle
 |year=1968
 |next_title=Live on the BBC 1965–1967
 |next_year=1985
}}
{{Singles
| name        = Odessey and Oracle
| type        = studio
| single1     = Friends of Mine
| single1date = September 1967
| single2     = [[Care of Cell 44]]
| single2date = November 1967
| single3     = [[Time of the Season]]
| single3date = March 1968
| single4     = [[Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)]]
| single4date = June 1968
}}
}}

'''''Odessey and Oracle''''' is the second studio [[album]] by the English [[rock music|rock]] band [[the Zombies]]. It was released in the UK on 19{{nbsp}}April 1968, by [[Columbia Records|CBS Records]] and in the US on 15{{nbsp}}July 1968, by [[Date Records]].{{sfn|Russo|2016|pp=84, 91}} The album was recorded primarily between June and August 1967 at EMI (now [[Abbey Road Studios]]) and [[Olympic Studios]] in London.

The Zombies, having been dropped from [[Decca Records]], financed these sessions independently. After signing with CBS, two singles and later the album itself were released to critical and commercial indifference, and the band quietly dissolved. A third single from the album, "[[Time of the Season]]", became a surprise hit in the United States in early 1969 after CBS staff producer [[Al Kooper]] recommended it be released on [[Date Records]].

The album gradually achieved critical praise and a [[cult following]], and has since become one of the most acclaimed albums of the 1960s. It was ranked 80th on ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's list of the "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]" in 2003.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110902014044/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/odessey-and-oracle-the-zombies-19691231] The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time : Rolling Stone].</ref> When ''Rolling Stone'' revised its list in 2020, the album was ranked 243rd.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/kanye-west-808s-heartbreak-1062989/|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|date=22 September 2020|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=23 September 2020}}</ref>