U is a double album, the seventh studio album overall, by the British psychedelic folk group the Incredible String Band (ISB) and was released on Elektra Records in October 1970. The majority of the material featured on the album was taken from the mixed-media production of the same name, which saw the band backed by the dancing troupe the Stone Monkey. The concept of U derived from the ISB's fascination and subsequent conversion to Scientology in 1969. Although the show, along with the songs, were seen as ambitious, U was a commercial failure for the ISB. The album managed to chart at number 183 on the Billboard 200, fairing considerably better in the UK where it peaked at number 34 on the UK Albums Charts. Background In 1969, after researching its concepts, the members of the ISB had joined the Church of Scientology, and expressed some of their changing views on their subsequent studio album, Changing Horses, later in the year. In November 1969, at the Hotel Chelsea in New York City, the ISB met two ex-members of David Medalla's kinetic art group the Exploding Galaxy, after the troupe unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a recording contract with MGM Records. Former members Malcolm Le Maistre and Rakis, as well as their newly formed dance ensemble the Stone Monkey, took residency at the ISB's commune in Glen Row to help the band, especially Robin Williamson, realise their vision for a multi-media stage act. Described as a "surreal parable in song and dance" by Williamson, U was "neither a pageant, a play, dance, theater, nor pantomime, though there were elements of all of those" in the show. For the plot, Williamson explained "the vague notion was, a soul incarnates out of nowhere, lives, and then vanishes again at the other end. Hence the idea 'U'", although the performances themselves hardly followed a coherent storyline. On 8 April 1970 the three-hour U show opened at London's Roundhouse where it ran for ten consecutive days. As many as 12 dancers accompanied the band on stage; the dancing aspect was reminiscent of the group's early performing days with the duo Mimi and Mouse. Another booking, this time for six days at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, came at the ISB's own expense, and the financial fallout forced the group to complete the shows without the Stone Monkey in a standard concert format. In an attempt