Titus Groan – Titus Groan (1970) (@256)

(Review from progarchives.com)

Taking their name from Mervyn Peake’s gothic fantasy novel, Titus Groan was a quartet lead by guitar/keyboardist and singer Stewart Cowell and wind player Tony Priestland. Their sound approaches the early UK progressive, all tracks being over 5 minutes long and often fronted by promising wind instruments. Centred around the great 12-mins Hall Of Bright Carvings track (also a Peake theme), the album was released in early 1970.

Thanks to the flute and oboe playing and bassist John Lee’s contributions, the album has an almost martial sound that isn’t very complex but gives the music a depth that serves to ground it in the sort of timeless setting reminiscent of many Jethro Tull’s albums. The harmonizing vocals are pure early seventies. Stuart Cowell’s intense electric guitar riffs, which along with his organ bleating on tracks like “I Can’t Change” make for a hard-rocking sound that was quite popular at the time.

Titus Groan also released a three track single the same year, all three tracks appearing as bonus on this edition of the album.

Line-up:
- Stuart Cowell / keyboards, guitar, vocals
- John Lee / bass
- Tony Priestland / saxophone, flute, oboe
- Jim Toomey / drums

Track List:
01. I Wasn’t For You – 5:33
02. Hall Of Bright Carvings – 11:39
03. I Can’t Change – 5:41
04. It’s All Up With Us – 6:09
05. Fuschia – 6:06
06. Open The Door Homer (Bonus) – 3:29
07. Woman Of The World (Bonus) – 4:27
08. Liverpool (Bonus) – 5:53

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Away for a few days

I’m going to be swamped for the rest of the week days and won’t be able to post new albums.

See you on Saturday.

Theta – Seeds Of The Dream (2000) (@256)

(Review from musical-discoveries.com)

The last progressive rock project of Japanese singer Yoko Royama was Theta’s Seeds Of A Dream. She later passed away in 2004.

Nine tracks featuring soaring angelic vocals adorn the stunning album. The singer had received significant notariety on the Vermillion Sands’ 1988 album Water Blue, largely due to the band’s similarity to Renaissance and Yoko Royama’s vocal style to their lead singer Annie Haslam.

The album opens with a light contemporary ballad-like track featuring lovely violin and keyboard arrangements entitled “Footprints” sung by Yoko Royama in English. The full spledour of the band is evident as the song develops. “Afterglow” is a lovely instrumental featuring Yoko’s flute and as the arrangements develop is a tribute to the virtuosity of the band members.

While some will compare Theta and Vermillion Sands to that Renaissance featuring Annie Haslam, the harpsichord, flute and basic structure of “Beyond the Wall of Time” is most reminscent of Renaissance Faire music. Sung in Japanese with Yoko’s vocalise excursions joined by male vocals as well, it is a lovely albeit short track. A similar style is evident in “Tasogare no nakade” led by its violin part and Yoko’s perfectly complimenting Japanese language vocal. Multi-tracking in the final choruses adds a lovely texture blending vocals with string arrangements. Layers of harmonizing vocals accompanied by acoustic guitar in “Summer Night Dream” also produce a Renaissance Faire sound. A lovely flute solo is a highlight of the track.

Clearly the highlights of the album are the progressive tracks “The Toy-Airplane” and “Mourning for a Falling,” Instrumental movements perfectly compliment soaring vocals sung in Japanese. With vocals introduced between major instrumental parts, the band clearly demonstrates a sound of classic Renaissance. Keyboard and string solo excursions work well within the overall arrangement and are especially well played.

The Parisian sound of “IZUMI” from the dark side…” is a tribute to the band’s label (Musea), a lovely epic-length, cabaret-style track sung in English! We especially enjoyed Yoko’s vocal excursions in the concluding passages of the song. The album concludes with “Muscial Box of Nostalgia.” A potpurri of classic melodies are initially woven together with Yoko’s stunning lead vocal, mixed way up with a noticable reverb nicely offsetting the violin part and keyboard effects. Most classical in its arrangement, it is a stunning little ballad.

Theta’s Seeds of the Dream features stunning vocals and well-produced instrumental arrangements.

Line-up:
- Yoko Royama / vocals
- Youko Tsushiya / keyboards
- Kasuhito Kawakami / bass guitar
- Naroyuki Harada / drums
with
- Junko Minobe / violin (1, 2, 4, 5)
- Masahiro Yamada / keyboard live support (2-6)
- Harumi Nishimaki / vocal
- Tamao / vocal
- Eigi Nishigori / electric guitar (2)
- Ai Keisuke / acoustic & electric guitar (3, 6, 7)
- Akihisa Tsuboy / violin (7, 9)

Track List:
01. Footprints – 6:36
02. The Toy-Airplane – 7:37
03. Beyond The Wall Of Time – 2:37
04. Mourning For A Falling – 4:37
05. Tasogare No Nakade – 4:48
06. Afterglow – 6:55
07. Summer Night Dream – 3:22
08. IZUMI- From The Dark Side – 8:56
09. Musical Box Of Nostalgia – 4:39

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