Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

 

 

Album Review #75:- HELP YOURSELF (known as The Helps by their fans) were a London-based band with a unique sound that can best be described as Psychedelic Country. They recorded four albums during the early 1970's:- "Help Yourself" (1971); "Strange Affair" (1972); "Beware the Shadow" (1972); and "The Return of Ken Whaley" (1973). It seemed like Help Yourself may have been consigned to the annals of rock history after poor sales from their fourth album, but due to popular demand by their fans, they made a brief belated comeback with "Help Yourself 5" in 2004, which consisted mainly of 1973 recordings from an unreleased fifth album. It's time now to give Help Yourself's third helping a listen.

Upon hearing the "Beware the Shadow" album for the first time, you'd be convinced they were an American Southern Rock band. In fact, their first song "Alabama Lady", sounds like a typical song that the U.S. bands Alabama or the Allman Brothers Band might have recorded in their heyday. Help Yourself have encapsulated the American Southern Rock sound perfectly with "Alabama Lady". It sounds as American as a Stetson-wearing cowboy in a rodeo riding a bucking bronco. Next up is the real highlight of the album, the 12-minute-long song "Reaffirmation". The floating sound of a Mellotron in the opening gives the song a somewhat mystical air, but this is only a prelude to a long Psychedelic Country jam session that sounds very reminiscent of some of the Grateful Dead's extended jams, only Help Yourself are much more Alive and Kicking in this exhilarating number than the Grateful Dead ever were in their seemingly endless jams. Side One draws to a close now (already?) with the brief "Calypso", which turns out to be a hippyish campfire sing-along song.

The Side Two opener "She's My Girl" has the same happy and carefree sound of the summer as "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles. "She's My Girl" has Hit Song written all over it. It's a song that's positively aglow with passionate romantic love and optimistic hope for the future. Up next is "Molly Bake Bean", a song with childish innocence which sounds just as silly and frivolous as the song title implies. It's a perfect Country sing-along song to listen to and join in with whilst eating baked beans around a campfire with the kids. And now it's time for the BIG bluesy piano ballad "American Mother", another song that sounds as quintessentially Born To Be Wild American as riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle over the Golden Gate Bridge. "American Mother" sounds like a song that Big Brother & the Holding Company might have recorded and it brings to mind another great song, "American Woman", by the Canadian band The Guess Who. Both songs represent good old-fashioned Blues-Rock numbers with the same raw and earthy appeal. We're just "Passing Through" now for the final song, a gently laid-back slice of Folk-Rock Americana.

"Beware the Shadow" is unlikely to appeal to Prog-Rock fans generally, but if you're in the mood to listen to some good old country boys from the Deep South of London in England, then Help Yourself to this rather unique Psychedelic Country album.

a Greenslade connection....;)...there's an original on Discogs for $555.00.....wow...

 

 

Album Review#74:- AMAZING BLONDEL are an English Prog-Folk band who've released ten albums throughout their long career. Their particular speciality is a reinvention of medieval Renaissance music, featuring pavanes, galliards and madrigals. They've released a whole string of albums during the 1970's, starting with the album reviewed here, "The Amazing Blondel (and a Few Faces)" (1970). They recorded four early 1970's albums on Island Records:- "Evensong" (1970); "Fantasia Lindum" (1971); "England" (1972); and "Blondel" (1973); and three albums on the D.J.M. Records label: "Mulgrave Street" (1974); "Inspiration" (1975); and "Bad Dreams" (1976). The band then took a long sabbatical before making a comeback with "Restoration" (1997) and "The Amazing Elsie Emerald" (2010). Let's have a listen to Amazing Blondel's first album now and find out if the band really ARE as Amazing as their name implies.

The quaint Renaissance Folk of the opening song "Saxon Lady" sounds quintessentially English, but if you listen carefully, you can also hear the sound of an Indian sitar, giving the song a faintly exotic eastern ambience. You can almost picture the scene of English folks prancing merrily around the maypole to this music, dressed in garters and gaiters and gaily shaking their tassels and rattling their bell pads - and that's just the men! We're on a mission next with the "Bethel Town Mission", a rambunctious burst of rabble-rousing Folk Rock which sounds like the kind of stirring sing-along-song anyone could join in with on a pub karaoke night, having downed a few bevies of beer beforehand. 'Tis "The Season of the Year" next, a brief pastoral flute and guitar etude, in the style of a jolly Renaissance madrigal, which sounds charming at any time of the year. Jollying things along now comes "Canaan", an inspirational and devotional song of praise which has a spiritual gospel feel to it. If only they played music as rousing and inspirational as this in English church services, the parishioners would be flocking back to church on Sunday in their droves. It's time to round up the sheep now for "Shepherd's Song", a merry Olde Englishe Folke song that sounds as traditionally English as a ploughman's lunch and a pint of beer in an oak-beamed tavern with a thatched roof in the Cotswolds.

Opening Side Two is the BIG bluesy ballad, "Though You Don't Want My Love", a rousing romantic refrain that's guaranteed to raise the spirits up to the rafters, and continuing with the romantic mood comes "Love Sonnet", a beautiful pastoral melody that's positively overflowing with love and passion, although the lyrics reveal a sad tale of lost love:- "Oh my darling you cannot hide, The love you once had for me has died." ..... It's a charming bittersweet tale of a young English gentleman wistfully hoping to rekindle the flame of a lost love affair with his fair maiden, so keep a hanky at the ready. We're off to sunny Spain next for "Spanish Lace", an upbeat and uplifting Folk-Pop song with a bright and sunny disposition, imbued with all of the warmth and happiness of a bright ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. There's a change of pace for "Minstrel's Song", a mournful madrigal floating on a serenade of strings, which leads us into the rather rude and impolite- sounding "B*****d Song", which turns out to be a rousing Folk-Rock song to sing around the campfire together. It's a spirited song instilled with all of the vim and vigour of "Kumbaya" and more besides.

Amazing Blondel have made quite a dramatic entrance with their debut album of charming English Folk. It's a traditional English Renaissance world of merry minstrels and melodic madrigals. This pastoral Folk album isn't likely to take the Prog-Rock world by storm, but if you're in the mood for some sweet vocal harmonies and lovely folky melodies bathed in a sea of sensational strings, then this could be the album for you.

:)

 

 

Album Review #72:-  ICARUS were an obscure six-piece British band who released just one album during their brief lifetime. The album "The Marvel World of Icarus" (1972) was based on famous superhero characters from Marvel Comics, with band members adopting various superhero names for the recording of the album. Legend has it that the album had to be quickly pulled from the shelves due to a dispute between Marvel Comics and and the band's record label, Pye Records, with the result that the album now has the status of a very rare (and expensive) collector's item. This superheroes album won't save the world, but it's saved itself a well-deserved place in Prog-Rock history. Let's step into the Marvellous World of the Fantastic Four now and check out the thirteen fantastic superhero-themed songs on the album.

After the Marvellously over-the-top spoken-word "Prologue", we're weaving a tangled web with "Spiderman". This is an all-out psychedelic sonic assault with the raspy-voiced singer sounding like he's badly in need of a throat lozenge. This raw and earthy blues-tinged psychedelia has a similar sound to some of Iron Butterfly's heavier numbers. The fun superhero lyrics deserve a mention too:- "His secret senses tell him what to do, Who's that punk - a man in red and blue? Spider-Man is going to prowl, Oh, look out, The web's behind you now!" ..... It's Marvel-lous music designed to set your spidery senses tingling, and it's kind of ironic that we're now listening to "Spiderman" on a website on the World Wide Web. The "Fantastic Four" are looming into view next, featuring a prominent flute at the forefront, which sounds like a psychedelic version of Jethro Tull. The "Fantastic Four" of the title are Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Flaming Torch and the monstrous Thing. They represent a force for good in the world, battling a bevy of villains and evil-doers, in the manner of a typical "Governator" movie starring Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Hulking into view next comes the jolly green giant himself, the "Hulk". You wouldn't like him when he's angry, and he sounds mildly annoyed in this stirring Blues-Rock number, so watch out, because this song sounds mean and moody. This bluesy number is Jazzed-up by the sonorous sound of a sensational saxophonist who's really on a rollicking shirt-ripping roll here. We're entering the supervillain world of "Madame Masque" next, which turns out to be a bluesy romantic piano ballad that's very reminiscent of Chris Farlowe's "Handbags and Gladrags" (the theme from The Office). There's another supercharged burst of high and mighty Jazz-Rock for "Conan the Barbarian", which brings to mind the raw uncut power of blues legend Graham Bond. Beware the "Iron Man", because he's along next, although he's no relation to the Black Sabbath song of the same name. No, this is more of a Roaring Forties gale force blast of the saxophone in another Jazz- Rock spectacular.

Take cover! It's all storm and almighty thunder for the first song on Side Two: "Thor", which opens dramatically to the sound of a thunderous lightning bolt from the blue. The music is a loud and anthemic tribute to the mighty Norse God of War, "Thor", so be prepared for a cannonade of musical artillery fire and thunderous fireworks in this powerful blast of audio dynamite. Stalking stealthily into view next is the "Black Panther", but this is no silent creeping panther - this is a rousing and reverberant Jazz-Rock refrain on the rampage that jumps up and bites! Have no fear, because "The Man Without Fear" is here, fighting for what is right in another tale of derring-do. This song is a magical mixed bag of tricks, featuring a whole kaleidoscope of musical colours, alternating between uptempo bursts of fluty Jazz-Rock energy, blended together with some mellower bluesy passages. We're on the Magic Bus to California next, because gliding into view now on a gentle wave of beautifully- harmonious melody is the "Silver Surfer". It's a soft rippling wave of sensual sound and pleasure which reminds one of the laid-back psychedelia of the American band, It's a Beautiful Day. Icarus have perfectly encapsulated the sound of American west-coast 1960's rock with this amazing song. Every day is a beautiful day when you can listen to gorgeous rejuvenating music like this. It's back to basics next for "Things Thing", a good old-fashioned slice of unadulterated British Blues-Rock, and finally, flying in now to save the world at the last moment is "Captain America", a roaring storming two and a half minutes of rabble-rousing Rock & Roll.

"The Marvel World of Icarus" is a hard-hitting album of bluesy Jazz-Rock in the uncompromising style of the raspy-voiced Graham Bond. The album is a real Liquorice Allsorts box of contrasts though, featuring a good healthy serving of storm and thunder songs, some raw and earthy blues numbers, and sprinkled with a pleasant confection of sweet and tender melodies. It's an album full of superheroes and super songs. All in all, there's something here for everyone.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing what obscure British gems you've unearthed from the archives this time.

 

 

Album Review #70:- GILES, GILES and FRIPP were brothers Michael Giles and Peter Giles and Robert Fripp. Presumably, they were lacking inspiration in coming up with an original name for the group, so they used their own names for the bandname, which unfortunately ended up sounding like a city firm of legal eagles. They formed in Bournemouth, Dorset in 1967, when King Crimson was just a twinkle in Robert Fripp's eye. The line-up featured Michael Giles on drums and vocals, Peter Giles on bass and vocals and Robert Fripp on guitar. Their peculiar brand of music can best be described as Psychedelic Pop. Their one and only studio album "The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp" (1968) sold poorly on its initial release, but it's now gaining some well-deserved recognition, thanks to the Internet. There were plans for a second album with Judy Dyble (of Fairport Convention) on vocals, but sadly, the album never came to fruition. A compilation album of 1968 demo sessions was released in 2001 as "The Brondesbury Tapes." Robert Fripp & Michael Giles wisely decided to change the name of their firm of solicitors after the release of their sole studio album, when King Crimson emerged to take the prog world by storm. Let's step into the cheerfully insane world of Giles, Giles & Fripp now and give the 13 songs on their 1968 studio album a listen.

It's an album of two halves, with "The Saga of Rodney Toady" occupying the whole of Side One and "Just George" taking up Side Two. The opening song "North Meadow" is nice and cheerful, but definitely not insane. It's just a bright and bubbly, fizzy Pop song that's as refreshing as a glass of lemonade. It also sounds very English in a quaint late-1960's way, with guitar maestro Robert Fripp providing some intricate Jazzy flourishes. There's some cheerful insanity in the opening to the second song "Newly-Weds" with a spoken word introduction to "The Saga of Rodney Toady", featuring some very silly Monty Python- type voices. As for the music, "Newly Weds" sounds as quirky and offbeat as some of Syd Barrett's weird and wonderful Psychedelic Pop excursions with early Pink Floyd, such as "See Emily Play" or "Arnold Layne", for instance. The cheerfully insane spoken word Python-esque intros are a recurring feature of most of the songs on the album and "One in a Million" starts the same way. The music is another cheap and cheerful Pop song to while away a warm and pleasant day spent in an English country garden. It's time to take a pew for the next song "Call Tomorrow", because the music has a rather dour and mournful air to it, with the organist conjuring up an image of a solemn occasion in church. You can really dig the next song though, "Digging My Lawn", because it's a groovy Jazz number, featuring some lovely laid-back drumming and playfully light keyboard and guitar accompaniment. It sounds like the kind of groovy 1960's song you might hear featured in an Austin Powers movie. Next up is "Little Children", a lovely honey-sweet Pop song, featuring some truly gorgeous vocal harmonising from the all-female vocal trio, The Breakaways. It's the highlight of the album so far. Coming along now is the discordant "The Crukster", which is not really a song at all as it's a spoken word poem which has a slightly unsettling and menacing edge to it. The closing song on Side One "Thursday Morning" sounds very Beatle-esque, which is always a good thing in a 1960's Pop album. It's very reminiscent of some of the Beatles' sadder songs, such as "Eleanor Rigby" or "Hey Jude".

Side Two opens cheerfully with "How Do They Know", an upbeat and Jazzy Pop song guaranteed to brighten up the dullest of days, and there's more cheerful insanity on the way with the spoken word "Elephant Song", which is more of a frivolous childrens' novelty song than a serious piece of music. It's time to rub some suntan lotion in now for our next song because "The Sun is Shining". It's a charming song with old-fashioned music hall appeal, featuring the lovely three-part girls choir The Breakaways adding some delightful harmonies to this playful little ditty. We're taking flight next with the classically- inspired "Suite No. 1", which sounds like a Jazzed-up version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumble Bee. The music has the same kind of manic intensity to it. Finally, we come to the last song on the album "Erudite Eyes", which sounds like a pastiche of the Olde Englishe song "Greensleeves" in the opening, but then quickly transposes into a Jazzy Psych-Pop jam session with all of the musicians going off on an improvisational free-for-all.

This late-1960's novelty album of cheerfully insane English Pop songs won't be to everyone's taste. The album is very much of its time and it's not likely to appeal to Prog-Rock fans generally, because it's not Progressive and it's not Rock. It's more of a curiosity item for inquisitive King Crimson fans who are interested to hear the early musical frivolity and Frippery that Robert Fripp got up to before he ventured forth into the Court of the Crimson King.

 

Album Review #68:- EAST OF EDEN were a British Jazz-Rock band who were best-known for their chart song "Jig-a-Jig", although the single wasn't representative of their album recordings. They released their first album "Mercator Projected" (1969) on the Deram label, a subsidiary of Decca Records. East of Eden recorded seven more albums during the proggy 1970's:- "Snafu" (1970); "East of Eden" (1971); "New Leaf" (1971); "Another Eden" (1975); "Here We Go Again" (1976); "It's the Climate" (1977); and "Silver Park" (1978). The band reunited nearly twenty years later for their "Kalipse" (1997) album and they've released two further albums in the early 21st century:- "Armadillo" (2001) and "Graffito" (2005). It's time now to map out the songs for their first album: "Mercator Projected". The 2004 CD reissue added three bonus tracks to the original eight songs on the album, including a cover version of The Byrds "Eight Miles High".

We're heading for the "Northern Hemisphere" for the first stop on our musical journey. It's a slow but powerful burst of Blues- Rock for the opening song which ploughs on ahead relentlessly like a runaway steamroller. The song has a somewhat menacing air, so it's best to stand well clear, because this steamroller of hard driving rock doesn't sound like it's about to stop for anyone. The song has the same strident appeal as King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man", only without the tortured vocals. Dancing gracefully into view now comes "Isadora", a tribute to the dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), who was tragically killed when her scarf became wrapped around the wheels of the car she was travelling in. It's a stirring Jazz-Rock number in which the flawless flautist takes flight and showcases his talent in the best tradition of Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. The enchanting lyrics deserve a mention too:- "Isadora dance, we are entranced, Billowing sleeves, in the breeze, Her heart's so soft, the willow weeps, To dance is to live, to love is to give, Beneath a vine of ivy leaves, Isadora sleeps." ..... This resonant refrain was recorded 42 years after Isadora Duncan's tragic death, and now, here we are nearly a century on listening to this immortal musical tribute, when some of the East of Eden band members themselves may be no longer with us. It's a lovely song with timeless appeal. We're sailing along next with "Waterways", an Indian-influenced fuzzy guitar psych-out, so it's time to order a vindaloo curry and settle down for some sitar and electric guitar with a Quintessential side order of Raga Rock. Next up is "Centaur Woman", a raw and earthy, good old-fashioned blast of Jazz-tinged Blues-Rock in the style of Canned Heat, featuring a flautist, a saxophonist, a harmonica player, and with a mean and moody guitarist hammering out some aggressively raucous riffs. This dynamic song veers dramatically from slow blues to wild flamboyant outbursts of uptempo Jazz-Rock with all of the musicians going hell for leather in a helter-skelter frenzy of sound.

Onto Side Two now and we're dipping our toes in the water for the mellow and hypnotic "Bathers", a swirling and mystical magic carpet ride that's tripping the light fantastic in a sea of psychedelic rainbow colours. This song is awash in a Purple Haze of soothing psychedelia. It's time to follow that camel next, because we're headed to the kasbah for "Communion", a song with an exotic Egyptian feel to it. The eastern-influenced music conjures up images of pharaohs and sphinxes and pyramids. You can almost picture the harem scene where a circle of be-robed and be-turbaned Bedouins are getting high as a kite as they puff away eagerly on their hookah pipes. This groovy song is a real Jewel of the Nile. We're continuing our global travels somewhere in the exotic east with "Moth". Maybe it's Egyptian, maybe it's Turkish, but either way, it's psychedelic snake- charming music that takes the listener on an Egyptian flight of fancy, or a magical mystery tour of Turkish delight - whichever you prefer. There's no mistaking the exotic middle-eastern pretensions for the next song: "In the Stable of the Sphinx", the highlight of the album and the longest song on the album with a running time of eight and a half minutes. It's a real whirling dervish of swirling and hypnotic eastern rhythms, all bathed in a healthy splash of psychedelic colours. Prepare for the manic middle section when the music is speeded up to 99 and it sounds like the record is about to go spinning off the turntable in a psychedelic freak-out. A serene calm is restored though for the magnificent conclusion which floats along on a mystical and spiritual wave of flower-power love and peace.

This stunning debut from East of Eden has all of the sweet eastern promise of a box of Turkish delights. "Mercator Projected" is a magical mystery tour around the world, featuring a delicious exotic cocktail of hypnotic eastern rhythms, romantic refrains, psychedelic freak-outs, mean and moody blues, and jazzy jam sessions. This superb album has it all!