YEZDA URFA

The album opens with the off-beat, rambunctious, "Give em' Some Rawhide Chewies" which is a great choice for an opener. Lots of crazy Steve Howe-esque guitar work on this track. "Cancer of the Band" begins with a melancholic flute and piano intro. The motif from the intro is built up for a solid 4 minutes, then completely shifted to a fast-paced section with crazy lyrics like "Nidulant sarcolysin fruit, a two and six were built where four and five have stood before."

The 3rd song "Tota in the Moya" is a 10-minute epic, and is definitely a highlight of the album. Is seamless weaves through many different movements each of which is better than the last. They utilize the use of obscure instruments such as the Mandolin, Marimba, and cello. "Boris and his Three Verses" is the most notorious reworking from 'Boris' on the album, but unfortunately the reworking is actually much worse. The actual song is not that bad but its timespan has been cut from 11:00 minutes to about 2:00 minutes.

"Flow Guides Aren't my Bag" is very similar to the opener. Extremely fast, rhythmic, and off-beat. The musicianship is wonderful, but the singing on some of the harmonies is quite honestly repulsive. I prefer the vocals from "Cancer of the Band" much more. "(My Doc Told Me I Had) Doggie Head" has some nice parts on the piano and vibraphone but some of the harmonies aren't too great either.

The closing track, "3, Almost 4, 6, Yea" is my favorite song on the album. It is dominated by great bass lines from Marc Miller and, and awesome percussion from Brad Christoff. It features keyboardist Phil Kimbrough on a variety of different instruments including Hammond Organ, Piano, Moog, Fender Rhodes, and Wurlitzer. The best part is when it goes into an acoustic part halfway through the song, and is brought back to the main theme in a dramatic fashion. This album is a prog gem and more people should give it a listen. Fans of Gentle Giant and Yes will absolutely love this album.

Having found no interest in their now classic demo "Boris," YEZDA URFA basically had to fund what was to be their debut album from their own pockets and although they had a bite with a small Chicago label, the whole thing fell at the last minute. Frustrated with swimming upstream when once great prog giants were either folding or jumping into the world of simplified pop and hard rock, YEZDA URFA scrapped any idea of releasing their album SACRED BABOON and in the vaults it sat until the master tapes were discovered by the Syn-Phonic label who was so blown away by the manic energy of the album that they finally brought life to the album by releasing it in 1989. The crazy thing is that the band stayed together until 1981.

SACRED BABOON picks up where "Boris" left off and tackles a unique fusion of Yes' compositional fortitude along with Gentle Giant's dexterous experimental gymnastics along with Keith Emerson's energetic virtuosic wizardry only embellished with what sounds like the eclectic folk rock ethos of Gnidrolog especially when it comes to Rick Rodenbaugh's brilliant vocal performances. YEZDA URFA may very well be one of the first examples of what is now called brutal prog. While this Indiana gang was a mere quintet, these guys were seasoned multi-instrumentalists crafting unique tapestries of tones, timbres, zigzagging manic motifs and of course incessant runs of frenetic time signature changes at hyper speed with oft sudden breaks into Baroque classical music without losing the underlying melodic gist.

While "Boris" seems to get more attention due to its outlandish display of lush prog melodies teased out into virtuosic technical wizardry, this only bonafide album release ("Boris" was a demo that didn't get an official re-release until 2004) is every bit as impressive as its demo release predecessor. In many ways SACRED BABOON is a much more focused collection of seven tracks that enjoyed a more robust production job in two different studios and has interesting material that was reworked from the "Boris" demo which keeps the connection between the two phases of the band perfectly intact. Laced with the same melodic hooks that showcase the vocal phrasing just a tad out of sync with the frenetic Yes inspired barrage of guitar, drum and bass, the keyboards often exist in their own Emerson, Lake and Palmer world.

While the entire album is over-the-top eclectic, perhaps the best is saved for last with the one-two no punches held back combo pack of "(My Doc Told Me I Had), Doggie Head)" and "3, Almost 4, 6 Yea" with all of those brutal frantic time signature barrages crafting some of the knottiest workouts outside of Gentle Giant's run of masterpieces of the early 70s. In fact YEZDA URFA shamelessly borrowed the great GG's mastery of polyphonic vocal runs only YEZDA URFA employed them much faster and upped the weirdness factor manyfold. Add to that are folky flute runs that are very much in the vein of Gnidrolog as are the lead vocals. This is jittery prog for sure with crazy hairpin turns and mind-shattering counterpoints of all the instruments sallying forth in Keith Emerson mode! THIS is the stuff right out of prog heaven no doubt! In my world SACRED BABOON is every bit as much of a masterpiece as "Boris." Oh yeah!

Definitely this album can be defined as one of the most artistic and one of "obscure" albums in the progressive rock scene, and what a surprise this album could not be appreciated by any record label in those days. Just these days every progressive rock fan is familiar with this opus but it's a shame such a great gem was released on their own and sold in an obscure corner of a record shop. Their play in this album is not so technical nor impressive, and at the same time the mastering for their material is not so rich nor professional as of current artists indeed. However, melody lines and general atmosphere created and produced by the quintet drive us incredibly heartwarming and simultaneously mindbending. Especially Phil's synthesizer sounds are a bit light and cheap but it's not bad, let me say.

We prgressive art rock manias should get immersed in the first suite "Boris and His 3 Verses". The topnote is very sweet and relaxing, featuring acoustic guitar, synthesizer / harpsichord sounds, and good chorus. The beginning of this stuff can be felt symphonic or folksy but the situation will change dramatically on the following step. Heavy dark mysterious but somewhat comfortable texture can be touched directly via their powerful performance. A mixture of symphonic, heavy, and jazz rock is explosively energetic. The last theatrical development is a tad exaggerated but dreamy like a delightful sunrise. This suite features all of their musical / instrumental essence, I'm sure.

And forgive me mentioning it but I love the shortest but crazy enjoyable CW-flavoured track "Texas Armadillo", where every single member is playing with full of pleasure and relaxation (banjo plays are splendid). We would be pleased and amazed with their natural performance obviously. "3, Almost 4, 6 Yea" is another kicking jazz rock drenched in their sincere melodic appearances based on complicated and strict rhythmic ground. Pity their enchanting musical performance would sound slightly thin and tiny maybe due to the mixing and mastering, but the content is filled with strength.

The two 10 minute tracks on Side B are also excellent. "Tuta in the Moya & Tyreczimmage" is unified with a deep, heavy departure, a smooth, soft flute-oriented one-man-show supported by the rhythm section, and a catchy, bright instrumental lastrun. The last phase is another wonder in this creation. On the other hand, I don't know the meaning of "Three Tons of Fresh Thyroid Glands" (eh a thyroid, controlling metabolism by hormone, should be needed for human beings, as everyone knows) but critical, complex, violent sound attacks (owing to thyroid hormone overflowing?) are coming in front of us. We can enjoy colourful musical tastes that would be not pop- friendly but mystic and hearty ... this precision soundscape should be called Yezdaic.

Again, it's a shame this opus could not be appreciated by any large publisher in mid 70s but we could be happy to listen to such an excellent production now.

A very probable answer is... the massive prog rock production in 70's and the ascension of (**?????!!!!) punk rock and disco music in 80's , both more commercial and lucrative in the records business " eclipsed " a countless number of excellent albums ! I can't find any other explanation !

This a album is a must item to a prog collection, you can hear echoes of fantastic bands as for instance YES, GENTLE GIANT, GRYPHON, KING CRIMSOM and some others.

Unlike the majority I consider, in the track 1 "Give 'Em Some Rawhide Chewies" Rick Rodenbaugh's voice more close of Coilin Carter of FLASH than Jon Anderson's vocal timbre. Track 3 "Tota In The Moya" sounds like a KC meeting GG with a fantastic closing section in YES style. Overture of track 5 "Flow Guides Aren't My Bag" (about 1 min 57 min ) is a "demolition" heavy-prog theme and recall me RUSH with fantastic guitar/keyboard/bass and drums performance, the middle theme in GG "flavor" with "crazy" percussion/vocals counterpoint ! In short a pearl , my rate is 5 stars !!!

Yezda Urfa made their name from a city in Iran (Yezd) and a city in Turkey (Urfa). They were part of the American prog scene of the seventies, which included bands like Lift, Babylon, and Happy the Man. Kansas made its mark in popular music with its brand of barroom rock meets classically influenced keyboard and violin. But other bands attempted to stray further from the mainstream and Yezda Urfa certainly weren't aiming for AOR when they recorded this, their second album.

After their first album, they self-financed their follow-up and hoped to attract the attention of a label. Unfortunately things didn't work out and this 1976 recording didn't see distribution until 1989.

I purchased this album after reading about it in Stephen Lambe's book "Citizens of Hope and Glory: The Story of Progressive Rock". Of course, I checked out the music a bit on YouTube first. As others have stated, this sounds very much like a blend of Yes and Gentle Giant with some nods toward Gryphon, particularly when the woodwinds come in. The instrument line-up is not overly complex: guitars (electric, acoustic), keyboards (organ, synthesizer, piano), a well-played and well-mixed bass, drums, and a bit of cello and woodwind. There's lead vocalist, Rick Rodenbaugh, whose timbre is close to Jon Anderson's but in my opinion not as strong a singer. Don't expect a solo album, anyway. But his voice is still good enough to make the album enjoyable. Then add to all this the other members who also sing so that Yezda Urfa can do wonderful imitations of Gentle Giant with those triple vocal parts with each person singing something different. There's also a jazz element present at times, which also resembles Gentle Giant.

The opening track, the Rawhide Chewies one, sounds a lot like Yes on higher speed right down to the guitar sound. "To-Ta in the Moya" is an epic instrumental in that they explore different musical themes and change tempo on a dime. They go from a gallop to a canter to a trot. There's even a good sing-a-long melody. "Flow Charts Aren't My Bag" features an exciting prog ROCK piece that includes an Ozric Tentacles-like eastern influenced part and more Gentle Giant vocals. The final track "3 Almost 4,6,Yea" is the most exploratory piece yet. It moves through mid-tempo ranges and includes woodwinds and organ and also some Spanish guitar and cello but also becomes more frenetic as well.

The production is very clear, unlike what I heard from their first album. Just as I came to write this review based on the notes I made today, I read over some other reviews. It seems that the album loses a star for sounding too much like Gentle Giant and Yes. But aside from that, the music is diverse without straying far from an album theme, it's played very well, and it has a lot of what you would expect from a band who really want to do something apart from the middle of the road.

If you are into sing-a-long music then don't bother to proceed further. But if you'd like to check out something bold and unbridled and exciting, this might be more up your alley. Just keep in mind that this is very much like Yes/Gentle Giant/Gryphon, often on higher speed.

This is simply a horribly underrated and unknown band that more than deserves to finally have its music basking in the sun for more than a fleeting moment. I can understand why this may have been a little over-ambitious in 1975 as prog was waning around then and although complex albums had been more popular a few years before this was complex even by those standards. The keyboard runs are so fast that it is hard to even follow them at times. The drumming and guitars always have a strange tension like they're ready to fall into complete dissonance but they always resolve themselves at the oddest of times and then the band itself will come together and make it seem like you just had a very strange dream. The best analogy I can think of is if you were in an airplane and suddenly went into freefall for a while and then at once everything was normal leaving you with a heightened sense of awareness and dismay of what you have just encountered.

Not only is YEZDA URFA talented beyond belief but they added a further distinction to their identity by incorporating the strangely-out-of-place-yet-still-works-somehow bluegrass track "Texas Armadillo." I am hooked on this stuff and can only imagine the music they could have churned out if they had been given the opportunity to display in full regalia all their musical tricks up their sleeves throughout the course of several albums. It wasn't meant to be but at least this and the one other album SACRED BABOON are still around for us to enjoy.

I have the newer remastered version which has a bonus track titled "The Basis of Dubenglazy While Dirk Does the Dance" which at 9:51 not only adds an extra 10 minutes to the listening pleasure but feels like it was meant to be part of the original album. This particular bonus track does have a lot more Gentle Giant influence but it is done so very, very well that I don't care! It is just that good. I simply cannot praise this album enough for it delivers all the goods throughout its entire run and leaves me wanting MORE!!!

But when I say complex I don't believe it's pushing the boundaries really. Boris is not a hard album to get into. It's symphonic prog with folky and jazzy influences so eclectic prog is the right category indeed. In the end Boris is an upgraded demo album and I feel we have to be thankful to the initiators who decided to release a CD ultimately because otherwise this special album would have stayed unnoticed to a larger audience. It's not really surprising they couldn't find an enthusiastic label back then because this is pretty alternative stuff of course.

On a personal level my appreciation goes to Three, almost 4 , 6 yeah and mainly the start of this track is captivating. After some 100 seconds the organ and distorted guitar deliver in superb style followed by great flute and everything else. Magnificent stuff this. Also Boris and his three verses is very interesting but in a very different way. And this is another strength of the album: all songs are very different and original. So hardly any complaints from my part which could even mean the highest score but then I have to come clean and admit that it's not enough according to my personal taste. It's on the same level as Bubu's Anabelas, superior prog rock and highly recommended to all die hard proggers. 4,25 stars.

The music on the album is technically well played and very eclectic progressive rock. We´re talking fast played runs, loads of tempo- and time signature changes and complex song structures. Lead vocalist Rick Rodenbaugh has a voice and vocal style that often reminds me of Jon Anderson (Yes) and Yes is definitely a reference here, but it´s Gentle Giant that comes to mind most often while listening to "Sacred Baboon". While the tracks are generally very complex, they feature enough hooks and memorable moments to stand out from each other and melody is not a stranger to these guys.

The production is professional, powerful and suits the music well.

Fans of energetic and complex progressive rock should be able to find great interest and enjoyment in "Sacred Baboon". I guess Yezda Urfa wear their influences a bit too much on their sleeves to be called original or innovative but less is sometimes enough. "Sacred Baboon" is a good example of this. A very nice album this one and a 3.5 - 4 star rating is deserved.

At times folky, bluegrass, jazz fusion, Boris is most often presenting an ELP, FOCUS, or YES feel in the structures and sounds.

"Boris . . . " (9/10) sounds to me like 60's San Francisco scene blues rock singing (reminiscent of JEFFERSON AIRPLANE and THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS), CARL PALMER drumming, KEITH EMERSON keyboard stylings, guitar playing between JAN AKKERMAN and STEVE HOWE, all within a kind of epic FOCUS song. Awesome and often very moving song.

"Texas Armadillo" (6/10) is a definite bluegrass song with the CARL PALMER drums being the only thing anchoring this into the rock'n'roll scene.

"4, Almost 4, 6 Yea" (9/10) merges the ELP-YES vibes into one very interesting song--at least until the 2:30 mark when a country-folk JETHRO TULL sound takes over. Then 3:40 sees switch to a kind of classical JAN AKKERMAN/FOCUS style and sound. Add a electric harpsichord and you feel like you're in France. At 5:30 we return to an ELP section. 6:10 switch back to the FOCUS sound. 6:50 ELP with BEATLES Abbey Road. 7:40 begins a very cool outro seeming to combine all styles against the courtly French keyboard sounds.

"To-ta in the Moya" (9/10) is a gorgeous weave of acoustic mandolin, electric guitars, rolling bass playing, CARL PALMER drumming, synthesizer keys, and beautiful harmonized vocals, all performing at virtuosic speeds and skill levels and yet conveying very pleasant and controlled melodies. Brilliant song. Probably my favorite on the album because it presents Yezda Urfa in all its own sound and glory.

"Three Tons of Fresh Thyroid Glands" (8/10) reminds me so much of FROGG CAFÉ. Of course, the TULL, CSN&Y, ELP and YES familiarities are all very strongly present. An excellent tune truly representative of the progressive rock sounds just preceeding it?especially the symphonic bands/songs.

"The Basis of Dubenglazy . . . " (8/10) has such a familiar YES sound, feel to it--though more from the Yes Album period than Fragile or CttE. Guitar, bass, even JON ANDERSON-like vocals all fit well with the "Yours Is No Disgrace" era and feel. Even some GENTLE GIANT vocal/musical stylings later on. Well met, lads!

A wonderful progressive rock album--from Americans!! Masterful performances throughout. I would call this an undisputable masterpiece; I hesitate to do so because there are so many sounds, stylings and structures herein that are clearly imitative. Still, I like this one far more than the much lauded Hybris from ANGLAGARDE. This is without a doubt great music. So, 5 stars! Why not?!