Archive for March, 2008

(Review from allmusic)

Leonard Cohen is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic singer/songwriters of the late ’60s.

On paper, Cohen’s music is astoundingly simple. Because he became well-known as a poet and novelist in his 20s, there’s a popular misconception that he didn’t begin to play music until he started releasing albums in his 30s. But he became infatuated with the guitar at an early age, played in a country band called the Buckskin Boys at McGill University, and accompanied his poetry readings with live jazz, inspired by the Beat poets for whom he was a little too aristocratic to be taken seriously. He didn’t become known as a musician until his 30s, but he was moving toward it his whole life, in an attempt to put his poetry where he thought it belonged– with the people, not the academy.

Because of this long gestation period, Cohen’s music seemed to emerge fully formed. There’s his reedy baritone– a humble, melancholy instrument and an inviting source of warmth; there’s his unique guitar style– most of his songs are built from delicate webs of musky, finger-picked flamenco or broad, awkward chord progressions; and there are his lyrics, tracing out the hidden contours of love, lust, sex, religion, responsibility, and history through an inflexibly personal lens.

His third album, “Songs of Love and Hate” is one of Leonard Cohen’s most emotionally intense albums — which, given the nature of Cohen’s body of work, is no small statement.

While the title Songs of Love and Hate sums up the album’s themes accurately enough, it’s hardly as simple as that description might lead you to expect — in these eight songs, “love” encompasses the physical (“Last Year’s Man”), the emotional (“Famous Blue Raincoat”), and the spiritual (“Joan of Arc”), and the contempt in songs like “Dress Rehearsal Rag” and “Avalanche” is the sort of venom that can only come from someone who once cared very deeply.

The sound of the album is clean and uncluttered, and for the most part the music stays out of the way of the lyrics, which dominate the songs. Thankfully, Cohen had grown noticeably as a singer since his first two albums, and if he hardly boasts a range to rival Roy Orbison here, he is able to bring out the subtleties of “Joan of Arc” and “Famous Blue Raincoat” in a way his previous work would not have led you to expect. And while production is spare, it’s spare with a purpose, letting Cohen’s voice and guitar tell their stories and using other musicians for intelligent, emotionally resonant punctuation (unobtrusive string arrangements and the use of a children’s chorus are especially inspired).

“Songs of Love and Hate” captures Cohen in one of his finest hours as a songwriter and the best selections rank with the most satisfying work of his career.

Line-up:
* Leonard Cohen – acoustic guitar, vocals
with
* Ron Cornelius – acoustic and electric guitars
* Charlie Daniels – acoustic guitar, bass, fiddle
* Elkin “Bubba” Fowler – acoustic guitar, banjo, bass
* Bob Johnston – piano, production
* Corlynn Hanney – vocals
* Susan Mussmano – vocals
* London Corona Academy – children’s voices
* Michael Sahl – strings (3rd verse of “Last Year’s Man”)
* Paul Buckmaster – string and horn arrangements, conducting

Track List:
01. Avalanche – 5:07
02. Last Year’s Man – 6:02
03. Dress Rehearsal Rag – 6:12
04. Diamonds in the Mine – 3:52
05. Love Calls You by Your Name – 5:44
06. Famous Blue Raincoat – 5:15
07. Sing Another Song, Boys (live at the Isle of Wight Festival 30 August 1970) – 6:17
08. Joan of Arc – 6:29
09. Dress Rehearsal Rag (Bonus Early Version)

Links in comments.

Scorpions – Virgin Killer (1976) (@256)

31 Mar 2008

Request of Ron.

(Review from amazon, wikipedia)

In 1976, the Scorpions released their fourth studio album, Virgin Killer.

Ulrich Jon Roth’s guitar playing on Fly To The Rainbow and In Trance were great, but on this album he elevates it to another level.

The band kicks the album off with “Pictured Life”, a classic hard and heavy power rocker. Following this track you will learn instantly that this is the band’s fastest and most furious album of all. Two-thirds of the album is made up of hard and heavy rockers that are unbeatable in the quality department. Among these are “Catch Your Train”, “Backstage Queen”, and the title track. There are even three power ballads on here, all of which are excellent and well ahead of their time – “In Your Park”, “Crying Days”, and “Yellow Raven”. Two of the album’s faster and heavier tracks, “Hell Cat” and “Polar Nights”, feature vocals that are wildly different from any other tracks on this or any Scorpions album.

The album’s cover features a nude prepubescent girl covered by broken glass, was designed by the German branch of RCA Records, their label at the time. The cover brought the band considerable criticism and was ultimately pulled or replaced in several countries.

In spite of the controversy, the album garnered significant praise from critics and fans alike. The following year, Rudy Lenners resigned due to health reasons and was replaced by Herman Rarebell.

Line-up:
- Klaus Meine / vocals
- Ulrich Roth / guitar, vocals
- Rudolf Schenker / guitar, vocals
- Francis Buchholz / bass
- Achim Kirschning / synthesizer, keyboards
- Rudy Lenners / percussion, drums

Track List:
01. Pictured Life – 3:26
02. Catch Your Train – 3:37
03. In Your Park – 3:46
04. Backstage Queen – 3:13
05. Virgin Killer – 3:44
06. Hell Cat – 2:57
07. Crying Days – 4:41
08. Polar Night – 5:09
09. Yellow Raven – 5:01

Link in comments.

Scorpions, Uli Jon Roth

Focus – Live at the BBC (1976) (@192)

30 Mar 2008

8 comments

Oops, forgot to post this one. Place it before Focus Con Proby chronogically.

(Review from amazon)

This concert was recorded in London on 21st March 1976 by the BBC just days after the departure of Jan Akkerman.

Focus was just a slight sidestep in Philip Catherine’s illustrious career as a jazz guitarist but it was a mild trauma for those of us who turned up for the ’76 tour avid to see Jan Akkerman tearing up six strings like lightening on water and finding instead that he’d jumped ship at the last moment and this “chubby Andre Previn look-alike” was his frantically hauled-in replacement.

The evening could never really recover from that first plummeting disappointment, especially when the band proceeded to jettison their rich heritage of compositions for some new pieces that sounded little more than uninspired watery funk. Ironically as it turns out, hearing the songs all these years later, it’s the Catherine material that comes up best…

Sneezing Bull, a perfect dynamic showcase for Thijs and his flute, and Angel Wings with its dramatically contorting guitar figure, are the finest things on it (and would be worth dusting off for van Leer’s new Focus venture)… House of the King gallops along well too and Hocus Pocus is fun as usual, though it’s a one man show for van Leer and Catherine risks no adventures into wild Akkerman territory. A shame, because when he wants to, he can rip the place up fairly well himself.

Then there’s the other stuff, occasionally pleasant at best, but, really, even now, you’re hoping it’s going to suddenly lead into Birth or Hamburger Concerto or Focus 3.

Line-up:
- Thijs Van Leer / vocals, organ & flute
- Bert Ruiter / bass, vocals
- Philip Catherine / guitar
- David Kemper / drums

Track List:
01. Virtuous Woman (10:58)
02. Blues in D (3:46)
03. Maximum (14:01)
04. Sneezing Bull (7:46)
05. Sonata for Flute (2:48)
06. House of the King (3:15)
07. Angel Wings (5:39)
08. Little Sister/What You See (8:18)
09. Hocus Pocus (5:49)

Link in comments.

Focus, Thijs van Leer

Istanbul Oriental Ensemble – Sultan's Secret Door (1997) (@192)

30 Mar 2008

(Info from sleeve)

For the past two years, the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble has been touring the concert halls of Europe with resounding success. Wherever they appeared — at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the World Music Festival in Nantes, the Summer Festival in Hamburg or the Casino Festival in Basel — they met with rapturous applause, standing ovations and endless calls for encores. The music press has been equally enthusiastic. London’s Mojo magazine described them as breathtaking magicians of sound, while Le Monde claimed that the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble headed by one of the world´s most virtuoso percussionists opens up a whole new dimension in Turkish gypsy music. In Germany, the Hamburger Morgenpost reported on their music as highly erotic, great listening and incredibly conducive to trance, while the Stuttgarter Nachrichten wrote of a lesson in the joys of life and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described their distinctive musical texture of unique virtuosity as a major cultural achievement.

Following their first album, Gypsy Rum, which won both the German Phonographic Critics´ Prize and the prestigious French critics’ Choc de la Musique accolade, the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble now invites listeners to a musical abduction into the seraglio. Passing through the Sultan’s Secret Door, they take up their instruments to accompany a sumptuous banquet, weaving a wondrous web of classical oriental melodies and intoxicating their audience beyond the midnight hour with the sheer artistry of their ballads and instrumental suites. As the revellers carouse, the musicians go along with the mood of abandon, striking up a wittily tongue-in-cheek song. The ladies of the harem are enchanted by the seductive sounds of yearning, and one of the women escapes under cover of secrecy as they play their irresistibly erotic belly dance. On the way home, the musicians meet up with the Greek group Prosech’s and take the opportunity of a joining them in a unique session.

Line-up:
* Burhan Ocal / Darbuka, Kos, Tanbur, Saz, Percussions
* Fethi Tekyaygil / Keman (Violin)
* Sahin Sert / Qanun
* Ekrem Basi / Darbukas
* Huseyin Bitmez / Oud, Vocals
* Ferdi Nadaz / Clarinet, Zurna
with
* Prosech (9)

Track List:
01. Mahur Oriental
02. Nihavent Oriental
03. Nihavent Oyun Havasi
04. Roman II
05. Fasulye
06. Sultaniyegah Sirto
07. Roxelana
08. Eve Donus
09. Ke Jati Den Ma To Les-Ta Lefta,Indim Havuz Basina

Link in comments.

Burhan Ocal, Turkish

Scorpions – In Trance (1975) (@256)

30 Mar 2008

Request of Ron.

(Review from amazon, wikipedia)

Although it may be hard to believe, the Scorpions had already been together for ten years when they released their third album, In Trance, in 1975.

The band kicks off the album with Dark Lady, one of the finest rockers they have ever recorded in their entire career. This track fuses elements of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Judas Priest alike, making for a track that is impossible not to love if you’re a fan of classic metal. Up next, we have the title track. The emphasis in this one is heavy on the vocals, and it beautifully demonstrates a point – Klaus Meine, the band’s lead vocalist, has finally found his voice. The band even tries their hand at some slower-style tracks with Life’s Like A River and Living And Dying, and they succeed beautifully. Top Of The Bill is a rocker that is strangely reminiscent of Van Halen’s Everybody Wants Some, but is still an excellent rocker. Through the course of the album, the band serves up a variety of excellent tracks, and all the while Ulrich John Roth shows that he is a guitar god that never got the proper credit. Classic metal albums don’t get a whole lot better than this.

This is one of Scorpions’ finest efforts, as well as the album where they truly found their sound. It marked the beginning of Scorpions’ long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The cover features their classic logo for the first time and it is also the first of many that have been censored later.

Line-up:
* Klaus Meine – vocals
* Rudolf Schenker – guitars
* Ulrich Roth – lead guitars,vocals
* Rudy Lenners – drums
* Francis Buchholz – bass

Track List:
01. Dark Lady – 3:30
02. In Trance – 4:43
03. Life’s Like A River – 3:51
04. Top Of The Bill – 3:24
05. Living And Dying – 3:21
06. Robot Man – 2:44
07. Evening Wind – 5:04
08. Sun In My Hand – 4:23
09. Longing For Fire – 2:44
10. Night Lights – 3:15

Link in comments.

Scorpions, Uli Jon Roth

Focus – Focus Con Proby (1978) (@256)

30 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

Early 1976 finally saw the two egos clash heavily, which resulted in Akkerman’s departure from the band. Pierre van der Linden also left the band. Thijs van Leer brought in new members to continue Focus, one of who was a vocalist, P.J. Proby thus the name of the new album “Focus Con Proby”.

Philip Catherine, an excellent Belgian jazz guitarist, replaces Jan Akkerman. There’s a musician worthy of further exploration if you aren’t familiar with his work. Eef Albers also plays guitar, he gets writing credit for the tracks Orion and Night Flight, two of the four instrumental tracks on this album. Steve Smith was a member of Journey and went on to form the fusion band Vital Information.

The blend of Thijs van Leer’s classical influences and the jazz minds of these great musicians received dismal reviews at the time and a lack of interest from all but hardcore fans. After a short tour the band decided to call it a day.

Line-up:
- Thijs van Leer / keyboards, flute
- Bert Ruiter / bass
- P.J. Proby / lead vocals
- Eef Albers / electric & rhythm guitars
- Philip Catherine / electric & rhythm guitars
- Steve Smith / drums

Track List:
01. Wingless – 5:38
02. Orion – 4:10
03. Night Flight – 3:42
04. Eddy – 5:56
05. Sneezing Bull – 3:30
06. Brother – 5:19
07. Tokyo Rose – 5:08
08. Maximum – 8:43
09. How Long – 5:19

Link in comments.

Focus, Thijs van Leer

Peter Gabriel – 1 (Car) (1977) (@256)

29 Mar 2008

(Review from rollingstone.com, progarchives.com)

When Peter Gabriel resigned as frontman of Genesis, he said it was to search for the unexpected. On the evidence of his first solo album (two years after), he’s found it. Instead of crystallizing an easily apprehensible musical identity, Gabriel has put together a grab bag collection of songs that bear little resemblance to one another. The individual songs, too, are often schizophrenic patchworks of styles. He writes great melodies; he can still be weird when he wants; he likes dramatic orchestration and studio wizardry.

“Solisbury Hill” gave him an immediate hit single — it includes a parting side swipe at his former band mates (“I was feeling part of the scenery, I walked right out of the machinery”). “Morbund the Burgermeister” makes for a powerful opener which could have easily been a part of his last album with Genesis, “Lamb Lies on Broadway”. “Modern Love”, is an upbeat number, not the Bowie song of the same name, but in some ways similar. “Excuse me” is an amusing, old fashioned track, while “Here comes the flood” with its quiet verse, bombastic chorus structure makes for an excellent closer.

Needless to say, Gabriel’s vocals dominate the album, with little in the way of instrumental work, and thus it is less progressive orientated than the music he made while with Genesis. It is however a very accomplished first solo album which does lean heavily on his experience with the band.

On the subsequent live tour Gabriel performed just one track from his former band which is odd for an artist who just has released one album on his own. It seems he already wanted to get rid of his past.

Line-up:
- Peter Gabriel / voices, keyboards, flute, recorder
with
- Allan Schwartzberg / drums, directories
- Tony Levin / bass, tuba, leader of Barbershop Quartet
- Jim Maelen / percussion, synthibam, Bones and Barbershop
- Steve Hunter / Full frontal guitar, electric & acoustic rhythm guitar, pedal steel
- Robert Fripp / electric guitar, classical guitar, banjo
- Jozef Chirowski / Frontal keyboard, Barbershop
- Larry (Wires) Fast / synthesizers and programming
with:
- Dick Wagner / backing voices, solo guitar on “Here Comes The Flood” and at the end of “Slowburn”
- The London Symphony Orchestra / on “Down The Dolce Vita”
- Michael Gibbs / Orchestra arranger and Conductor

Track List:
01. Moribund The Burgermeister (4:18)
02. Solsbury Hill (4:21)
03. Modern Love (3:38)
04. Excuse Me (3:20)
05. Humdrum (3:26)
06. Slowburn (4:37)
07. Waiting For The Big One (7:14)
08. Down The Dolce Vita (4:42)
09. Here Comes The Flood (5:56)

Link in comments.

Peter Gabriel

Carlos Santana – Oneness : Silver Dreams Golden Reality (1979) (@320)

29 Mar 2008

Request of Hugh, sorry I forgot earlier.

(Review from progarchives.com)

Well it was about five years since Carlos Santana had had time for another solo adventure away from his band, and the album was definitely worth the wait. With an extended cast of musicians, this album would provide some of the grandeur that had become a bit lost with the group’s latest releases. This full-blown JR/F album is simply yet another highlight in a decade that was obviously very kind to Carlos Santana. As the title indicates, there appear to have two distinct.

Sonically speaking, if you can imagine Caravanserai or Borboletta with the Amigos timbre, you may have an idea of what this album sounds like. Most of the short tracks segue so naturally into one another that by the time you notice a full stop, you are already on track 7 and had such a good time that it appears all too short. At that sub-title track, Silver Dreams track, you get a wake-up call. The following track, a triumphant Victory is much less intrusive, but astonishes by the recording level and the first side of the album finishes on the inhabitual (for Santana) piano-solo guru’s Song.

The second side start on the orgasmic real title track, which will bring shivers down your spine and its awesome majestic ambiances. The next funky sung jazz-rock does not stand much a chance (although it is quite worthy) after such an excellent track, but still manages to catch your attention. Golden Dawn is another one of those sublime instrumentals that only Carlos Santana can write. The album is nearing its end with the self-explanatory Morning Sun, then his wife reciting a short Chinmoy text and a very blistering track dedicated to himself and rarely has such well deserved tooting his own horn has been justified.

An awesome album very close to his bests.

Line-up:
* Carlos Santana / guitar, chant & bells, vocals
with
* David Margen / bass
* Tom Coster / keyboards, synths
* Greg Walker / vocals 1 11 13
* Graham Lear /drums, timbales 13
* Chris Rhyne / keyboards, Moog solo 11
* Raul Rekow / percussion
* Armando Peraza / percussion
* Pete Escovado / timbales 6
* Narada Michael Walden / piano, Hammond organ 9 15
* Chris Solberg / Hammond organ, guitar 5 11
* Clare Fisher /Fender Rhodes piano 7 14, string orchestra & arrangement
* Rob Levy / strings synth 6
* Saunders King / lead vocals, rhythm guitar 7
* Urmila Santana / narration 14

Track List:
01. Chosen Hour
02. Arise Awake
03. Light Versus Darkness
04. Jim-Jeannie
05. Transformation Day
06. Victory
07. Silver Dreams Golden Smiles
08. Cry of the Wilderness
09. Guru’s Song
10. Oneness
11. Life Is Just a Passing Parade
12. Golden Dawn
13. Free as the Morning Sun
14. I Am Free – Sri Chinmoy
15. Song for Devadip

Links in comments.

Carlos Santana

Focus – Live at the Rainbow (1973) (@256)

28 Mar 2008

(Review from vintageprog.com)

Focus’ classic live-album recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London was released at the height of their popularity, and explains all why Focus were such a successful and respected act.

The playing here is incredibly tight and energetic. The tracks are usually performed a bit harder and faster than their studio-counterparts; just check the high-octane version of “Hocus Pocus”. The selections of tracks are also very carefully done, and makes sure that every side of Focus’ music is represented here.

You get the ultra-typical, melodic and classic Focus-sound in “Focus III” and “Focus II”, the more jam-oriented direction in “Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers”, the more commercial and catchy side in “Sylvia” and of course full progressive rock-bliss in an 8-minute excerpt of “Eruption”.

The sound is excellent for a live-album this old, further making this one of the essential live-albums from a progressive rock band.

Line-up:
- Thijs van Leer / keyboards, flute, vocals
- Jan Akkerman / guitars
- Bert Ruiter / bass, backing vocals
- Pierre van der Linden / drums

Track List:
01. Focus III – 3:52
02. Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! – 11:29
03. Focus II – 4:36
04. Eruption – 8:28
05. Hocus Pocus – 8:30
06. Sylvia – 2:47
07. Hocus Pocus (Reprise) – 2:46

Link in comments.

Focus, Jan Akkerman, Pierre van der Linden, Thijs van Leer

Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited (1996) (@256)

28 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

If you’re going to revisit some of the songs you created with one of the world’s greatest rock bands, you might as well do it properly. Hackett does exactly that with this album. He gathered together some of the finest musicians available, with the noticeable exclusion of any of his former band mates but including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The opening “Watcher of the skies” is slightly slower, more majestic, than the “Foxtrot” original. The wonderful introduction sounds even better as the mellotron is accompanied by full orchestra. John Wetton’s vocals can make any track sound good, but where he guests on tracks on this album, as he does on “Watcher of the Skies” (and “Firth of Fifth”) he adds an atmosphere to them which changes their feel completely. Hackett takes on vocal duties himself for “Dance on a volcano”, which is a pity really, as it’s otherwise superb. He does the same on “Fountain of Salmacis”. With so many talented vocalists to hand, such self indulgence is at best unnecessary.

“Firth of fifth” is transformed completely. The intro is a delicate piece of orchestration, while out goes the flute solo and intricate Tony Banks keyboard solo. In comes a completely different precursor to Hackett’s famous guitar solo. Just as you’re starting to despair and think that Hackett has done the unthinkable and disposed of his finest contribution to the Genesis archive, the sound of his guitar breezes in ever so gently before soaring even more beautifully and to even greater heights.

A couple of the tracks are not really re-visits as such, “Valley of the kings” and “Déjŕ vu” not being original Genesis tracks. That said, Peter Gabriel apparently started the latter in the 1970’s while still with the band, and Paul Carrack’s vocals are excellent on the finally finished product. “The waiting room” is nominally the track from “The lamb..”, but in reality, it’s a completely different piece in the form of a jam with heavy jazz overtones. For me, it doesn’t work, and would have been better left off the album altogether. The other tracks are interesting, and at times inspired re-workings, closing with the always excellent “Los endos”.

It’s easy to question some of the songs Hackett has chosen to “revisit”, and there are many others which it would have been good to have seen included, but remember these are his personal choices.

“Watcher of the skies” and “Firth of fifth” are the clear beneficiaries of Hackett’s re-interpretations, and it has to be said that some of the others would have been better left alone, but overall it is a commendable album indeed.

Line-up:
- Steve Hackett / vocals, guitars, percussion, harmonica, orchestration
with
- John Wetton / vocals, bass
- Bill Bruford / drums
- Tony Levin / bass
- Chester Thompson / drums
- Ian McDonald / saxophone, flute
- Paul Carrack / vocals
- Colin Blunstone / vocals
- Alphonso Johnson / bass
- John Hackett / flute
- Pino Palladino / bass
- Julian Colbeck / keyboards
- Aron Friedman / keyboards, orchestration, programming
- Hugo Degenhardt / drums
- Nick Magnus / keyboards, programming
- Will Bates / saxophone
- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Sanchez / Montoya Chorale
- Roger King / keyboards, vibraphone, orchestration, programming
- Jerry Peal / keyboards, programming
- Ben Fenner / keyboards, orchestration, programming

Track List:
01. Watcher of the Skies (8:40)
02. Dance On A Volcano (7:28)
03. Valley Of The Kings (6:29)
04. Déja Vu (5:53)
05. Firth of Fifth (9:39)
06. For Absent Friends (3:02)
07. Your Own Special Way (4:18)
08. Fountain of Salmacis (9:53)
09. Waiting Room Only (6:53)
10. I Know What I Like (5:37)
11. Los Endos (8:51)

Links in comments.

Bill Bruford, Ian McDonald, John Wetton, Steve Hackett, Tony Levin

Focus – Focus III (1972) (@256)

27 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

‘Focus III’ is generally considered as Focus’ top achievement. Not only do these guys deliver some of their most inspired playing, but also manage to work as a unit with a level of compenetration that hides the ongoing rivality between van Leer and Akkerman.

Akkerman continues to explore new sources of introspective music (‘Love Remembered’) and mediaeval tradition (‘Elspeth of Nottingham’), while keeping his ability to turn his guitar on fire with a polished skill beyond words, in the hardest passages: he really shines in ‘Answers Questions’ and ‘Anonymous II’, and his hammond layers on ‘Focus III’ create an awesome background for Akkerman’s guitar leads. Van Leer is also in a state of “business as usual”, displaying his mastery on both on keyboards (mostly hammond organ) and flute, and also some burlesque vocals. The interplays between van Leer and Akkerman in the opening track are breathtaking, executed with energy and a touch of sheer class.

Drummer extraordinaire Van der Linden feels at home here: only one year had passed since he entered the band, yet his drumming had become an essential feature of Focus’ musical essence. When the excellent bassist Bert Ruiter made his entry into the ranks of Focus, the rhythm section achieved its highest level of strength and sophistication; Ruiter proved to be the perfect complement to van der Linden’s top-notch drumming style so far,… and this is a difficult task, since van der Linden enjoys stretching out his role to the point of becoming fundamental for the band’s melodic aspect, with his constant tricky rolling. Ruiter’s penchant for jazz and funky definitely allowed Focus to keep their own focus on their jazz leaning: the amazing 27-minute ‘Anonymous II’ only shows you how enthusiastic and frenzy the foursome were about it (a special mention goes to van der Linden’s tribal oriented drum solo). The same thing could be noticed on ‘Questions Answers’.

The lighter side of the album is present in the latin-jazz/bossanova tinged ‘Carnival Fugue’ and the catchy ‘Sylvia’ (band’s most successful single actually), two attractive numbers that serve as relaxing motifs, among a repertoire that tends to sound really aggressive.

Line-up:
- Thijs van Leer / vocal, organ, piano, Alto, flute piccolo, Harpsichord
- Jan Akkerman / solo & acoustic guitars
- Bert Ruiter / bass
- Pierre van der Linden / drums

Track List:
01. Round Goes The Gossip 5:13
02. Love Remembered 2:49
03. Sylvia 3:31
04. Carnival Fugue 6:08
05. Focus III 6:04
06. Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! 13:50
07. Elspeth Of Nottingham 3:11
08. Anonymous Two 26:20

Links in comments.

Focus, Jan Akkerman, Pierre van der Linden, Thijs van Leer

Steve Hackett – Voyage of the Acolyte (1975) (@256)

27 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

With Genesis on hiatus following the departure of Peter Gabriel, guitarist Steve Hackett wasted little time in channeling his energy into an album of his own, “Voyage of the Acolyte”.

Even with a rhythm section of Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, few could have expected a progressive rock gem of this magnitude. Picking up his cue from King Crimson’s mellotron-led struggle between good and evil, Hackett floors the listener within the first fifteen seconds and never releases his grip, flitting between the pastoral and the powerful with equal comfort and confidence.

The opening “Ace of Wands” is an abrupt entrance but it’s fair warning that “Voyage of the Acolyte” has opened the floodgates of a very fertile imagination. This enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of good judgment: “Ace of Wands” is chocked full of good ideas, but it tries to pack ten minutes’ worth of music into half that time.

Like Robert Fripp or Peter Banks, Hackett is no vocalist, which gives him a certain freedom to set the mood with different singers. Sally Oldfield is an excellent choice for “Shadow of the Hierophant”, an eleven-minute masterpiece that features the best arrangements on the album. Phil Collins does passably well on “Star of Sirius”, but he would get better with time; Steve Hackett’s treated voice on “Hermit” recalls the first King Crimson album, complete with strings and a lovely flute passage from John Hackett.

Although there are moments when Genesis is recalled — the distinctive lead guitar on “Hands of the Priestess”, a followup to “Foxtrot”‘s “Horizons” on “The Lovers” — Voyage of the Acolyte represents a new and different journey for the Genesis guitarist.

Line-up:
- Steve Hackett / electric & acoustic guitar, Mellotron, harmonium, bells, autoharp, vocal, effects
with
- John Hackett / flute, Arp synthetizer, bells
- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, bass pedals, Fuzz 12-String
- Phil Collins / drums, vibes, percussion, vocals
- John Acock / Elka, Rhapsody, Mellotron, harmonium, piano
- Sally Oldfield / vocal
- Robin Miller / oboe, cor Anglais
- Nigel Warren-Green / solo cello
- Percy Jones / extra bass on “Tower”
- Johnny Gustafson / bass on “Star”
- Steve Tobin / parrot and cough

Track List:
01. Ace Of Wands (5:23)
02. Hands of the Priestess Part I (3:28)
03. A Tower Struck Down (4:53)
04. Hands of the Priestess Part II (1:31)
05. The Hermit (4:49)
06. Star of Sirius (7:08)
07. The Lovers (1:50)
08. Shadow of the Hierophant (11:44)

Links in comments.

Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett

Incredible String Band – 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion (1967) (@192)

27 Mar 2008

Request of Bragi Taliesin, sorry I forgot earlier.

(Review from progreviews.com, amazon)

Following the Incredible String Band’s debut release, the band actually decided to call it the day. Apparently, Clive Palmer planned to head off to Afghanistan and Robin Williamson to Morocco, intending to stay for an extended period of time. Financial difficulties, however, forced Williamson back to the U.K., and it is here that destiny aligned: He got back together with Heron and the two decided to go on with the band as a duo.

Its ambitious title and eye-popping cover art prepares you to get caught in the black-light throes of psychedelic ecstasy. No point trying to classify it, it was weird, strange, disturbing, exhilarating, funny, sexy and downright fascinating.

The album displays the eclectic blend of musical influences – whilst the sound is rooted in a Celtic folk tradition, it incorporates Indian and straightforward rock sounds, and the influence of Bob Dylan is felt everywhere.

The band’s soon-to-be-crystallized sound’s coming into view. There is an expansion of the instrumental palette. In addition to the contributions of Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson, Williamson’s gimbri (North African lute) is now on board, the sitar makes its first appearance though mostly in a supportive role, and there’s the rollicking bongo-percussion that would become increasingly prominent. This album also marks the first appearance of vocalist Licorice ‘Likky’ McKhenie. The band’s mysticism, typically represented in Williamson’s material, also clearly begins to emerge here.

It is true that you can hear a gradual progression throughout the band’s first three albums. This was the second of the three, it took the Incredibles out of the Scottish folk club scene and introduced their music and vision to a rather startled world. With their next album “Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter”, came one giant leap.

Line-up:
* Robin Williamson / vocal, guitar, gimbri, flute, violin, oud, mandolin, sitar, tamboura, drums, percussion
* Mike Heron / vocals, guitar, harmonica
with
* Danny Thompson / bass
* Licorice McKhenie / vocals, finger cymbals
* John Hopkins / piano

Track List:
01. Chinese White — 3:34
02. No Sleep Blues — 3:48
03. Painting Box — 3:58
04. The Mad Hatter’s Song — 5:35
05. Little Cloud — 3:52
06. The Eyes of Fate — 3:56
07. Blues for the Muse — 2:44
08. The Hedgehog’s Song — 3:26
09. First Girl I Loved — 4:51
10. You Know What You Could Be — 2:44
11. My Name Is Death — 2:42
12. Gently Tender — 4:45
13. Way Back in the 1960s — 3:08

Link in comments.

Incredible String Band

Focus – In and Out of Focus (1970) (@256)

27 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

Despite certain criticism, the debut album of Focus is a quite original and artistically coherent music statement. True, critics are mainly complaining about the weak vocal tracks and surely Black Beauty and Sugar Island are not the kind of songs you cannot live without. But the rest is pretty much excellent!

The opening – vocal – and the closing – instrumental – versions of the self-titled “Focus” are pretty solid progressive rock statements and present a blueprint for later albums, where this composition would traditionally be re-interpreted. The instrumental Focus contains some wonderful Akkerman’s solo parts that suggest a nice, relaxing, almost lounge atmosphere of the kind Peter Green had composed in Albatross.

“Anonymous” is another gem presenting a mixture of medieval/renaissance elements with a strong, hard-rocking jazz improvisation, with some wild and vivid use of flute, piano and lead guitar. There is a solo part on bass guitar where Martijn Dresden shows that his performance skills were not the reason for his departure after this album. The bass sounds like the similar part of the crazy improvisation suite by their fellow countrymen Ekseption done few years later.

“Happy Nightmare” and “Why Dream” are vocal tracks, but both are fine melodic and slightly psychedelic songs, an obvious traces of Beatles and early Pink Floyd influences. There is a fine chamber jazz section in the former, with mellotron and strings/violins. The vocals are indeed not very convincing, they were probably never meant to be in the forefront – much like its use in later Camel albums – their role is pure atmospheric. Whether this was an intention of the band while recording this album is a different story and they probably were rather experimental. On the subsequent albums they were reduced to occasional scat and yodelling and that’s what Thijs van Leer would become a famous for.

Finally, here comes House of the King! Acoustic guitar chords and lively percussive rhythm make just enough space for Thijs van Leer’s extravaganza flute solo play. It is one of the most memorable and popular flute solos in rock music, a melody that gained a widespread popularity across generations.

“In and Out of Focus” is a good debut that is often overlooked in the wake of Focus’ later stronger albums.

Line-up:
- Thijs van Leer / vocals, keyboards, flute
- Jan Akkerman / guitars
- Hans Cleuver / drums
- Martijn Dresden / bass

Track List:
01. Focus…(Vocal) – 2:44
02. Black Beauty – 3:08
03. Sugar Island – 3:05
04. Anonymous – 6:32
05. House Of The King – 2:51
06. Happy Nightmare (Mescaline) – 3:58
07. Why Dream – 3:59
08. Focus (Instrumental) – 9:45

Link in comments.

Focus, Jan Akkerman, Thijs van Leer

America – Holiday (1974) (@256)

26 Mar 2008

Request of someone I can’t remember, sorry I forgot earlier.

(Review from allmusic, amazon)

“America” was a light folk-rock act of the early ’70s. Vocalists/guitarists Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley met while they were still in high school in the late ’60s; all three were sons of Americans living in England. After they completed school in 1970, they formed an acoustic folk-rock band in London.

With America’s fourth album, came in legendary Beatles producer, George Martin. He and the band blended perfectly and the result is a very fine album that has aged well. The lush string orchestration will remind many folks of the Beatles.

Sure, everyone loved “Tin Man” and “Lonely People” — after more than 30 years, they still get airplay. The difference with “Holiday” is that the band’s light and breezy melodies and attractive folk-rock sound filtered through more than just the two hit tracks on the album. “Another Try”, “Old Man Took”, “In the Country” and even the cliche-sounding “Baby It’s Up to You” contain a sturdy enough mixture of guitar and harmony to rise them above a certain level.

Line-up:
- Gerry Beckley / Guitar, Vocals
- Dewey Bunnell / Guitar, Drums, Vocals
- Dan Peek / Guitar, Vocals
- Willie Leacox / Percussion, Drums

Track List:
01. Miniature 1:16
02. Tin Man 3:28
03. Another Try 3:20
04. Lonely People 2:30
05. Glad To See You 3:45
06. Mad Dog 2:42
07. Hollywood 2:52
08. Baby It’s Up To You 2:26
09. You 2:30
10. Old Man Took 3:14
11. What Does It Matter 2:22
12. In The Country 2:56

Link in comments.

Minimum Vital – La Source (1993) (@320)

26 Mar 2008

Thanks to tonyd.

(Review from expose.org)

On this, their fourth album in nine years, the band continue moving boldly into new territory, while retaining the essence of the sound that makes them unique among modern French bands – offering some oblique references to the neo-canterbury styles of Camel, Happy the Man and Sky, yet sounding like none of the aforementioned, developing those elements and attributes that set them apart from their contemporaries.

The subtitle “Huit Chants De Lumiere” should offer a clue: in addition to further refinements in their basic sound, they have given it new life with the inclusion of vocals on every track, although they remain primarily an instrumentally-oriented band.

As always, the sound is dominated by Jean-Luc’s ripping guitars and the colorful keyboard pyrotechnics of brother Thierry. Bassist Eric Rebeyrol and Drummer Christophe Godet seem a bit more animated this time out and are offering more punch to the arrangements, as evidenced in the highly charged “Tabou”, nine minutes of pure brilliance. Another track of special note is the acoustic guitar-driven “Les Mondes De Miranda”, with it’s strong folk spirit, jazz and classical influences, energized guitar and accordion solos – this is quite possibly the album’s strongest cut.

Line-up:
- Thierry Payssan / keyboards, accordion
- Jean Luc Payssan / guitars
- Eric Rebeyrol / bass
- Christophe Godet / drums
- Antoine Guerber / vocals

Track List:
01. Danse des voeux (7:00)
02. La Villa Emo (5:26)
03. Les Mondes de Miranda (7:48)
04. Ann dey flon (6:57)
05. Tabou (9:10)
06. Ce qui soustient (2:27)
07. Mystical west (7:03)
08. La source – Final (1:35)

Link in comments.

Jean-Luc Payssan, Minimum Vital, Thierry Payssan

Genesis – Live Over Europe (2007) (@256)

25 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com, allmusic.com)

‘Live Over Europe 2007′ documents Genesis’ almost unanimously received comeback tour, or at least the European leg. It features live recordings taken from most of the gigs of that tour. The announcement of the band’s comeback in the shape of the three-man Collins/Rutherford/Banks axis was treated with either hostility of indifference by a significant proportion of prog fans. One suspects that many would have preferred Gabriel and Hackett to have been involved. However, something interesting happened when the set was announced, where interest was piqued considerably. The balance tipped firmly in Genesis’ favour when most of the doubters saw the concerts, as they proved beyond all doubt that the band are still a force to be reckoned with when it comes to in-concert prowess.

The 2h and 20m total of recordings draws from concerts in Manchester, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Hannover, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Prague, Rome, Paris, Munich & Twichenham. Quite a good tour map, though of course the full concerts rarely suffered changes or different measures as music. A clever mix to the album’s recording is how the pieces don’t have sharp cuts in the flow, even if they come from different concerts.

Besides the central icon that is the trio (sure, Phil Collins has a comeback himself, but without him the reunion wouldn’t have made sense at all, “calling” Ray Wilson back in 1997 having meant disaster), Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer are also back playing percussion and bass, so moments like the drums duo are in this way a buzzing and usual entry. The concerts certainly must have had their explosive nature or their show-glow, but a bit less is heard through the album.

The set samples from every era of the band’s career, giving equal emphasis to pop hits and extended prog pieces. In other words, it’s a live album that looks good on paper, but in practice “Live Over Europe 2007″ is a bit of a snooze, as the sound is too pristine and the performances too well-oiled to have much of a spark. It’s not that the group sounds rusty — quite the opposite, actually. They sound like they’ve been playing this set list every year for ten years instead of being on hiatus for over a decade. They’re too professional to be bad, but they’re too predictable to be interesting.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards
- Phil Collins / vocals, drums
- Mike Rutherford / guitars, bass
with
- Daryl Stuermer / guitars, bass
- Chester Thompson / drums

Track List:
CD1
01. Duke’s Intro (3:49)
02. Turn It On Again (4:26)
03. No Son Of Mine (6:57)
04. Land Of Confusion (5:11)
05. In The Cage (13:30)
06. Afterglow (4:28)
07. Hold On My Heart (5:58)
08. Home By The Sea (11:59)
09. Follow You, Follow Me (4:19)
10. Firth Of Fifth (Excerpt) (4:40)
11. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (6:45)
CD2
01. Mama (6:57)
02. Ripples (7:58)
03. Throwing It All Away (6:01)
04. Domino (11:34)
05. Conversation With Two Sticks (6:49)
06. Los Endos (6:25)
07. Tonight Tonight Tonight (Excerpt) (3:49)
08. Invisible Touch (5:35)
09. I Can’t Dance (6:12)
10. Carpet Crawlers (6:00)

Links in comments.

Genesis, Live, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue (1963) (@256)

25 Mar 2008

(Review from npr.org, amazon)

There’s an old saying that “simple is not always easy” and while a lot of jazzers profess an allegiance to the blues, very few can actually mine the subtleties of the classic blues form, which has twelve measures of music. Guitarist Kenny Burrell is one of those who can. Kenny Burrell’s music is a wonderful blend of elegance and conviction, musical inventiveness and thoughtful restraint.

By the time this recording was made in 1963, Kenny Burrell had established himself as both a leader and sideman. Schooled in bebop, he became the go-to man for swinging rhythm accompaniment and elegant, tasteful guitar soloing. His presence livened up many so-called blowing sessions in the mid-’50s. But once he signed onto Blue Note, he was able to explore his own musical vision.

Kenny Burrell surrounded himself with musicians who could find just the right spot by playing at lower volumes and slower tempos. He strips down the Latin beats into this sparse, subtle accents. Ultimately though, it’s the blues that is the star of this show. The album concentrates on the subtlest and deepest hues of the blues, combining strong rhythmic grooves with a feeling of late-night reflection.

There’s never a misstep or a superfluous note, from the funky Latin hit “Chitlins Con Carne” to Burrell’s deeply felt solo “Soul Lament” and the concentrated swing of “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You.” The result is a jazzy blues masterpiece.

Line-up:
* Ray Barretto – conga
* Kenny Burrell – guitar
* Billy Gene English – drums
* Major Holley – bass
* Stanley Turrentine – tenor saxophone

Track List:
01. Chitlins con carne – 5:29
02. Mule – 6:57
03. Soul Lament – 2:43
04. Midnight Blue – 4:00
05. Wavy Gravy – 5:47
06. Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You – 4:25
07. Saturday Night Blues – 6:16
08. Kenny’s Sound – 4:43
09. K Twist (Bonus) – 3:34

Link in comments.

Out of Focus – Not Too Late (1974) (@320)

25 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

Actually this CD must be considered as Out of Focus’ fourth studio album, although recorded in 1974, it never got to be released at its time. It is their last known recording session (except for one track in 78), the band only existed in a sporadic manner from 1974 onwards and this might explain why this was not released at the time.

By 1974, the band had now admitted saxman Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus and guitarist Gohringer into the band as full-fledged members. The disappearance of Hennes Herring and the addition of a second guitarist (making the group now a sextet), however changed the sound slightly but the album stays within the “Out Of Focus guidelines” (if such thing ever existed), and the spirit remained progressive since the group’s drive to an ever-more jazzy sound was again respected.

Only five tracks (and two of them apparently nameless) again taking a progressive step upwards into Out Of Focus’ constant march towards jazz-rock, “Not Too Late” is the first album that can really be called a full blown jazz-rock album, as opposed to jazzy progressive/psych rock and brass rock previously.

The badly named “That’s Very Easy” is a constantly changing tempoed track where Moran’s voice seems to have lost whatever capacities it had to irritate some listeners. Less up to front, one must be reminded that the previous double album “Four Letter Monday Afternoon” was almost instrumental compared to the group’s first two albums, but he concentrates on his flute here.

“X” sports a drum solo towards its end, but other wise it is still a full-out fiery 100 MPH track. The short “The Way I Know Her” is an acoustic guitar track, but unlike their previous songs in “Out Of Focus” and “Four Letter Monday Afternoon”, here it sounds less folky.

Drechsler’s other track, “Y”, starts on a lengthy intro of guitar arpeggios that you could almost imagine on an early Genesis album if they weren’t over a sax instead of a flute, before Moran and Ingo take the debate to much higher grounds before Drechsler’s goes into a wild searing & soaring solo, and the “brass section” answering it in a Colosseum fashion.

The closing “Spanish Lines” is the album’s apex starting out again of a Heckstall-Smith fashion, before the track veers through a succession of superb impressions, everytime stepping up the ladder, bringing the excitement and tension to an unbearable level, then closing it up much the same way they had started it: Kolosseum-al!

Just as worthy as their other three original studio albums, “Not Too Late” is yet another wild escape into the Munich-based group’s realm.

Out Of Focus was definitely an awesome group and there are very few groups that released four such perfect albums, that none of them without so much as a weak tracks throughout their entire works.

Line-up:
- Moran Neumuller / vocals, Tenor & Soprano saxes, flute
- Remigius Drechsler / guitars, choir
- Klaus Spori / drums
- Stephan Wischeu / bass
- Wolfgang Gohringer / guitars, choir
- Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus / Baritone & Alto saxes

Track List:
01. That’s Very Easy (9:04)
02. X (10:57)
03. The Way I Know Her (3:36)
04. Y (7:51)
05. Spanish Lines (9:11)

Link in comments.

Out of Focus

Genesis – Calling All Stations (1997) (@320)

24 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

And then there were two? Not quite. Rutherford and Banks found new band members to join them.

Ray Wilson (vocals) was on “old” Genesis fan (although he was born in 1968) being only five while they produced “Supper’s Ready”. He will contribute to three songs : “Not About Us”, “Small Talk” and “There Must Be Some Other World”. On the drums, came in two drummers : Nir Zidkyahu who is an Israeli session drummer. He played on several songs and joined them for the supporting tour. The other drummer is Nick Di Virgilio from Spock’s Beard. Surprisingly enough, he will have the same itinerary as Phil Collins in his own band. After the departure of their leader (composer, singer and keyboard player) Neal Morse, he replaced him in the lead vocals together while staying on the drums!

With the departure of Collins, it was to be hoped that the band would move back towards their progressive roots, but the ghost of Collins is still there with ballads such as “Not about us” and funkier tracks like “Congo”. There’s very little sign of progressive at all on the album, and indeed the lack of any meaty instrumentals is particularly disappointing. Surely this was a golden opportunity for Rutherford, and Banks especially, to use the extra space they had to develop their basic songs into something substantially more.

Wilson has a certain vocal resemblance to Peter Gabriel, which ties in with some of the publicity that claimed that they would make an album with the more dramatic sound of old. There are some songs here which really do deliver the melodrama and darkness that was intended, and these are the best songs.

After a tour supporting the album, Genesis announced an indefinite hiatus.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar
- Ray Wilson / lead vocals, backing vocals
- Nick D’Virgilio / drums and percussion – (4, 6, 8, 9; B-sides 6)
- Nir Zidkyahu / drums and percussion

Track List:
01. Calling All Stations (5:43)
02. Congo (4:50)
03. Shipwrecked (4:22)
04. Alien Afternoon (7:50)
05. Not About Us (4:37)
06. If That’s What You Need (5:12)
07. The Dividing Line (7:44)
08. Uncertain Weather (5:28)
09. Small Talk (5:01)
10. There Must Some Other Way (7:53)
11. One Man’s Fool (8:45)

Link in comments.

Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Nick D’Virgilio, Tony Banks

Genesis – Archive Volume 2 (1976-1992) (@320)

23 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com, progreviews.com)

The second of the “Archive” box sets covers the post-Gabriel period which saw Genesis gradually move away from the fine progressive rock they had created while he was on board. Like it or not though, it also covers the most commercially successful period for the band, and thus this collection will therefore probably have a far wider appeal than volume one.

It is unfortunate that the compilers chose not to present the tracks here chronologically, as it would have been significant to hear the way their sound mutated from “A trick of the tail” to “Abacab” and “Invisible touch” before the more reassuring finale with “We can’t dance”. What we end up with is an eclectic mix of previously unreleased recordings, non-album tracks, early studio versions, remixes, and live versions.

The rejects include those studio tracks included on the fourth side of some releases of “Three sides live”, with the exception of “Me and Virgil”, which was deemed by the band members even now to be unworthy of inclusion. Also included is the excellent “Inside and out” from the “Spot the pigeons” EP, but interestingly not “Match of the day” from that EP, which the band also considered sub-standard, even for this collection! “Inside and out” was recorded early in the life of the Gabriel-less Genesis, and would have fitted in well on either “Trick of the tail” or “Wind and wuthering”. The first two tracks on this collection are from the “We can’t dance” sessions. “On the shoreline” is a slightly faster “Mama”, while “Hearts on fire” is throw away funky pop. We then jump about between 1980 and 1986. While “Evidence of autumn” is a “Duke” outtake, it would have been very much at home on “An then there were three”. It is one of the few highlights of disc 1. Why on earth the reasonable instrumental “Submarine” was left off the dire “Abacab” album is a real mystery.

The second disc consists entirely of live performances recorded between 1976 and 1992, the tracks having all originally appeared in studio format on the albums from that period. It is perhaps easy to forget that Genesis did not turn their backs on their prog roots the minute Gabriel left (in fact, it could be said that he was the first to turn). “A trick of the tail” and “Wind and Wuthering” had many fine prog tracks, and even after that, “And then there were three” and “Duke” had their moments. The live versions of “Ripples”, “Duke’s travels”, “Burning rope”, and “Entangled” which are included here, are fine reminders of that golden age. “Dreaming while you sleep” from “We can’t dance” also shows how they came full circle (or at least 270 degrees!) on their final Collins era album. Steve Hackett is only present on one of the live tracks, “Ripples” (which also features Bill Bruford on drums), and only a couple of the studio tracks are from the time when he was still in the band.

The third disc is a hodge podge of 12″ versions of hit songs, some more live tracks, more deep cuts (B-sides, singles, etc…), and Mama, presented as a work in progress. Some of these “remixes” are even proggier than the original album cuts. The live releases seem somewhat random, and aren^t performed as well as those on the second disc. “It’s Yourself” is the stand-out among the B-sides and singles. The last track Mama (work in progress) is actually quite enjoyable if it doesn’t become tedious. This disc is definitely the least representative and interesting.

Depending on your tolerance for and/or enjoyment of post-Gabriel Genesis, you could probably extract one disc worth of decent stuff from this box. If you get any enjoyment out of albums like “Duke” and “Abacab”, then there are a few gems here.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals / lead vocals
- Steve Hackett / lead guitar, 12-string guitar
- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, lead guitar, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
- Daryl Stuermer / bass guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals
- Chester Thompson / drums, percussion

Track List:
CD1
01. On The Shoreline (4:49)
02. Hearts On Fire (5:14)
03. You Might Recall (5:31)
04. Paperlate (3:21)
05. Evidence Of Autumn (4:58)
06. Do The Neurotic (7:08)
07. I’d Rather Be You (3:58)
08. Naminanu (3:54)
09. Inside And Out (6:43)
10. Feeding The Fire (5:51)
11. I Can’t Dance 12″ (7:02)
12. Submarine (5:13)
CD2
01. Illegal Alien (5:31)
02. Dreaming While You Sleep (7:48)
03. It’s Gonna Get Better (7:32)
04. Deep In The Motherlode (5:54)
05. Ripples (9:53)
06. The Brazilian (5:17)
07. Your Own Special Way (6:51)
08. Burning Rope (7:28)
09. Entangled (6:57)
10. Duke’s Travels / Duke’s End (9:31)
CD3
01. Invisible Touch 12″ (5:58)
02. Land Of Confusion 12″ (6:59)
03. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight 12″ (11:46)
04. No Reply At All (4:56)
05. Man On The Corner (4:04)
06. The Lady Lies (6:08)
07. Open Door (4:08)
08. The Day The Light Went Out (3:14)
09. Vancouver (3:03)
10. Pigeons (3:13)
11. It’s Yourself (5:25)
12. Mama (work in progress) (10:43)

Links in comments.

Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks

Sieges Even – A Sense of Change (1991) (@256)

23 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

The story begins in the 80’s when guitar player Markus Steffen and bass player Oliver Holzwarth founded their first band in Munich, Germany. With the addition of Oliver’s brother, Alex (drums) and singer Franz Herde, Sieges Even were born in 1985.

As the dawn of the 90s appeared, Sieges Even releases their third album “A Sense of Change” with a new vocalist, a fitting title considering that this is notably different from their first two album. It’s a rather melodic album and has a far more laid back and comfortable style to it, still, it carries a lot of Watchtower and Rush influences, but in a more melodic vein than Rush and a less chaotic and more emotional vein than Watchtower.

The album has some really tricky moments, there are lots of complex time-signatures here, but the band masters them with great control and all of the songs has such a well performed and arranged style and the band glides through the music as a knife in warm butter, showing that these guys really can play, extremely well too! Jogi Kaisers vocals are excellent as well and he fits into the band well.

The sound quality is clear and the instruments are perfectly balanced. Recommended to anyone who likes complexity in their music with great control, melodic and diverse songs backed up with flawless playing.

Line-up:
- Jogi Kaiser / vocals
- Markus Steffen / guitar
- Oliver Holzwarth / bass
- Alexander Holzwarth / drums

Track List:
01. Prelude: Ode to sisyphus (1:51)
02. The waking hours (4:38)
03. Behind closed doors (4:43)
04. Change of seasons (5:39)
05. Dimensions (8:12)
06. Prime (5:23)
07. Epigram for the last straw (7:27)
08. These empty places (9:42)

Link in comments.

Out of Focus – Palermo (Live 1972) (@320)

23 Mar 2008

(Review from babyblaue-seiten.de)

In May 1972, Out Of Focus went on a Goethe Institut financed Italian tour, which brought their music among other things to Rome, Neapel, Palermo, Genova, Milan and Triest.

The clay/tone engineer and sound mixer of the tour – Stephan Saddlemeier – cut most concerts professionally on a Revox A77 tape recorder also. “Palermo 1972″ is the concert at 26.5.1972 in the Teatro Biondo from that collection.

Long jams are allover the album — organ, guitar and saxophone and/or flute is dominated, enriched from time to time by singing and by the solid rhythm section.

“Palermo 1972″ sounds very fresh, all instruments stands well in mixes. Here’s your chance to listen to this “awesome” band live on stage.

Line-up:
* Remigius Drechsler / guitar
* Hennes Hering / keyboards
* Moran Neumuller / flute, sax, vocals
* Stephan Wiesheu / bass
* Klaus Spori / drums

Track List:
01. Whispering
02. Café Stiletto
03. I want to see your face no more
04. Where is your home town
05. Fly bird fly – Television program
06. I’m kissing right

Links in comments.

Live, Out of Focus

Genesis – Live – Way We Walk Volume Two – Longs (1992) (@256)

23 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

This is much more like it, at least the Phil Collins era Genesis went out with a decent live album, with plenty of progressive leanings. It’s almost as if this album was issued by way of an apology to Genesis traditional fan base for losing the plot so badly.

While the “We can’t dance” album is once again given plenty of exposure, the tracks selected are the best ones from it. “Fading lights” was a superb prog swansong for the Collins era band, sounding as good if not better in a live environment.

The “Old Medley” has a good number of the classics, but it is a bit disappointing the hear them in extract format, rather than as their original complete masterpieces. “Home by the sea” is as ever terrific, and given a fresh lick of paint here.

It is debateable whether it was better to extract the “Longs” and gather them together without the “Shorts”, as this album is infinitely better than its volume one predecessor. Had they kept the entire concert intact though, the shorter tracks would undoubtedly have benefited from sitting alongside their illustrious peers.

It’s good to know Genesis could still deliver when they made the effort.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
- Daryl Stuermer / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
- Chester Thompson / drums and percussion

Track List:
01. Old Medley (19:31)
Dance On A Volcano
The Lamb Lies Down On
Broadway
The Musical Box
Firth Of Fifth
I Know What I Like
02. Driving The Last Spike (10:17)
03. Domino (11:20)
part 1 – In The Glow Of The Night
part 2 – The Last Domino
04. Fading Lights (10:54)
05. Home By The Sea / Second Home By The Sea (12:16)
06. Drum Duet (6:06)

Links in comments.

Genesis, Live, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Ravana – Common Daze (1995) (@256)

22 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

Ravana is one of the most obscure bands, having recorded one sole album in the mid-90s when Scandinavia was bringing a fresh breath of air to progressive rock, giving an alternative to progheads not convinced by the Magna Carta label groups of the early decade.

These guys managed only that one album that got released with the help of a progressive rock magazine but sank without a trace. This is really too bad because this albums develops a superb melancholic progressive (like only the Scandinavians can do it) but there is a very special edge in the singer’s voice: his despair reminds you of Kurt Cobain and his vocal timbre is similar to the grunge star!

After a short intro on the cello to make sure that this is a typical melancholic Scandinavian band, we jump in the thick of things having an hard-edged progressive (not metal but more in the line of Anekdoten) full of great keyboards (never has the Fender Rhodes sounded soooo good) and screaching guitars and then comes this voice coming back from the dead howling, screaming, screaching, yelling just like the real sad leader of Nirvana. This was probably no accident that this got sung in such manner but this works fantastically too.

Only one album from them but what a pleaser — Ravana, the progressive Nirvana!

Line-up:
- Anders Hunstad / keyboards, Rhodes piano
- Sverre Olav Rodseth / vocals
- Knut Finsrud / drums
- Anders Malt / guitars
- Rude Carisson / bass
with
- Vivian Sunnarvik / cello
- Torun Torbo / flute

Track List:
01. Good Grief
02. Urban Child
03. When They Cry
04. Words In A Rhyme
05. Wounded
06. Reasons To Live
07. Who’ll Run Your Mind
08. Passing
09. Wherever You Are

Link in comments.

Out of Focus – Rat Roads (1972) (@256)

22 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

This album is actually the remaining numbers from the recording sessions of their third album Four Letter Monday Afternoon. As that album was already a double vinyl – there was enough material to have made it a triple – and this is not really the bottom of the drawer stuff either as one could fear, but the tapes remained untouched for decades. It is yet another step towards their jazz-fusion trek. Behind another spooky artwork (again from Drechsler’s now ex-wife), hides another amazing Out Of Focus album that deserves your full attention.

If these are called “leftovers”, it is just an expression because there is absolutely nothing that they would envy to any of their other albums. Indeed, “I’d Like To Be Free” and the 12-mins “Table Talk” starts this compilation in excellent fashion, especially with Herring’s superb organ work on the later, even if the jamming takes us back to “Four Letter Monday Afternoon”. The self-tiled track may seem a bit long in evolving and the first part can seem a bit muffled, but once the group liberates itself in the finale, all hell breaks loose. “Fallen Apples” is a superb and reflective slow guitar piece, with with Ingo’s baritone sax answering it.

“Straight Ahead” is an organ-driven boogie (Herring plus Tatcher on this one) with a superb trumpet solo from guest Povlika. Moran sings only on two tracks and the group plays ever more tightly because of it. The 12-min+ Climax is their peak and could have been easily fitted on a side of “Four Letter Monday Afternoon” if their gigantic Hunchen 55 had been shortened by half. “Climax” starts fantastically slow and slowly rises to greatness through a series of fun brass interventions, including a superb trombone section.

Musically this is right up with the rest of the session, so if you appreciated “Four Letter Monday Afternoon”, you can easily jump on this one. It does have that unfinished touch to it, though.

Line-up:
- Peter Dechant / guitar
- Remingius Dreschler / guitar
- Hennes Hering / keyboards
- Moran Neumuller / vocals, sax, flute
- Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus / saxophone
- Klaus Spori / drums
- Stephan Wiescheu / bass
with
- Hermann Breuer / trombone, keyboards
- Grand Roman Langhans / percussion
- Jimmy Polivka / trumpet
- Michael Thatcher / keyboards

Track List:
01. I’d like to be free (7:15)
02. Table talk (12:03)
03. Rat roads (5:16)
04. Fallen apples (2:18)
05. Straight ahead (4:39)
06. Tell me what I’m thinking of (3:58)
07. Climax (12:47)
08. Kitchen blues (0:59)
09. Good-bye honey (0:31)

Links in comments.

Out of Focus

Genesis – Live – Way We Walk Volume One – Shorts (1992) (@256)

21 Mar 2008

(Review from allmusic, progarchives.com)

Instead of releasing the live document of the We Can’t Dance tour as a double CD, Genesis, or some clever record executive, decided to split the material into two separate releases. The shared title of the two releases refers to the phrase “the way I walk,” which appears in the lyrics to two different songs, “I Can’t Dance” on Volume One, and “I Know What I Like” on Volume Two.

The first focus on the group’s pop singles, while the second would contain their longer, more progressive work. Done this way, it’s difficult to get a sense of the concert’s momentum: Even the songs on each disc are shuffled from their original live order. The definition of the term “short” is also questionable, with three of the tracks clocking in at around 7 minutes.

By taking these, the generally more commercial tracks out of context and placing them sequentially, it only serves to dilute the overall impact of a Genesis performance. Surely one of the most importance aspects of a live gig is the correct balance between the deep and the superficial.

For what it’s worth, Volume One: The Shorts contains the live versions of almost all the Genesis singles from 1983-1992. Because these live versions are remarkably faithful to the originals and the audience is barely audible, this album does function as a sort of greatest hits collection, assuming you pulled those hits from their last two albums.

Ultimately, a nice walk down short-term memory lane, but not a really necessary trip.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / Keyboards, Backing Vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
- Daryl Stuermer / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
- Chester Thompson / drums and percussion

Track List:
01. Land Of Confusion (5:16)
02. No Son Of Mine (7:05)
03. Jesus He Knows Me (5:23)
04. Throwing It All Away (6:01)
05. I Can’t Dance (6:54)
06. Mama (6:50)
07. Hold On My Heart (5:40)
08. That’s All (4:58)
09. In Too Deep (5:36)
10. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (3:35)
11. Invisible Touch (5:41)

Links in comments.

Genesis, Live, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

David Cross – Testing Destruction (1994) (@256)

21 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com, gepr.net)

David Cross is the lone bearer of the sound/tone of Larks Tongue era King Crimson. Heavy, brash, and powerful. Cross assembled a fearless group to perform this off- shoot of the King Crimson family tree. Vocalist/bassist John Dillion sounds like a cross between John Wetton’s strained baritone and Roger Waters’ manic delivery, which can at times, be either pleasant or grating, depending on the tune. Paul Clark, on guitars, is the perfect foil for Cross’s fierce violin excursions. Razor sharp leads intertwine on nearly every track giving the solo spots a fusionesque edge. Sheila Maloney’s keyboards add depth to the rhythm section with colorful chording and repeating motifs. Sheila rarely takes the lead, her sonic space fleshes out the overall textures. Dan Mauer keeps everything on track and consistently shifts between powerhouse bashing and odd metered grooves.

The opening track, “Learning Curve”, makes a strong statement. Cross wastes no time in bringing his violin to the forefront over an interesting bass/drum combo. Great lyrics and scorching vocals pull you right in. “Calamity” shifts and slithers between sweet ambience and spiraling solo workouts. It has an infectious melody and very good dynamic shifts between restrained, tension-building vocal sections and explosions of rock power.

“Tripwire” is the most accessible song on the album. Thirty-five years ago it would have garnered a lot of airplay. Almost Asia sounding with heartfelt vocals, catchy hooks and strong melodies.

“Abo” is probably the album highlight: it opens with some ambient samples and abstract percussion, moving through a nice vocal section to an impressive instrumental blowout; here the pulsing bass line, repetitive riffing, gradually increasing intensity and finally the wordless falsetto vocals show definite zeuhl influence.

Five tracks are studio recordings and four are recorded live at Floz Club, Berlin, October 1993.

Line-up:
- David Cross / violins
- John Dillon / vocals and bass
- Sheila Maloney / keyboards & vocals
- Paul Clark / guitar
- Dan Maurer / drums

Track List:
01. Learning Curve (6:33)
02. Calamity (8:59)
03. Welcome To Frisco (Live) (6:49)
04. The Affable Mister G. (4:14)
05. The Swing Arm Disconnects (Live) (7:15)
06. Tripwire (4:44)
07. Cycle Logical (Live) (3:43)
08. Testing To Destruction (Live) (1:56)
09. Abo (12:22)

Links in comments.

David Cross

Out of Focus – Four Letter Monday Afternoon (1972) (@256)

21 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com, progressiveears.com)

“Four Letter Monday Afternoon” incorporates almost everything from the German progressive scene – from psychedelic kraut-tinged instrumental excursions to oddball sound collages, ethnic-flavored minimalism and almost hard-rocking guitar riffs.

The first disc starts off with the masterful L.S.B. (17 + min) full of their usual interplay with some very pastoral moments between the flute and the guitar and organ. Only in the last five minutes are sung. The second track is a bonus on the CD release and is rather folkish as the last track of this disc. Third comes on of those numbers with an infectious groove coming in soon and being repeated to the end but ever subtly changing and again the vocals come in late in the tune in the form of a great scat (Tsajama) being speeded up as the song is veering towards the end. “Black Cards” is another gem bringing you back to their second eponymous album.

The second disc holds only one tune on this album, spread out in three movements, with themes repeating themselves, adding up more and improving as they go along. Fascinating, brilliant and adventuresome. On this track the jazz intonations are often reminiscent of a brass rock ensemble like Chicago or Flock and If, than jazz-rock ala Mahavishnu Orchestra or Weather Report.

Line-up:
- Remigius Drechsler / guitars, Tenor saxophone, flutes, stylophone, voice
- Hennse Hering / organ, piano
- Moran Neumuller / Soprano saxophone, vocals
- Klaus Spori / drums
- Stephen Wishen / bass
with
- Hermann Breuer / trombone
- Peter Dechant / acoustic guitar, vocals
- Grand Roman Langhaus / bongos
- Jimmy Polivka / trumpet
- Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus / Alto & Bariton saxes
- Michael Thatcher / organ

Track List:
CD1
01. L.S.B (17:37)
02. When I’m Sleeping (4:04)
03. Tsajama (9:23)
04. Black Cards (9:38)
05. Where Have You Been (5:35)
CD2
01. A Huchen 55 (9:19)
02. Huchen 55, B (14:32)
03. Huchen 55, C (24:18)

Links in comments.

Out of Focus

Genesis – We Can't Dance (1991) (@320)

20 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

In the band’s last studio album with Phil Collins, they went out in tremendous style with the magnificent closing track “Fading lights”. It’s so frustrating to realise that right at the end the band were still able to make stunning progressive music, well up to the standard of their early work.

The album as a whole is a bit up and down. Some of the tracks such as “Jesus he knows me” and “Hold on my heart” were clearly written with the singles market in mind, but there are some excellent classic Genesis pieces too.

“Driving the last spike” and “Dreaming while you sleep” are both wonderful tracks, although it would have been nice to see the instrumental breaks embellished on each. Both tell stories, “Driving the last spike” relating to the building of the American railroads, and the often high human cost. “Dreaming while you sleep” is a disturbing tale of a hit and run driver, who is haunted by the memory of what he has done, “the miles between will somehow put it right”. These tracks are in the true tradition of Genesis; melodic, thought provoking, and highly polished.

“No son of mine” is more Phil Collins influenced, but is a remarkably moving song, sung with great feeling. Once again it tells a tale of sorts, this time about a prodigal son who returns to see his violent father. “I Can’t Dance” fits in well with the Genesis tradition of including a satirical track, and was a huge hit single to boot. While it is slightly funky, it has an adequate rock basis.

There are a few filler tracks, the album probably being about 20 minutes too long. As a whole though, Genesis finished on a high, returning in part to what they did best. In the end, they produced an album to please (some of!) those who were waiting for them to revisit their roots and come up with some more quality progressive.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals

Track List:
01. No Son Of Mine (6:38)
02. Jesus He Knows Me (4:16)
03. Driving The Last Spike (10:08)
04. I Can’t Dance (4:01)
05. Never A Time (3:50)
06. Dreaming While You Sleep (7:15)
07. Tell Me Why (4:58)
08. Living Forever (5:41)
09. Hold On My Heart (4:37)
10. Way Of The World (5:38)
11. Since I Lost You (4:09)
12. Fading Lights (10:16)

Links in comments.

Freedom – Freedom At Last (1969) (@256)

20 Mar 2008

(Review from allmusic)

A spinoff of Procol Harum, Freedom was formed by guitarist Ray Royer and drummer Bobby Harrison. Both of them were in Procol Harum’s lineup at the outset for their debut, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” single, but were ousted almost immediately.

Freedom’s early sound, perhaps unsurprisingly, echoed Procol Harum’s in its prominent use of organ and piano, as well as heavy rock guitar, and like Procol Harum’s early records, captured late British psychedelia as it was starting to inch towards progressive rock. Freedom wasn’t a Procol Harum clone, though, with a somewhat poppier take on psychedelia that was closer to Traffic than Procol Harum.

Their debut is typical lumpy British hard rock circa 1969. It features the early Freedom sound, including covers from Beatles, Zombies and Howlin’ Wolf.

Line-up:
* Peter Dennis / Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
* Bobby Harrison / Drums, Vocals
* Steve Jolly / Guitar
* Roger Saunders / Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

Track List:
01. Enchanted Wood – 3:04
02. Deep Down In The Bottom – 4:31
03. Have Love Will Travel – 2:53
04. Cry Baby Cry – 3:42
05. Time Of The Season – 4:55
06. Hoo Doo Man – 4:28
07. Built For Comfort – 4:26
08. Fly – 3:18
09. Never Loved A Girl – 4:47
10. My Life – 2:50
11. Can’t Stay With Me – 4:18
12. Dusty Track – 3:39

Link in comments.

Bobby Harrison

Out of Focus – Out of Focus (1971) (@256)

20 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

With an unchanged line-up, “Out Of Focus” progressed immensely from their psyched-out progressive rock by adding a jazz dimension that will make itself present through Moran’s newly developed sax playing. This added dimension will give Out of Focus such a wider spectrum that their excellent debut album will be dwarfed by this monster follow-up. Strangely enough their jazzy impulses show in the “Jethro Tull” (This Was) or “Ten Years After” mode, rather than a complete jazz-rock ala “Mahavishnu Orchestra” or brassy rock ala Colosseum or Warm Dust.

The album starts energetically enough with the hard driving “What Can a Poor Boy Do”, but where you expect a flute, Moran pulls out his new sax and blows one mean solo, having us wonder how he mastered it so easily so quickly. Indeed, even in the short stop and go section, he follows no problems and has enough guts to follow it with a last bravado before Wisheu’s bass intervention change into a call and response between Drechsler’s guitar first, than alternatively organ, sax and guitar before resuming the 100 mph rock driving rhythm. What a minor tour de force! The absolutely delightful folk-laden (induced by a spellbinding guitar but also an enchanting flute) “It’s Your Life” is an incredible joy to your eardrums, somehow reminding of Traffic’s John Barleycorn. The 13-min+ slow-developing “Whispering” is a combination of explosion of sounds, from a propelling organ and discreet piano, a soaring & searing guitar, an very explorative bass, wild drumming and Moran’s new saxophone madness. Again the jazz tonalities are really more in the “Ten Years After” mode than the pure jazz-rock deal, but the whole thing is damn progressive and once again the band show their impressive talent at light improvisation and the tail end fade out is a pure bit of heaven.

Then flipside starts on the folky “Blue Sunday Morning”, starting on a mad drum march with a flute-and-organ unison and Moran’s sinister voice being the master of ceremony. Behind all this, Drechsler’s near satanic guitar arpeggios are what makes the track so spellbinding. The bass picks up late in the track and by that time the song has veered completely psychedelic and the tension is really palpable in the building crescendo leading to the surprisingly absent climax. Nevertheless, another minor tour de force. The next track is a linked up duo starting with “Fly Bird Fly” and a very Traffic-like flute leading to some superb Greenslade-like organ parts and sweet guitar lines slowly leading into the second part of track “Television Program”, which is plenty excellent as well and comes the album’s apex with the depicting the boredom of the truckload of images breaking the floodgates from the cathode tube into your brains and wondering on the consequences. This last part can be reminiscent of their debut “Wake Up” album.

Line-up:
- Remingius Drechsler / guitars, stylophone, tenor saxophone, flutes, voice
- Hennes Hering / organ, piano
- Moran Neumuller / soprano saxophone, vocals
- Klaus Spori / drums
- Stephen Wishen / bass

Track List:
01. What Can a Poor Boy Do (5:52)
02. It’s Your Life (4:31)
03. Whispering (13:34)
04. Blue Sunday Morning (8:20)
05. Fly Bird Fly (5:09)
06. Television Program (11:45)

Link in comments.

Out of Focus

Genesis – Invisible Touch (1986) (@320)

20 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

Few acts have the good fortune to release an album as popular and pervasive as “Invisible Touch”. More than half of these songs ended up on regular radio/MTV rotation. This reached a saturation point for some, who found little distinction between Phil Collins’ solo music and the work of Genesis (as ballads like “Throwing It All Away” and “In Too Deep” would have felt at home under either moniker).

At this stage, the band was working from a set formula that included downbeat ballads wrapped in seductive melodies, longer instrumental works that suggested vaguely exotic dreamscapes, and songs with a social conscience. In fact, “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” is little more than a mix of “Mama” and “Man of Our Times”. If the first side of music runs smoother than a Japanese train (i.e., like a Phil Collins record), Tony Banks exerts his influence on the second side with the two-part “Domino” and the closing instrumental, “The Brazilian”. As clever as Banks can be, his growing interest in percussive and nonmusical sounds (heard on “Land of Confusion”) contributes to what can be a dry and brittle-sounding record. With Phil often playing electronic percussion and Mike Rutherford reduced to random bass lines and snippets of guitar, it’s on Banks’ shoulders to champion the softer side of Genesis; a challenge he sometimes accepts (“In The Glow of the Night”) and sometimes declines (“Invisible Touch”).

Genesis started on this path with “Abacab”, and cultivated a new audience in the process, while alienating some old fans. Professionally, the trio was at the top of the mountain. The notion that “Invisible Touch” is product is haunting, but all records are product in some sense, and any one that makes millions of people happy must have done something right.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, synth bass, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals, backing vocals
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals

Track List:
01. Invisible Touch (3:27)
02. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (8:50)
03. Land Of Confusion (4:44)
04. In Too Deep (4:57)
05. Anything She Does (4:06)
06. Domino (10:41)
part 1 – In The Glow Of The Night
part 2 – The Last Domino
07. Throwing It All Away (3:48)
08. The Brazilian (5:04)

Link in comments.

Out of Focus – Wake Up (1970) (@256)

19 Mar 2008

(Review from progweed.net, progarchives.com)

While often overshadowed by many of their deservedly lauded contemporaries, Out of Focus were actually among the very finest German groups of the 70s. Drawing heavily from both jazz and psychedelic rock, Out of Focus created a uniquely powerful, fluid sound that focused on extended jams, featuring acid-laced organ, guitar and flute. Band like Embryo and Kraan (particularly on their first album) come to mind as comparisons, as well as, most obviously, Soft Machine, but Out of Focus certainly retained a distinct style, particularly by way of the lilting flute prominence.

With an abstract artwork this debut album is aptly named “Wake Up”, even if the goal is to send you into dreamy trip, the music is raw, just the way the Germans liked it, reminiscent of their crosstown colleagues of Amon Duul II.

Right from the first repetitive note of Drechsler’s guitar, soon underlined by Herring’s organ and Moran Neumuller’s flute, in the opening White Negro, you just know you’re flying in a wonderful universe where time seems to be a very random dimension and the dreamy soundscapes are an invitation to tripping around the universe. The tougher-sounding God Save The Queen is more of rougher guitar-lead early 70’s UK proto-prog ala EBB or BechKendel, but the middle section (recorded a bit too low) shared between the folky flute and the organ is a great counter-point using the full dynamics contrasting with the return of the opening section. Hey John is an almost 10-min wild flute-lead jam that can sound like Deep Purple’s Mandrake Root in the middle.

The flipside jumps at your throat with the short but powerful No Name track that could easily be called You’re Wasting Time, and even if there are obvious flaws in recording levels, this track is most likely to also claim the album’s title, Wake Up! World’s end is a fairly doomy track that still trails a bit of 60’s into it, sometimes reminding of Floyd, while Moran’s flute is more reminiscent of Traffic’s Chris Wood and the guitar reminding us a bit of Krieger in The Doors’ epic track The End. Ending the album is the lengthy Dark Darker track, which is a bit disjointed in its psyched-out moods especially Moran’s flute racing up and down the ladder of sanity. This is one track where the group shows an excellent aptitude at light improvisation that lead to wild jamming, a thing that we would see much more of in the next three albums. Again the raw sound gives the impression that this record could’ve easily been recorded live in the Anglo-Saxon world, with only the approximate accent of Moran giving a hint otherwise. The closing section is a hard-driving Atomic Rooster-like heavy prog.

As with most German band singing in English, the vocals are not perfect but this is very minor as the texts (lyrics) are easily understood and are of a very social/political nature. This only adds to the quality of the music and does not make it dated just for that reason.

Line-up:
- Remigius Drechsler / guitar
- Hennes Hering / keyboards
- Moran Neumuller / vocals, saxes
- Klaus Spori / drums
- Stefan Wisheu / bass

Track List:
01. See how a white negro flies (5:48)
02. God saved the queen, cried Jesus (7:28)
03. Hey John (9:35)
04. No name (3:06)
05. World’s end (9:55)
06. Dark, darker (11:37)

Link in comments.

Out of Focus

Move – Message From The Country (1971) (@256)

19 Mar 2008

(Review from allmusic, wikipedia)

Recorded in 1970-71 at the same time that Move was also laying down tracks for the first Electric Light Orchestra album (and even during some of the same sessions), there are inevitably some similarities in style between the two albums, especially the heavy use of “tracking up” (overdubbing) to capture all of the instruments being played by Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne. Nevertheless, Wood and Lynne were determined to maintain some differentiation between the sound of their two groups.

“Message from the Country” shows them carrying their sound, within the context of who they were, about as far as they could. One can hear them hit the limits of what guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards, with lots of harmony overdubs and ornate singing, could do.

Indeed, parts of this record sound almost like a dry run from the first Electric Light Orchestra album, which was in the planning stages at the time. The influence of the Beatles runs through most of the songs stylistically. In Jeff Lynne’s case, it was as though someone had programmed “Paperback Writer” and other chronologically related pop-psychedelic songs by the Beatles into their songwriting and arranging, but the album also shot for a range of sound akin to The White Album across the ten songs on this album — except that the members of the Move are obviously working much more closely together.

Reduced to a trio and all but wiped out as a live act, they went ahead and generated what was, song for song, their most complex and challenging album. Heard today, it seems charmingly ornate in execution yet also simple in the listening, very basic rock & roll dressed up in the finest raiment that affordable studio time could provide. Despite the obvious jump from the post-psychedelic “Message from the Country” to the driving, delightful “Ella James” and the leap into airy pop-psychedelia on “No Time”, not to mention the novelty interlude of “Don’t Mess Me Up”, there’s a sense of unity here, the entire album somehow holding together as something powerful, bracing, and visceral, yet cheerfully trippy. In that sense, it goes “White Album” one better. Based on its musical merits, it all should have sold the way some Electric Light Orchestra albums later did, instead of getting lost in the transition between the histories of the two groups.

It is essential listening for fans of either Move or Electric Light Orchestra, as well as Roy Wood.

Line-up:
* Roy Wood – lead/back vocals, guitars, steel guitar, recorders, bass, clarinet, bassoon, tenor and baritone saxes
* Jeff Lynne – lead/back vocals, guitars, piano, percussion.
* Bev Bevan – drums, back vocals

Track List:
01. Message from the Country – 4:52
02. Ella James – 3:17
03. No Time – 3:44
04. Don’t Mess Me Up – 3:15
05. Until Your Mamas Gone – 5:08
06. It Wasn’t My Idea To Dance – 5:33
07. The Minister – 4:33
08. Ben Crawley Steel Company – 3:07
09. The Words Of Aaron – 5:31
10. My Marge – 2:06
11. Tonight (Bonus) – 3:20
12. Chinatown (Bonus) – 3:11
13. Down on the Bay (Bonus) – 4:17
14. Do Ya (Bonus) – 4:06
15. California Man (Bonus) – 3:38
16. Don’t Mess Me Up (Early Take) – 3:25
17. The Words Of Aaron (Early Take) – 6:07
18. Do Ya (Alternate) – 7:00

Links in comments.

Bev Bevan, Jeff Lynne, Move, Roy Wood

Genesis – Genesis (1983) (@320)

18 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

With this album, Genesis pulled in the reins and reverted in part to the style their traditional fan base expected.

“Home by the sea” ranks as one of their best, and most progressive tracks, with superb keyboards in particular from Tony Banks. Nominally two separate tracks, the second part being “Second home by the sea”, it in reality a 10 minute track which ranks alongside the band’s better known classics.

The opening track, “Mama” has a menacing feel, a bit like a darker version Phil Collins’ first solo track “In the air tonight”. While the track was commercial enough to become a major hit single for the band, it retains sufficient credibility to stand alongside other Genesis singles such as “I know what I like”, and “Follow you follow me”.

Another nice one is “Silver rainbow”. While it has a fairly lightweight feel to it, the structure is slightly more complex than the pop songs Genesis had moved towards, with some excellent keyboard work around the choruses.

Since the band had taken to crediting the whole group (all three of them) for songwriting, it’s hard to know what exactly Mike Rutherford contributes to the final product. His guitar work is muted on the album (as is Phil Collins’ drumming to some extent), with the vocals and Banks’ keyboards driving most of the music. This does give Genesis a gauzier texture than “Abacab”, returning to the “humid” sound of the band’s first two albums as a trio. The difference here is how clean and precise the music is, which costs the album some humanity while placing it on the cutting edge of production value for its time.

If any late-period Genesis album is going to win over converts from the band’s “classic” period, this is the one to do it.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals

Track List:
01. Mama (7:25)
02. That’s All (4:23)
03. Home By The Sea (4:52)
04. Second Home By The Sea (6:20)
05. Illegal Alien (5:13)
06. Taking It All Too Hard (3:55)
07. Just A Job To Do (4:45)
08. Silver Rainbow (4:28)
09. It’s Gonna Get Better (6:25)

Links in comments.

Move – Movements (1967-70) (@256)

18 Mar 2008

(Review from allmusic)

Formed in the mid-’60s, the Move were so named because the five musicians from the original lineups were moving from established Birmingham groups into a new band.

Through the band’s several phases (which were sometimes dictated more by image than musical direction), their chief asset was guitarist and songwriter Roy Wood, who combined a knack for Beatlesque pop with a peculiarly British, and occasionally morbid, sense of humor. On their final albums (with considerable input from Jeff Lynne), the band became artier and more ambitious, hinting at the orchestral rock that Wood and Lynne would devise for the Electric Light Orchestra. The Move, however, always placed more emphasis on the pop than the art, and never lost sight of their hardcore rock & roll roots.

“Movements” is a 54-song, triple set comprising the entire 1967-1970 output of Move, everything except their “Message from the Country” album.

Disc one consists of the group’s early singles plus The Move album and one outtake (“Disturbance”), all sounding really clear and tough, the loudest psychedelic pop music you’ll ever hear out of England.

Disc two contains the complete “Shazam” album, as well as alternate stereo or undubbed mixes of such songs as “Cherry Blossom Clinic,” “(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree,” “Fire Brigade,” and an Italian-sung version of “Something.” The sound is OK, with brilliant delineation on the guitars and basses, but not quite the revelation that one would hope. “Wild Tiger Woman Blues” is worth the disc by itself, and the early version of “Curly” is lots of fun, while the undubbed “Fire Brigade” is raw and punkish.

Disc three starts off with the complete “Looking On” album, is the best version yet heard. The real deal here, however, is the first-ever CD version of the live Something Else EP remastered from the original live tapes.

Coupled with the remastered “Message From the Country”, this set pretty well closes the books on the Move.

Track List:
CD1
01. Night Of Fear – 2:14
02. Disturbance – 2:45
03. I Can Hear The Grass Grow – 3:00
04. Wave The Flag And Stop The Train – 2:56
05. Yellow Rainbow – 2:36
06. Kilroy Was Here – 2:45
07. (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree – 3:10
08. Weekend – 1:47
09. Walk Upon The Water – 3:18
10. Flowers In The Rain – 2:22
11. Useless Information – 2:57
12. Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart – 2:49
13. The Girl Outside – 2:55
14. Fire Brigade – 2:24
15. Mist On A Monday Morning – 2:33
16. Cherry Blossom Clinic – 2:31
17. Hey Grandma – 3:13
18. Disturbance (Undubbed Alternate Version) – 2:01
19. Wild Tiger Woman – 2:38
20. Omnibus – 3:52
CD2
01. Blackberry Way – 3:35
02. Something – 3:31
03. Curly – 2:45
04. This Time Tomorrow – 3:41
05. Hello Suzie – 4:56
06. Beautiful Daughter – 3:03
07. Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited – 7:42
08. Fields Of People – 10:55
09. Don’t Make My Baby Blue – 6:06
10. The Last Thing On My Mind – 7:38
11. (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree (Stereo Single Mix) – 2:59
12. Cherry Blossom Clinic (Stereo Mix) – 2:56
13. Fire Brigade (Early Undubbed Mix) – 2:19
14. Second Class (A.K.A. She’s Too Good For Me) (Backing Track) – 2:14
15. Wild Tiger Woman Blues (Early Undubbed Mix) – 2:29
16. Curly Where’s Your Girly (Early Alternate Mix) – 2:49
17. Something (Italian Language Version) – 2:56
18. Vote For Me (Previously Unreleased) – 2:48
CD3
01. Looking On – 7:49
02. Turkish Tram Conductor Blues – 4:49
03. What – 6:43
04. When Alice Comes Back To The Farm – 3:44
05. Open Up Said The World At The Door – 7:11
06. Brontosaurus – 4:26
07. Feel Too Good – 9:34
08. Lightning Never Strikes Twice – 3:10
09. So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star – 2:51
10. Stephanie Knows Who – 2:59
11. Something Else – 2:21
12. It’ll Be Me – 2:36
13. Piece Of My Heart – 4:04
14. Too Much In Love – 2:41
15. (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher – 3:36
16. Sunshine Help Me (Unedited Version) – 6:33

Links in comments.

Bev Bevan, Jeff Lynne, Move, Roy Wood

Genesis – Three Sides Live (1982) (@256)

17 Mar 2008

(Review from wikipedia)

Like Seconds Out, the live album which preceded it, Three Sides Live documents the end of another major period in the evolution of the band.

As a concert band, the group is instrumentally at the top of its game, and the tracks are incredibly energetic renditions of the studio recordings. Focusing mostly on material from Duke and Abacab, including large sections from Duke’s thematic song cycles, the third side contains what had become the centerpiece of their last few tours, the “Cage” medley. Replacing their previous centrepiece, “Supper’s Ready”, the “Cage” medley melded together the longer song “In the Cage” (off the The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album), with an instrumental which combined motifs from “Cinema Show” and a changing set of melodies from Wind & Wuthering and The Lamb. From here the song then slowly melds into “Afterglow”, producing a medley which lasted over 15 minutes and served to satisfy many of the fans’ wishes for older material in the live shows. As a compilation of many of Banks’s most popular keyboard solos from the live shows, this medley, a staple of their shows for many years, encapsulates Genesis’ strengths as a ‘musicians’ band.

Though a good live album- the song selection and sequencing could have been better; certain tracks here don’t gain from live performance (some songs suffer for it..) but everything from ‘Abacab’ is transformed to become very good live numbers.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, backing vocals
- Bill Bruford / drums and percussion (CD2-06)
- Phil Collins / drums and percussion, lead vocals
- Steve Hackett / lead guitar (CD2-06)
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
- Daryl Stuermer / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
- Chester Thompson / drums & percussion

Track List:
CD1
01. Turn It On Again 5:15
02. Dodo 7:18
03. Abacab 8:46
04. Behind The Lines 5:26
05. Duchess 6:38
06. Me & Sarah Jane 6:02
07. Follow You Follow Me 4:58
CD2
01. Misunderstanding 4:05
02. In the Cage (Medley – Cinema Show/Slippermen) 11:52
03. Afterglow 5:13
04. One For The Vine (Part One) 5:04
05. One For The Vine (Part Two) 6:00
06. Fountain Of Salmacis/It/Watcher Of The Skies 15:59

Links in comments.

Bill Bruford, Genesis, Live, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Robert Plant – Now and Zen (1988) (@256)

17 Mar 2008

(Review from allmusic)

After years of trying to separate himself from his legendary status as Led Zeppelin’s frontman, Robert Plant finally reconciles with his past on his fourth solo album. He borrows a few Zeppelin riffs, and even enlists Jimmy Page to play guitar on his hit “Tall Cool One”.

This album also marks his first collaboration with keyboardist Phil Johnstone, who would continue to play and write with Plant on subsequent albums. Musically, the album relies on standard rock arrangements except that the vocals and drums are at the forefront and keyboards instead of guitars are used to fill out the sound.

Although most of the album is comprised of mid-tempo songs aimed at rock radio, Plant includes the lovely ballad “Ship of Fools”, which demonstrates that he is more than capable of vocal subtlety. Plant, who often uses mysterious (and mystical) lyrics, writes some of his most direct songs, and the way in which the lyrics complement the melodic arrangements are partially responsible for the commercial success of “Now & Zen”.

Line-up:
* Robert Plant – Vocals
with
* Phil Johnstone – Keyboards
* Doug Boyle – Guitar
* Phil Scragg – Bass
* Chris Blackwell – Drums, Percussion
* David Barratt – Programming, Keyboards
* Jimmy Page – Guitar (1, 3)
* Marie Pierre – Back Vocals
* Toni Halliday – Back Vocals
* Kirsty MacColl – Back Vocals

Track List:
01. Heaven Knows – 4:06
02. Dance on My Own – 4:30
03. Tall Cool One – 4:40
04. The Way I Feel – 5:40
05. Helen of Troy – 5:06
06. Billy’s Revenge – 3:34
07. Ship of Fools – 5:01
08. Why (Crash, Plant) – 4:14
09. White, Clean and Neat – 5:28
10. Walking Towards Paradise – 4:40

Link in comments.

Robert Plant

Poll time again

17 Mar 2008

The Genesis series will be over soon. I’ve put up a new poll on the right sidebar of the blog so you can vote for the group you want to be up next :)

Supersister – Supersisterious (Live 2001) (@320)

17 Mar 2008

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Info from wikipedia)

The band reunited in 2000 after a request by the Progfest festival for a performance in Los Angeles. The four 1970-1973 period band members decided to accept and the result was the requested performance, as well as a short tour through the Netherlands in late 2000 and early 2001.

The reunion abruptly came to an end when Sacha van Geest unexpectedly died in the summer of 2001.

This album is a recording of the reunion concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.

Line-up:
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards, lead vocals, vibes
- Ron van Eck / (bass) guitar, fuzzbass
- Sacha van Geest / flutes, vocals
- Marco Vrolijk / drums, percussion, vocals

Track List:
CD1
01. Present from Nancy (8:01)
02. Memories are new (9:16)
03. Mexico (7:54)
04. A girl named you (9:59)
05. No tree will grow (7:16)
06. Judy goes on holiday (10:15)
CD2
01. Corporation combo boys (0:55)
02. 6 blauwe dwergen (1:03)
03. Energy (out of future) (12:49)
04. Pudding en gisteren (music for ballet) (22:00)
05. She was naked (4:22)
06. Radio (3:57)
07. Wow – the story (3:13)
08. Wow (9:53)

Links in comments.

Live, Supersister

Genesis – Duke (1980) (@256)

16 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

‘Duke’ is an interesting album in Genesis’ discography- it’s viewed as the end of an era by prog fans, but for the group it was doubtless the start of a whole new one and managed to gain a new fanbase. As such, it’s an album which is almost unique in Genesis’ discography- one which appeals to fans of the proggier material and the generally poppier work that followed. There is a real edginess about this album to such an extent that this album is in parts the closest the band ever got to outright heavy rock, as if they were really fighting to survive. And survive they did….

‘Duke’ was initially conceived as a six song/side long suite in the vein of ‘Supper’s Ready’. Although most of the six songs in question are joined together in some form, they are spread over the whole album rather than being a concentrated whole due to the band trying to avoid comparisons to earlier works. The band also came up with six other songs, which are some of their most affecting and mature songs ever and also what was the band’s biggest hit yet.

In terms of streamlining the band’s sound of old, this is a better album than its predecessor because there is less of a sense of the band deliberately pulling in the reins. ‘Duke’ was also their biggest album yet, and they were soon to get even bigger commercially. However, creatively they never quite scaled these heights again.

Line-up:
- Phil Collins / vocals, drums, drum programming
- Mike Rutherford / guitars, bass, back vocals
- Tony Banks / keyboards, 12-string guitar, back vocals

Track List:
01. Behind The Lines (5:43)
02. Duchess (6:25)
03. Guide Vocal (1:21)
04. Man Of Our Times (5:34)
05. Misunderstanding (3:13)
06. Heathaze (4:57)
07. Turn It On Again (3:46)
08. Alone Tonight (3:54)
09. Cul-De-Sac (5:06)
10. Please Don’t Ask (4:00)
11. Duke’s Travels (8:39)
12. Duke’s End (3:08)

Links in comments.

Supersister – M.A.N. (1969-1973) (@320)

16 Mar 2008

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from wikipedia, progarchives.com)

This is a rarities album featuring previously unreleased live and studio recordings from 1969-1973. Except for the first four tracks, which are great live recordings that could be enjoyed by all progheads, this record is for Supersister fans only.

But what a treat this is for them (and that includes me)! Besides the live tracks just mentioned, there are demos and outtakes from the early seventies as well as the late sixties (if you are familiar with the band’s material, you will even hear a few early versions of tunes that would later appear on one of their albums) and some tracks are recorded with an orchestra. All of this is accompanied by a very nice booklet, including photos, record and single covers and some articles from Dutch magazines.

The album starts off with four astonishing, swinging live versions of Supersister classics, two from “Present From Nancy” and two from “Pudding En Gisteren”. When they are finished, you ask yourself why this fantastic jazz fusion/canterbury band never got any real international fame. But there’s no time to dwell on that a little longer, for you are taken to Supersister’s (early) Dutch period, with the goofy “(2×3=) 6 Blauwe Dwergen” (‘blauwe dwergen’ means ‘blue dwarfs’). After that, the fans will recognize the tune from “Pudding En Gisteren” in the beautiful “Hommage”. And after the nice “Sweet Suicide” (unmistakably Supersister), “Modest Man” (do you hear that Soft Machine influence as well?) and “Wine Melody”, the track “Nothing Is Real” will also be of particular interest for Supersister fans, for it features the passage used for the middle section of “Judy Goes On Holiday”, from the “Pudding En Gisteren” album. Except for the alternate version of the extremely funny “Corporation Comboboys” (known from “Present From Nancy”), most of the remaining songs, although pretty nice, are not extremely notable. But the last two tracks, sung in their native tongue, will certainly bring a smile to the face of the Dutch fans (‘manke boerenwals’ means something like ‘crippled farmer-waltz’).

Not a good place to start if you’re new to Supersister but a great place to (sadly) end.

Line-up:
- Marco Vrolijk / drums
- Sacha van Geest / flute & vocals
- Ron van Eck / bass guitar
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards & vocals
- Rob Douw / trumpet, ideas & vocals (lead on track 5)
- Gerhard Smid /guitar & vocals

Track List:
01. Present from Nancy -live (7:23)
02. Radio – live (2:20)
03. Mexico – live (6:23)
04. Judy goes on holiday – live (9:07)
05. (2×3=) 6 Blauwe dwergen (1:16)
06. Hommage (3:35)
07. Sweet suicide (2:32)
08. Modest man (4:12)
09. Wine melody (2:44)
10. Nothing is real (3:56)
11. Workman’s song (3:10)
12. House in the country (3:29)
13. Seven ways to die (3:05)
14. Woods of frustrated men (3:41)
15. Corporating comboboys (0:48)
16. Manke boerenwals (1:08)
17. Psalm (2:13)

Links in comments.

Supersister

Genesis – And Then There Were Three (1978) (@256)

16 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

The departure of Steve Hackett led to the title, his distinctive guitar sound being instantly missed. Genesis however were clearly conscious of this, and the songs are generally shorter in structure, with Tony Banks tending to dominate the relatively few instrumental passages.

“Burning Rope” is the most progressive track, with echoes of the Genesis of old and superb lead guitar from Rutherford. The track has a power and majesty which is not immediately apparent, but which shines through with successive hearings. The final track, “Follow You, Follow me”, was a surprise hit single. The song is admittedly very lightweight and commercial, but it still retains a certain creditability in Genesis terms and it makes for a very pleasant ending to the album.

There are many other highlights, such as “Snowman”, “The lady lies”, “Many too Many” and “Undertow”. When compared with what went before, these are pretty straightforward songs, with little real prog to them. Seen in that context, they are highly accomplished pieces of music, well crafted, and competently performed.

As long as you’re not looking for a “traditional” Genesis album, “And then there were three” has a feel of quality to it from start to finish, and indeed is thoroughly enjoyable. This was probably the last Genesis album where band members had a reasonably equal influence, before Phil Collins dominance began to come to the fore.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals
- Mike Rutherford / lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals

Track List:
01. Down And Out (5:24)
02. Undertow (4:45)
03. Ballad Of Big (4:48)
04. Snowbound (4:28)
05. Burning Rope (7:09)
06. Deep In The Motherlode (5:12)
07. Many Too Many (3:30)
08. Scenes From A Nights Dream (3:29)
09. Say It’s Alright Joe (4:19)
10. The Lady Lies (6:04)
11. Follow You, Follow Me (3:59)

Links in comments.

Tyrannosaurus Rex – My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows (1967) (@256)

15 Mar 2008

(Review from wikipedia, insound.com)

Tyrannosaurus Rex (later known as T. Rex) were founded by Marc Bolan in August 1967. He retained the services of percussionist Steve Peregrin Took and the duo began producing eccentric, pastoral, and folk-tinged ditties steeped in Tolkienian mythology, with spiritual homages to Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran thrown into the mix for good measure.

The combination of Bolan’s acoustic guitar and cat-like wail with Steve Took’s bongos and assorted percussion, which often included children’s instruments such as the Pixiephone, gained them a devoted following on a thriving underground scene.

Tyrannosaurus Rex recorded its debut album the same year. Unlike the more commercially viable T. Rex of the post-1970 era, the band were steeped in a magical psychedelic elfland. The album’s music is much influenced by their psychedelic contemporaries, and marks, for Bolan, a rejection of the electric guitar–led freakbeat music he’d been playing with his previous band, John’s Children.

Pixiehood never sounded so desirable.

Track List:
01. Hot Rod Mama – 3:11
02. Scenescof – 1:41
03. Child Star – 2:51
04. Strange Orchestras – 1:47
05. Chateau In Virginia Waters – 2:38
06. Dwarfish Trumpet Blues – 2:47
07. Mustang Ford – 2:59
08. Afghan Woman – 1:58
09. Knight – 2:38
10. Graceful Fat Sheba – 1:28
11. Weilder Of Words – 3:19
12. Frowning Atahuallpa – 5:55

Link in comments.

Supersister – Spiral Staircase (1974) (@256)

15 Mar 2008

(Review from holeintheweb.com, progarchives.com)

Supersister’s ‘Spiral Staircase’ album from 1974 may not be in-keeping with their previous Canterburian offerings, but is every bit as delightful and enjoyable an experience. Sacha van Geest is back and thus the fun and humor.

This overtly quirky album resonates with a certain flare and offers some pretty interesting moments. It clings to a certain Zappa-esque magnetism offering strange musical compositions and challenging time signatures. With a large cast, a variety of instruments are used. Lots of background effects, talking/chanting and noises adds this the mysticism of this album, which clearly verges on the cliffs on insanity.

“Spiral Staircase” can be too arcane at first listen, but it grows in time and you can find yourself quite fond of its progressively psychedelic zaniness.

This album marked the end of Supersister.

Line-up:
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards, lead vocals, vibes
- Ron van Eck / bass guitar
- Sacha van Geest / flutes, vocals
with
- Jan Hollestelle / bass guitar
- Mien van den Heuvel / mandoline
- Hans Alegres / steeldrum
- Inge van Iersel / backing vocals
- Jose van Iersel / backing vocals
- Elton Dean / saxophone

Track List:
01. Retroschizive (Introduction schizo) (2:21)
02. Jelly bean hop (1:36)
03. Dangling dingdongs (6:54)
04. Sylvers song (Groan, stamp, shock, hoot) (3:09)
05. Cookies, teacups, buttercups (4:01)
06. Gi, ga, go (Gollumble jafers) (4:01)
07. It had to be (3:46)
08. Nosy parkers (4:26)
09. We steel so frange (Epilogue) (2:54)

Link in comments.

Elton Dean, Supersister

Genesis – Seconds Out (Live 1976-77) (@256)

14 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

This live album was recorded pretty soon after the departure of Peter Gabriel,. Phil Collins therefore takes on the lead vocals on many tracks previously fronted by Gabriel, post Gabriel Genesis material being in relatively short supply . It should be borne in mind that although “A Trick of the Tail” had given a firm indication that there was life after Gabriel, fans attending live gigs were still apprehensive, seeking the reassurance that the old favourites would not simply be ditched.

This in itself gives the album a purpose, as it is interesting to compare and contrast the way the two Genesis singers perform the songs. Collins does an excellent job with the older material, sounding of course very similar Gabriel. The version of “I know what I like” included here is particularly good, being considerably extended, and incorporating an extract from “Stagnation”.

Also included is a superb rendition of “Supper’s ready”. Given the way Gabriel had developed his performance of this track, both aurally, and visually, performing it without him was a brave move, but there’s no question it works.

This was the beginning of Collins now well worn path between drum stool and front centre stage Chester Thompson and Bill Bruford (here on “Cinema show” only) were therefore brought in to fill in for Collins while he was out front. This though offered an excellent opportunity for some interplay between the drummers during instrumental passages, which is exploited to superb effect.

The only minor blemish is the missing piano introduction to “Firth of Fifth”, allegedly because it was too hard to play live. The track starts rather abruptly without it, perhaps even a taped intro would have been preferable.

“Seconds Out” is a good mixture of old and (at the time) new, with only the newly released “A Trick of the Tail” representing the post Gabriel era. As Peter Gabriel said at the time on his “Solisbury Hill” single, “Today I don’t need a replacement”. “Seconds Out” went a long way to showing that to be the case.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / RMI electric piano, Hammond T. organ, APR Pro-Soloist, Mellotron 400, Epiphone,
12 string guitar, backing vocals
- Bill Bruford / drums and percussion (10)
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals
- Steve Hackett / lead guitar, Hodaka, 12 string guitar
- Mike Rutherford / electric 12 string guitar, bass guitar, 8 string bass guitar, bass pedals,
backing vocals
- Chester Thompson / drums and percussion

Track List:
CD1
01. Squonk (6:36)
02. The Carpet Crawl (5:60)
03. Robbery, Assault & Battery (6:03)
04. Afterglow (4:24)
05. Firth Of Fifth (8:55)
06. I Know What I Like (8:42)
07. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (4:59)
08. The Musical Box (Closing Section) (3:18)
CD2
01. Supper’s Ready (24:32)
02. Cinema Show (10:58)
03. Dance On A Volcano (5:09)
04. Los Endos (6:30)

Links in comments.

Bill Bruford, Genesis, Live, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks

Toto – IV (1982) (@256)

14 Mar 2008

(Review from wikipedia, allmusic)

Toto formed as a group of six session musicians in 1977. Prior to the band’s formation, the members of Toto were regulars contributing to many of the most popular records of the 1970s. According to popular myth, in order to distinguish their own demo tapes from other bands’ in the studio, Jeff Porcaro wrote the word “Toto” on them.

It was do or die for Toto on the group’s fourth album, and they rose to the challenge. Largely dispensing with the anonymous studio rock that had characterized their first three releases, the band worked harder on its melodies, made sure its simple lyrics treated romantic subjects, augmented Bobby Kimball’s vocals by having other group members sing, brought in ringers like Timothy B. Schmit, and slowed down the tempo to what came to be known as “power ballad” pace.

Most of all, they wrote some hit songs: “Rosanna”, the old story of a lovelorn lyric matched to a bouncy beat, was the gold; “Make Believe” made the Top 30; and then, surprisingly, “Africa” hit number one ten months after the album’s release. All the awards helped set up the fourth single, “I Won’t Hold You Back,” another soft rock smash and Top Ten hit. As a result,

Toto IV was both the group’s comeback and its peak; it remains a definitive album for the early ’80s, also Toto’s best and most consistent record.

Line-up:
* David Paich – Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals, Horn Arrangements, Orchestral Arrangements
* Steve Lukather – Guitar, Piano, Vocals
* Bobby Kimball – Lead Vocals
* Jeff Porcaro – Drums, Percussion, Xylophone, Tympani
* Steve Porcaro – Keyboards, Vocals
* David Hungate – Bass, Guitar
with
* James Newton Howard – Strings, Arranger, Conductor, Orchestral Arrangements
* Tom Scott – Saxophone
* Lenny Castro – Percussion, Conga
* Ralph Dyck – Synthesizer
* Martyn Ford – Strings
* Gary Grant – Trumpet
* Jerry Hey – Trumpet, Horn Arrangements
* Jim Horn – Saxophone, Wind
* Tom Kelly – Vocals
* Roger Linn – Synthesizer, Synthesizer Programming
* Marty Paich – Strings, Orchestral Arrangements
* James Pankow – Trombone
* Mike Porcaro – Cello
* Joe Porcaro – Percussion, Marimba, Xylophone, Tympani
* Timothy B. Schmit – Vocals

Track List:
01. Rosanna – 5:31
02. Make Believe – 3:45
03. I Won’t Hold You Back – 4:56
04. Good for You – 3:20
05. It’s a Feeling – 3:08
06. Afraid of Love – 3:51
07. Lovers in the Night – 4:26
08. We Made It – 3:58
09. Waiting for Your Love – 4:13
10. Africa – 4:57

Link in comments.

Supersister – Iskander (1973) (@256)

14 Mar 2008

(Review from holeintheweb.com, progarchives.com)

Supersister’s 1973 album, “Iskander”, goes off in an entirely different direction. It was not originally recorded in Holland as the other albums were, but in England. Again, Supersister was ahead of their time because they were the one of the first to try a historical concept: here the life of Alexander the Great (Iskander is his Turkish surname) along with those Rock Opera in the line of Jesus Christ Superstar or Julian Jay Savarin’s works.

Jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano, who had gone to Germany to record with Embryo, replaces Sacha van Geest, bringing a fuller jazz sensibility to the music. Drummer Herman van Boeven replaced Vrolijk, and Pierre Moerlen (of Gong) sits in for one track.

Here on top the music is almost entirely instrumental – that is normal by Supersister standards but makes for a difficult listening but rewarding if you persevere. The tracks are much shorter than usual by Supersister standards. The music is jazz-fusion-oriented, although traces of Supersister’s distinctive melodic style peep through in places, it uses middle eastern motifs. “Iskander” sounds like Supersister processed and molded into a “respectable” jazz-oriented group, and lacks entirely their sense of humor and fun.

In many ways the album ebbs and flows more like a movie soundtrack than an album.

Line-up:
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards, lead vocals, vibes
- Ron van Eck / bass, fuzzbass
- Charlie Mariano / saxophone, flute, clarnet
- Herman van Boeyen / drums, percussion

Track List:
01. Introduction (0:41)
02. Dareios the emperor (4:50)
03. Alexander (7:02)
04. Confrontation of the armies (2:47)
05. The battle (7:58)
06. Bagoas (2:53)
07. Roxane (3:21)
08. Babylon (7:57)
09. Looking back (4:30)

Link in comments.

Supersister

Genesis – Wind and Wuthering (1977) (@256)

13 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com, progreviews.com)

If “A Trick of the Tail” had shown that Genesis were by no means a spent force without Peter Gabriel, “Wind and Wuthering” shows that they were if anything stronger.

This is possibly the most overlooked Genesis album. It doesn’t get as much praise as the Gabriel-era albums, or as much criticism as the post-Hackett albums, and when people do talk about the music that came in between, it seems they usually focus on “A Trick of the Tail”.

With more space for each band member to express themselves, Tony Banks is the one to take most advantage of this; composing or jointly composing most of the tracks, many of which are dominated by his keyboard work. One of his best ever pieces “One for the Vine” is here. It features some superb keyboards, and a tale which seeks to offer an imaginative explanation for some religious beliefs. Banks is quoted as saying that he put everything into this track, as some of the parts might have been dropped by the band had he offered them as separate pieces. The track is reminiscent in some ways of “White Mountain” from “Trespass”.

“Eleventh Earl of Mar” is a fairly typical Genesis opening track, upbeat with plenty of vocals, and a historical tale to tell. Mike Rutherford’s “Your own special way” is a rather mushy ballad, pleasant but a bit uninspired. In retrospect, the outtake “Inside and out” would have been a better track to include.

If you aren’t put off by the “Tom and Jerry” cartoon based lyrics of “All in a mouse’s night”, it’s actually a decent number. The lengthy mellotron solo at the end brings to mind “Seven stones” from “Nursery Cryme”.

Steve Hackett’s “Blood on the rooftops” is a melancholy number, very atmospheric, and sympathetically sung by Collins who gives one of his finest performances here.

Hackett’s lead guitar only really comes to the fore on the lengthy three part closing track(s). This trilogy dominates the second side of the LP, being predominantly instrumental. The gradual build up and transition to “Afterglow” represents some of Genesis finest and most progressive work. On its own “Afterglow” would have been pleasant in the “Follow you follow me” mode, but as part of this piece, it is a wonderful closer.

There are many highly memorable Genesis moments on this album, the band once again managing to squeeze an extra 10 minutes onto the normal length for an LP. Classic Genesis indeed!

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / Steinway Grand Piano, ARP 2600 and Pro-Soloist synths, Hammond organ, mellotron
Roland String synth, Rhodes
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, lead vocals
- Steve Hackett / electric guitar, nylon classical guitar, 12 string guitar, kalimba, auto-harp
- Mike Rutherford / 4, 6, 8, string bass, bass pedals, 12 String Guitar, Electric Guitar

Track List:
01. Eleventh Earl Of Mar (7:41)
02. One For The Vine (10:00)
03. Your Own Special Way (6:18)
04. Wot Gorilla? (3:19)
05. All In A Mouse’s Night (6:37)
06. Blood On The Rooftops (5:27)
07. Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers… (2:23)
08. …In That Quiet Earth (4:49)
09. Afterglow (4:12)

Link in comments.

Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks

Genesis – Archive Volume 1 (1967-1975) (@320)

12 Mar 2008

(Review from progreviews.com, progarchives.com)

The announcement of the first volume of the ‘Genesis Archive’ box-sets was received with something approaching euphoria by many old-school Genesis fans, as it promised much unreleased live material from the hallowed Peter Gabriel era of the band. It seems bizarre that such a massively popular period had only one live release- 1973′s ‘Genesis Live’, released at the time as a budget album in the first place- when a lot of the reputation the band had was due to their live performances. As such, it’s easy to understand why so many fans went mad for this release.

‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ is often regarded by the rock media as being the finest album that the band recorded. However, this reputation doesn’t seem to have been based on the reception it got on its original release. Its length and the fact that the band played the whole thing through every night of the live tour meant that it got a frosty reception at the time.

The first 2 discs present a full live performance of this magnum opus recorded at the LA Shrine on the 24th January 1975. Thankfully, it seems to be a terrific night, with the band firing on all cylinders musically speaking. The biggest problem, though, is that Peter Gabriel overdubbed almost all of the vocals on this set. The casual listener may not notice but to the die-hard fan, there is a clear difference between his vocals of 1975 and his vocals in the 1990s, as you would expect. Somewhat bafflingly, the final track ‘It’ is sourced from the original studio version with new vocals as it is claimed that this track was not recorded. This will come as a surprise to those fans who, um, are ‘aware’ of the untreated recordings from this show that do feature ‘It’. Still, the other overdubs are not intrusive and there is obviously a massive difference in quality when you compare this to the murky bootlegs.

The first 5 tracks of 3rd disc provide a suitable bridge between ‘Genesis Live’ and the live recording of ‘The Lamb Lies on Broadway’ – recorded at The Rainbow Theatre in London about 6 months after ‘Live’ had been recorded in Leeds, and featuring tracks from the then new ‘Selling England’ album, they showcase Genesis at their most confident and powerful; these tracks also show Genesis’s lighter side, with the humorous banter between Gabriel & Collins – and finally, we have a live version of ‘Supper’s Ready’ with Gabriel at the helm!

The last 4 tracks on disc 3 are alternate takes of old favorites, and very welcome to hear – especially the version of ‘Twilight Alehouse’, formerly (I believe) only available as the B side of ‘I know what I like’, yet it had been a staple of the live set since the very early days.

Then there’s the 4th disc. For reasons unknown, this set was arranged so that the discs go gradually backwards chronologically. So, you remember that first Genesis album? The one no one ever talks about, and only the really fanatical band devotees claim to like? This disc is jam packed with live and demo versions of the songs from that album, plus other long-lost songs from early in the band’s career. There are also some songs from that album in rough mixes without the orchestral arrangements. The band sounds still very “inmature”, but with some good quality. Some songs are naive, really, but still good. The BBC recordings from 1970: some of them are very good, like “Sheperd” (with Banks sharing lead vocals with Gabriel; Banks sang very well) and “Pacidy”.

If you are a Gabriel-era Genesis freak, here’s your ultimate chance to expand your collection even further with this fantastic and unique box-set.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals
- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, percussion, flute, bass drum
- Steve Hackett / lead guitar, 12-string guitar
- John Mayhew / drums, percussion
- Anthony Phillips / lead guitar, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, lead guitar, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
- John Silver / drums, percussion
- Chris Stewart / drums, percussion

Track List:
CD1
01. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (6:28)
02. Fly On A Windshield (4:38)
03. Broadway Melody of 1974 (0:34)
04. Cuckoo Cocoon (2:17)
05. In The Cage (7:56)
06. The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging (4:25)
07. Back In N.Y.C. (6:19)
08. Hairless Heart (2:22)
09. Counting Out Time (3:59)
10. The Carpet Crawlers (3:59)
11. The Chamber Of 32 Doors (5:52)
CD2
01. Lillywhite Lilith (3:04)
02. The Waiting Room (6:15)
03. Anyway (3:29)
04. The Supernatural Anesthetist (3:57)
05. The Lamia (7:12)
06. Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats (3:15)
07. The Colony Of Slippermen (8:46)
08. Ravine (1:39)
09. The Light Lies Down On Broadway (3:37)
10. Riding The Scree (4:30)
11. In The Rapids (2:25)
12. IT (4:20)
CD3
01. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (7:05)
02. Firth Of Fifth (8:29)
03. More Fool Me (4:02)
04. Suppers Ready (26:31)
05. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (5:36)
06. Stagnation (8:54)
07. Twilight Alehouse (7:48)
08. Happy The Man (2:54)
09. Watcher Of The Skies (3:42)
CD4
01. In The Wilderness (3:00)
02. Shepherd (4:00)
03. Pacidy (5:42)
04. Let Us Now Make Love (6:14)
05. Going Out To Get You (4:54)
06. Dusk (6:14)
07. Build Me A Mountain (4:12)
08. Image Blown Out (2:12)
09. One Day (3:08)
10. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet (3:15)
11. In The Beginning (3:31)
12. The Magic Of Time (2:01)
13. Hey! (2:28)
14. Hidden In The World Of Dawn (3:10)
15. Sea Bee (3:05)
16. The Mystery Of The Flannan Isle Lighthouse (2:36)
17. Hair On The Arms And Legs (2:41)
18. She Is Beautiful (3:47)
19. Try A Little Sadness (3:21)
20. Particia (3:05)

Links in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Motorhead – Overkill (1979) (@256)

12 Mar 2008

(Review from allmusic, amazon)

Motorhead’s overwhelmingly loud and fast style of heavy metal was one of the most groundbreaking styles the genre had to offer in the late ’70s. Though the group’s leader, Lemmy Kilminster, had his roots in the hard-rocking space rock band Hawkwind, Motorhead didn’t bother with his old group’s progressive tendencies, choosing to amplify the heavy biker rock elements of Hawkwind with the speed of punk rock.

Their second album, “Overkill” was a big step forward from Motorhead’s debut, it cemented the group’s famous sound, and it features the classics “Metropolis”, “Stay Clean”, “No Class” and the title track. But nearly every song on here is a hit, and these songs will tattoo themselves to your brain after only one listen. The beats are ultra infectious and rhythmic, and are laden with irresistable hooks, and the songs are composed of fast, memorable, groovey riffs, bouncy drum patterns, grumbling bass notes, and gruff vocals.

Line-up:
* Lemmy Kilminster – bass, vocals, second guitar solo on “Limb from Limb”
* “Fast” Eddie Clarke – guitar
* Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor – drums

Track List:
01. Overkill – 5:11
02. Stay Clean – 2:42
03. (I Won’t) Pay Your Price – 2:56
04. I’ll Be Your Sister – 2:55
05. Capricorn – 4:10
06. No Class – 2:38
07. Damage Case – 3:02
08. Tear Ya Down – 2:40
09. Metropolis – 3:36
10. Limb From Limb – 4:55

Link in comments.

Lemmy Kilminster

Supersister – Superstarshine Vol 3 (1972) (@320)

12 Mar 2008

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from progarchives.com, holeintheweb.com)

This weird and bizarre object actually collects together early (1970) non-album singles (like “She Was Naked”) and a 13-minute live cut (“Wow”) from 1972.

The first two tracks are excellent examples of what Supersister can do best, great Canterbury-like fusion. Right after it comes a spoof RnR number. After a lengthy introduction comes a great no-less-lengthy Wow live track owing as much to Zappa than to Caravan or Soft Machine. Weird vocal parts, great instrumental interplay are the main feature of this high-mark of this compilation even if there are uneven passages.

Groupies is again another spoof-goof track, which is impeccably played, borrowing from every kind of popular ditties. The penultimate track, “Spiral Staircase,” prefigures the final album, which is built on an extension of this song about “a chance encounter with the ‘Schizophrenic Spiral Staircase Gnome’ and a tea drinking ritual”.

The original compilation included three redundant album tracks which have been omitted from the CD edition of the album.

Line-up:
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards, lead vocals, vibes
- Ron van Eck / (bass) guitar, fuzzbass
- Sacha van Geest / flutes, vocals
- Marco Vrolijk / drums, percussion, vocals

Track List:
01. She was naked (3:43)
02. Missing link (2:57)
03. (I’m) Gonna take easy (2:40)
04. Wow (The intelligent song) (Live) (12:58)
05. The groupies of the band (4:28)
06. Spiral staircase (3:04)
07. Fancy nancy (1:46)

Link in comments.

Supersister

Genesis – Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974) (@256)

11 Mar 2008

(Review from progreviews.com, progarchives.com)

The band’s music gained a growing confidence and maturity cumulated in “Selling England by the Pound” where both Tony Banks and Steve Hackett contributed outstanding performances on keyboards and guitar respectively.

Peter Gabriel was however becoming restless, possibly in part as a result of the lengthy instrumental passages being incorporated into some of the band’s tracks. It appears the band therefore decided to pander to his frustrations, and allowed him to dictate the direction of their next album. Gabriel wrote the story for this concept album, together with all the lyrics. The band maintain to this day that musically it was a collective effort, but it seems clear that they were nonetheless, under Gabriel’s leadership.

There’s not much that can be said about this album that hasn’t already been said dozens of times. There is the “Annotated Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” that analyzed, in excruciating detail, every facet of the album, from the circumstances under which it was recorded to the smallest bit of symbolism in the lyrics. It’s the kind of album that breeds fanaticism.

Looking at the lyrics it seemed that Peter Gabriel was lying on Sigmund Freud’s sofa, telling the most famous shrink his subconscious world. If you step into the world of “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” you will discover an unusual variety in the 23 tracks.

It’s not just progressive rock but also rock, pop, punk and electronics. No science fiction or mythology but a blend of ‘down to earth’ problems and psycho-analytica. You can experience a wide range of emotions and feelings like sex, aggression, fear, alienation, insecurity and hope.

When the double album was released in 1974 many Genesis fans were disappointed because it was not really music in the vein of “Selling England By The Pound” or “Foxtrot”. But gradually “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” got more appreciation and nowadays many progheads considered it as a masterpiece: from the sparkling piano intro in the title track, the menacing “Fly On A Windshield”, the scary “In The Cage”, the aggressive pre-punk in “Back In NYC”, the romantic “Carpet Crawlers” and wonderful build up in “Anyway” to the funny “The Colony Of Slippermen” and the cheerful “It”, Genesis succeeds to make captivating progressive rock, so unique for that era.

So enjoy the intense volume-pedal guitar play and the Mellotron duets, splendid runs on the ARP Pro solist synthesiser, strong and dynamic drum work by Collins, powerful bass play by Rutherford and emotional vocals by Gabriel.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, flute
- Steve Hackett / electric guitar, nylon guitar
- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, 12-string guitar

Track List:
CD1
01. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (4:50)
02. Fly on a Windshield (4:23)
03. Broadway Melody of 1974 (0:33)
04. Cuckoo Cocoon (2:11)
05. In the Cage (8:15)
06. The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging (2:45)
07. Back in N.Y.C. (5:42)
08. Hairless Heart (2:13)
09. Counting Out Time (3:42)
10. The Carpet Crawlers (5:15)
11. The Chamber of 32 Doors (5:40)
CD2
01. Lillywhite Lilith (2:42)
02. The Waiting Room (5:24)
03. Anyway (3:07)
04. The Supernatural Anaesthetist (2:59)
05. The Lamia (6:57)
06. Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats (3:07)
07. Colony of Slippermen (8:13)
a) The Arrival
b) A Visit to the Doktor
c) Raven
08. Ravine (2:04)
09. The Light Dies Down on Broadway (3:32)
10. Riding the Scree (3:57)
11. In the Rapids (2:26)
12. It (4:15)

Links in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Kings of Convenience – Riot On An Empty Street (2004) (@256)

11 Mar 2008

(Review from stylusmagazine.com)

Kings of Convenience are an indie folk duo from Bergen, Norway. Consisting of Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe. The group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricately subtle guitar melodies. Both Oye and Boe sing in their tracks, and both of them compose.

Kings Of Convenience’s fourth album rings of Simon and Garfunkel classics like “Scarborough Fair” and post-Saucerful of Secrets and pre-Dark Side of the Moon era Pink Floyd album favorites like Meddle’s “A Pillow of Winds”, but still manages churn out original love songs.

They never sound depressed, but there’s plenty of heartbreak in this duo’s world. Whether they’re looking for the perfect song to mend their troubled heart, even though they’re on the job (“Homesick”), or comparing a relationship to prison and theater (“Sorry or Please”), Kings Of Convenience keep those guitar’s bouncy and upbeat. In “Stay Out of Trouble”, Oye and Boe say goodbye to someone they care deeply about. With lines like, “I was along and freezing”, it’s amazing how I find myself bouncing my head merrily side to side to the beat of the upright bass.

The Kings of Convenience don’t stray too far from their basic formula of guitars, upright bass, twinkling piano, viola, cello and soft percussion in the background. It’s consistent and it works. Nevertheless, they’re smart enough to throw a banjo or a trumpet into the end of a song to keep things interesting. But, like Simon and Garfunkel, the hooks and melodies of the songs are created with the harmonizing voices, credited to Erlend and Eirik in the liner notes as “high voice” and “low voice”, respectively.

Any one of the first eight tracks could’ve been singles. If you listen to “Gold In the Air of Summer”, you can consciously feel yourself being sung to sleep, while “Surprise Ice” actually sounds like a setting sun. The album comes to a perfect end with the ironically titled, “The Build Up”, ending with female vocals crooning about a spinning top slowly coming to a stop.

Just looking at the cover of the album gives you an indication of what you’re in for: two skinny white boys from Norway, dressed in autumn colors, planted in front of a chess board on a fluffy white rug. One is looking at a smirking brunette reading a hardcover book while the other stares right back at you.

It’s the type of music to listen to while drinking hazelnut cappuccinos and watching a rain shower from the porch. And, of course, playing chess.

Track List:
01. Homesick – 3:13
02. Misread – 3:08
03. Cayman Islands – 3:02
04. Stay Out of Trouble – 5:04
05. Know-How (with Feist) – 3:58
06. Sorry or Please – 3:47
07. Love Is No Big Truth – 3:48
08. I’d Rather Dance with You – 3:29
09. Live Long – 2:57
10. Surprise Ice – 4:23
11. Gold in the Air of Summer – 3:33
12. The Build-Up (with Feist) – 4:05

Link in comments.

Supersister – Pudding En Gisteren (1972) (@320)

11 Mar 2008

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from progarchives.com)

Supersister might have been more Canterbury-styled than most of the local Canterbury bands, extended the goofiness of some of their tracks to levels most of their cross-channels counterparts did not dare go into. Unless you absolutely detest a little humor in your progressive, Supersister has something for every fan.

Their third album and a clear continuation of their trademark mix of canterbury and symphonic genres. This well balanced album is composed of a pair of pop songs and pair of lengthy progressive jams.

The opening track “Radio” begins with a fairly light jazzrock bounce, the vocals sounding impossibly English (despite the fact the band is Dutch)…but things are disturbed in the song’s final half, with some heavy-handed keyboard/bass interplay and sinister group-vocal onomatopoeia. An unexpected twist, something Supersister specialize in. S. Van Geest’s narrative in this spot is humorous and draws attention to itself thanks to his sincere and believable dialogue (despite utterly silly lines like “…and filling her pants with the substance of a custard supplier…”). Masterful keyboard playing from R.J. Stips tops this off and you’ve just heard one of the band’s best-ever songs. Things move swiftly from the very brief keyboard tweek of “Supersisterretsisrepus” to “Psychopath”, which could’ve easily fit on the Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd debut.

The album takes a turn to the even-weirder with “Judy Goes On Holiday”. A perplexing 12 minutes, this seems to be several songs lumped together under one title, as the various pieces don’t even pretend to be musically related. We’re taken through keyboard-driven Canterbury, doo-wop, busy symphonic noodling, minimal atmospherics and ambient cosmic trips. Oddball, and totally enjoyable. Final track “Pudding En Gisteren Music For Ballet” is 21 minutes of “serious” Supersister, thick jazzrock of an experimental and unpredictable nature: fuzzy keyboards, fuzzier bass, folky flute, groovy vibraphone…

Line-up:
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards, lead vocals, vibes
- Ron van Eck / bass, fuzzbass
- Sacha van Geest / flutes, vocals
- Marco Vrolijk / drums, percussion, vocals

Track List:
01. Radio (4:00)
02. Supersisterretsisrepus (0:16)
03. Psychopath (3:58)
04. Judy goes on holiday (12:38)
05. Pudding en gisteren (Music for ballet) (20:59)

Link in comments.

Supersister

Genesis – Live (1973) (@256)

11 Mar 2008

(Review from vintageprog.com)

A Genesis concert was much more than just the music. Peter Gabriel would use different costumes and make-up for each of the several songs to act out the lyrics. And in between the songs, when the rest of the band was busy with tuning their instruments, he would tell some self-written surreal tales to entertain the audience.

This show was of course impossible to fully transfer onto a slice of vinyl, but they made an attempt with “Live” anyway. And it’s a quite decent document of how the classic Genesis line-up sounded on stage, but not essential if you don’t care for live-albums. The songs are mostly played the same way as on the albums, but with weaker sound quality. The only place where you can hear some real improvement is in “The Knife” where Collin’s drumming is far better than on the studio-version. But I still prefer the original versions, although the album is at least free of any tiresome solo-performances like drum-solos and such crap that plague too many live-albums.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / organ, mellotron, piano, acoustic 12 string guitar, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, flute, bass drum, tambourine
- Steve Hackett / electric guitar, acoustic 12 string guitar
- Mike Rutherford / acoustic 12 string guitar, bass guitar, bass pedals, backing vocals

Track List:
01. Watcher Of The Skies (8:34)
02. Get ‘Em Out By Friday (9:14)
03. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed (8:14)
04. The Musical Box (10:55)
05. The Knife (9:46)

Link in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Live, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Steve Miller Band – Fly Like an Eagle (1976) (@256)

10 Mar 2008

(Review from rollingstone.com, allmusic.com)

Steve Miller had started to essay his classic sound three years ago with his previous album “The Joker”, but 1976′s “Fly Like an Eagle” is where he took flight, creating his definitive slice of space blues. The key is focus, even on an album as stylishly, self-consciously trippy as this, since the focus brings about his strongest set of songs (both originals and covers), plus a detailed atmospheric production where everything fits.

Always enigmatic, always eclectic, Miller’s albums have usually been ill-fitting jigsaw puzzles. As usual, Miller taps various genres such as the blues and straightforward rock, and, as usual, he’s lyrically preoccupied with mental and physical space. He pieces it all together with surprising simplicity.

A measure of how skillfully the songs have been constructed and arranged is the absence of any riff-based guitar solos. The approach here is raw, with rhythm guitar, bass and drums so completely to the point that a hot, flashy solo would seem gratuitous. In this context, the diversity of an album which contains the jaunty, pop-styled “Take the Money and Run”, the three-chord bliss of “Rock’n Me” and two riveting blues numbers, “Mercury Blues” and “Sweet Maree” (the latter neatly enhanced by James Cotton’s harmonica) is that much more impressive.

There are echoes from the past in “Serenade”, a long, hypnotic track propelled by Gary Mallaber’s tense, smart drumming, “Wild Mountain Honey”, with its swirling electric sitar strains, and the dreamlike “The Window”.

Though it may not quite transcend its time, it certainly is an album rock landmark of the mid-’70s and its best moments are classics of the idiom.

Line-up:
* Steve Miller – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Sitar
* Gary Mallaber – Drums, Percussion
* Lonnie Turner – Bass
with
* James Cotton – Harmonica (10, 11)
* Kenny Johnson – Drums (12)
* Charles Calamise – Bass (12)
* Curley Cooke – Guitar (12)
* Les Dudek – Guitar (12)
* John McFee – Dobro (5)
* Joachim Young – B 3 Organ (2, 12)

Track List:
01. Space Intro – 0:16
02. Fly Like an Eagle – 4:39
03. Wild Mountain Honey – 4:55
04. Serenade – 3:12
05. Dance, Dance, Dance – 2:20
06. Mercury Blues – 3:37
07. Take the Money and Run – 2:49
08. Rock’n Me – 3:22
09. You Send Me – 2:45
10. Blue Odyssey – 0:52
11. Sweet Maree – 4:13
12. The Window – 4:27

Link in comments.

Supersister – To The Highest Bidder (1971) (@320)

10 Mar 2008

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from vintageprog.com)

Supersister followed up their promising debut with the perhaps even better “To the Highest Bidder”.

It opens with one of their very best tracks in form of the incredibly compact and intense “She Was Naked”. Despite not being even four minutes long, it’s a breathtakingly complex piece that manages to incorporate every side of the band. It starts as a gentle, melodic ballad with gorgeous flute and laid-back vocals. After a few verses it explodes into some very powerful riffs alternated with some fast, quirky and rhythmically complicated chords on el-piano before bursting into the probably most energetic Gregorian chant you’ll ever hear! The band then rounds it nicely off with a short and tight jam.

The nearly 11-minute “A Girl Named You” is yet another one of the band’s very best tracks. It starts with a lengthy instrumental section where the el-piano and flute play energetic themes and riffs before the track seamlessly changes form into the vocal part that features one of the most infectious and memorable vocal melodies the band wrote. The song slows down to a moody ballad in the end, and Stips’ vocals are both charming and pleasant. There’s actually also a small glimpse of Mellotron to be heard here, and it should be noted that the distorted organ is not at all as dominant on this album as on the debut.

“No Tree Will Grow (On too High a Mountain)” is slightly untypical, being a slow and not all that complex ballad with a progressive edge that reminds more of Procol Harum than Supersister.

“Energy (Out of Future)” is on the other hand a 16-minute monster that possibly was the band’s most demanding and intricate piece. Here they blend the Canterbury and Dutch style of progressive rock into a complicated web of quirky themes, melodies, chord-changes and rhythms, taking each style to the very limit.

The short and light ballad “Higher” seems like a very modest finale after this, and although being a bit unremarkable compared to the rest of the album, proves that a big part of progressive rock after all is about contrasts, dynamics and variation.

This album is a great introduction to anyone unfamiliar with Dutch progressive rock.

Line-up:
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards, lead vocals, vibes
- Ron van Eck / bass, fuzzbass
- Sacha van Geest / flutes, vocals
- Marco Vrolijk / drums, percussion, vocals

Track List:
01. A girl named you (10:07)
02. No tree will grow (on to high a mountain) (7:38)
03. Energy (out of future) (15:01)
04. Higher (2:46)

Link in comments.

Supersister

Genesis – Selling England By The Sessions (1972-73) (@256)

09 Mar 2008

9 comments

This is a collection of rehearsal tapes and demos for the “Selling England by the Pound” album.

For those who just can’t get enough of the “Selling England by the Pound” album and for the diehard Genesis fan.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / keyboards, 12 String guitar
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals (4)
- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, percussion, flute, oboe
- Steve Hackett / electric guitar, nylon guitar
- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, 12 string guitar, electric Sitar

Track List:
CD1
01. Studio Improvisation 1 5:56
02. Studio Improvisation 2 0:20
03. The Battle Of Epping Forest Instrumental Take 1 2:35
04. The Battle Of Epping Forest Instrumental Take 2 2:50
05. The Battle Of Epping Forest Session Take 1 5:29
06. The Battle Of Epping Forest Session Take 2 6:15
07. The Battle Of Epping Forest Session Take 3 3:03
08. The Cinema Show Fast Instrumental Take 0:30
09. The Cinema Show Session Take 1 5:13
10. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 1:46
11. The Battle Of Epping Forest Session Take 4 4:08
12. The Last Time 0:59
13. You Really Got Me 0:43
14. The Battle Of Epping Forest Instrumental Take 3 0:58
15. The Battle Of Epping Forest Instrumental Take 4 1:46
16. The Battle Of Epping Forest Session Take 5 12:28
17. I Know What I Like Take 1 3:16
18. I Know What I Like Take 2 4:10
19. The Cimema Show Take 1 3:10
20. Phil’s Solo 7:56
CD2
01. Firth Of Fifth Instrumental Take 1 4:55
02. Firth Of Fifth Instrumental Take 2 5:05
03. The Cinema Show Take 2 0:54
04. After The Ordeal Instrumental Take 1 4:31
05. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight Session Take 2 7:34
06. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight Session Take 3 4:18
07. The Battle Of Epping Forest Instrumental Take 5 7:16
08. The Battle Of Epping Forest Session Take 6 21:26
09. The Cinema Show Take 3 1:08
10. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight Ending Take 1 1:41
11. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight Ending Take 2 2:09
12. More Fool Me 3:12
13. After The Ordeal Different Mix 1 2:09
14. After The Ordeal Different Mix 2 2:16
15. I Know What I Like Alternate Version 4:03

Links in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Supersister – Present from Nancy (1970) (@320)

09 Mar 2008

8 comments

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from vintageprog.com, progreviews.com)

One of the best Canterbury bands was ironically enough not from Canterbury at all. In fact, they weren’t even British! Supersister came from the Netherlands and melted strong influences of the Canterbury-style with some typical Dutch progressive rock trademarks.

Amazingly, every member was under the age of 18 at the time this album was recorded. Keyboardist and singer Robert Jan Stips was the man in the band who more than anyone else was responsible for the band’s resemblance to the Canterbury-style, as his singing reminded a lot of Richard Sinclair, while his very fuzzed and distorted organ-tone was reminiscent of Dave Stewart.

The guitar-less quartet’s debut “Present from Nancy” is one of their best ones, consisting of four lengthy tracks where three of them were divided into several sub-sections.

The title-track kicks off the album with a rhythmic percussive attack from drummer Marco Vroljik over a typically Dutch-sounding melodic theme. The main section of the track is a fast-paced, tight and energetic piece driven forward by an intense piano-riff with some striking stop/start sequences where Sacha van Geest’s flute literally plays and important role. “Memories are New” is the first track with vocals, and is based around a catchy and very Canterbury-like song. The instrumental sections of the track are often distorted and weird, but always dynamic and powerful. And it calms down in the end with a beautiful and atmospheric part with Van Geest’s flute.

Zappa-like “Corporation Combo Boys” is a brief musical parody, a merry joke that serves as a prelude to the next track. “Metamorphosis” starts very dramatic with Stips’ twisted organ on the very front of the sound, and there’s even a slight classical influence around the vocal part. The main portion of the track is however taken up by a monotonous and rather distorted jam, showing the band from their roughest side.

The closing track “Dona Nobis Pacem” is completely different from the rest of the album, and can best be described as experimental and improvised progressive mood-music, and makes a mind-expanding finale to one of the finest debuts from a Dutch progressive rock band.

Line-up:
- Robert Jan Stips / keyboards, lead vocals, vibes
- Ron van Eck / bass, fuzzbass
- Sacha van Geest / flutes, vocals
- Marco Vrolijk / drums, percussion, vocals

Track List:
01. Present from Nancy
a) Introductions (2:55)
b) Present from Nancy (5:10)
02. Memories are new (Boomchick)
a) Memories are new (3:46)
b) 11/8 (3:15)
c) Dreaming weelwhile (2:50)
03. Corporation combo boys (1:21)
04. Metamorphosis
a) Mexico (4:20)
b) Metamorphosis (3:26)
c) Eight miles high (0:20)
05. Dona nobis pacem (8:34)

Link in comments.

Supersister

Hoyry Kone – Huono Parturi (1997) (@256)

09 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

This second album sees Hoyry Kone reduced to a sextet (from the original octet), but they make as much chaos (if not more) now then back then. Graced with a strange artwork featuring what appears to be a hairdresser (the scissors on the second page), the gatefold and back cover presents the group with a full black tie orchestra affair with a strong sense of derision. For those who have seen them live, this postures presents an integral part of their show, making them quite a wild experience live as well.

A very lengthy intro of almost 7-min with heavenly vocals on a new age soundtrack opens the album is rather unexpected manner, but this is a strange calculation for the crazy Crimsonian (circa Aspic) follow-up three tracks with Topi Letihuu’s operatic vocals at the forefront and manninen’s cello underlining the whole thing giving a power that rises the dead from their graves. While their music is melancholic, it is not as dark as their debut album (and much less depressing than most of the Scandic fellows) and at times is so weird that it becomes almost funny by derision. They aren’t funny in a Zappa fashion, but there is certainly a dimension of Zappa included, but mixed with Crimson and X-Legged Sally (but less so than on the debut album, for this effort is less jazzy), during Baksteri comes a short full jazz interlude, but this is almost it.

The second part of the album is off with the weird title track with a quaint rhythm and almost ridiculous vocal part, but blistering underlying guitar parts just waiting to explode after (and if) the vocals leave the fore front, never really comes to fruition. After a short violin-cello-synth trio (Ullakon), the hardcore-like Tottele, the hard-soft Kala, the album ends with a series of tracks that are sometimes reminiscent of Crimson’s best moments and the closer has some dramatic vocals accompanying a desperate music.

Well, Kone’s swan song is a fitting one when thinking of the group’s overall originality in sound. One of the good thing about bands that record only two or three albums is that they do not end up like the shadow of their previous selves.

Line-up:
- Topi Lehtipuu / vocals, violin
- Jarno Sarkula / basses, flute, backing vocals
- Jussi Karkkainen, guitars
- Tuomas Hanninen / guitars
- Teemu Hanninen / drums
- Marko Manninen / cello
with
- Peter Nordins / drums

Track List:
01. Beata Viscera (6:53)
02. Terva-Antti Ku Haihin Lahti (4:02)
03. Karhunkaato (4:21)
04. Lumisaha (4:39)
05. Baksteri (1:57)
06. Huono Parturi (4:52)
07. Ullakon Lelut (2:19)
08. Tottele (2:39)
09. Kala (5:11)
10. Laahustaja (6:21)
11. Laina-Ajalla (5:27)

Link in comments.

Hoyry Kone

Genesis – Foxtrot (1972) (@256)

08 Mar 2008

(Review from vintageprog.com)

“Foxtrot” was the album that made Genesis one of the leading forces in British symphonic progressive rock.

The album includes most Genesis-fans’ ultimate favourite-track in form of the 23-minute “Supper’s Ready”. This suite consists of several different parts and compositions that, unlike the title-track from Yes’ “Close to the Edge”, clearly were separate ideas that later were glued together to make the whole track. But it all works superb, and the binding main-melody is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful melodies the band ever wrote and the composition stands as one of progressive rock’s ultimate masterpieces.

The rest of the album keeps the same high quality. The opener “Watcher of the Skies” is an airy and energetic song that for many years would become the opening-number at concerts. “Get ‘Em Out by Friday” is the Genesis song that allowed Gabriel most to really act out several different characters. And the “Foxtrot” album also includes one of their most overlooked gems: “Can-Utility and the Coastliners”. Despite its modest length, the song manages to capture absolutely every side of the band in some very beautiful themes and melodies.

“Foxtrot” is just as essential for any progressive rock fan as air and food.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / organ, mellotron, piano, electric piano, acoustic 12 string guitar, backing vocals
- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, flute, tambourine, bass drum, oboe
- Steve Hackett / electric guitar, acoustic 12 string guitar, acoustic 6 string guitar
- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, bass pedals, acoustic 12 string guitar, cello, backing vocals

Track List:
01. Watcher Of The Skies (7:19)
02. Time Table (4:40)
03. Get ‘Em Out By Friday (8:35)
04. Can-Utility And The Coastliners (5:43)
05. Horizons (1:38)
06. Supper’s Ready (22:58)
i. Lover’s Leap
ii. The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man
iii. Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men
iv. How Dare I Be So Beautiful?
v. Willow Farm
vi. Apocalypse in 9/8 (featuring the delicious talents of Gabble Ratchet)
vii. As Sure as Eggs is Eggs (Aching Men’s Feet)

Link in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Hoyry Kone – Hyonteisia Voi Rakastaa (1995) (@256)

08 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

Well this album seemed to be coming out of nowhere back in 95. The Scandinavian progressive resurgence had only touched Sweden until now, but this octet will break all the rules and make a completely different music.

Right from the first notes of the opening tracks, you wonder whether these guys are really serious in their music, for those “sick operatic” voices and the Zeuhl-ish jumpy bass has you wonder if they are not spoofing Magma (not that Kobaian sounds like Finnish though) or just having a ball smoking one joint too many. Certainly throughout their short recording career, Kone will often have zany Zappa-esque moments combined with the Finnish propensity at being a little oblique to the good old Anglo-Saxon world. Even if their second track is calmer, Hoyry Kone will remain rather hard to grasp, even if their influences are clearly heard, they manage to remain completely original and even a tad innovative (love that cello), thus avoiding the trap that most of their Skaldic fellows fell into.

The album really starts with the lengthier third track (the Barren Dull) where that so-typical melancholy of the Far North and the Frippian guitars (League Of Crafty Guitarist) rule, providing some calm before the short stormy Pannuhuoneesta that breaks loose with an untameable RIO ala Miriodor criss-crossing with X-Legged Sally. In many ways, this last group might just be one of the closer resemblances (but this is still far from close) to Kone’s musical realm.

The marvellous “Luottamus” track is one of the album’s highlights because of its delicate soft jazz and its delicious final section where you’d swear you heard Baltic choirs calling you to paradise. Directly dominated by a wild instrumental Kaivoonkatsoje with Crimsonian guitars and a certain ambiance sometimes resembling Harmonium’s twiddling with the Martenot Waves on L’Heptade. The lengthier Kosto (Revenge) is again another tour de force with an excellent booming bass, weird and wondersome vocals and a wild violin, reminiscent of David Cross. With each new track, the album is getting stranger and strangest and the instrumental Hätä takes us out of this galaxy for the second highlight of the album. While the group never gets as violent as X-Legged Sally, they do strike our imagination as hardcore by certain aspects of their music. The last two tracks are more of the “same” (as if these guys managed to make the same) and ending on the title track (Insects) and how to accommodate them to your liking. Oh yes, there was a time where hidden tracks were in and we get woken up after a minute of silence by a mad chaos lasting some 30 seconds.

Hoyry Kone’s music is probably one of the most original since the closing of the 70’s. Be forewarned that your brains and ears will suffer an irreversible alienation that will transform you further into a sorcerer of sounds emanating from your speakers.

Line-up:
- Jukka Hannukainen / vocals, synths, programming
- Teemu Hanninen / drums
- Tuomas Hanninen / guitars
- Jussi Karkkainen / guitars, pump organ
- Nina Lehos / oboe
- Topi Lehtipuu / vocals, violin
- Marko Manninen / cello
- Jarno Sarkula / bass, pump organ

Track List:
01. Orn (3:58)
02. Raskaana (3:10)
03. Hamaran joutomaa (7:07)
04. Pannuhuoneesta (2:08)
05. Luottamus (4:30)
06. Kaivoonkatsoja (4:00)
07. Kosto (5:57)
08. Hata (3:42)
09. Myrskynmusiikkia (6:46)
10. Hyonteiset (3:13)

Link in comments.

Hoyry Kone

U.K. – Night After Night (Live) (1979) (@320)

08 Mar 2008

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from wikipedia, progarchives.com)

After the release of “Danger Money” in March 1979, the band spent much of that year touring North America as opening act for Jethro Tull. A live album, “Night After Night”, was recorded in Japan that spring.

“Night After Night” offers a selection of songs taken from UK’s two studio albums, plus two unreleased tracks which show rather clearly the different ideas that Jobson and Wetton had for U.K. The new songs: “Night After Night” and “As Long as You Want Me Here”, sound more in Wetton’s pop rock style which he developed more in the band Asia.

As it is to be expected, the musicianship is outstanding throughout, with Jobson being the main star of the show, and Bozzio and Wetton providing a textbook-perfect rhythmic background.

Following a final European tour in December 1979, and in spite of plans to record a new studio album in America in March 1980, U.K. disbanded. As quickly as it started, it was over, and another supergroup was superseded by individual interests.

Line-up:
- Terry Bozzio / drums, percussion
- Eddie Jobson / keyboards, electric violin
- John Wetton / vocals, bass

Track List:
01. Night After Night (5:21)
02. Rendez-vous 6:02 (5:17)
03. Nothing to Lose (5:25)
04. As Long As You Want Me Here (5:00)
05. Alaska (4:21)
06. Time to Kill (4:17)
07. Presto Vivace (1:12)
08. In the Dead of Night (6:22)
09. Caesar’s Palace Blues (4:58)

Link in comments.

Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Live, Terry Bozzio, U.K.

Genesis – Nursery Cryme (1971) (@256)

07 Mar 2008

(Review from vintageprog.com)

When Phil Collins and Steve Hackett replaced John Mayhew and Anthony Phillips, the definitive Genesis line-up became reality. The band also became a tighter and much more technical accomplished unit, and they further perfected the sound and style of “Trespass” on the third album “Nursery Cryme”.

The title is derived from the opening-track “The Musical Box” where an old nursery rhyme got mixed with a grotesque and surreal tale about a boy who got decapitated by his nurse (the cover art was also clearly inspired by the song). The track perfectly captures absolutely every element of classic Genesis, with lots of passion, theatrical drama, and the variation between beautiful, quiet, melodic parts and much harder and energetic passages with some incredible dynamic. “The Fountain of Salmacis” and the heavier “The Return of the Giant Hogweed” show Genesis’ music from it’s most ancient and fairytale-like side. Symphonic progressive rock doesn’t get any better than this. “Seven Stones” is a beautiful and melodic little tune, while the cheerful “Harold the Barrel” demonstrates some of Gabriel’s weird humour and twisted lyrics.

“Nursery Cryme” is classic stuff from beginning to end.

Line-up:
- Tony Banks / organ, mellotron, piano, electric piano, 12 string guitar, voices
- Phil Collins / drums, voices, percussion, lead vocals (2)
- Peter Gabriel / lead voice, flute, tambourine, bass drum
- Steve Hackett / electric and 12 string guitar
- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, bass pedals, acoustic and 12 string guitar, backing vocals

Track List:
01. The Musical Box (10:24)
02. For Absent Friends (1:44)
03. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed (8:10)
04. Seven Stones (5:10)
05. Harold The Barrel (2:55)
06. Harlequin (2:52)
07. The Fountain Of Salmacis (7:54)

Link in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks

Eric Woolfson – Poe : More Tales Of Mystery And Imagination (2003) (@256)

07 Mar 2008

(Review from dailyvault.com)

Thomas Wolfe said you can never go home again. Apparently no one told this to Eric Woolfson. Good thing, too.

Woolfson, half the central core of the Alan Parsons Project, has been doing a lot of different things since the Project’s breakup in 1987. He’s done some musicals in Germany and Korea (including the critically noted Gambler), written some songs, and spent a lot of time working with more theatrical music. However, it seems he’s always wanted to revisit the first subject he ever handled as a musician — the work of Edgar Allan Poe, the subject of the Project’s 1976 debut. Finally, Woolfson, working with a new band and vocalist Steve Balsamo, has released Poe.

First things first. This is not a Project album — this isn’t even a progressive rock album. There are elements that are similar, but Woolfson has spent a decade or more in musical theater, and it shows. Poe is closer in spirit to Chess or the work of Tim Rice. That’s actually a good thing; longtime Project fans know that Woolfson’s commercial-sounding vocals (on songs like “Time”) helped destroy the Project’s progressive rock sound through record label pressure. Free of that preconception, Poe turns out to be a solid, enjoyable, and well-performed work with very few miscues.

The musicianship is excellent; sometime Project bassist Laurence Cottle joins a host of new names to put together a stellar performance. Special kudos have to go to guitarist John Parricelli, who handles multiple styles with ease and aplomb. Production and engineering show that Woolfson must have taken notes during all those years of collaboration; the sound is crisp and clear, no simple task on harmony-heavy tracks like “Goodbye To All That” and “The Murders In The Rue Morgue.”

So it seems Poe rests on the songwriting — and that’s almost perfect. Poe is astonishing. Tracks like “Tiny Star” and “Wings Of Eagles” are brilliant, “The Pit And The Pendulum” is appropriately horrible, “Somewhere In The Audience” is heartbreaking — and the closing track, “Immortal”, may be the greatest thing Eric Woolfson has ever written. Steve Balsamo’s soaring celebration of Poe’s literary immortality gave me chills. Simply beautiful.

Eric Woolfson has come full circle, and gained a good deal of wisdom and talent along the way. Take the time to dig up a little Poe — you’ll find it to be a poetically good listen.

Line-up:
- Eric Woolfson / vocals, keyboards, orchestral arrangements
with
- Steve Balsamo / vocals
- Fred Johanson / vocals
- Ralph Salmins / drums, percussion
- Ian Thomas / drums
- Martin Ditcham / percussion
- John Parricelli / guitars
- Simon Chamberlain / keyboards, orchestral arrangements
- Haydn Bendall / keyboards, sequencing
- Austin Ince / sequencing
- Dermot Crehan / Irish fiddle
- The Metro Voices / vocals
- Brighton Festival Chorus / vocals
- Rob Thompson, Stephan Rhys Williams & Christian Phillips / back vocals

Track List:
01. Angel Of The Odd (2:36)
02. Wings Of Eagles (4:45)
03. Train Of Freedom (4:40)
04. Somewhere In The Audience (4:47)
05. Bells (5:32)
06. Pit & The Pendulum Part 1 (2:31)
07. Pit & The Pendulum Part 2 (2:02)
08. Pit & The Pendulum Part 3 (2:02)
09. Murders In The Rue Morgue (4:35)
10. Tiny Star (2:44)
11. Goodbye To All That (5:15)
12. Immortal (5:30)

Link in comments.

Eric Woolfson

U.K. – Danger Money (1979) (@320)

07 Mar 2008

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from wikipedia, progarchives.com)

Following the tour for their debut, Bruford and Holdsworth both left U.K. over musical differences. After their departure, U.K. didn’t bring in another guitarist. Drummer Terry Bozzio (another one-time Frank Zappa band member) joined Wetton and Jobson, and as a result U.K. became a trio with a classic progressive rock lineup of keyboards/bass/drums (albeit supplemented by Jobson’s violin). The trio recorded the album Danger Money, released in March 1979.

Their second album is still very progressive, and less fusion that the previous one. Jobson’s keyboards still have futuristic elements and they are sometimes intense, dramatic & floating; Jobson also uses here an omnipresent vintage organ a la ELP or Triumvirat, so that the overall sound is less modern than on the previous album.

The catchy “Rendez vous 6:02″ has excellent piano & moog parts. “The only thing she needs” has organ parts sounding a bit like on the Steve Hackett’s “Highly Strung” album. The refrain on “Nothing to lose” surprisingly has a bit the Asia’s style. The epic “Carrying no cross” starts with an impressive electronic effect applied on a piano; the first part of the track has a mellow & futuristic ambience, while the second one contain fast, complex and flamboyant organ & piano parts a la ELP.

The album’s dynamics, stunning interplay and amazing work from Jobson on his keyboards and violin make it a worthy record.

Line-up:
- Terry Bozzio / drums, percussion
- Eddie Jobson / keyboards, electric violin
- John Wetton / lead vocals, bass

Track List:
01. Danger money (8:12)
02. Rendez-vous (5:00)
03. The only thing she needs (7:53)
04. Caesar’s Palace blues (4:42)
05. Nothing to lose (3:57)
06. Carrying no cross (12:20)

Link in comments.

Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Terry Bozzio, U.K.

Genesis – Trespass (1970) (@256)

06 Mar 2008

(Review from vintageprog.com)

You can really wonder what happened to Genesis between the debut and their second album “Trespass”. From the naive lightweighted debut they had turned to a complex and masterful progressive rock sound that would become cloned by literally hundreds of other bands in the following years.

Sure, from a technical point of view they were still far from a perfect band but the magic atmosphere, the distinctive, delightful and classic Genesis-sound… it was already here in all its glory: Gabriel’s sore and passionate vocals, Tony Banks’ symphonic and majestic mellotron and atmospheric hammond-organ, Mike Rutherford’s airy bass-sound and Anthony Phillips’ tasty guitar-work. Phillips would actually leave the band after this album, but the new guitarist Steve Hackett would more or less clone his sound and style of playing.

There’s not a weak point in any of the album’s six tracks. From the passionate opener “Looking for Someone” to the mystical “White Mountain” and then to the beauty of “Visions of Angels” through the many wonderful themes and chord-changes of “Stagnation” to the lovely ballad “Dusk” and finally it all ends with the powerful aggression of “The Knife”. For me, “Trespass” is progressive rock’s most underrated album. I have some very special feelings for it as the was the first progressive rock-album I ever heard and opened a whole new horizon for me that would become the start of a musical love affair that have lasted ever since.

Line-up:
- Peter Gabriel / lead voice, flute, accordion, tambourine and bass drum
- Anthony Phillips / acoustic 12-string, lead electric, dulcimer, voices
- Tony Banks / organ, piano, Mellotron, guitar, voices
- Michael Rutherford / acoustic 12-string, electric bass, nylon, cello, voices
- John Mayhew / drums, percussion, voices

Track List:
01. Looking For Someone (7:06)
02. White Mountain (6:42)
03. Visions Of Angels (6:50)
04. Stagnation (8:48)
05. Dusk (4:13)
06. The Knife (8:56)

Link in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks

Ezginin Gunlugu – Oludeniz (1990) (@256)

06 Mar 2008

(Review from wikipedia)

“Ezginin Gunlugu” is a Turkish band formed in 1982 in Istanbul by Nadir Gokturk, Emin Igus, Hakan Yilmaz, Sebnem Basar, Tugay Basar and Vedat Verter.

“Ezginin Gunlugu” is noted for their musical diversity and vocal harmonies. Their music is based on anatolian folk music composed with contemporary interpretation. They use a large variety of instruments. One of the strongest connections to their listeners is their use of the lyrics — using well known poems and singing songs with political allusions.

After this album, Emin Igus left the band, leaving Nadir Gokturk as the sole original member of “Ezginin Gunlugu”, marking the end of an era in the band’s musical journey.

Line-up:
* Emin Igus / vocals
* Nadir Gokturk / keyboards
* Tanju Duru / guitar, bass
* Cuneyt Duru / bass
* Serdar Gonenc / percussion
with
* Sumru Balikcioglu / vocals
* Ayse Tutuncu / piano
* Fatih Sacli / flute
* Mustafa Suder / fiddle, viola, saxophone
* Goksel Baktagir / qanun
* Levon Balikcioglu / accordion
* Halis Butunley / percussion

Track List:
01. Japon Balikcisi (Oludeniz) (Poem: Nazim Hikmet)
02. Bir Masalda Turku (Poem: Afsar Timucin)
03. Sasirti (Poem: Lorca)
04. Bilinmeyen Ulke (Poem: Alexander Pushkin)
05. Ve Cocuklar (Poem: A. Kadir)
06. Musahipzade (Instrumental)
07. Cocugun Kurgulari (Poem: Afsar Timucin)
08. Gelmiyorsun (Poem: M. Gunduz Gokturk)
09. Gece Icinde (Poem: A. Kadir)

Link in comments.

Sakalli's Pick, Turkish

U.K. – Shadows from the Sun (Live 1978) (@256)

06 Mar 2008

U.K. went on two lengthy American tours to support their debut album during June-October 1978.

This is a good soundboard recording of their concert at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, on the 1st of September.

It’s a fair representation of the live performance of the first line-up of U.K.

Line-up:
* Eddie Jobson / Electric Violin, Keyboards
* John Wetton / Vocals, Bass
* Allan Holdsworth / Guitars
* Bill Bruford / Drums, Percussion

Track List:
01. Alaska
02. Time To Kill
03. The Only Things She Needs
04. Carrying No Cross
05. Forever Till Sunday
06. Thirty Years
07. By The Light Of Day (ending)
08. Presto Vivace
09. In The Dead Of Night

Link in comments.

Allan Holdsworth, Bill Bruford, Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Live, U.K.

Genesis – From Genesis to Revelation (1969) (@256)

06 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com, wikipedia)

Genesis formed in 1967 when founding members Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks were students at Charterhouse School in Godalming, out of school bands “Garden Wall” and “Anon”.

Jonathan King, a Charterhouse School alumnus discovered them and he named the band “Genesis”, recalling that he had “thought it was a good name… it suggested the beginning of a new sound and a new feeling”. This was in fact his second choice for the band’s name. His first suggestion was “Gabriel’s Angels”.

“From Genesis to Revelation” is the first Genesis album (predating “Trespass”, which many assume to be their first album). Jonathan King’s influence is strong, with strings overlaid on many of the short, pop orientated songs. The result is similar to the way Phil Spector hijacked the Beatles “Let it be” album. It would be interesting to hear “From Genesis To Revelation” without the strings, as it would sound far more like the Genesis with whom we are familiar.

In retrospect, the band’s capabilities are clearly there, and some of the songs such as “One eyed hound” hint at what was to come on “Trespass”. Much of the band’s efforts to explore their capabilities are smothered by King’s over production, and his efforts to make the band commercially successful. Even Gabriel’s vocals only occasionally point to the power which would be unleashed on subsequent albums.

Line-up:
* Peter Gabriel – vocals, percussion
* Tony Banks – organ, guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals
* Anthony Phillips – guitar, vocals
* Mike Rutherford – bass guitar, guitar, vocals
* John Silver – drums, vocals except on “Silent Sun”
* Chris Stewart – drums on “Silent Sun”

Track List:
01. Where The Sour Turns Sweet 3:13
02. In The Beginning 3:46
03. Fireside Song 4:18
04. The Serpent 4:38
05. Am I Very Wrong 3:31
06. In The Wilderness 3:30
07. The Conqueror 3:40
08. In Hiding 2:37
09. One Day 3:21
10. Window 3:33
11. In Limbo 3:30
12. The Silent Sun 2:13
13. A Place To Call My Own 1:59
14. The Silent Sun (Bonus) 2:15
15. That’s Me (Bonus) 2:38
16. A Winter’s Tale (Bonus) 3:31
17. One Eyed Hound (Bonus) 2:31

Links in comments.

Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks

Elvis Presley – Complete 50s Masters (1953-1958) (@256)

04 Mar 2008

(Review from shop.elvis.com.au)

This is a deluxe five CD box set that contains every Elvis Presley studio recording released during the 1950s, as well as a collection of alternate takes, early live recordings and previously unreleased material. All the hits, b-sides, album tracks, Christmas songs, gospel, and early movie soundtrack material are here, along with a disc of alternate takes and rare live recordings.

Anyone who doubts the genius of Elvis Presley should listen all the way through this five-disc set before passing final judgment on the King of Rock and Roll. Of the 140 tracks here, precious few do not give testimony to Presley’s enormous gift and enthusiasm for a wide variety of music, including pop, rock and roll, country, gospel, and rhythm and blues.

From the first Sun recordings to the rushed singles session Presley cadged while on Army leave in 1958, “Complete 50′s Masters” radiates an energy, versatility, and awe-inspiring mastery rarely approached by his contemporaries.

It is a box set fit for the King.

Track List:
CD1
01. My Happiness
02. That’s All Right
03. I Love You Because
04. Harbor Lights
05. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
06. Blue Moon
07. Tomorrow Night
08. I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’)
09. I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine
10. Just Because
11. Good Rockin’ Tonight
12. Milkcow Blues Boogie
13. You’re A Heartbreaker
14. Baby, Let’s Play House
15. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
16. Mystery Train
17. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
18. Trying To Get To You
19. When It Rains, It Really Pours
20. I Got A Woman
21. Heartbreak Hotel
22. Money Honey
23. I’m Counting On You
24. I Was The One
25. Blue Suede Shoes
26. My Baby Left Me
27. One-Sided Love Affair
28. So Glad You’re Mine
29. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You)
30. Tutti Frutti
CD2
01. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
02. Shake, Rattle And Roll
03. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
04. Hound Dog
05. Don’t Be Cruel
06. Any Way You Want Me (That’s How I Will Be)
07. We’re Gonna Move
08. Love Me Tender
09. Poor Boy
10. Let Me
11. Playing For Keeps
12. Love Me
13. Paralyzed
14. How Do You Think I Feel
15. How’s The World Treating You
16. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
17. Long Tall Sally
18. Old Shep
19. Too Much
20. Anyplace Is Paradise
21. Ready Teddy
22. First In Line
23. Rip It Up
24. I Believe
25. Tell Me Why
26. Got A Lot O’ Livin’ To Do!
27. All Shook Up
28. Mean Woman Blues
29. (There’ll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me)
CD3
01. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
02. Take My Hand, Precious Lord
03. It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)
04. Blueberry Hill
05. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
06. Is It So Strange
07. Party
08. Lonesome Cowboy
09. Hot Dog
10. One Night Of Sin
11. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
12. Don’t Leave Me Now
13. I Beg Of You
14. One Night
15. True Love
16. I Need You So
17. Loving You
18. When It Rains, It Really Pours
19. Jailhouse Rock
20. Young And Beautiful
21. I Want To Be Free
22. (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care
23. Don’t Leave Me Now (alternate)
24. Blue Christmas
25. White Christmas
26. Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)
27. Silent Night
28. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
29. Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)
30. Santa Claus Is Back In Town
31. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
CD4
01. Treat Me Nice
02. My Wish Came True
03. Don’t
04. Danny
05. Hard Headed Woman
06. Trouble
07. New Orleans
08. Crawfish
09. Dixieland Rock
10. Lover Doll
11. Don’t Ask Me Why
12. As Long As I Have You
13. King Creole
14. Young Dreams
15. Steadfast, Loyal And True
16. Doncha’ Think It’s Time
17. Your Cheatin’ Heart
18. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck
19. I Need Your Love Tonight
20. A Big Hunk O’ Love
21. Ain’t That Loving You Baby
22. (Now And Then There) A Fool Such As I
23. I Got Stung
24. Interview With Elvis
CD5
01. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
02. Fool, Fool, Fool
03. Tweedle Dee
04. Maybellene
05. Shake, Rattle And Roll (1955)
06. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
07. Blue Moon
08. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
09. Reconsider Baby
10. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
11. Shake, Rattle And Roll (1956)
12. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
13. Heartbreak Hotel
14. Long Tall Sally
15. Blue Suede Shoes
16. Money Honey
17. We’re Gonna Move
18. Old Shep
19. I Beg Of You
20. Loving You (Slow Vers.)
21. Loving You
22. Young And Beautiful
23. I Want To Be Free
24. King Creole
25. As Long As I Have You
26. Ain’t That Loving You Baby

Links in comments.

Elvis Presley

Colin Bass – Live Vol 2 : Acoustic Songs (1999) (@256)

04 Mar 2008

(Review from polskiejajko.bbe.pl)

Camel bassist/vocalist Colin Bass, accompanied by three local musicians recorded a live unplugged/acoustic album in Poland in 1999. It consists 15 tracks including many Camel songs.

Being an acoustic one- the album sounds natural, alive. Titles chosen to this album are known to the fans from the previous concert set and supplement that edition. These 71 minutes is really a lot! The recording of the concert- compositions in an acoustic way sound quite different than in an “electric” one but they are filled with amazingly closed-circle atmosphere going together with the musicians.

A must for the late Camel fan.

Line-up:
- Colin Bass / vocals, acoustic guitar
- Zsbyszek Florek / piano, keyboards
- Maciek Meller / acoustic guitar
- Jacek Zasada / flute, percussion

Track List:
01. Shameless Love
02. Hard Times
03. Refugee / War
04. City Life
05. Drafted
06. As Far As I Can See
07. Goodbye To Albion
08. Denpasar Moon
09. Reap What You Sow
10. Fingertips
11. The Water Is Wide
12. The River & The Sea
13. Sailing Home
14. Poznan Pie
15. The Parting Glass

Links in comments.

Colin Bass, Live

Zen Archer proudly presents :)

04 Mar 2008

25 comments

Zen Archer (of “Hammer of Gods” and “Clock Went Backwards”) will be ripping and uploading some stuff for a friend of his for the next week or so. He also wants to share it with you and will be posting the albums in the comments of this post. So check this post’s comments for hidden treasures :)

Hawkwind – Live at The Chicago Auditorium (1974) (@320)

04 Mar 2008

16 comments

Thanks to Zen Archer for his contribution.

(Review from amazon)

Hawkwind fans have long endured poorly recorded early live sets (endless re-packagings of Text of a Festival and Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin), unimaginative alternate versions and re-mixes from the definitive tour (Space Ritual Vol 2, Ridicule) and numerous later era official live releases that are often very good, but always very different to the classic era of the band (Palace Springs, Live Chronicles, Live ’79), all in the pursuit of the heady first rush of the Space Ritual.

Live at the Chicago Auditorium (also known as the The 1999 Party), which was actually recorded in March 21st of 1974 might be considered as in the same league as Space Ritual Alive.

For a start, the band line-up remains largely unchanged from the earlier tour, with Lemmy contributing his trademark vocals, although Calvert has been replaced by Michael Moorcock as poet in residence. Several key elements of the actual Space Ritual remain (The Awakening, Sonic Attack, Welcome to the Future), however it is no mistake that the title features the word ‘party’, and while Space Ritual Alive fully captured the reverential awe of that particular event, the 1999 Party is a wonderful document of the band at their most playful, with even Sonic Attack rendered slapstick by the addition of ‘boom-tish’ drum fills to punctuate the dire warnings.

Whereas the “Space Ritual” tour had largely utilised songs from the “Doremi Fasol Latido” album to fill the musical gaps in Calvert’s original vision, this live album showcases tunes from the “Hall of the Mountain Grill” and features the first live version of D-Rider on record anywhere, while “You’d Better Believe It and Paradox”, which were actually live versions when first issued on the “Hall of the Mountain Grill”, get their first outing on an official concert album. You get yet another version of Brainstorm, albeit a particularly good one, the first live recording of single “Brainbox Pollution”, which is an absolute gem, and while this set was purged of all other Doremi material, this album paradoxically features the first live recording of Lemmy’s menacing The Watcher – and what an incredible bass-driven rendering it is!

Lemmy would be busted for possession of amphetamines on the next North American tour and sacked from the band, dancer Miss Stacia and kinky saxophonist Nik Turner both left during the next couple of years, and although Robert Calvert later returned in an expanded role as genuine frontman of the band throughout the second half of the seventies, as the band surprisingly trailblazed their way through the landscape of punk/new wave, Hawkwind would never again be the same band that they were during ’73/’74 – if you were weaned on Space Ritual Alive, then Hawkwind Live at the Chicago Auditorium (The 1999 Party) is the alternate source of the sustenance to which you have become accustomed.

Line-up:
* Dave Brock – guitar, keyboards, vocals
* Nik Turner – saxophone, flute, vocals
* Lemmy – bass guitar, vocals
* Del Dettmar – Synthesizer
* Simon House – violin, keyboards
* Simon King – drums

Track List:
CD1
01. Intro / Standing On The Edge – 4:16
02. Brainbox Pollution – 7:52
03. It’s So Easy – 11:02
04. You Know You’re Only Dreaming – 4:43
05. Veterans of a Thousand Psychic Wars – 2:21
06. Brainstorm – 9:19
07. Seven By Seven – 9:26
CD2
01. The Watcher – 6:40
02. The Awakening – 2:40
03. Paradox – 5:43
04. You’d Better Believe It – 8:09
05. Psychedelic Warlords – 3:47
06. D-Rider – 7:46
07. Sonic Attack – 4:30
08. Master Of The Universe – 6:57
09. Welcome To The Future – 2:32

Links in comments.

Dave Brock, Hawkwind, Lemmy Kilminster

Gentle Giant – Under Construction (1970-76) (@192)

03 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com)

‘Under Construction’ is a well crafted compilation of unreleased Gentle Giant tracks, demos, and live recordings. The title ‘Under Construction’ is carefully chosen : this record gives an insight of the Gentle Giant music in progress. It gives a good understanding of the way Gentle Giant composed their music and at the same time an overview of their entire catalogue from 1970 to 1976.

CD1 consists of unreleased studio and live material plus a sample archive (27) of isolated tracks from the mastertapes (isolated instrumental or rhythm tracks, highly interesting for understanding the way Gentle Giant constructed their music in the studio). Tracks 2 to 6 are unreleased studio tracks from February 1970 prior to the release of the first record. These tracks are not just leftovers but already typical Gentle Giant compositions. You find here already the composition skills of Kerry Minear, the blues guitar work of Gary Green and the instrumental skills of the 3 Shulman brothers : the birth of the Giant. Tracks 10 to 13 come from the Düsseldorf concert 23.09.1976 (the same concert as the first side of ‘Playing the fool’).

CD 2 contains mainly demos and outtakes. The most interesting tracks are the Kerry Minear demos, stripped down acoustic piano arrangements, where you can hear the influence of Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Faure on Kerry’s composing, for example in ‘Schooldays’. The Set ends as it started with ‘Freedoms Child’ a beautiful unreleased Kerry Minear composition.

If you are already familiar with Gentle Giant, this record will give you a great inside look of the Giant’s machinery. If you don’t know Gentle Giant start with the other records and come back later!

Line-up:
* Gary Green – 6 string guitar, 12 string guitar, 12 string wah-wah guitar, donkey’s jawbone, cat calls, voice
* Kerry Minnear – electric piano, organ, mellotron, vibraphone, Moog, piano, celeste, clavichord, harpsichord, tympani, maracas, lead vocals
* Derek Shulman – alto sax, clavichord, cowbell, lead vocals
* Phil Shulman – alto & tenor sax, clarinet, trumpet, piano, claves, maracas, lead vocals
* Ray Shulman – bass, violin, viola, electric violin, Spanish guitar, tambourine, 12 string guitar, organ bass pedals, skulls, vocals
* Martin Smith – drums, tambourine, gongs, side drum

Track List :
CD1 (Entirely Unreleased Material)
01. Radio Bit (0:13)
02. Freedoms Child (3:59)
03. Hometown Special (4:26)
04. Weekend Cowboy (3:48)
05. Bringing Me Down (5:52)
06. Nothing At All (8:26)
07. Rondo: Playing the Game (1:35)
08. DVS Guitars (6:28)
09. Robin Hood (1:43)
10. Interview Whispers (1:06)
11. Interview — Live (7:02)
12. Timing — Live (9:51)
13. Unreleased Civilian track (5:02)
14. You Haven’t a Chance (4:16)
15. Sample Archive (9:19)
CD2 (Demos and Out-takes)
01. The House The Street (1:52)
02. Prologue (0:42)
03. Schooldays (2:56)
04. Peel The Paint Demo (0:23)
05. Peel The Paint Studio (4:22)
06. Mr Class & Quality (3:04)
07. Advent of Panurge (0:58)
08. “SHH” (0:16)
09. An Inmates Lullaby (3:39)
10. Way of Life (7:08)
11. Experience (6:53)
12. So Sincere — Demo (3:32)
13. So Sincere — Studio (3:30)
14. Intro 74 (2:30)
15. Cogs In Cogs (1:44)
16. Intro 76 (1:41)
17. Just The Same (1:43)
18. Free Hand (3:00)
19. Time to Kill (3:34)
20. Interview Demo (2:04)
21. Give It Back (2:25)
22. Design (0:48)
23. Another Show (2:26)
24. Empty City (3:38)
25. I Lost My Head — Demo (2:33)
26. I Lost My Head — Studio (1:43)
27. Convenience (1:07)
28. Freedoms Child — Demo (3:20)
29. Kerry (0:04)

Links in comments.

Gentle Giant

Walrus – Walrus (1970) (@256)

03 Mar 2008

Request of Marquez.

(Review from rockadrome.com)

Walrus’ sole album blends progressive rock, blues and jazz, featuring multi-layered songs with many different instruments.

The opening track is a flat out bluesy rock brawler with the odd horn action, while other cuts are pure UK dreamy progressive. What is usually always present though is the solid guitarwork. The highlight is probably the 13.38 minutes long “Rags and Old Iron”, not to forget a cover of Traffic’s “Coloured Rain”.

Definitely something for the adventurous early 70s hound dog.

Line-up:
* Steve Hawthorn – bass guitar
* John Scates – lead & rhythm guitar
* Nod Gabb – drums
* Barry Parfitt – organ & piano
* Noel Greenaway – vocals
* Don Richards – trumpet
* Roy Voce – tenor sax
* Bill Hoad – soprano, alto & barione saxes, clarinet, floods, alto floods
* Roger Harrison – drums, cowbell, tambourine, claves

Track List:
01. Who Can I Trust? 2:37
02. Rags And Old Iron 13:42
03. Why 4:32
04. Turning 7:20
05. Sunshine Needs Me 3:25
06. Coloured Rain 6:07
07. Tomorrow Never Comes 3:35

Link in comments.

Camel – Paris Collection (Live 2001) (@256)

03 Mar 2008

Thanks to silveraintr.

(Review from snim.no, progarchives.com)

Camel thawed out for a Y2K tour of California and Europe, represented here with a recording of the October 30th show in Paris at The Bataclan. The sleeve notes refer to it as “the band’s most fun-filled performance”.

As for “The Paris Collection” itself, it may be of interest to fans because it features a new keyboardist, Guy LeBlanc, and a new drummer, Denis Clement. As a single-CD selection, it doesn’t really hold a candle to the double sets like “Coming of Age” or “Never Let Go”.

The album takes some liberties with the original arrangements, which may distract listeners who have grown accustomed to hearing immaculate versions of the classics: “Ice”, “Chord Change”, “Lady Fantasy”. Because Clement joined Camel less than two weeks before the first show, his drumming style is different than what we are used to in Camel. LeBlanc for his part sticks closer to the original sounds. Of interest, Andrew Latimer lost his voice prior to this show, so the warbly vocals this time come courtesy of Colin Bass and Guy LeBlanc.

“Paris Collection” isn’t a bad live album but it’s a disappointment after hearing the double-live sets that marked the 90s. Though released after the Rajaz album, it’s far from a full presentation of Rajaz, we’re treated only to the instrumental “Sahara”.

Line-up:
- Andy Latimer / guitar
- Colin Bass / bass, vocals
- Guy Leblanc / keyboards, vocals
- Denis Clement / drums

Track List:
01. Ice (8:47)
02. Chord Change (8:52)
03. Fingertips (6:40)
04. Slow Yourself Down (4:30)
05. Sahara (6:51)
06. Mother Road (6:07)
07. Little Rivers and Little Rose (1:55)
08. Hopeless Anger (5:43)
09. Lady Fantasy (16:04)
10. Slow Yourself Down (Bonus) (5:34)

Link in comments.

Camel, Colin Bass, Live

Gentle Giant – Civilian (1980) (@320)

02 Mar 2008

(Review from amazon, progarchives.com)

In 1979, the band relocated to America to record their last album, Civilian.

The music on this album has more in common with Rainbow, Whitesnake, Asia and such bands than with progressive rock. Yes, it is a “hard rock” album, but one who’s consistency of theme, musicality, and even subtlety, is unmatched by the cleverest of “Hard Rock” bands.

Right from the no-nonsense decidedly “undainty” opening drum riff and ensuing wall of sound on “Convenience” we know we are going for a ride. “All through the night” continues with Gary Green laying down a beautiful riff that the band takes in a completely but funky way that underlines the frustration of 20th century workaday factory life. “All through the Night” is as powerful a song about longing and unfulfilled lives as anything eliot himself could have written. Which then thunders into the incredibly angry “Number One” who’s opening is a brilliantly subversive bit of musicmanship by throwing off the down beat for the rest of the band by half a beat from where one would expect. In “Underground” one can feel the wheels turning round in the stale tunnel air.

“I am a Camera” starts with the trademark Gentle Giant opening of a song with a “sound” that counts the song in. This is actually rather a chilling song when you pay attention to the lyrics, especially in these days of omnipresent webcams etc. Don’t forget they wrote this in 1980; deceptively uptempo. But it is with the rolling, Sisyphus-like “Inside out” that this album reaches it’s paranoid anguished peak. One’s own hopes rise and fall with the beautiful guitar line while relentlessly trodding along with the protagonists own footsteps in John Weather’s rock solid beat. An absolutely heartwrenching song.

The last song says it all: “It’s not imagination”. While it’s a “jaunty” song about subliminal sexual advertising, it also states the themes of the album brilliantly: suppressed desires quashed by the “Civilian” world of consumerism, the downside of the industrial revolution.

This is an angry album from the Thatcher-era in England. It is one of raw power which is unfortunately and unfairly compared with the more “progressive” of Gentle Giant’s albums. As a result, hardcore Gentle Giant fans miss how deceptively and yes, subtley, progressive this “rock” album really is. This is not so much an album you listen to as it is one you ride.

Non-Gentle Giant fans won’t even know about this album, and Gentle Giant fans don’t like it, so why even bother? Because it deserves another chance. And as the final “bit” on the album says: “That’s all there is”.

Gentle Giant disbanded after this album.

Line-up:
- Gary Green / all guitars
- Kerry Minnear / keyboards, vocals
- Derek Shulman / vocals
- Ray Shulman / bass, acoustic guitars, backing vocals
- John Weathers / drums, backing vocals

Track List:
01. Convenience (Clean And Easy) (3:14)
02. All Through The Night (4:21)
03. Shadows On The Street (3:17)
04. Number One (4:42)
05. Underground (3:48)
06. I Am A Camera (3:31)
07. Inside Out (5:51)
08. It’s Not Imagination (4:03)
09. Heroes No More (Bonus) (4:38)

Link in comments.

Gentle Giant

Skara Brae – Skara Brae (1971) (@256)

02 Mar 2008

(Review folkworld.de, wikipedia)

Skara Brae were a traditional Irish music group. The group consisted of three siblings, Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill, Triona Ni Dhomhnaill and Micheal O Domhnaill with Daithi Sproule. Although they were together for only a year, their one and only record is considered to be one of the most important albums in its genre, as they were the first group in history to put harmonies to Gaelic songs.

The band would sing Beatles songs, but they’d also sing Irish songs and experiment with chords. They learned a lot from the Beatles. They listened a lot to them and all the music that was happening at the time and they tried to bring that to bear — Pentangle, Steeleye Span — they tried to bring that to bear on the Irish.

The only album of “Skara Brae” was recorded in 1970 and released in 1971.

The album starts with their single hit “An Cailin Rua” and has a lovely version of “Cad e sin don te sin?”, too. Their version of the beautiful but sad love song “Ta Me ‘mo Shui” shows their particular personal background, Rann na Feirste in the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking district) of Co. Donegal, for the same song is sang different in other parishes of the same area.

All of those old traditional songs still keep a spirit even for those who can’t understand what the lyrics mean for every song is in Irish.

Track List:
01. An Cailin Rua 2:41
02. Suantrai Hiudai 2:22
03. Banchnoic Eireann O 3:25
04. Angela 4:17
05. Taim Breoite Go Leor 2:46
06. Inis Dhun Ramha 2:01
07. An Saighdiuir Treigthe 3:29
08. Cad E Sin Don Te Sin 2:19
09. An Chrubach 4:46
10. Casadh An Tsugain 1:53
11. Caitlin Og 2:04
12. Airdi Cuan 4:34
13. Ta Me ‘mo Shui 3:54
14. An Buinnean Bui 2:56
15. Caitlin Tiriall 3:12

Link in comments.

Camel – Gods of Light (Live 1973-75) (@256)

02 Mar 2008

Thanks to silveraintr.

(Review from progarchives.com)

Recorded back in 1973-75, this live snippet from the early days of Camel perfectly showcases the strengths and talents of this band. All 5 tracks on this recording are killer Camel. These early tracks reveal a slightly rawer more instrumental based sound and a slightly more playful side.

“Arubaluba” is the unusual track never published before within a live album and contains such an interesting jam-session; therefore the presence of a classic melodic mini-suite like “Lady Fantasy” is a natural “purpose” for all the fans of Camel; as well as the excerpts from their most famous suite “The Snow Goose” are regarded always like other must-have numbers…

“Snow Goose” clicking in over 27 minutes and having been lifted from a BBC recording in 1975. The cool thing about this is that there is no orchestra and you get a live in studio rendition of this prog masterpiece by the 4 members. Without a question the combo of Andy Latimer and Peter Bardens were something special and you can hear this musically in their approach and tight interplay.

This set is a great addition to any Camel fan from today and yesterday.

Line-up:
- Andrew Latimer / guitar, vocals
- Peter Bardens / keyboards, vocals
- Doug Ferguson / bass, vocals
- Andy Ward / drums

Track List:
01. God of Light Revisited (16:09)
02. White Rider (8:52)
03. Lady Fantasy (11:33)
04. Arubaluba (6:50)
05. Excerpts from the Snow Goose (27:20)

Links in comments.

Andy Ward, Camel, Peter Bardens

Gentle Giant – Giant for A Day (1978) (@256)

02 Mar 2008

(Review from progarchives.com, amazon)

Gentle Giant is a great band, but their greatness is predicated on a facility for counterpoint and medieval-themed arrangements which the band had largely abandoned by this stage in their career. Beginning with “The Missing Piece”, Gentle Giant tried to appeal to a wider audience by “dumbing down” their songs; complex instrumental passages and classical motifs were replaced by more conventional song structures. The use of instrumentation is also simplified and the band favors the standard bass/guitars/drums/vocals with splashes of keyboards here and there.

Highlights include the acoustic textures and sweet melodies on “Thank You”, “Take Me” and “Friends”, in addition to the instrumental “Spooky Boogie” (the closest thing to classic Gentle Giant as it gets on the album). The remaining tracks show the band trying to adopt styles popular at the time including new wave, British symphonic pop and American stadium rock.

“Giant for a Day” is yet another example of progressive rock musicians embracing mainstream musical styles in the late 1970s. Unless you have all of their previous albums, don’t get this one.

Line-up:
- Derek Shulman / vocals
- Ray Shulman / bass, vocals
- Gary Green / guitars, vocals
- Kerry Minnear / vocals, keyboards
- John Weathers / vocals, drums

Track List:
01. Words From The Wise (4:10)
02. Thank You (4:45)
03. Giant For A Day (3:45)
04. Spooky Boogie (3:31)
05. Take Me (2:45)
06. Little Brown Bag (3:32)
07. Friends (1:58)
08. No Stranger (2:27)
09. It’s Only Goodbye (4:16)
10. Rock Climber (3:50)

Link in comments.

Gentle Giant

Slade – Whatever Happened to Slade (1977) (@256)

01 Mar 2008

(Review from rockofages, wikipedia)

Frequently described as “the missing link between the Beatles and Oasis”, Slade are one of the most acclaimed British rock bands of the 1970s, especially remembered for their brash songwriting and energetic live performances.

After releasing the movie “Flame”, and seeing their peak as a chart act diminishing Slade had seemingly disappeared for a couple of years and this release was hoped to mark a return to glory, at least in the eyes of manager Chas Chandler. What had actually happened though was that Slade had given two years to try to crack the States and although they forged a reputation as a fine live act, with Gene Simmons of Kiss being a fan as well as Slade ultimately being largely responsible for the success of Quiet Riot, they were unable to turn it into record sales and therefore the cleverly titled “Whatever Happened To Slade” not only took its name from a piece of graffiti on a London bridge, it hoped to answer the question.

Heavier and grittier than ever and with a new confidence forged from the extended time on the road Slade produced 11 tracks that captured the band at their heavy rocking best. The simple, catchy guitar riff and staccato of Be opens the platter with Noddy Holder’s delivery spewing forth in a song that has similarities to Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy whilst the excellent Lightening Never Strikes Twice recalls the cover version of Janis Joplin’s Move Over that adorned the “Play It Loud” album many years earlier. The catchy “Gypsy Roadhog” was an interesting choice as the showcase single and despite featuring thinly disguised lyrics like “I powdered my nose in Alabama” was actually performed by the band on BBC TV children’s show ‘Blue Peter’ before it got banned! Unfortunately the banning failed to trigger, as it so often does, increased sales and the single stalled robbing the album of much needed publicity.

The dark “Dogs Of Vengeance” is something of a departure from the mega-successful earlier Slade template but works well, When “Fantasy Calls” employs a dirty glam-rock groove to good effect and “One Eyed Jacks With Moustaches” is a blistering bit of boogie rock that’s easily as good as some of the stuff they were selling in lorryloads a few years earlier. A couple of decent story-tellers follow with “Big Apple Blues” being just that, recollections of time spent in America trying to break that notoriously lucrative market, and “Dead Men Tell No Tales” showing the Holder-Lea songwriting team in ambitious mood recounting the tale of a failed bank heist.

“She’s Got The Lot” is a good though very different sounding Slade song about a girl who thinks she’s got it all, in a similar theme to Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride”. “It Ain’t Love But It Ain’t Bad” follows hinting a little that the Slade sound was evolving from the raw guitar fronted rock into the “wall of sound” approach that served them well in the next decade but Noddy’s gutsy, razor gargling vocals are as outstanding as ever. And if anyone ever doubts Slade heavy rock credentials then the AC/DC style riffing of “The Soul, The Roll And The Motion” should suffice to quieten the critics. Similar lyrical content as well actually.

Unfortunately compared to the success of their earlier releases, this album failed in both album and single format however, for a rock fan unbothered by chart placing it’s actually one of their finest releases.

Line-up:
* Noddy Holder – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
* Dave Hill – lead guitar
* Jim Lea – bass guitar
* Don Powell – drums

Track List:
01. Be 3:59
02. Lightning Never Strikes Twice 3:08
03. Gypsy Roadhog 3:23
04. Dogs Of Vengeance 2:48
05. When Fantasy Calls 3:23
06. One Eyed Jacks With Moustaches 3:22
07. Big Apple Blues 4:38
08. Dead Tell No Tales 3:39
09. She’s Got The Lot 4:34
10. It Ain’t Love But It Ain’t Bad 3:09
11. The Soul, The Roll And The Motion 4:35

Link in comments.

Coupla Prog – Death is a Great Gambler (1970-72) (@256)

01 Mar 2008