GARDEN SHED

Garden Shed is the debut album by the classic prog band England. After its release, the band broke up because of a poor financial situation. England is known for having a very Yes + Genesis-esque sound and, this is definitely true on this great album. It is very mellotron heavy and the vocalist, Frank Holland, has some total Jon Anderson moments on here.

The opener "Midnight Madness" is a pretty good song. It has a very 'Genesis Nursery Cryme' era feel to it and the synth work throughout the song is pretty amazing with keyboardist Robert Webb playing Mellotron, Moog, and other assorted ARPs during the song. "All Alone" is an acoustic piano track where Frank Holland sings some somber lyrics over a very beautiful piano part which reminds me of Keith Emerson.

Track 3, "Three Piece Suite" is the masterpiece of the album and is by far the best song. Clocking in at almost 13 minutes, the 3 movement epic is dominated by some of the greatest chord progressions and instrumental passages in prog (which is not something I say lightly). At around the 4:00 mark, Frank Holland plays a very heartfelt guitar solo over a minor mellotron progression which is repeated about 30 seconds later with a variation in the solo. The final movement is my favorite and it brings in some impressive high-pitched vocals. Robert Webb's keyboards are extremely connected with the bass and drums making a really impressive rhythmic end to the song as well.

"Paraffinalea" was the lead single off the album. It is probably my least favorite song on the album but is by no means bad. The vocals and harmonies are a blatant Yes rip-off but, it sounds great so I'm not complaining. About 1/2 way through the song, Webb plays a spectacular mellotron riff that is unfortunately not progressed by the band. "Yellow" is a beautiful song dominated by acoustic guitar and mellotron. Very simple but does the job effectively and I just love it.

The 16-minute epic "Poisoned Youth" closes the album. It has a very doom-metal opening with a lot of minor chords from the mellotron moog. At around 6 minutes, the song has a sick mellotron progression that Is overlaid with organ and piano, then taken into a high-octane section. The song goes through many other phases before ending with a minute of ambiance. The bonus tracks on the remaster also contain some good cuts, namely "Nanagram."

This is album is a staple of prog and is a must-have for all collectors. I would give it a 4.5 but, since that isn't possible on this website I'll round it down to 4 stars. Super awesome album and definitely recommended to all mellotron lovers and Genesis/Yes fans.