TOWARD THE SUN / FLUID DRUID

"Toward The Sun/Fluid Druid" is a very special compilation album of Druid. It's an economic package that includes their two studio albums "Toward The Sun" released in 1975 and "Fluid Druid" released in 1976, on only one CD. This is a very interesting compilation because it includes the only two albums of Druid, what will be a very interesting purchase.

The career of the British band Druid began very promising, really, after they had won a young talent competition of the magazine Melody Maker. Shortly thereafter, they were on the front page of this music magazine. In addition to the prize money of £ 500 won by them, this sense of achievement helped the band sign up for EMI. Thus, formally the starting position for Druid as a young band in the field of the progressive rock music was conceivably favorable. So, in 1975, their debut studio album "Toward The Sun" was presented to the public in a release party. Unfortunately, the fact that Druid won the competition by Melody Maker proved that was almost a drawback, as the rest of the music press and some radio stations considered Druid more or less as a pupil of a large magazine and a protégé of a large record label.

Druid is comparable to their compatriots Yes. Sometimes, they were even considered a pure clone of them. In fact, the guitarist and singer Dane has a distinctive falsetto voice. For the most part, he sings even higher than Jon Anderson, whose vocal qualities he doesn't achieve, really. The striking bass by Neil Brewer is obviously inspired by Chris Squire.

As I've already reviewed these two albums previously on Progarchives, in a more extensive way, I'm not going to do it again. So, if you are interested to know, in more detail, what I wrote about them before, I invite you to read those my both reviews. However, in here, I'm going to write something about them in a more short way. So, of course, I'm not going to analyze them track by track, as I made before, but I'm only going to make a global appreciation of both albums.

"Toward The Sun": In my humble opinion, all in all, "Toward The Sun" is a very nice symphonic progressive rock album from the 70's. If you don't have any problem with high vocals and don't deny the right to live in the beautiful tunes of the progressive rock, but above all, if you have no problems with the strong Yes' influence on Druid, "Toward The Sun" could be a real pleasure to listen to. Their music often sounds like a softer and more folk- influenced version of Yes, but their nice, very accomplished and atmospheric sound made up for some of it. Druid belongs somehow to the same league as England and Starcastle. With this album which is dreamy, nostalgic and sad-beautiful, Druid proves an incredible sense of tune that touches. Maybe it's not as original as it should be and it's perhaps a little derivative in places. Still, I like it very much and I really think that it deserves to be heard. Anyone who considers Yes among his favourites and not only expects the band to perform works like "Close To The Edge" or "Gates Of Delirium", should definitely have Druid tested it. Druid proves an incredible sense of tune that touches. It's highly recommended, really.

"Fluid Druid": "Fluid Druid" is a much recommended album, very melodic and beautiful, and a must for all Yes' fans. I think the song writing on "Fluid/Druid" is more varied than on their first one, "Toward The Sun". There's less Mellotron and falsetto-vocals in the arrangements this time, but they managed to keep the warmth and atmosphere in their sound. For me, the last tracks on "Fluid Druid" give me the impression that Druid was desperately searching for their own identity. Thus, the second side of the former LP it seems to me a bit inexperienced. And because of that, despite the album contains some really great tracks the final result isn't very well balanced, really. Although despite some changes on this album, they weren't so terribly drastic. It represents a decent symphonic prog album. If you like the first album, you'll probably like the second one too, but maybe a little less. It's clear that those guys did know how to play their instruments. But their effort to sound different and original didn't succeed here. No track is moving enough to be memorable, really. If you're a devoted fan of symphonic progressive rock fan, I'd suggest starting with "Toward The Sun" and then proceeding to this album if you're eager for more. This album is more limited than many of Yes' albums.

Conclusion: If you like Yes Druid is a nice band to check. Despite the lack of some originality, this English band hasn't got anything to envy to the Masters. The melodies are fantastic, the arrangements are full of dreamy Mellotron layers and the singer has a pleasant high pitched voice and uses it in a tasty way. We have also lots of Rickenbacker from the bass player and a melodic playing from the guitarist. This is particularly evident on "Toward The Sun". Not quite as enjoyable as their debut, "Fluid Druid" is a less pleasant follow-up. Perhaps stung by the "Yes Clones" accusations, the band this time has tried to aim for a more original sounding collection. This they achieved somehow, but the overall effect is less rewarding than its predecessor. Too bad they didn't have recorded any more albums. They had shown some maturing song writing and a third album would probably been even better if everything had gone in the right way.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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