ELASTIC ROCK

Essential debut and a defining moment of jazz-rock - this was recorded only a few months later than Miles Davis's Bitches Brew and obviously Ian Carr was very impressed (and a unconditional fan of Miles as he wrote two books about his life on top of other jazz encyclopediae) and he formed this band with amongst other Jenkins, Marshal and the chameleon of rock Chris Spedding after he left psych-blues group Pete Brown's Battered Ornaments. The sublime sleeve artwork, a cut-out gatefold that lets you peep into a red-hot lava stream opens up on a breathtaking landscape in a volcano park.

After listening to side 1, most rock fans will wonder where the rock part went, as only the second part of Crude Blues was energetic enough to be named rock. But right from the opening track with the bowed double bass rumbling as if the earthquake was happening, to the very calm climates of Striaton and Taranaki, we are dealing with a fairly acoustic fusion much like the first two albums of Weather Report. Only the title track is really more upbeat as well as the second part of Crude Blues.

Side 2 is definitely where things pick up, especially with Boogaloo and the self-explanatory Torrid Zone (bound to be a concert favourite) and then comes the hi-energy feel big enough to light a city. We can hear how Jenkins is paving hell with his delicate Fender Rhodes piano layers and Marshall being an extremely intuitive drummer. But the star here especially on the second part of the album is Chris Spedding (that's right Mr. Punk Motorcycle of '77 single fame) with a much understated but still flamboyant style. Smith, Carr and Jenkins also adding some aerial horns layers, making this debut album a classic, but much better is to come.

The first two albums came out together on BGO, but the artwork is not well respected. One might prefer the German label Line A (on the second-hand market ) but to do full justice to those first two albums , only the Vertigo vinyls are the top solution.

How this band escape the archives for this many years is beyond me. This album is IMO a milestone in British jazz fusion. I was highly impressed after first listening to this album, after finding out that some of the members of NUCLEUS went off to form the new lineup(s) of SOFT MACHINE as the years went on. Both Karl Jenkins and Ian Carr are compositional masterminds. They also are excellent players and deserve much more attention than they get. Now on to a review of the album.

John Marshall's frantic drumming kicks off the fanfare to the album. This piece, "1916," really sets off the album nicely. Next, comes the excellent title track with a solid bass line and drumming with winds playing the melody. Chris Spedding's bluesy guitar solo is a standout in this composition. After this comes "Striation," a Clyne and Spedding collaboration, and "Taranaki," that are both much calmer and smoother than the previous tracks. "Taranaki" also features great trumpet and tenor parts.

"Twisted Track" comes next and is probably my favorite track on the whole album; it packs in so much emotion. The piece starts out very soothingly and gradually builds with various solos an duets by members of the group. By the end of it, everyone is joining in, and the piece ends just as it started. "Crude Blues Part 1" features an excellent oboe part by the multi-talented Jenkins. "Part 2" is similar to the title track and has great wind parts once again. Also, Jenkins gets another oboe solo in this one. He really shows off his playing skills.

"1916 (The Battle of Boogaloo)" features a steady bass line and great saxophone/trumpet (brass) call and response parts. It is probably one of the most famous tracks on the album, deservingly so. "Stonescape" continues on where "Boogaloo" left off; it is a solid piece, featuring an excellent solo by Carr. "Stonescape" has a smooth muted brass sound jazz listeners will most probably enjoy. The track "Earth Mother" brings back earlier recurring themes from the album, including another Jenkin's oboe solo. Next comes the ever-familiar drum solo (just listen to Soft Machine from "Fifth" or "Softs" if you don't know what I'm talking about) by John Marshall in "Speaking for Myself Personally, in My Own Opinion I Think." The album closes off with "Persephones Jive," a track that ends the album frantically, just as it began.

This album is highly recommended to fans of British fusion, especially latter-day Soft Machine fans who are interested in seeing what some of the members were doing before they joined SOFT MACHINE. This album would make a great addition to anyone's collection. Also, as Hughes Chantraine pointed out, this album does have excellent cover art by Roger Dean. It is a great starting point for anyone interested in getting in to NUCLEUS or the genre itself. 4.5 stars.

Trumpeter Ian Carr assembled a fine cast for his jazz rock adventure Nucleus. With a fine array of talented and established British musicians which included oboe player Karl Jenkins, guitar player Chris Speding, bassist Jeff Clyne, drummer John Marshall and saxophone player Brian Smith, Nucleus made a fine piece of cool jazz rock with their debut album Elastic Rock. The future Soft Machine leader Jenkins takes control of much of the compositions on the album but between long breaks Carr himslelf produces some stunning lines on his trumpet, long flowing pieces move throughout which often traded with Jenkins' oboe and keyboard and are punctuated by the flurried guitar parts of Spedding. Though the album has the odd piece which would bring to mind Miles Davis In A Silent Way, Carr claimed to have not heard the album at this point in time though the albums were very near each other in terms of recording, but there are a few hints of what Davis laid down on the Miles In The Sky album. Though Carr has his influence coming from Davis Elastic Rock takes on its own life and runs the roost of British jazz with the smooth lulle of "Striation" and the late night laid back vibe of "Taranaki" where Clyne makes a big impression albeit in a minimalistic method, "Taranaki" breezes along sweetly before melting into "Twisted Track" which, like much of the pieces on the album, is built on rock rhythms. Carr again takes control of the tune with his playing, doubled with some muted trumpet mid way through. For those who are associated with latter day Soft Machine it would be interesting to hear this first Nucleus effort, Jenkins stretches himself over much of the music where he sounded restricted with the Soft Machine, his obeo on the baroque like "Crude Blues pt 1" and the obviously bluesy "Crude Blues pt 2" is very much on a par with his work on Soft Machine's Seven album. Elastic Rock is a cool album with a title that is so very apt. It stretches and expands and is heavily built on a rock foundation, a great piece of early British jazz rock.

The first work of NUCLEUS announced in 1970 "Elastic Rock". It is a jazz-rock album with the ensemble the serene silence.A mysterious mystique is music of the feature. It is a content strongly influenced by Miles Davis's music. It is very fresh and a performance with races.Excellent addition to any prog music collection.

NUCLEUS were without a doubt one of the best Jazz bands around, and the UK's answer to Miles Davis.Their leader Ian Carr who played trumpet was a huge Miles fan and even wrote a Miles Davis biography. Amazing to think that both he and Karl Jenkins were in the same group. Both are such great song writers and musicians. Karl and drummer John Marshall would later play together in SOFT MACHINE. It's not hard to tell it's John playing drums here. Karl would become SOFT MACHINE's leader, which doesn't surprise me. What a talent ! The cover art here by the way is by Roger Dean.

"1916" might be short but man I love this one. I keep hitting repeat. It opens with Marshall pounding away on his drums then these melancholic horns join in.That's it for just over a minute. "Elastic Rock" is such a smooth and gorgeous track. The light drums, gentle horns, piano and bass. The guitar melodies from Chris Spedding are so tasteful. Great tune. "Striation" is led by bowed bass. "Taranaki" is another light and tasteful track. "Twisted Track" is again smooth with horns, while guitar is gently played with light drums and bass. Sax and trumpet play around each other 2 1/2 minutes in as the song starts to build. Nice. "Crude Blues (Part 1)" opens with Jenkins on the aboe with gentle guitar helping out. "Crude Blues (Part 2)" is a lively tune with a good beat. Love the horns before a minute. "1916-The Battle Of Boogaloo" reprises the horns from the opening track. I like it !

"Torrid Zone" is the longest track by far at around 8 1/2 minutes. A beat with drums, bass and guitar is joined by horns. Piano comes in then the song changes slightly after 2 minutes. Drums are more prominant as trumpet solos over top. Incredible sound here.The earlier soundscape is back 5 minutes in but with more atmosphere. Sax starts to solo over top. A fuller sound before 7 minutes.The last minute of the song is more like the beginning. "Stonescape" opens with piano and a horn melody. Some light drums come in. "Earth Mother" is the only track that all 6 members wrote together. Great sound to open as aboe comes in. It's building. Guitar, drums and bass dominate before 4 minutes to the end. Sax comes in late. "Speaking For Myself, Personally, In My Own Opinion, I Think..." is where Marshall does a drum solo, it makes me smile because he certainly did that enough with SOFT MACHINE as well. "Persephones Jive" is a great way to end it. So much going on here. Lots of interplay and intricate sounds. A collage of sounds really. Marshall impresses here too.

A solid 4 stars and a must for fans of British Progressive Jazz.

NUCLEUS were formed in 1969 by trumpetist Ian Carr,one of the most respectful figures of the British jazz scene.They won the first prize at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival and in 1970 they released their debut ''Elastic rock''.Highly acclaimed by both prog and jazz reviewers,''Elastic rock'' is a smooth jazz piece of music led mainly by improvisations through sax,flutes and Ian Carr's trumpet.In this all instrumental album,the brass instruments are supported by the nice electric piano and the very distinctive and somewhat fuzzy guitars to result an album of mellow yet delicate jazz musicianship.Though closer to jazz than rock,NUCLEUS prooved that there is no need to be highly complex in order to create a relaxing and greatly-executed piece of jazz/rock music.

Now if you have not heard Nucleus' Elastic Rock then you have clearly not lived man. Imagine taking the creative energy of Miles Davis and the space vibes of Embryo and mixing in some Soft machine then you might have something close to this album ! Pure fusion land kids ! IMHO this is one of the great fusion albums to own! With a high degree of improvisation and creativity this album mixes it all. Ian Carr's trumpet and flugelhorn mixing with John Marshall's complex drumming, Chris Spedding fret work, Jeff Clyne's tireless bass work, Brian Smith's Sax and Flute and Karl Jenkins oboe and piano make this an extra special album. The album pretty much runs straight together from the start to the finish and is one of those albums that end far too soon. IMHO Nucleus never got better than this album and for me stands out as a magical piece of work.

A beautifully judged and played jazz-rock album, 'Elastic Rock' marked the beginning of a series of intricate and experimental fusion albums for the group's leader, trumpet-player Ian Carr. As did Soft Machine, Nucleus developed from a jazz-orientated outfit into a more progressive, fusion-based collective(in later years the group would come to be known as 'Ian Carr & Nucleus) with later albums, such as 1976's 'Alley Cat', adding electronics to the already eclectic brew. However, their debut, which was released in 1970, remains a dense and smoky jazz album at heart, with an almost exotically bucolic sound at it's core. Opener '1916' is reminiscent of 'Kind Of Blue' era Miles Davis, as is the gorgeous acoustica of 'Twisted Track', whilst the epnymous title-track explores prog-style instrumental weirdness a la King Crimson's Bob Fripp. The albums stand-out piece, 'Torrid Zone', is a highly-charged and emotive composition, featuring a collection of ultra-talented musicians charging through reams of jazz-fusion and running the gamut from cool & funky to hot & furious and back again via quieter, mellower inflections. 'Elastic Rock' is, with the possible exception of their sophomore-effort 'We'll Talk About It Later', Ian Carr and co's most complete long-player. The album combines many disparate elements, some more akin to Jazz than others, but never repeats itself or dwells too long in any one mood or section. Eahc piece is carefully-constructed and expertly-composed, with acoustic and steel guitars, heavy basses, trumpets, saxophones, drums and keyboards all swinging to the same improvisational/experimental beat. The original album is now a highly sought-after collectible, and the German-based label Repwertoire Records have released a beautifully-wrought special edition original vinyl- replica CD edition featuring superbly remastered sound and an interesting and informative booklet about the album. Those lucky enough to own an original Vertigo copy hold in their hands a special album that marked an early-creative high-point for the British jazz-fusion movement. Ian Carr, radicalised like so many by the innovative free-funk-jazz experiments of Tony Williams, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancok et al, has, along with his tightly-knit group of players created an authentically old-style-sounding jazz record peppered with un-pretentious new- jazz asides. Imagine 'Take Five' crossed with 'Bitches Brew' and your almost there. Without a doubt, the original and the most compelling album that 'Nucleus' produced. ST

Ever heard of Elastic Rock?

To know that this was released in 1970 really makes you scratch your head and think "Hey, wasn't Miles Davis still exploring the rock field by this time?" Nucleus alongside The Soft Machine and a pair of others were ahead of Davis in terms of really fusing rock with jazz rather than jamming and experimenting like the latter was doing, however Miles was way ahead in terms of production techniques and other assorts and he definitely made more innovative stuff later on that no other fusion band did.

Nucleus' debut entitled Elastic Rock is jazz rock at its rawer stage, but that's the main attraction of this album; the compositions are not really complex, they're like concise rock jams with lots of jazz vibrations, even the sound is rather primitive, with a very clean guitar and subtle Fender Rhodes. Don't expect the highly complex fusion of The Mahavishnu Orchestra or the more polished fusion of Return to Forever. British jazz rockers, Nucleus, really made what Miles Davis released a year later, A Tribute To Jackson, heck even the same instruments are on board: trumpet, sax, keyboards, bass, guitar and drums (Nucleus added the oboe!).

Ok, Jenkins is no Hancock, Spedding is no McLaughlin, Marshall is no Cobham, and so on, but these guys still pulled-off an incredible jazz rock set of tunes that are not really far from the blast-off that A Tribute to Jack Johnson would later be, at times Elastic Rock even sounds more elaborate than the more improvised Davis record. The thirteen tunes range from gentle jazz ('Taranaki'), to solo sections for either guitar or drums ('Striation' and 'Speaking for Myself..'), to rockin' jams with catchy riffs and great interplay between guitar, trumpet, sax and oboe ('Torrid Zone'), to spacey jazz in the likes of In a Silent Way ('Stonescape').

4 stars: This album is indeed excellent and worthy of addition to any jazz rock collection, especially for someone who likes the less technical fusion. This is really a forgotten gem from the genre, Ian Carr & Co, did a splendid job here. And although their sophomore effort is probably more elaborated called We'll Talk About It Later, I still prefer Elastic Rock for its pure energy and sound.

Nucleus was a British jazz-rock outfit formed around composer/trumpet player Ian Carr and 5 other jazz musicians. All of them had known each other and played together in various line-ups before they united under the Nucleus banner, with one common purpose: to create a kind of music that was both as fluent and lyrical as 60s jazz music, and as energetic and urgent as the psychedelic rock music of the age. The title of their debut could not be better chosen.

The band's most obvious sources of inspiration were Zappa's Hot Rats, the jazzier side of Soft Machine's THird and especially Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. But Elastic Rock is less improvisational then those albums, and instead the band focuses more on compositions with spontaneous musical interaction. Elastic Rock can stand proudly next to the great names; it's probably less inventive but it offers songs full of emotion and melody, with very intuitive interplay and with musicianship that is very proficient but also very focused and never an end in itself. I could go on and marvel at the creative contribution of each musician here but I'll leave that for a future Nucleus review.

Elastic Rock is probably the most jazzy of all Nucleus 70s albums, but it's got more then enough hooks and energy to be appealing to rock and jazz-rock fans alike. One of my favorite titles from a band that I consider to be one of the best in their field.

More elastic than rock.

I like jazz and I like Nucleus, but ELASTIC ROCK doesn't do it for me. It basically comes down to me being more of a rock person than a jazz one, and Side A is where the album really gets lost on me. Most are pristine jazz tracks, but between ''1916'' and ''Crude Blues'' there's this empty hole of smoothness that isn't bad but dulls the album too much. It's solid instrumentally, particularly the guitar department, but it won't make an impact if my heart can't get behind the music.

That is until ''Crude Blues''; it kicks off a string of tracks that either have memorable themes or veer in the rock direction. Of major note for prog fans are the longer tracks, ''Torrid Zone'' and ''Earth Mother''; essentially, they have the same foundation but separated by ''Stonescape'', both sounding like IN A SILENT WAY was playing (not enough to be a ripoff). You've probably figured this out already, but I enjoy the second half moreso than the first. ''Battle of Boogaloo'' is a big reason for this, the most perfectly executed track on the album. The rather fragmented guitar riff with the serene horns over the top is spellbinding.

ELASTIC ROCK is one of those records that's great to have if you're a jazz fan; if you want more rock or fusion in your jazz, head for Nucleus's second album first.

Nucleus remains relevant today just as much as the more famous Soft Machine, to whom it supplied a stream of new recruits (Babbington, Jenkins, Marshall) and arguably to some, the evasive uniqueness of Ian Carr, bandleader and trumpeter par excellence. Their debut instrumental Elastic Rock involves those budding elements that would foreshadow the massive progressive mainstream explosion to come in 1972 and remains inimitable due to the exceptional prowess displayed by the members. Bryan Ferry has worked with some legendary guitarists in his career, names like Phil Manzanera , David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Johnny Marr and Robin Trower but he had always glowing comments for Chris Spedding, a truly rebel six string slinger who never achieved any fan recognition even in his UK backyard but enjoyed the deep respect from the musician community.

Ferry had him along on his solo albums as well as retooling Roxy Music in a live setting, the Live at the Apollo DVD providing glimpses of this brooding, unsmiling and highly original musician at play. But Chris really honed his chops with Nucleus, a terrific jazz-rock amalgamation that was extremely inspired on its first 4 albums. The much maligned bassist Jeff Clyne also shine nicely here, keeping a solid base bass that forges the arrangements ahead, slaloming through all the brass shimmer , the echoing keyboards and Spedding's choppy riffs. This is 1970s music and it sounds purely delicious even today! Smooth, groovy, confident and jazz club smoky, the lads put down a riff and waltz all over it with all the tools at their disposal , Spedding wasting no time on the title track , finger picking nicely in his raw style. Contrasts abound, from the serene "Striation" with bass and guitar leading the way and the subsequent breezy brass of "Taranaki", both short and succinct. "Twisted Track" might sound like a punky track, it isn't! Rather a trumpet ?led lullaby that twirls in the wind, emotionally charged and solidly effective , each member stepping up to briefly solo, sax, trumpet and guitar all coalescing into sublime oneness. The 2 part "Crude Blues" ratchets up the energy level quite a bit (putting more emphasis on the rock element), part one is pastoral oboe while Part 2 gets funky and silky (check out Spedding's work) and finds the sax and the oboe having some good sonic sex. "1916- The Battle of Boogaloo" actually sounds the most like Soft Machine, what with that classic merry-go-round of e-piano, guitar and brass riff, both hypnotizing and enticing, with Marshall bashing and thrashing wildly. The epic 8 minute plus "Torrid Zone" is my favorite here, a swampy brew of sound that brings early Weather Report to mind. The classic jazz jam formula is played out with finesse, crafty playing and intense inspiration, showcasing a raw sensuality that is hard to ignore. Spedding rasps his guitar with subdued machismo (close to Jan Akkerman on Focus 3 album jams) while the Carr trumpet blows divine wind. Brian Smith then unleashes a spirited sax solo to create that killer vibe we all love and adore.(What a gorgeous instrument that sax can be, my lord!). That such impressionable music is consecrated for the ages is why prog is so dear to us fans. "Stonescape" is trumpet and piano in a "semi-ambient lounge lizard, last call, the bottle of scotch almost dry" environment, definite Miles Davis afterglow! "Earth Mother" is the second monster track, echoing subtlety and spiritual affirmation to infinite levels, the group interaction bordering on phenomenal. Spedding delivers a shockingly transcendent solo, a meister of feeling in his won right. Marshall puts down one of his hallmark drum solos, short and devastating that leads into the final raucous track "Persephone's Jive", a joyous exuberance that stamps this album with the highest constellations..

The music is very technical but sounds effortlessly trouble-free which is a strange contradiction; perhaps the overt emotionally charged mood has more to do with the arrangements than anything else. A monument still worthy today and an absolute must for fusion groupies. The next one is even better (as if that was possible!!!)

5 Rubber boulders

Before listening to Elastic Rock I confess I hadn't had any prior experience of Nucleus, and tended to think of them as "that band which most of the late-period Soft Machine lineup came from". I suspect that my distaste for the later Soft Machine albums ended up delaying me dabbling in the world of Nucleus, but Elastic Rock has forced me to think again. Ian Carr's trumpet is the secret ingredient which makes the whole experiment gel, but all the band members turn in good performances and offer an interesting Bitches Brew-influenced take on fusion which tends towards shorter, snappier tracks than most of the fusion crowd were working with at the time. Whilst I still think the amalgam of Soft Machine and Nucleus didn't quite work, I find the original Nucleus a much more tasty proposition.

Nucleus was a Britain progressive jazz rock band. Released 1970 under Vertigo label, this is a smooth jazz/fusion.

After 1916, a short opening move with killing drums, comes the title-track, Elastic Rock, smooth and funny. The clean guitar and the calm mood is very relaxing and still interesting. Striation is very avant-garde (unfortunatelly short), obviously my favorite part. Taranaki start as another smooth jazz, moving slowly to Twister track, where the band goes more dynamic and active from the middle of the track. Crude Blues intro is very quiet, so the song begins, a jazzy jam with blues chords backgrounds, but not repetitive, very pleasent. The progression of the track follows til' the ending of the A side, 1916 (The Battle of Boogaloo), a song presenting repetitive guitar riff with an experimental wind instrument chorus, sometimes dissonant. The B side starts with Torrid Zone. I really like this track, the guitar chords, the smooth background, the sax and stuff playing weird, it's everything alright. The piano chords increases the deep feeling of the song. So we have Stonescape, a slow and short track, nothing special there. Earth Mother is cool, I like to hear the wind instruments screaming high notes. The guitar work at the second half of the track is very outstanding, and the end of the track follows to Speaking For Myself, Personally, In My Own Opinion, I Think... a drum solo, which one is slowly fade out. And the last track, Persephones Jive is the most active and happy track of the album, without lose the smooth feeling. Very good! Elastic Rock (debut) is not their masterpiece, but it's still very good!

Nucleus ' Elastic Rock (1970)

I liked this record at first spin. Obviously you can hear influences from Miles Davis (In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew) and Soft Machine (that warm thick sound). The energy and vibe of the record reminds me a bit of early Colosseum at its jazziest. The rock influences are little, but enough to give the record that warm heavy psych sound. Nucleus has a nixe mixture of composition and improvised solo's of wind and electric guitar, without loosing their musical imagination and ability to offer the listener interesting atmospheres and harmonies. I think that's what makes the record attractive for listeners of progressive rock ' it's full of that adventurous spirit. Moreover, the drumming is exciting throughout. The album showers the listeners with great musical ideas, only to become slightly disjointed in the last three shorter tracks. Still a very consistent record. Artwork on the Akarma vinyl reprint is pure psychedelic bliss. Highly recommended for listeners of jazz-rock en eclectic prog.

In my review of their second album: "We'll talk about it later" I've stated it was a much improvement over the debut which I've described as nice. Well, I'm afraid I'm a bit in dispute with myself now :) After several listenings I consider the debut excellent. It is true their second is even better but the difference isn't big, as they were brilliant right from the start. "Elastic rock" is mostly relaxed (thankfuly not over-polished) but no less passionate and holds many beautiful themes and some dense moments for a good measure. Maybe even more jazz-rooted. It starts with thunderous drums and beautiful but short brass-driven melody to jump over to the next rather calm track, although with quite busy drums by John Marshall. This slowly emerging, a bit abstract and psychedelic feeling prevails through the whole album with all the instruments getting their chance to shine on the way. Not neceserily with speedy solos but with the feeling. Amazing stuff. I rate it with 4,5 star, just like I did with their third "Solar Plexus". Definitely my kind of fussion. Not knowing the later ones I cannot speak of them, but all their first three albums are VERY highly recomended for jazz rock/fussion fans,