GARDEN SHED

England was a progressive rock band that was formed in UK in 1975. It wasn't really very surprising that an English band released their first studio album in 1977. "Garden Shed" is often regarded as an obscure classic of the British progressive rock, and is easy to see why, as it's a very competent, professional, well produced, impressively performed and a complex album of the British symphonic progressive rock at its most typical. Their main influences were, with no doubt Yes, but you can also see references to Genesis and Fruupp, another excellent British prog rock band of the 70's.

England is considered by many as a gem of the progressive rock of the 70's. With their only album "Garden Shed" the band has created something like a classic, which deserves to be much more popular than just insider limited circles of prog. A second studio album was released in 1997, "The Last Of The Jubblies". The album is a collection of unreleased tracks, including material from 76 and 77 and also some demo recordings. The band was reactivated around 1983/1984 and was reformed in 2005. In 2017 they released another studio album, their third studio album named "Box Of Circles".

The line up on the album is Frank Holland (vocals, guitars, Mellotron and Leslie guitar), Robert Webb (vocals, Mini-Moog, Hammond organ, harpsichord, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes piano, Hohner clavinet and 12-string guitar), Martin Henderson (vocals, bass and acoustic guitar) and Jode Leigh (vocals, drums, vibes, percussion and bass).

So, "Garden Shed" Is the debut studio album of England and was released in 1977. The album has six tracks. The first track "Midnight Madness" is one of the best ways to start the album. It's a catchy track with lots of powerful mellotron and instrumental breaks. The synthesizer that was very common with Rick Wakeman in Yes appears here. Almost two minutes and the band remember Genesis too. The whole atmosphere on the track awakens the best that was done in the prog of the 70's, like good vocalizations, strategic stops, the great use of keyboards and perfect climates. The second track "All Alone (Introducing)" is a short piano ballad and as its name indicates is the introduction to the highlight of the album, the "Three Piece Suite". It's a bit melancholic, but very well composed, and has a nice use of the piano. I'm not sure who the main vocals are, since the vocals are credited to everyone in the band, but it has a great melodic and beautiful vocal work. The third track "Three Piece Suite" is a 14 minute piece of music. This is a great composition that more or less encapsulates everything of the British progressive rock in the 70's. The melodies and themes are great all the way through, and you'll get lots of tasty organ and Mellotron. The drummer is an impressive Bill Bruford clone, and you'll notice him all the time with all of his unexpected rhythmic twists and breaks. This is purest progressive rock of the 70's. It's really a true amazing track. The fourth track "Paraffinalea" is a short and very cheerful song that yet brings Yes to my mind. It has a very strange melody with the keyboards and an even stranger melody to the guitar. When the band starts the first point is that the vocal is very similar to Chris Squire on their solo album "Fish Out Of Water". The solos of the keyboards are different from the common place of many other bands, and that is great. The fifth track "Yellow" is a much mellower and acoustic track with some atmospheric Steve Howe like guitar work. Here, the folk face of the band appears with the guitars synchronized with the orchestral keyboards. It has a psychedelic mood with its dreamy Mellotron, acoustic guitar and vocals. It's one of those beautiful acoustic based pastoral songs so common in those days. Once again we can hear great vocals and some beautiful harmonies too. The sixth track "Poisoned Youth" is the closing track of the album. This lengthy and monumental 15 minutes track stands as the most complex and least accessible moment on the album. It has excellent vocals, but we already know that from the first song. Several are the main voices in this long epic, I think all members of the band sing, which is, in my humble opinion, excellent. The song has some great arrangements, and seems like a mini opera of dramatically shifting moods and patterns. You had to have balls to release music like this in 1977, but England did it and they did it very well too.

Conclusion: With "Garden Shed", England made really nice English progressive rock. The music is very melodic, and seems to be pretty heavily influenced by Yes and Genesis. However, England isn't a clone of those bands. This is more like Yes and Genesis had decided to release an album together. I think it couldn't be a better example of that. The compositions are usually pretty busy, especially in the rhythm section, with the multiple keyboard layers, constantly changing time signatures, and lots of polyrhythmic playing. The harmonies are very nice too. In reality, "Garden Shed" is a very satisfying and a pretty strong symphonic prog journey from the start to the end. It's not one of the biggest classics of the progressive rock history but, in my humble opinion, every genre fan should give this album a try. Some magnificent moments can be found from this album and it's a very solid package of great symphonic prog rock music.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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