Royal Academy of Reality is an ambitious and successful summer blockbuster of a release...a sexy tour de force...glorious odes to the solar system. It's an anthem of the sun that would bust out in blows against the empire if anyone had the energy to launch a wooden ship, much less a rocket.
--VILLAGE VOICE
Possibly the most progressive American rock record of the new century. It sets an artistic standard few bands will be able to match.
--THE STATE
Overflowing with musical and intellectual ideas...flat-out astonishing.
--WIRE U.K.
Pocket symphonies of silvery guitar and warm-water singing: Abbey Road wrapped in kudzu.
--ROLLING STONE
A lavish record that's as cryptic as R.E.M. and as expansive as The Flaming Lips...warm and humane rather than aridly cerebral...their time may have come. 4 STARS.
--Q MAGAZINE U.K.
A gorgeous disc from a unique band that has been out of action too long.
--WASHINGTON POST
GRADE: A: Repeat listenings of Reality yield countless new pleasures.
--ATLANTA JOURNAL
A sprawling 70-minute voyage into deep space.
--CREATIVE LOAFING
The striking scale and superb craft of this album are impressive by any standard.
--ALL MUSIC GUIDE
This is one terrific album...a spectacular sound, one that overflows with sheer exuberance and invention...a strikingly original piece of work, and proof positive that in the grand tradition of Sgt. Pepper and Dark Side of the Moon, imagination and ambition are still vital ingredients when it comes to making music that really matters.
--SOUTH FLORIDA'S ENTERTAINMENT
NEWS & VIEWS
A rock and roll Gravity's Rainbow.
--AMPLIFIER
Exquisitely crafted songs [that] burst on the ear with the sudden force and electric sizzle of an August thunderstorm. Others open like furled flower buds, petal by petal, with imagery that's both winsome and passionate.
--TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT
Around 1978, I was running a club in Atlanta called the Agora Ballroom...I was just out of my teens and really no idea what the hell I was doing. Shortly after we opened, I met this strange guy that looked in retrospect a lot like Lyle Lovett on acid...His name was Jeff Calder, and he told me he was a lawyer (or something) from Florida who had left his wife behind and had come to Atlanta to start a rock band & change his life.
Being new to this world, my first question was: does your wife know...he laughed and said she did, I asked if she was pissed off...Well, she doesn't think it's the best idea I've ever had but she's dealing with it, besides-once I make enough money I'll send for her. I'd seen this stuff in the movies and thought to myself...poor widow as I walked off. Well...a short time later, I met Jeff's wife and not too much later saw him on stage with the Police... I guess he changed his life. Having him as a friend sure changed mine...Jeff Calder is one of the most decent people I have ever known and when I think of him one word comes to mind...RESPECT. Happy birthday my friend, I certainly hope you are well.
Much Love--Donnie Graves
