RAINBOW THEATRE

Aztec Music reissued in 2006 this fantastic debut of Rainbow Theater, remastered, with a booklet of 20 pages full of information and photographs, plus an extra track. Altogether there are 5 tracks (plus the bonus makes 6) with a fusion of Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock and classical music, always with a touch of theatrical and opera rock. The influences are as diverse as Stravinsky, Wagner, King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra, among others. Epic songs ranging from 14 to 15 minutes alternate with minute-and-a-half interludes in a masterpiece of Australian Progressive Rock. Closing this CD we have the epic "Icarus (From Symphony No.8)", composed by Julian Browning, guitarist of the band, and recorded in 1996, not by the band, but by the Melbourne Grammar Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martin Rutherford. Highly recommend!

I marked down the Armada because, despite the bold musical concept, the quality of the performances did not match the compositions. Fantasy of Horses is a big step forward. Here the instrumental work is impeccable, Keith Hoban's vocal technique has improved considerably over the intervening year - more clarity of tone, less wobble, improved freedom in the upper register - and we no longer have to put up with the dreadful choir that ruined the previous album. Julian Browning's compositional technique has also matured somewhat, and this is particularly on display in the impressive side-long title track - the 'classical' sections display a much more sophisticated musical language than previously heard. OTOH, the Mahavishnu influences come much more to the fore on this album, particularly in two excellent shorter tracks that show off the rhythm section to great effect, as well as the frontline soloists - "Rebecca" and "Caption for the City Night Life". Although we hear somewhat more guitar on this album, it is still the brass and woodwind that dominate the sound, and by this time the band also incorporated a string section - you'd never think you were listening to a rock band. Despite the obvious Crimson and Mahavishnu influences, you could never accuse Rainbow Theatre of copying anyone - they are completely unique.

Here's something completely left field - an aspiring (and now established) classical composer, influenced by King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra, puts together a rock rhythm section, a horn section, and recruits a classical tenor as lead singer - the result is truly worthy of the oft-misused label 'symphonic'. The influences are openly acknowledged, and audible - here it is mainly Crimson in their most symphonic mode eg Lizard/Devils Triangle; in places (particularly in "The Darkness Motive") it sounds like ELP's music with the keyboard parts orchestrated - but it manages to sound unique thanks to the expansive orchestral arrangements, the relatively low profile of the more traditional rock instruments (we barely hear any guitar), and most particularly thanks to the vocals. Having said that, the vocals are also a problem. There are plenty of classically trained singers out there successfully performing pop/rock or other contemporary genres, maintaining their core technique while adjusting for style (eg softening their diction, phrasing differently). Keith Hoban makes no such adjustments here, maintaining an exaggerated diction and 'operatic' delivery - but that core technique isn't so great either, his voice is lacking in ring or clarity of tone, the voice seems to be well back in the throat, his vibrato is not well controlled, and his tone often seems forced. Things get even worse when he invites seven friends from the Victorian State Opera to join him in forming a choir for two tracks. Their intonation is simply hideous, especially the sopranos who are consistently flat, sometime by nearly a full semitone - they single-handledly ruin a potentially great track in "Petworth House", and detract considerably from "The Armada". I take this recording as evidence of just how much the standard of classical singing in Melbourne has improved over the past four decades - I couldn't imagine these voices getting a gig with the Victorian Opera now. Intonation is in some places a problem for the band too, particularly for the brass on "The Darkness Motive". My favourite tracks are the two short "Songs", spotlighting the solo voice and piano. I have a lot of admiration for the musical vision here. The album gets a low rating because of the sloppiness of execution, particularly from the opera singers.

The debut album from this Australian band who only released two albums before they vanished.

This album is by no means a run of the mill symphonic prog album. Their brand of music and sound is what is called cantus firmus. That is dark baroque music. In this case; dark baroque symphonic prog. I would say the music on this album is a cross between Gentle Giant, Aranis, Genesis and Italian symphonic prog. The mix of Gentle Giant like male vocals and female operatic vocals gives this album an edge. The same goes for the dark keyboards too which dominates this album.

Darkness is the key here and the opening suite The darkness motive is a case study in baroque chamber symphonic prog. The other suite The Armada is also heavy on the same motive.

Unfortunate, the sound quality is a bit too poor for me to really fully embrace the music here. A remastering would had been a good idea. But the quality of the material still shines through. This is a very good album by any means with The darkness motive as the best song/suite here. I like this album.

3.5 stars

This interesting Australian band spices up a formula inspired mainly by early symphonic-era King Crimson by slipping in a range of vocalists and a collection of brass instruments to the lineup, creating an intriguing blend of straightforward symphonic prog, jazzy brass rock, and a little bit of opera. Personally, it's not to my tastes - I think the over-reliance on Mellotrons masks a lack of really compelling material, and I've never seen the appeal of brass rock - but if you have found yourself wishing that symphonic prog involved more horns and a tenor or two this might prove a rewarding listen for you.

Count me in as a listener that finds this album horrible(and atrocious). I love symphonic prog. and jazz/rock, but this thing is a mess(i'm being polite). Musically, this band may be talented. However, I don't really know what I'm listening to here. Is this band a jazz group trying to play rock, or a rock band trying to play jazz? Nothing really fuses here. The vocals? I'm not sure if this is Josh Groban or Tom Jones trying to sing opera. The trumpets sound as shrill as Maynard Ferguson at his commercial worst in the late'70s/early '80s. This is like Guy Lombardo gone prog.(and Guy's big band was like nails on a blackboard). Apparently this band was influenced by King Crimson. How about the KC track _Groon_ played on a 33 at 45 speed. The bass is somewhat sloppy and too high in the mix. The drummer sounds pretty good, but in this rare instance; a good drummer does not a good band make. Definitely a frisbee, this one. Avoid if at all possible. The first album is just as bad.

The best part about this album? The cover art. Gorgeous.

This is an odd duck to say the least. For those into orchestral or opera will be turned off by the guitar, bass and drums. Those into Rock are turned off by the male operatic vocals and horn section. So yes us Progressive music fans are the ones who seem to appreciate this album the most. Even then as I noticed on many different sites there is a love or a hate towards this album. Not a lot of people inbetween. Well I think that's really where this belongs, right in the middle. Not that it's an average album but when you combine such different styles you aren't going to please everyone. I honestly can't stand the operatic male vocals. Take them away and this is 4 stars for me. Hard to ignore them of course. On the other hand this band has a fantastic rhythm section, and as an added bonus there's lots of mellotron.The sticker on the back of my cd says "Australian progressive jazz masterpiece from 1976". Unfortunately it's neither.

"Rebecca" opens with mellotron before drums and horns join in. Bass and sax lead for a while. Bass and intricate guitar sound good 2 1/2 minutes in. This is an uptempo instrumental that's okay. "Dancer" opens solemnly and vocals come in for the first time after a minute. A fuller sound a minute later then the tempo picks up around 3 minutes. The drumming is outstanding here. Guitar after 4 1/2 minutes. A change before 6 minutes as mellotron then vocals take over. It picks up around 9 1/2 minutes as the vocals stop. Mellotron and horns are back. "Caption For The City Night Life" opens with drums and bass as the horns honk. Nice bass before 2 minutes. Check out the drumming a minute later.

"Fantasy Of Horses" opens with piano as those operatic vocals join in. Horns before 2 minutes as it changes. More great bass and drum work follow. Organ before the vocals return around 4 1/2 minutes. A spacey calm 6 minutes in. Vocals and piano are back 7 minutes in. Vocals stop again. Mellotron 9 minutes in then the horns start to lead. Vocals 11 minutes in with lots of mellotron. Horns and drums are back. Huge bass follows. The string section comes in before 14 minutes. Vocals with mellotron ends it.

A unique album that deserves to be checked out. Many consider this to be a masterpiece and that alone makes this worth investigating. 3 stars.

Two ways: 1)I don't get this album 2)There's not much to get. This is definitely jazz rock, by my standards at least. I simply fails to hear symphonic parts here. Or they aren't here at all. But they were on last album, but this, this is just jazz rock.

And not good one though. Is it fair to compare this to Miles David ? Probably not, but both have similarities. But it's not pure jazz, or more like - it draws elements from more styles. There's little bit (OK, I admit) of symphonic sounds, but trumpet sometimes reminds me "Godspeed You Black Emperor", but just a little bit.

This is quite hard album to fully appreciate, but give it few listens and you'll see. You'll soon find symphonic beauty in part Big Time, or baroque singing and old atmosphere (old is good) in Theater.

4(-), weird one, confusing and also promising. Let it grow in your head and you'll see.

Amazing little-known band's first chapter

While certainly no expert on Australian prog I can say that Rainbow Theatre is my favorite prog band from Australia. With two fantastic albums documenting their short career they are a band well worth the attention of many prog fans. Julian Browning was a self-taught rock guitarist from Melbourne who studied piano and music theory before becoming interested in arrangement. He played in a few bands before forming the Rainbow Theatre in 1973 and the line-up solidified over the next couple years. By 1975 the pieces came together and Browning began to put together the first album, an effort to use his influences of classical music and guitarists like Fripp and McLaughlin to do something completely different. The composers who most impressed him were Stavinsky, Wagner, Mahler, and Beethoven. A final influence was jazz fusion but the Rainbow largely checked this at the door for the first album, it is present but not commanding. While they often let rip in their live shows "The Armada" is much more in the classical music camp--a bit of jazz would creep into their second album more. Not all of their live fans were thrilled with this approach, expecting their album to rock in the same way as the shows with lots of solos. But Browning explains that the album was different and he wanted to challenge the listener by going in a unique direction. They were also one of the few bands in Australia using the mellotron along with Sebastian Hardie, though the two bands sound almost nothing alike. Browning's material came from his intense interest in the 16th century Spanish Armada, his father did the artwork referring to lyrics of sailors drowning and turning into crustaceans, with the jewelry of loved ones sinking with them. "It was pretty ambitious but somehow I made it work" he recalled.

"The Armada" is a dark and often dramatic mix of symphonic (with a slight fusion slant) laden with mellotron, horns, operatic and choired vocals. It is progressive rock that is intimately linked to classical music, proudly and successfully so. Think of an album like "Days of Future Passed" with a gothic twist, combined with the brass and dark choir flavors from "Atom Heart Mother" and performed by a band with some jazz rock tendency. Browning admits that descriptions of the band often sound dreadful on paper but the approach works very well. The album is book-ended by two multi-part suites with three shorter tracks in the middle. The various sections will offer up soothing mellotron backgrounds alternated with briskly paced, jazzy rock sections--underlying rhythm sections in the band portions sound a bit like early Camel. There is a nice assembly of brass and woodwind for the classical touch: lots of sax, clarinet, flute, trumpet, cornet, French horn, and trombone. The passages flow from one to the next smoothly, augmented by Browning's occasional guitar notes and a grand theatrical feel. And my favorite ingredient, which make me curious about an RPI influence, are the dramatic and stately tenor vocals of Keith Hoban. These along with the choirs are handled with great formality and operatic passion. Rich and unsettling like dark, deep water, there is little on "The Armada" that is going to please the casual listener, those looking for the obvious hooks and sweet melodies. It is another title more fitting of a recital where the listening is willing to take in these various elements with patience. I share this reviewer's notice of the academic feel although I certainly don't mind it, in fact that's what I enjoy about this group: "The horns start out raggedly, but perhaps deliberately so. My ear hears what sounds like a student band, out of tempo and out of tune, but this may be intentional since there is no hint of amateurishness in the execution of the music which follows. That music seems to me less well-focused than the music on FANTASY OF HORSES, however. It also has some of the earnestness of a student recital, and this is underlined by the decidedly non-rock nature of the vocals, both lead and choral. There is in fact very little of any "rock"-like qualities to this music. It has instead the feeling of an ambitious, but rather academic conservatory work. But the appearance of a "Bolero" section in "The Armada" reminds us of Browning's Crimsoid influences." [Dr. Progresso] While elements of the sound are formal (particularly the vocals), the overall band sound still has room for looseness and the musicians are having plenty of fun playing together.

While "The Armada" may not be quite the perfected masterpiece of its older brother "Fantasy of Horses" it is still very satisfying to the RT fan. Newbies may wish to start with the slightly more melodic and polished-production "Horses" and if enjoyed, proceed to the grittier, less polished "Armada." The Aztec reissue is another superb release with the best possible remastered sound and a great booklet/biography. Also included is a latter day bonus track (Icarus) that perfectly compliments and expands the enjoyment of this CD. Both RT reissues feature the outstanding use of bonus space, actual music that improves the experience with the original material. It must be very satisfying for Rainbow Theatre to see both of their beloved works reborn with such care for the current generation to enjoy. Both titles are wonderful examples of the free, adventurous spirit that made the 1970s progressive rock's finest hour.

Superb - highly complex compositions that reward repeated listening. In truth Rainbow Theatre have more in common with the jazz compositions of Graham Collier, Mike Westbrook, Neil Ardley and Mike Gibbs than a great deal of fare generally considered progressive rock. The main point of contract with widely accepted 'prog' would almost certainly be the first three King Crimson releases - especially in the prominent role given to the mellotron in many of the pieces. The playing throughout the Fantasy of Horses is superb and would undoubtedly appeal to any who enjoy the early incarnations of Crimson - the somewhat operatic style of the vocals may not be to everyone's taste - but are very much in keeping with the style in favour with contemporary British jazzers such as Michael Garrick in the early seventies. For those who di find them hard to take - take heart the CD is predominently instrumental. This could be considered 'difficult' music as a great deal is going on for much of the time - but it really does repay several listens. Highly recommended to those who enjoy jazzier prog!