GARDEN SHED

The debut LP "Garden shed" from this UK four piece band is one of the finest, 24-carat progrock albums I've ever heard and it was also a sought after item. The LP was released on CD in Japan but you could hear the scratches because they put it directly from the record on CD without the usual mastering. Fortunately keyboardplayer Robert Webb re-released the original album tapes on a limited edition CD with the help of Gordon Haskell and The Forward Organisation 1997. This in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the acclaimed album "Garden shed". This year England released a special edition CD (on the size of a vinyl single) that contains the 6 albums songs, one bonustrack and a 20 page booklet featuring reviews from all over the world, including reviews from Prog Archives collaborators (Steve Hegede, James Unger, Proghead and myself, what a fine tribute to our site!

The album "Garden shed" has strong echoes from early GENESIS and YES. The often Mellotron drenched compositions sound melodic, warm and inventive with many captivating changes of climate and thrilling breaks. The guitarwork is sensitive, the keyboardplay is varied and the vocals are strong, no doubt that these are good musicians. The way England combines the influence of YES with lots of original ideas reminds me of FRUUPP, another good British progrock band. The bonustrack is a 1976 version from the third song entitled "Three piece music", it sounds almost similar but a bit more raw and with some slight musical changes.

NOT TO BE MISSED IN ANY SERIOUS PROGROCK COLLECTION.