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Psychedelic Paul
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 40782 |
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ZZEBRA - Panic (1975)
Album Review #116:- ZZEBRA were a seven-piece British Jazz-Rock/Fusion band, partly consisting of ex-members of IF and OSIBISA, so you can expect to hear some funky African vibes in the four albums they recorded together. Zzebra released two back-to-back albums in the mid-1970's:- "Zzebra" (1974) and "Panic" (1975), and they also recorded a third and fourth album around the same period, but those two albums, "Take It Or Leave It" and "Lost World", ended up being left behind and almost lost to the world. In fact, those two long-lost albums wouldn't see the light of day until a quarter of a century later when they were released on an independent label in 1999 and 2001 respectively.
Get ready to strut your funky stuff and go wild in the jungle with the title track of Zzebra's second album: "Panic". These funky Jazz Zzebra's are really funking it up (not something you'd want to say out loud for obvious reasons) and firing on all cylinders. "Panic" certainly has a frenetic urgency to it - with it's pounding rhythm and storming horn section - even if it's not an all-out panic attack. This is heavy Jazz-Rock ramped up to 99 and then some! This stunning septet of musicians have really nailed it when it comes to getting down into the groove and pumping up the volume. WARNING! Don't even attempt to dance to this manic music or there'd be panic at the disco and you'd be absolutely knackered, quite honestly. There's no way anyone could keep up with these guys on the dance floor, not even Mr Saturday Night Fever himself, John Travolta. Zzebra have really earned their stripes with this very impressive opening. Panic over now, because we're in very familiar territory for our second song, as it's none other than "You've Lost That Loving Feeling", the old Righteous Brothers smash hit which received an after- burner boost from Tom Cruise in the blockbuster movie, Top Gun. This instrumental version by Zzebra is pretty much in cruise-control, with its mellow laid-back groove, so you may be inspired to relax and just chillout for six minutes whilst listening to this cool and sophisticated Jazz. Listen out for the sax solo, which is simply sensational. There's no clue as to what the third piece of music "Karrola" actually means, as it's an instrumental. One thing's for sure though, "Karrola" sounds like a wild beast (or maybe a wildebeest) on the rampage. It's a resounding percussive artillery barrage of storming Jazz-Rock which kicks like a mule (or indeed, kicks like a Zzebra!). Moving on now..... Is it a lamb? Is it a llama? No, it's a "Liamo", whatever that is!? "Liamo" sounds like a pretty tame animal, because the music is somewhat subdued compared to the previous sonorous stampede, so it's not likely to unleash any wild animalistic urges this time around. It's not so much a funky fusion, but more of a laid-back ethno-spiritual chant, where the only "lyrics" to be heard are "Liamo" repeated ad infinitum until the fade-out. It might not get the jungle juices flowing in the same way as "Panic" or "Karrola", but the song still has a powerful bite to it. Look out! There's a psycho about! The grimly-titled "Death by Drowning" is the weirdest and creepiest piece of music on the album and a complete contrast to any of the four pieces of music on Side One. "Death by Drowning" has a very eerie and sinister air to it in the opening, sounding like the kind of atmospheric music you might hear in a psychological thriller just before the killer leaps out of the shadows. The Basic Instinct/Fatal Attraction-style music has a pleasant change of pace midway through though with a soothing alto sax solo, which somewhat lightens the dark sense of foreboding, so it should be safe to come out from behind the sofa now. The sixth piece of music "Tree" is also pretty subdued, invoking memories of some of the finest Canterbury Scene music. Wait a minute though..... What's this!?? Out of nowhere comes a thrilling synthesiser solo - ala Rick Wakeman - where caution is thrown to the wind in a magnificent display of keyboard wizardry. After that wild and unexpected outburst, the music returns to a mellower mood for the conclusion, in what turns out to be a three- piece suite - and all in the space of six incredible minutes too. The solitary "Tree" turns out to be an acorn that's grown into a mighty oak. In fact, the album as a whole is a veritable forest of great music to feast your ears on. Get funky! The seventh song "Put a Light On Me" features the funkiest groove on the whole album. This is a song you can really get down and shake your booty to, if you're feeling particularly energetic, or if not, you can tap your feet along to it without leaving the comfort of your armchair. This immensely catchy tune is so infectious, you may need to be inoculated against it. "Put a Light On Me" will light a fire in your Soul! It's time to unleash the wild Zzebras in the Zzoo now with the eighth and final piece of music, "La Si Si-La So So", a kick-ass improvisational free-for-all of raw, unrestrained Jazz-Rock energy and power! Are you in the mood for some funky Afro-Jazz-Prog? Let's hope so, because that's exactly what you get with Zzebra's sophomore album. Zzebra play their own supercharged version of high-energy Jazz-Rock, instilled with an extra dose of Zzeal and Zzest. There's something here to suit almost everyone's tastes:- Whether you want a rumble in the jungle with some storming Jazz-Rock, or whether you want to swing though the trees like Tarzan with some funky gibbon grooves, or maybe even get into a mellower mood with some cool and sultry smooth Jazz. As you'll no doubt discover, Zzebra are a diverse band of many stripes and colours. It's not all black and white with the music of Zzebra. In the endless menagerie of prog, it turns out two Zzees are better than one in the musical Zzoo. Edited by Psychedelic Paul - March 15 2020 at 04:20 |
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FloydianPinkRose
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 24 2019 Location: Fairhope, Al Status: Offline Points: 256 |
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Psychedelic Paul, you sly devil, although, you are such an angel. You bless us with your fabulous phraseology and your music knowledge in every review, blog and music challenge. Like this review on Zzebra: Panic. When I hadn't heard from you for a while, because my phone reception is so bad, I PANICked. But I picked Zzebra, because of that wonderful pic of you on the Zebra walk back home across the Pond. We are fortunate to have this band with "lucky" seven members. And their two lost to time albums, "TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT," and "LOST WORLD," lead me to think that I'm glad I get a chance to read Psychedelic Paul's reviews that are filled with fun, brain teasing words that describe the albums to a "T." Id rather TAKE IT than LEAVE IT. But I know I'd be in a LOST WORLD if I missed each and every one of his reviews. It makes me want to "strut my funky stuff and go wild," when I listen to Zzebra's melodic Jazz Rock/Fusion. I'll definitely be "firing on all cylinders." When I read Psychedelic Paul's writings on Prog Archives I can see that he "really nails it when it comes to getting down into the groove because im absolutely knackered!" When I didn't hear from you Paul because of my bad phone reception, I knew I had "LOST THAT LOVIN FEELING." In fact I felt I might have suffered, "DEATH FROM DROWNING," and it was an eerie feeling. But, then, when I heard from you, I was filled with an "extra dose of zeal," because 2 Z's are definitely better than 1. Thanks, Psychedelic Paul. I'm your number one fan. Keep em' coming...and I'll keep reading em'. FloydianPinkRose
Edited by FloydianPinkRose - March 09 2020 at 00:18 |
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Psychedelic Paul
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 40782 |
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^^ ZZOUNDS!! Thank You so much Sweetheart! That's high praise indeed and a real Zzinger and humdinger of a review of my album review. You've taken a leaf out of my book with your Zzealous and Zzestful wordplays. I'm glad you enjoyed the many musical stripes of the Zzebras in the Zzoo. I'll have some more Zzinging and Zzany album reviews coming up for you Zzoon in the Prog Zzone.
By the way, I hope you're well-rested and full of energy and Zzest now after feeling Zzonked-out yesterday.
Edited by Psychedelic Paul - March 09 2020 at 04:33 |
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Psychedelic Paul
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 40782 |
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THE ENID - Album ratings only:-
Fall of Hyperion (1974) Review:- http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2284819 In the Region of the Summer Stars (1976) Aerie Faerie Nonsense (1977) Touch Me (1979) Six Pieces (1980) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) The Spell (1985) Salome (1986) Joined By The Heart (1987) The Seed and the Sower (1988) Tripping the Light Fantastic (1994) Sundialer (1995) White Goddess (1997) Arise and Shine (2009) Journey's End (2010) Risen (2011) Shining (2012) Invicta (2012) First Light (2014) The Bridge (2015) Dust (2016) Resurgency (2017) U (2019) I'll have an album review coming up soon for String Driven Thing. Edited by Psychedelic Paul - March 15 2020 at 04:13 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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STRING DRIVEN THING - String Driven Thing (1970)
Album Review #117:- STRING DRIVEN THING were a Prog Folk contraption who were first assembled in Glasgow, Scotland in 1967. The two vital cogs in the machine were husband and wife duo Chris Adams and Pauline Adams with added power provided by Graham Smith on electric violin. The band were apparently lacking inspiration for album titles in their early years as their first two albums released in 1970 and 1972 were simply titled "String Driven Thing". There were three further album releases in the mid-1970's:- "The Machine That Cried" (1973); "Please Mind Your Head" (1974); and "Keep Yer 'and On It" (1975). The machinery then ground to a halt and the band took a VERY long hiatus before cranking it up again over thirty years later with two comeback albums:- "Moments of Truth" (2007) and "Songs from Another Country" (2009). Their first album - reviewed here - featured twelve songs on the original album with another five bonus tracks added on the CD re-issue.
It's time to wake up and smell the coffee for the album opener "July Morning", which is no relation to the rowdy Uriah Heep classic. No, this is an altogether Folkier tune. It's an upbeat feel-good song which is positively bursting with the joys of summer. There's enough joyous optimism here to inspire you to make an acrobatic leap out of bed in the morning, instilled with energy and enthusiasm as you bathe in the warm glow of the vibrant music. Yes, this exuberant song has more Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go energy than a steaming mugful of cappuccino latte coffee. We're travelling down country roads next for "Say What You Like", which is very reminiscent of Buffalo Springfield and The Byrds. This is a virtually unknown "lost classic" which could potentially have been a big hit, given enough radio airplay at the time. Sadly though, this first independently-released album by String Driven Thing disappeared without trace and the original LP album is now like gold dust to record collectors. It's rumoured there were only around a hundred pressings made of the original album, making it about as rare as finding a diamond in the dust. "Magic Garden" is the next song on our musical adventure. This is an all-round good Pop song with a touch of String Driven magic, featuring a driving chug-along beat and an energising electric guitar. It's a wonderful fifty year trip back in time to the days when everything was fabulously hip and groovy, which inevitably brings to mind the old cliche:- "They don't make music like this any more!" - and more's the pity too. Continuing with our wonderful nostalgia trip comes "Wonderful Places", which features a truly heavenly chorus from Pauline Adams. This gorgeous song includes the lyrics "Wonderful places I'm taking you to" - and this lovely song will indeed transport you back to wonderful places where the birds were always singing and everything in the garden was lovely. There's no chance of getting the Bell Bottom Blues listening to this lively piece of music. This is without doubt, a flowers and beads late 1960's sun-drenched summer of love song, so put on those mini-skirts, culottes and go-go boots and get up on the groovy dance floor - and maybe the girls can join in too! The following song "I Don't Wanna Wake Up" will have to be put quietly back to bed, as it's not currently available on YouTube, so we'll move swiftly onto the next song, which is: "City Man". This exhilarating Folk-Rock number about a man making big money in the big city could quite easily have been a "Greed is good" tribute to Gordon Gekko of Wall Street fame. And on the subject of big money, this incredibly rare debut album from String Driven Thing is now worth a Fistful of Dollars, and For a Few Dollars More, you can buy their second self-titled album too! The Side Two opener "Another Night in This Old City" sounds as lively and colourful as a busy London street filled with trendy Carnaby Street fashions. It's a typically joyous 1970's Folk Pop tune that could have come straight out of The New Seekers songbook. The 8th song "That's My Lady" sounds like a Folk Rock classic that could well have been written and sung by Bob Dylan, even though the song is barely known by anyone other than ardent fans of String Driven Thing. It's another sparkling crystal of a song in an album that's turning out to be a marvellous nostalgia trip. The 9th tune "Catch As Catch Can" appears to be the one that got away as it's not currently available on YouTube, so we'll quickly skip that elusive song and move onto Song No. 10 which is: "No More You and I". The song title implies the sad break-up of a relationship, although the music itself turns out to be the complete opposite. It's another pleasant Folk Pop song with a cheerful vibe that chugs along nicely on a wave of exuberant String Driven energy. Just like the album as a whole, it's a celebratory song imbued with radiant happiness and the joys of being alive. The feel-good vibe continues with "Lie Back and Let It Happen", so just lie back and think of England (or Scotland) and let this glorious sunny music happen to you. This is cheery music designed to brighten up the dullest and darkest of days and it's just the tonic we need right now in our troubled times. We're slowing the pace right down now and ending the album on a sad note with "One of the Lonely People", a melancholic and thought-provoking song about those of us who are unlucky enough to end up spending the rest of our lives living Home Alone. Take a nostalgic trip back in time to 1970 with the (mostly) cheerful Folk Pop of String Driven Thing. Just wind it up and let the music play! Edited by Psychedelic Paul - March 21 2020 at 12:38 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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PATTO - Patto (1970)
Album Review #118:- PATTO were a London-based Jazz-Rock band led by Mike Patto on vocals. They released three albums in the early 1970's:- "Patto" (1970); "Hold Your Fire" (1971); and "Roll 'em Smoke 'em, Put Another Line Out" (1972). Patto recorded a fourth album in 1973 "Monkey's Bum", but that album wouldn't see release until the 1990's, long after the band had broken up due to poor record sales. Their first self-titled album - reviewed here - with it's very bizarre and ghoulish cover, featured eight songs on the original album, with three bonus tracks added for the 2017 CD reissue.
Alright Now, it's time to meet "The Man" for our opening song. It's a slow tempo heavy blues number with the gravelly-voiced soulful singer Mike Patto sounding like he regularly eats sandpaper for breakfast. The music is nicely laid-back, with a similar sound to some of the slower gutsy songs by Paul Rodgers and Free. The song also has the added bonus of a Jazzy instrumental interlude featuring the lustrous sound of the vibraphone, which glides softly over the listener like gossamer caresses. If you were to throw a coin in the Wishing Well and hope for a soulful and bluesy Free-like number to open a Jazz- Rock album, then "The Man" is exactly what you would get. The second song "Hold Me Back" is a storming Blues-Rock song with a punchy rhythm section but without any of the Jazzy elements heard in the opening song. There's no holding back the electric guitarist on this bluesy number, as he demonstrates some frenetic finger-licking prowess on the fretboard. Onto Song No. 3 now and "It's all behind, it's time to rest, it's time to die" ..... Those are the opening lyrics to "Time To Die", so this song isn't exactly bursting with joyous optimism and happiness. The long-haired singer Mike Patto looks and sounds not unlike soulful David Coverdale of Deep Purple in the YouTube video that accompanies the song. If you're in the mood for some mean and moody British blues, then the raw and earthy "Time To Die" might be just your cup of tea (taken without milk and sugar). Get ready for some red-hot duelling guitars in "Red Glow", a song which brings to mind the classic dual guitar leads of Wishbone Ash. The guitarist with Patto might not have an awesome "Flying V" guitar like Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, but he can still make it perform virtual aerobatics with some stunning Stratocaster guitar licks. Having found a YT video for "Time To Die" on Side One, we're doubly-blessed with a Live YouTube video for "San Antone", the opening song on Side Two. This song is an all-out raucous rocker with a pile-driving rhythm which barrels along relentlessly for three minutes with barely enough time for the band to come up for air. This group of London guys sound just like a bunch of good old boys from San Antonio, Texas in this pounding Southern Rock number. The only thing missing in the YT video are the long beards of ZZ Top, forever remembered as the hirsute Texas trio whose drummer Frank Beard is the only member without a beard! The 6th song "Government Man" is a fairly routine bluesy number with a laid-back mellow groove. The song is nothing to do with a G-Man from the F.B.I. though. No, it's a sad and sorry tale of a family about to lose their home to the government man of the title. The song might be back-to-basics British blues, but it still beats most of what passes for popular music on the radio these days. Forget Bieber Fever - this is what REAL music sounds like! The next song "Money Bag" is the longest piece of music on the album, running at around ten minutes long. It's also the Jazziest tune on the album, where the extended running time allows ample time for some wild improvisational experimentation. The first six minutes is one of those Love/Hate pieces of music, where you'll either love it for the technical wizardry to be heard from a group of accomplished musicians at the top of their game, or you'll hate it for what sounds to your ears like "a tuneless mess". Either way, the last four minutes is a return to some sense of normality for the standard double-four-time British blues formula to be heard on earlier songs. Are you sitting comfortably? We're "Sittin' Back Easy" (with no "g") now for the final song from Patto's debut. It's a two-part piece of music with a deceptively quiet opening to put one in a relaxed and mellow frame of mind. There's no time to rest on our laurels though, as the opening just serves as a prelude for some powerful Blues-Rock which slowly gathers in pace, exploding out into a storming crescendo of sound for the magnificent finale. It's a four-minute-long album highlight. Patto have stormed onto the Jazz-Rock stage in impressive style with this powerful bluesy debut which packs a mighty punch! |
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Psychedelic Paul
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MARSUPILAMI - Marsupilami (1970)
Album Review #119:- MARSUPILAMI might sound like an exotic breed of Australian mammal, or maybe an Italian pasta, but they're really an English Prog-Rock band. They might not be quite as exotic as their bandname implies, but their music is pretty extraordinary. Their bizarre name derives from an obscure Belgian children's comic character. Marsupilami had a relatively brief lifespan with two albums to their credit:- "Marsupilami" (1970) and "Arena" (1971). It's their first eponymously-titled album that our attentions are focused on here, which features five long suites of music, varying anywhere between six and eleven minutes in length. Let's dive into the deep end now and check it out.
"Dorian Deep" has an eerie opening, sounding like a wind blowing over some vast windswept plain. Be prepared to be taken on an unpredictable journey into hitherto unexplored soundscapes of musical mayhem and delight. If this awesome 8-minute-long opening is anything to go by, this could well turn out to be an album of Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music - to paraphrase Hawkwind. "Dorian Deep" is such a perfect blend of all of the ingredients you'd expect from the very best of Prog- Rock, that it's almost impossible for any self-respecting prog aficionado not to like this. Not only will it delight Progressive Rock fans, but there's something here to suit Psychedelic Rock and Krautrock fans too, which is inevitably the reason why Marsupilami have found themselves in the Eclectic Prog section of ProgArchives. It's practically impossible to pin them down to one particular genre. If this band were ever pigeon-holed, then it would have to be a VERY big hole to include the tremendous variety of music on offer here. "Dorian Deep" is as multi-faceted as The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's the spooky musical equivalent of a crazy LSD-induced acid trip, so get ready for a wild ghost train ride on a Journey to the Centre of the Eye. This creepy manic music verges on hysteria, and almost goes off the rails - a bit like this album review. It may send a shiver up the spine and bring you out in goosebumps, so don't say you weren't warned! Hallelujah Freedom! Be wild, be free, because it's time to celebrate another great piece of music with "Born To Be Free". This is a flighty flute-driven melody which opens as a fairly laid-back Jazzy refrain. Get ready for some more Marsupilami magic though, because barely midway through the song, freedom reigns with a wild excursion into supersonic Jazz-Rock territory with the afterburners glowing on full power. This tremendously inspiring music will take you soaring up into the stratosphere, where you can slip the surly bonds of Earth and touch the face of the Prog Gods. You can always expect the unexpected though with the complex and endlessly unpredictable music of Marsupilami, because there's a return to calmer Jazzier climes again for the extended play-out session. "Born To Be Free" has all of the unpredictability and latent energy of an untamed sleeping Lioness named Elsa, but that's another song and movie altogether. Tie me kangaroo down, Sport! Never in the field of prog has so much been achieved by so few. Again, this scintillating sextet venture Where Eagles Dare to fly and other prog bands fear to tread with the inspirational epic: "And the Eagle Chased the Dove to its Ruin". The sound of the haunting ethereal organ in the opening instils the music with something of a religious devotional air. This first impression is soon shattered though by a crazy journey into the wild uncharted territory of prog. If Marsupilami were Australian, then this wild untamed music would represent a Walkabout in the wilderness of the baking hot outback. Marsupilami are as wild as a wandering band of wombats and wallabies. This extraordinary song may be less than seven minutes long, but there's plenty of exploring to do in this endlessly diverse piece of music. It's a song and album you'll want to boomerang back to again and again. Be prepared for the very sudden ending though. When in Rome, do as the Romans do and learn Latin, and then we can translate the title of the opening suite on Side Two: "Ab Initio Ad Finem (The Opera)", which literally means "From the Beginning to the End" (with a little help from Google Translate). It might be an opera (in brackets), but you won't hear the likes of Pavarotti, Domingo & Carreras on this outstanding piece of music. This par excellence song and album is worth three tenners of anyone's money. The music opens to the tinkling sound of a musical box and this 11-minute-long epic is indeed a musical box of delights. This song has everything! There's something here for the hippyish Folkies, the psychedelic acid-heads, and even the religious spiritualists amongst us too. Above all though, this is a Progressive Rock masterpiece of unparalleled pomp and glory. From the beginning to the end, this album has been an absolute phantasmagorical dream of a prog-fest, which could give any of the major prog bands a good run for their money. Hells Bells! Get ready for the wild men of prog to unleash Merry Hell for our final descent into the maelstrom. It's another Latin-themed 10-minute-long epic: "Facilis Descencus Averni", which translates as "Descent To Hell". It's a very apt title, as all Hell is let loose in the wildest and most unrestrained piece of music on the entire album. This epic suite represents a crazy helter-skelter ride into the darkest depths of prog and psychedelia. Don't despair though, because there are several uplifting Folky and Jazzy interludes thrown in for good measure to pull the listener out of the dark abyss. The crazy laughter and off- kilter vocals of the psycho singer only adds to the manic intensity and brooding atmosphere of the music. Even more bizarrely, there are brief spoken-word pieces too, voiced in an unmistakable charming English accent. This superb closing suite is undoubtedly a magnificent album highlight, combining all of the elements heard in earlier songs into an all- encompassing strange but magical Witches Brew of enchanting beauty and sheer delight. It's prog, but not as we know it. Put another tinny on the barbie and drink a toast to the weird and wonderful music of Marsupilami. They're a breed apart. Join them as they go ape- crazy with an intoxicating blend of Wild in the Jungle Jazzy psychedelia and proggy Folk. Marsupilami explore the Outer Limits of Prog-Rock, so expect the unexpected. This superb debut album has to be heard to be believed. Dare you explore The Twilight Zone of Prog where nothing is quite as it seems!?? Edited by Psychedelic Paul - March 25 2020 at 09:42 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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WRITING ON THE WALL - The Power of the Picts (1969)
Album Review #120:- WRITING ON THE WALL were a one-album Heavy Prog band from Bonnie Scotland. They began life in Edinburgh in the late- 1960's and later moved down to London where they became a popular Live act, playing at the famed Middle Earth club. They were hit by ill fortune in 1973 though when their band gear was stolen and the writing was on the wall for the break-up of the band. Their one and only studio album "The Power of the Picts" (1969) featured a creepy black and white image of a skull. The album is categorised as Occult Rock on Wikipedia, so you can expect to hear a spooky witches brew of music in the style of those other two hocus pocus black magic bands, Black Widow and Coven. The CD re-issue of "The Power of the Picts" added two bonus tracks to the original nine songs on the album. There were three later album releases from Writing on the Wall, featuring rare recordings from various sessions in the late-60's and early-70's:- "Rarities from the Middle Earth" (1994); "Burghley Road" (1996); and "The Rockfield Sessions" (2015).
The album opens in fine rollicking and rambunctious style with "It Came On Sunday", which comes loudly knocking at your back door. The postman doesn't bother to ring twice, he just comes crashing straight through your door with a special delivery of powerhouse heavy blues. It's not quite as heavy as the throbbing and thunderous raw proto-metal of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath though. No, this roaring song with its pounding beat and hypnotic rhythm is more akin to the powerful organ-driven sound of early Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and Rare Bird, with a healthy splash of mean and mighty blues thrown into the mix too. It's probably best to hunker down through the storming Hard Rock of "It Came On Sunday" and wait for Monday to come 'round. There's no peace for the wicked (or the good) though, because it's time now for a piece of "Mrs. Cooper's Pie", which turns out to be a tasty slice of thrumming organ-driven heavy rock, of which High and Mighty keyboard wizard Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep fame would be mighty proud. This Very 'eavy, Very 'umble song is a Demons and Wizards Wonderworld of sonic energy which has all of the raw undiluted power of a tank rolling across Salisbury Plain, so you better run, you better take cover, because this tank ain't stopping for anyone. We're celebrating the Sweet Freedom of a "Ladybird" next, as we dive Head First into this sonic blast from the blast. Again, the Writing is on the Wall for another pounding and pulsating explosion of audio dynamite, as this band of stormtroopers are on a take-no-prisoners Conquest, where you the listener may be the Innocent Victim. This is an album that should come with a noise abatement notice! The band really Ram the message home with the next storming rocker: "Aries". Batten down the hatches because this album is about to get VERY LOUD indeed! "Aries" is a supercharged high-energy cover version of a track from the classic American Psychedelic Rock album , "The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds", recorded in the Summer of Love year of 1967. This is where the manic intensity of earlier numbers is ramped up to 99 and taken to a whole new level of sonorous magnitude, instilling the music with all of the unstoppable power and energy of a battering Ram. Whether or not you believe in horoscopes, it's written in the stars that the Astounding Sounds of this song and album will Amaze and Delight fans of Heavy Prog. Take cover! It could be a good time to hide under the bed now or the "Bogeyman" might get you. He sounds like a mean and moody bogeyman too, if this creepy blues number with a mean and moody attitude is anything to go by. The brief and very bizarre sailor's hornpipe sea shanty in the opening only adds to the Looney Tunes wackiness in this wild ride on the Crazy Train, with the manic vocalist sounding like he's on some kind of psychedelic acid trip from Hell. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible..... There's no hope of sanity returning any time soon though as it's a Return To Fantasy for "Shadow of Man". It's another dark and brooding return to insanity that doesn't just verge on madness - it goes right off the rails altogether and takes the listener on a nightmare ride of absolute bedlam where the lines between fantasy and reality are constantly blurred. The music is a lunatic asylum of crazy over-the-top vocals accompanied by an absolutely manic keyboard player and a drummer going hell for leather with the relentless pounding power of a pneumatic drill. "Shadow of Man" represents a non-stop bunker-busting artillery barrage of sound from beginning to end, so it's best to have the ear- defenders at the ready. This band might sound as crazy and demented as a box of frogs at times, but that only adds to their manic appeal. Some sense of normality returns now for the heavy blues rocker "Tasker's Successor", which still barrels along relentlessly on full-power, but without the craziness of the two earlier numbers. We're S-L-O-W-I-N-G things right down now for "Hill of Dreams", an epic and grandiose number with all of the pomp and magnificent splendour we've come to expect from the best in Prog-Rock. This truly IS Progressive Rock too because the song progresses from a fairly sedate beginning, and then lights up like a Firefly into a dynamic crescendo of sound for the magnificent finale. This is the kind of gloriously pompous prog that dreams are made of! The album is rounded off nicely now by "Virginia Waters", a heavy psych number charging full-steam ahead, featuring some strangely incomprehensible babbling vocals and a maniacal accordion player, but that's no less than what we've come to expect from this psycho band of warriors on the edge of time. If you like your Heavy Prog all-fired up with some added manic intensity, then the Writing on the Wall is that you'll love the sound of "The Power of the Picts". This band are a whole Different World of Prog with a unique style all of their own, which verges on madness at times, but the album should appeal to fans of the keyboard-heavy sound of such bands as Black Widow, Deep Purple, Rare Bird, and especially Uriah Heep. Edited by Psychedelic Paul - March 25 2020 at 15:11 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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I'll be taking a break for awhile from writing album reviews whilst I listen to and rate all of Fairport Convention's many albums. In the meantime, here's a preview list of the next twenty obscure British bands whose albums I'm planning to review in the not too distant future:-
121. Deep Feeling (Crossover Prog) 122. Quicksand (Prog Folk) 123. Curved Air (Eclectic Prog) 124. Salamander (Proto-Prog 125. Home (Eclectic Prog) 126. Man (Psych/Space Rock) 127. Stackridge (Prog Folk) 128. Mellow Candle (Prog Folk) 129. Jackson Heights (Prog-Related) 130. Janus (Crossover Prog) 131. Three Man Army (Crossover Prog) 132. The Gun (Proto-Prog) 133. The Parlour Band (Prog-Related) 134. Nicholas Greenwood (Canterbury Scene) 135. Byzantium (Prog-Related) 136. Blodwyn Pig (Prog-Related) 137. Tea and Symphony (Prog Folk) 138. If (Jazz-Rock/Fusion) 139. Sunday (Crossover Prog) 140. Groundhogs (Prog-Related)
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Psychedelic Paul
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FAIRPORT CONVENTION - Album ratings only:-
Fairport Convention (1968) What We Did on Our Holidays (1969) Unhalfbricking (1969) Liege & Lief (1969) Full House (1970) Angel Delight (1971) Babbacombe Lee (1971) Rosie (1973) Nine (1973) Live Convention (1974) Rising for the Moon (1975) Gottle O'Geer (1976) House Full (1977) The Bonny Bunch of Roses (1977) Tippler's Tales (1978) Gladys' Leap (1985) Expletive Delighted (1986) Red and Gold (1989) The Five Seasons (1990) Jewel in the Crown (1995) Old New Borrowed Blue (1996) Who Knows Where the Time Goes (1997) The Wood and the Wire (1999) XXXV (2002) Over the Next Hill (2004) Sense of Occasion (2007) Festival Bell (2011) By Popular Request (2012) Myths and Heroes (2015) 50:50@50 (2017) |
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Psychedelic Paul
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DEEP FEELING - Deep Feeling (1971)
1. Welcome for a Soldier 2. Old People's Home 3. Classical Gas 4. Guillotine 5. Country Heir 6. Lucille Album Review 121:- DEEP FEELING were an obscure short-lived band from Gravesend in the Garden of England county of Kent. Their one and only eponymously-titled album from 1971 contained six tracks, varying in length anywhere between four and nine minutes, with a bonus track later included on the CD re-issue. The band featured a traditional five-piece line-up of singer, guitarist, bass, drums & keyboards, with all of the band members contributing vocal harmonies. You won't hear this mega-rare album played on the radio. EVER!! That's about as likely to happen as finding a gold nugget in your garden, or being able to buy a whole case of Andrex toilet tissues during the coronavirus pandemic.
We're kick-starting the album off now with "Welcome for a Soldier". This opening number is as pleasantly surprising as opening the fridge door and expecting to find just one cold sausage in there and then discovering there's a whole smorgasbord of delicious delicacies to feast on. Harmony is the key to life, love, happiness and great music on this tremendous opening number. There's some gorgeous Beach Boys-style harmonising to be heard on this Pop meets Prog song. The keyboards are very much in evidence too and it's a case of Uriah Heep Lite, as it's not so Very 'eavy, or so Very 'umble. "Welcome for a Soldier" deserves a warm homecoming welcome in a glittering parade with flags flying and people partying in bunting-lined street parades, and with a fanfare of trumpets to add to the glorious occasion too. Yes, it really is that good! The second item on the menu is "Old Peoples Home", which have sadly become dangerous places to reside in these days for the vulnerable elderly residents, during these strange times we're living through with the lurking Chinese killer virus ever present. Anyway, back to the album and back to plague-free 1971. This charmingly gentle acoustic tune is as pleasant and laid-back and relaxed as nodding off to sleep on a rocking chair on a Sunday afternoon in an "Old People's Home". This unthreatening gentle tune leaves you feeling so safe and secure that the album should come with carpet slippers, a dressing gown and a mug of warm cocoa to take up to bed with you. We're in safe and familiar territory too with the third tune on the album "Classical Gas". It's an instantly recognisable piece of instrumental music, famously recorded by Mason Williams way back in 1968. Deep Feeling have given this classic tune their own magic touch by packing it with an almighty punch, making "Classical Gas" sound as high and mighty as a hydrogen-filled Zeppelin bomber. The acoustic guitar has never sounded quite so powerful as it does here in this dynamic slug-fest of thunderous keyboard-driven Prog, which comes right at you like a southpaw uppercut to the lower jaw from a heavyweight prize-fighter. It's all chop and change now for the opening song on Side Two: "Guillotine". This dark and dramatic piece of music with its slow marching rhythm is a cut above the rest. The music features interlocking prime cuts of fast and slow organ passages with a haunting ethereal interlude thrown in too for good measure. The spooky music from the doom-laden church organist is in the eerily atmospheric style of the horror movie hokum "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", starring Vincent Price, one of the three kings of classic horror. There's nothing abominable about "Guillotine" though. It's a chip off the old block of pompous and glorious British Prog. Deep Feeling have executed a masterful performance with this sliced and diced album highlight. There's a complete change of pace now for the cleverly-titled "Country Heir". No prizes for guessing it's a Country song. It's a chance for the band to really show off their gorgeous multi-part harmonies in the best traditions of the Country Rock legends, The Eagles. This buoyant country-tinged slice of Sunshine Pop is instilled with all of the joyous sing-along energy of the sunny California band, The Association. It's an irresistably catchy tune that just makes you want to throw caution to the wind and sing along to it, so go for it, even if you've only ever sung in the shower before. Finally, the classic Little Richard song "Lucille" is given the thunderous Heavy Prog treatment with an absolutely storming cover version here, assaulting the eardrums in an all-out sonic attack, marking a VERY LOUD and memorable ending to the album. Deep Feeling are locked and loaded with emotion and going out in a powerful blaze of glory with all guns blazing! This is the kind of timeless Progressive Rock masterpiece that should be handed down through the generations. If you don't already have a son or daughter to pass this album onto, then now might be as good a time as any to take your wife upstairs and make one. You could give her some amorous Deep Feeling whilst listening to this album, or alternatively, put on some Barry White baby-making music to listen to whilst making mad passionate love together. Edited by Psychedelic Paul - May 02 2020 at 04:56 |
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TCat
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: February 07 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 11612 |
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Welcome back Paul!
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Psychedelic Paul
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Online Points: 40782 |
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Thanks for the warm welcome. I'll let you know the reason why I took a long break from here in a private message.
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Gentle and Giant
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Good to see you back Paul, hope everything is OK.
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Oh, for the wings of any bird, other than a battery hen
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Psychedelic Paul
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Thanks! Yes, I'm absolutely fine, Chris, and I just posted a reply to you in your Psychedelic Paul thread.
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Psychedelic Paul
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QUICKSAND - Home is Where I Belong (1973)
Album Review #122:- QUICKSAND were an obscure and short-lived Prog-Folk quartet from South Wales. They disappeared down the pit with their picks and shovels beneath the Welsh mining valleys just as quickly as they'd emerged. The band were in existence just long enough to mine one album of precious ore, "Home is Where I Belong" (1973), during their brief shining moment at the coalface. We've now unearthed that rare commodity for review here. The original album featured eight songs, with two more bonus tracks added for the later CD re-issue. It's time to take a deep breath and plunge head first into the Quicksand now to check out the album.
"Yaki Da Boyo!" Although Quicksand might be as Welsh as a bunch of Welsh miners emerging from the pithead with blackened faces, the first track "Hideaway My Song" sounds like it could have been recorded by a bunch of blonde-haired surfer dudes riding the breakers at Big Sur in sunny California. Quicksand have truly captured the west coast California sound of the seventies here. They sound as blueberry-pie American as Billy Bob Thornton and Billy Jo Spears wearing Stetson hats at a rodeo, with a McDonalds Quarterpounder and a bottle of Budweiser in each hand. "Yee-hah! Ride 'em cowboy!". We're still out in the sunshine for "Sunlight Brings Shadows", a storming artillery barrage of Heavy Prog which targets the listener with all of the deadly stealth and accuracy of a nuclear-powered hunter killer submarine. It's an unrelenting percussive wave of sound from beginning to end with some fast and furious Kentucky Fried guitar riffing that's finger-lickin' good. Telling these guys to turn the volume down would be like telling fighter pilots to be less aggressive. It's just not gonna happen! There's a complete change of pace now for "Empty Street, Empty Heart", a gentle Folk-Rock tune that's as pleasantly surprising as finding there's still a restaurant open during the coronavirus lockdown. Again, this warm and sunny song with its mellow guitar groove captures the spirit of California perfectly, despite the clear British accent of the singer. This exuberant and uplifting music has enough feel-good flower-power sunshine to brighten up the dullest of winter days. Closing out Side One now, we have the two-part song and highlight of the album so far, "Overcome The Pattern / Flying". This is incredible! You can almost smell the Incense and Peppermint in this tripped-out Californian west coast Psychedelic Rock extravaganza, that's actually coming to you from the mining valleys of South Wales. The first part "Overcome the Pattern" takes you to Prog-Rock heaven and back again with the manic guitarist going absolutely ape-crazy in a dazzling psychedelic display of frantic fretting. There's a crazy freak-out interlude around about the halfway point, sounding like some nightmarish psychedelic acid trip from Hell. Don't expect a return to sanity and normality any time soon though, because the second part "Flying" is flying as high as a kite in a smoking purple haze of spaced out Looney Tunes wackiness. Quicksand have completely thrown the prog "rulebook" away (not that there ever was a prog rulebook!) and taken off on a fantastic voyage in a free flight of fancy. This is wonderfully liberating music! It's like throwing the Monopoly rulebook away and then going around the board in whichever direction pleases you and then responding with a faraway stare into space if anyone challenges you. This stunning album really makes you feel good to be alive and what better way to celebrate the joys of life than with Song No. 5: "Time to Live". Although Quicksand are billed as a Prog-Folk band on ProgArchives, this joyously optimistic song has much more of a groovy Jazz-Rock feel to it. Just lay back and bask in the warm glow of this song. The music is as warm and sunny as Bondi Beach in mid-summer, in a heatwave, which makes it even harder to believe that this sunny tune comes from the dull rain-drenched valleys of South Wales. This energetic sunburst of bright shining joy should come with a beach umbrella and a free bottle of suntan lotion. We arrive back home for the title track now: "Home is Where I Belong", another gloriously uplifting summer song that makes you want to throw caution to the wind and jump for joy with gay abandon (in the old-fashioned sense) and dance like a whirling dervish in a green sunlit meadow filled with daisies, dandelions and daffodils. It's time for the second of the long two-part epics on the album now with "Seasons / Alpha Omega". This is another classic magnum opus (presumably the opposite of magnum 'opeless) in a stunning display of prog wizardry and virtuosity, where you feel you can almost reach up into the stratosphere and touch the face of the Prog Gods in all of their infinite musical wisdom and greatness. There are swirling synths, pounding machine-gun percussion and glittering guitar glissandos galore here in abundance, which will amaze and delight even the most hardened of prog aficionados. This is triumphal and pompous prog that will blow you away and take you above and beyond Cloud 9 and lift you right up to prog heaven in all of its glorious majestic splendour. Sadly, it's time to come down to Earth with a bump now for the closing song: "Hiding It All", a suitably anthemic and uplifting piece of powerful prog to close out the album in magnificently fine style. This magnificent music is guaranteed to lift you up and carry you along on a pleasure-wave of heart-warming emotion, leaving one feeling full of the joys of life, love and happiness. If music be the food of love, then play this sensational album and celebrate the power of music to set the heart and soul on fire with love and passion. Every self-respecting prog fan will feel right at home with Quicksand's stunning one-off album: "Home is Where I Belong". If prog was a religion, then this marvellous masterpiece would be deserving of a place on the highest altar in the most magnificent cathedral in the land. It's time to say "Hallelujah" and worship the Prog Gods for blessing us with this praiseworthy offering of manna from prog heaven. |
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Cosmiclawnmower
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Thanks for such an enthusiastic review of one of my all time favourite bands! its a shame they didn't record more! Glad you enjoyed it so much and great to see you back!
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Psychedelic Paul
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Thanks! It's good to be back. It took me all afternoon to write the album review for Quicksand, which wasn't so quick, but it was great fun to write. I'm shaking the sand out of my shoes now. It's the best album I've heard since listening to and reviewing Deep Feeling's album yesterday.
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Psychedelic Paul
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CURVED AIR - Phantasmagoria (1972) Scaramouche, Scaramouche, can you do the fandango? No, it's not THAT Queen. It's "Marie Antoinette", the first song on the album and the tragic last Queen of France before the French Revolution, who was very unfairly executed for "high treason" by guillotine. Not that being executed by guillotine can ever be considered "fair", but that's the French Revolutionaries for you, where the normal rulebook which governed law and order was thrown out the French window and trodden on. Anyway, back to the music, and what we have here is a simply stunning Symphonic Prog masterpiece in the best traditions of Annie Haslam's Renaissance. Sonja Kristina's hauntingly beautiful siren-song vocals really lift this historic song up into prog heaven and beyond on a soaring wave of passionate intensity and raw emotion. Just take a look at these flag-waving nationalistic lyrics in the dramatic fervour of the first verse:- "Marie Antoinette, Your name's a legend, In this land, Treasure for your pleasure, Bestowed on favoured gentleman, The people are in arms, Marching on the town, They rise - Changing revolution! Vive la Nation!" ..... And that's just the beginning, with five more verses to come! It's enough to make you come over all patriotic and stand up for a rousing rendition of the French national anthem, especially if you happen to be French. "Marie Antoinette" is a real masterclass in songwriting, and when the powerful lyrics are combined with surging symphonic splendour, the end result is simply sublime! It's enough to make you go all weak at the knees and leave you with a delicious warm and fuzzy feeling inside. You know the feeling. This orgiastic aural delight will take you as Close to the Edge of experiencing the Big "O" as you can possibly get without even taking your clothes off. Having been lifted to the heights of aural ecstasy and beyond with the stunning opening number, it's time now for the melancholic haunting refrain of "Melinda (More or Less)", a gentle Folk song that's so sweet, you can almost taste the honey. The warm and tender music glides softly over the listener like a light zephyr breeze, sounding as soft and gentle as the gossamer wings of an angel. This lovely song reminds one of the Uriah Heep classic "Come Away Melinda", although Uriah Heep didn't have Sonja Kristina's sweet angelic voice to carry you up to prog heaven on a pleasure-wave of blissful sweet dreams. "Melinda (More or Less)" is truly beautiful with a disposition as gentle and unthreatening as a Golden Labrador puppy playing with a roll of Andrex toilet tissue - if you can still buy a roll of Andrex in the shops. The title of the third song on the album "Not Quite the Same" is a bit of a misnomer, because it represents a complete departure from the first two superlative songs. It's an offbeat and slightly freakish tune, arriving with a fanfare of trumpets and sounding somewhat akin to Curved Air's one and only hit song "Back Street Luv", only quirkier. The kooky song is as eccentric and unexpected as the sight of Arnold Schwarzeneggar ballet dancing to Swan Lake, in a pink tutu. Yes, this bizarre tune might sound as crazy and demented as a box of frogs at times, but if variety is the spice that makes for a great album, Curved Air have scored a hat trick with the first three unique songs on this phantasmagorical feast for the ears. Not only does each song arrive like a breath of fresh (Curved) Air, but the band have also managed to carve out their own distinctive niche of prog that's instantly recognisable to every ardent "progaholic". The fourth song on the album, "Cheetah", is a manic instrumental violin-fest, sounding as fast and nimble as Usain Bolt being chased across the Serengeti by a hungry lion, and finally, closing out Side One comes "Ultra-Vivaldi", which is exactly what it says on the label. It's a brief, ultra-ramped-up version of the original Curved Air classic, only this time it's a crazy synthesiser that's on the rampage intead of a violin, and sounding like Rick Wakeman on steroids! And now for something completely different, as we arrive at the title track, "Phantasmagoria", another strange and quirky tune, but that's no less than what you'd expect from a song called "Phantasmagoria", an off-kilter song which conjures up spooky images of ghosts and ghoulies going through walls in a haunted mansion at midnight, during a thunderstorm. A brief sample of the creepy lyrics gives you a foretaste of what you can expect to hear:- "You run upstairs to lie there, Waiting for the floor to creak and, And something goes bumpity bumpity bump up the stairs, The time has come to wonder, Who could be the owner of that cold clammy hand that's exploring the end of the bed." ..... It's still not safe to come out from under the bed yet though with the seventh "song", "Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway?", which is not really a song at all, but a very unsettling series of scary nightmare images and sounds you might experience in a bad dream, or your worst nightmare. There's no escape from the nightmare either as Curved Air unleash Merry Hell with "Over and Above", a manic Looney Tune that sounds like it belongs in a straitjacket, although it's also rather wonderful too. The band constantly blur the lines between fantasy and reality here and enter a surreal Twilight Zone world, embarking on a wild excursion into the Outer Limits of Prog with unrestrained gay abandon. Finally, it's time to get off the Crazy Train with the funky sound of "Once a Ghost, Always a Ghost", a syncopated funky gibbon groove featuring African tribal rhythms and a vibrant vibraphone too! Curved Air's extraordinary third album is a towering cumulonimbus thunderhead amongst classic prog albums. When you have a band with such a talented line-up as Curved Air, combined with a prog album from the golden year of 1972, you know you have an album that's just as dependable and reliable as a German automobile with a Sat Nav that always points Fritz in the direction of Poland as he's heading down the autobahn. Curved Air's "Phantasmagoria" is quite literally an album of two halves, with Side One featuring some outstanding and memorable prog classics, before going completely off the rails for Side Two, which takes you on a dark descent into madness in a terrifying world of phantasmagorical dreams and nightmares which still sounds crazy after all these years, but only in a good way. It's prog, but not as we know it. If ever an album deserved a place in the Eclectic Prog section of ProgArchives, then it's this offbeat but superb album, which takes prog to new extremes of eclecticism. Choosing not to listen to this fine album would be a bit like having Kate Winslet in your bed and choosing to sleep on the couch instead, and if you only decide to buy one Curved Air album, buying this album is as easy a choice to make as deciding between a holiday on the sunny French Riviera or the permafrost wasteland of Yakutsk in Siberia. Edited by Psychedelic Paul - May 03 2020 at 10:01 |
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Psychedelic Paul
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SALAMANDER - The Ten Commandments (1971)
Album Review #124:- SALAMANDER were a British Proto-Prog quartet who had a brief but bright shining moment in the prog spotlight before slipping away like eels into the swirling mists of time. They came, they saw, but failed to conquer the progosphere with their one and only album "The Ten Commandments" in 1971, which virtually disappeared without trace, until now. Inevitably, it was a concept album, when the proggy concept album was king, with each of the ten songs loosely based on The Ten Commandments, so no surprise there then. You don't HAVE to be of a religious persuasion to enjoy this pompous prog album, because it's not meant to be taken seriously, but it's been ordained by the Prog Gods on high that we need to listen to this album, so let's check it out now, before we incur the wrath of the Prog Gods with a thunderbolt from the blue. Let us pray now, and give thanks to the Prog Gods for blessing us with this awesome album from on high:- "Our Father, Who art in Prog heaven, Give us this album, and forgive us our Genesis "Trespass" album, For thine is the Kingdom of Prog, and the Power and the Glory of Prog, For ever and ever, Amen."
Holy Moses! It's time now to have a listen to the first of the solid Prog-Rock tablets of stone handed down to Moses from the biblical Holy Mount of legend. We're in suitably reverential mood for "Prelude / He Is My God", which opens to the sound of a hauntingly-atmospheric church organ at the grand altar of Progressive Rock. This tremendous cathedral-esque opening number steadily builds up into the most wonderful crypt-kicking crescendo of overblown and pompous prog in all of its grandiose majesty and holy splendour. The religiously-inspired music sounds holier than the stained glass windows in Canterbury Cathedral with a grandness that's as awe-inspiring as the gleaming white marble of the Acropolis of Athens, or an ancient Roman Amphitheatre. You really have to hear this album to believe it, because the music is so powerfully inspirational that it's enough to turn a lifelong atheist into the most devout of religious believers, but that's the power and the glory of almighty Prog-Rock. After such a grand auspicious opening, How on God's Holy Earth do you follow that!?? You follow it with "Images", a dynamic Stormbringer of thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening Heavy Prog that hits you straight between the eyes with the unrelenting pounding and percussive energy of a steamhammer. When you're sufficiently recovered from that sonic attack, you can relax and bask in the warm glow of "People", an altogether gentler refrain that's simply beautiful. It's the kind of gloriously uplifting tune that makes you want to run out into the street and sing "Oh Happy Day" at the top of your voice, despite the strange bemused looks from passers-by. In fact, the entire album has a delightful celebratory air to it that makes you feel glad to be alive and full of the joys of spring, even in the bleak midwinter, in a snowstorm at midnight. Feel free to join in too and sing along with "God's Day", a song that's as bright and radiant as a brilliant ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds, and sounding like a religious hybrid of early Blood, Sweat & Tears, on steroids. This fine upstanding album is like musical Viagra to the ears. It's positively bursting at the seams with joy and love and passion. Side One draws gently to a close now with "Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother", a sweet message of love and devotion that leaves you feeling all warm and cuddly inside. Altogether now, "Ahh!" Opening Side Two in dramatic style, we arrive now at the Sixth Commandment/Song in the Decalogue: "(Thou Shalt Not) Kill", a tremendously rousing and anthemic display of pompous prog in all of its magnificent glory, featuring theatrical spoken word passages (with shades of the Moody Blues), adding a solemn and sombre air to the high drama of the occasion. After all, this is a song about a heinous murder, followed by the dastardly villain being sentenced to death by hanging, so it's literally a matter of life or death, or just a matter of death, as there's no leniency to be shown or expected for the accused here. After that dark depressing tale, it's time to lighten the mood now with the wistfully nostalgic sound of "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery", a gorgeous Folk-Pop refrain, bringing back fond memories of The Seekers in their heyday. Salamander are Bringing on Back the Good Times again here, so it's time to put on those tie-dyed cheesecloth shirts, bright flared trousers and gold platform boots and celebrate the golden era of the early 1970's, when everything was fab and groovy. This uplifting song is positively awash with golden scintillating strings, bathing the listener in a warm radiance of brilliant Sunshine Pop. The music's so bright, you gotta wear shades, and break open a bottle of suntan lotion at the same time. Onto the Eighth Commandment/Song now with "(Thou Shalt Not) Steal", a sonorous non-stop artillery barrage of heavy Heavy Prog, with the dynamic fired-up organ player attacking his keyboards with all of the passionate fury and gusto of a whirling dervish in a sandstorm. No one's going to Steal his thunder here! And so dear friends, we come to Commandment/Song No. 9: "False Witness", a lively and energetic Jazz-Rock number with a bold and brassy attitude - very much in the style of Ginger Baker's Air Force - with the powerful singer imbuing the music with all of the emotional intensity his vocal chords can muster. He was probably in need of a throat lozenge, a stiff drink and a good lie down after that impressive performance. The Tenth Commandment decrees that thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's "Possessions", but you can certainly "covet" this sensational storming Rocker, which rounds off the album in furiously fine style. Salamander have seared a blazing trail of God Almighty Symphonic Prog with the magnificent majesty of their marvellous ultra-rare one-off masterpiece. The Eleventh Commandment of Prog, ordained by the Prog Gods on high, should be that every self-respecting prog fan owns a copy of Salamander's "Ten Commandments". This superb album is as welcome an addition to your prog collection as being given the welcome news that you're to be employed as a stage hand by Fleetwood Mac for one night only, where your job will be to adjust Stevie Nicks' knicker gusset when she's on stage. If, on the other hand, you're lucky enough to already own a rare vinyl copy of this fine album, then that's as lucky as walking into an antiques shop to buy some trinkets and curios, and discovering the Ark of the Covenant for sale at a bargain price. Well, maybe not quite THAT lucky.
The Ten Commandments of Prog:- 1. The Prog Gods are the Lords of Prog and Thou shalt have no other Prog Gods before thee; 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image of a classic Prog-Rock album cover; 3. Thou shalt not take the names of the Lords of Prog in vain; 4. Remember the Black Sabbath day, for the seventh day is for the Holy worship of Prog-Rock; 5. Honour thy father and thy mother's Prog-Rock collection; 6. Thou shalt not murder a classic Prog-Rock anthem; 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery with a fellow Prog-Rock fan's husband or wife; 8. Thou shalt not steal a Prog-Rock album; 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against a fellow Prog-Rock fan; 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's Prog-Rock collection. Edited by Psychedelic Paul - May 07 2020 at 08:22 |
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