THE HOUSE ON THE HILL

I never thought that two people would get a jump on this great band before I did . This is a all-too-forgotten group that recorde on thr Charima label along Genesis and VDGG. Although very different , Wreth's vocals can remind me of Gnidrolog and Hamill's incredible voice. The sax can remind you of David Jackson , but is there more connection to VDGG? I think not as this an eclectic band that can irk you for those very reasons afore-mentioned , but also please you for those exact reasons also challenging your ears . This is the album one should start with and work backwards. I can't be sure of this but on the back cover , it looks as though , it is Hugh Hopper of Soft Machine being dragged out of the house. As for the numbers on here my fellow reviewers mentioened all those fantastic numbers and they are rght on the spot. Jump on this and its predecessor. Well worth the hunt, but to my taste the next one (Lunch) is to be avoided.

I would go near that House on the Hill

Without a doubt, Audience's finest album, and a worthy addition to any prog rock collection to boot.

The opening "Jackdaw" is a fine blend of jazz and rock influences, with Howard Werth's vocals ranging from an almost threatening tone, to a sort of hammed up vaudeville as he sings ".. might as well, rent-a-tent". The heavy sax of the main theme gives way to a fine instrumental passage led off by soft Gabriel like flute solo, moving through fuzz guitar, and sax. A very powerful and striking opening track.

"You're not smiling" and "I had a dream" are more commercial but nonetheless highly melodic tracks, the former incorporating a sing-along refrain, while the latter has a beautifully haunting melody. Werth's sometimes under appreciated voice suits these two tracks ideally. He can at times attempt to insert too much of his own personality in a song, but here he plays it straight, and to great effect.

The title track is a wonderfully "spooky" piece. You can sense the "fear" in Werth's voice as he sings "I wouldn't go near that house on the hill" (vibrato on the word hill!). Between the song and the complementary picture on the sleeve, you can't help but be reminded of the house in the Hitchcock film "Psycho". As with "Jackdaw" there is a lengthy instrumental section led off by flute. Unfortunately this degenerates a bit with a brief drum solo and aimless jazz influenced section, but when the pace picks up again, the quality is also restored.

The remaining tracks struggle to justify sitting along the fine pieces discussed above They include a sub-standard cover of the classic "I put a spell on you" (for me, Creedence Clearwater Revival came up with the definitive rock cover of that song), and a couple of other throw away pieces. There is however enough top quality music here to satisfy most who hear the album, a fine offering indeed.

The only album by Audience that I've heard so far is an excellent brew of folk, jazz and blues-rock with the odd instrumental work out. Far from being the most complex of groups, The Audience relies on a mixture of rootsy charm and quirky arrangements to win you over. The melodic work of Keith Gemmell (who plays sax. flute and clarinet) and Howard Werth's lead vocals are perhaps most memorable elements of the group's sound, but what really sticks in my mind is that Audience makes music that makes me smile.

As the album is a general consistent affair, it's almost a shame to pinpoint distinct highlights, but from a progressive standpoint some songs do stand out. The opener Jackdaw begins life as a fierce melodic jazz-rock riff, then mutates into a pastoral flute and acoustic guitar reverie, before an extended fuzz guitar solo and a brief sax solo effort brings things full circle. Then there's Raviole which is full of exquisite classical guitar moments, on which Howard Werth shows no little skill ... he is aided and abetted by some sympathetic orchestral arrangements from the man who did the best string arranging I've ever heard ... Robert Kirby (who is responsible for the glorious strings on Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left album). The third real highlight is the dark frantic title track ... wild brass careening acoustic guitars, echoed vocals, darting flutes, a brief drum solo from Tony Connor ... this is a stupendous treat if you can get in the mood.

When it comes to the more straight-laced tracks, Audience is no less skilled. You're Not Smiling has a wonderful singalong chorus that could have packed the terraces during the glam era, and I Had A Dream is another wonderful song with a glorious gospel sound that is curiously catchy ... it's almost the kind of song that The Band might cut. Indian Summer is another mellow rootsy piece that has a joyous explosion of a chorus. Then there's an intriguing psychedelic "sinister folk" cover of Screaming Jay Hawkins' signature tune I Put A Spell On You.The driving, brassy Nancy and Eye To Eye, which really sounds like a spoof theme song of some 60s spy show, are probably the least memorable efforts, but they are not bad.

As I said, the one thing that stands out about The House On The Hill is that even though not all its components are experimental, the band almost never fail to put a smile on my face through the sheer quality of the music on offer. ... 72% on the MPV scale

Audience hit their high stide on 1971's masterpiece, "The house on the hill" featuring the distinctive vocals of Howard Werth and his electric classical guitar work. Audience were definitely not a prototypical progressive rock band...more prog-folk that explores a multitude of connecting genres including jazz, baroque, fusion and even Renaissance-era. Musically, "Audience" combined classical guitar with tenor sax, clarinet, flute, bass, vibes and percussion. This album defies catergorization and ranges from classical rock to Van Der Graaf sax-like dark passages to the art pop influences of 10CC...to the Incredible String Band, CCR, Badfinger and on and on.... Void of heavy mellotron, electric guitar and long epic tracks, yet this album still hits a great artistic high and resonates with a progressive sensitivities. A great album

I borrowed this cd from my Brother in law, who told me the singer sounds like Axel Rose. I read others who described his vocals as a cross between Axel Rose and Ozzy, so you get the idea.

"Jackdaw" is my favourite song on this record. And the one where Howard's vocals do remind me of the singers mentioned above. Although when he sings "...keep away from my back door". I'm reminded of the singer who died from ALICE IN CHAINS.The sax, piano, clarinet and flute are all well done on this song. Great tune ! "Your'e Not Smiling" is an ok song with classical guitar. "I Had A Dream" is a mellow song with more classical guitar and drums. "Raviole" is a highlight with the intricate guitar melodies throughout and added strings.

"Nancy" is another good one. An uptempo tune with some fantastic sax reminding me a lot of the PSYCHEDELIC FURS. The song becomes more passionate 2 minutes in. "Eye To Eye" is a catchy song with flute leading the way. It's all over this one like a JETHRO TULL tune. "I Put A Spell On You" features vocals that are theatrical at times. More flute and classical guitar. "The House On the Hill" is my second favourite. Lots of tempo and mood shifts. I like the way his vocals quiver as he sings the word "hill". Flute solo 2 minutes in as it gets pastoral for around 4 minutes until we get back to the original melody. Very good song. "Indian Summer" is another good song with some impressive sax.

Overall I found this record had it's highs and lows, a little inconsistant for my tastes. Good album though.

Audience play rock music with just hints of prog rock. This album according to most reviewers should be their crowning achivement. I disagree even though this album is very good.

I really love Audience debut album for it´s raw and unpolished style, Audience second album Friend's Friend's Friend is a transitional album as it is a teaser showing what Audience would become on this their third album. I was not too impressed with that one, but this one is a little better. The debut is my favorite though and the one I will recommend.

House on the Hill is driven by Howard Werth´s voice and Keith Gemmell´s flute and sax playing. This was also the concept on previous releases. Howard Werth has a very powerful voice and IMO he is a fantastic vocalist. Likewise Keith Gemmell is a great wind and brass player.

The songs are very much in the same vein as on Friend's Friend's Friend, just a notch better composed. A song like Jackdaw is very powerful to my ears while there are other songs that are a bit trivial. All songs are performed flawlessly of course as these are competent musicians. I must admit to being a bit disappointed asI feel the album is pretty average. Especially the title track is disappointing to me. I heard the version that is a bonus track on the debut and it´s a great song. Here it is extended with a sax solo and a Howard Werth that doesn´t sound as convinsing as on the debut bonus track.

My conclusion is that allthough this is a good rock/ prog album, it never reaches excellent and I will have to give this one 3 stars and recommend Audience fantastic debut instead. This one is better than Friend's Friend's Friend though.

Audience were another of those early British progressive rock bands that would have deserved to achieve greater fame than they actually did. Their third album, "The House on the Hill" was released one year before the band called it a day in 1972, after the flop of their fourth disc, "Lunch" (originally meant as a concept album). Unfortunately, as happened to far too many of the bands that were active in those heady years, they fell victim to internal strife, and ended up being forgotten by all but the more dedicated followers of the genre.

More melodic than the likes of East of Eden (another unjustly overlooked, early prog band), Audience had an idiosyncratic approach to music, involving an unusual lineup with two percussionists, a noticeable lack of keyboards, and the pervasive presence of woodwind instruments (courtesy of the very underrated Keith Gemmell). One could indeed go as far as to say that the woodwinds are the real driving force behind the band's distinctive sound, together with Howard Werth's dramatic, high-energy vocals.

Although "The House on the Hill" can strike the listener as a definitely upbeat album, its title-track is in fact a rather dark offering, hinting at mysterious, disturbing goings-on in the titular mansion. At over 7 minutes, it is the longest track on the album (together with opener "Jackdaw"), and the most interesting by far, with its screaming saxophones and quiet, eerie, flute-and-percussion-driven bridge, complete with ominous sound effects that let the imagination run wild. Werth's vocal performance is particularly impressive on this song, as on the aforementioned "Jackdaw" - an angular, jazzed-up song in which the singer offers a very convincing Hammill impersonation. He also proves himself no slouch on his main instrument, the classical guitar, as shown by the exquisite instrumental "Raviolé". Compared with these three, the remaining songs on the album are not equally impressive, though undeniably interesting and well-constructed, with their blend of disparate influences - folk, blues, jazz, even gospel, like in the soothing ballad "I Had a Dream".

On the whole, "The House on the Hill" is a solid album in the best art-rock tradition, sufficiently eclectic to appeal to dyed-in-the-wool prog fans, ultimately uplifting (in spite of the title track's sinister slant), and full of memorable melodies that can appeal to those more inclined towards the mellower end of the musical spectrum. While not a masterpiece, it keeps up a consistently high level of quality, and as such deserves far more exposure than it usually gets - even on sites or magazines specialised in progressive rock. If you can get hold of it, this album will definitely be a worthy addition to your collection.

I picked this album up after reading a praising review on AllMusic.com back in 2003 and I was really surprised since it was my first experience of this great band!

The album begins with a real in-you-face sound of Jackdaw which pretty much summarizes everything that you have to know about this band in order to appreciate the rest of the performance. Soon the music turns to the softer side with You're Not Smiling, I Had a Dream and the wonderful acoustic instrumental called Raviole! After that the material comes back to the album opener territory with Nancy and the weird but nevertheless enjoyable performance on Eye To Eye. The last three tunes are here to guide the listener towards the album conclusion which consists of a Folk-cover of I Put A Spell On You, which fortunately enough isn't expanded into a 20+ minute jam-session, followed by the great album title-track and the sweet Indian Summer.

I really recommend this album to fans of Prog Folk à la Jethro Tull...Whoops! Audience is now considered to be Eclectic Prog although I personally don't see the connection since The House On The Hill is in my opinion highly representative of the Prog Folk-movement of the '70s. Did I mentioned that there is a flute player here? But I guess that there is only one way for all of you to find that out!

***** star songs: You're Not Smiling (5:12) Raviole (3:38)

**** star songs: Jackdaw (7:28) I Had A Dream (4:17) Nancy (4:14) Eye To Eye (2:30) I Put A Spell On You (4:08) The House On The Hill (7:27) Indian Summer (3:16)

Total Rating: 4,21

A fantastic little album which uses the flute, clarinet and sax stylings of Keith Gemmell to great effect, fans of early prog should not be put off by the fact Audience don't use keyboards - this has a big, lush sound worthy of any of the band's competitors like Rare Bird or Van der Graaf Generator - though with a bit more jazz influence than either. Howard Werth's vocals are powerful and haunting, and work especially well on the accusatory Jackdaw and the eerie title track. The album isn't perfect - I thought Eye to Eye was a bit underbaked (and, indeed, early US editions of the album left it off in favour of a track from the previous album) - but otherwise it's a great little gem from the early prog era, one which I'm surprised hasn't achieved more attention.

This is a wondeful little gem that should be re-discovered, probably the most important effort by Audience.

The band doesn't use any keyboards' sound. The structure of music is based on guitars (acoustic mainly) and, above all, a SUPERB gruff saxophone (and clarinet) playing that reminds the typical VAN DER GRAAF mood, as it's evident up to the powerful opening number "Jackdaw". The album sounds eclectic, folky, baroque, periodically turning into avant-garde and jazz.

Some reviewers have linkened "I Had A Dream" to Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heavens Door" which was written - from what I know - in 1972 or 1973, quite some time after Audience's track (so to say how far Audience's influence spread). Other highlights are "Raviolé" (beautiful folk and classical arrangements) and the pleasant "Indian Summer" (nice flute).

The title track is simply stunning with those alternatings between crispy vocals and mad saxes, with slow interludes, flute, drums' solo, excellent bass playing.

This record was certainly written and composed during the golden hours of the early seventies: highly recommended.

In the vein of acts like Traffic and Gnidrolog, Audience combines the natural feeling of styles of folk and blues and the more musically engaging styles of jazz and classical. It's prog rock in a non-traditional stance, and that's what makes HOUSE ON THE HILL as exciting as other proggier albums.

Think of Audience as Gnidrolog's rhythm section (that good) with Van der Graaf Generator's woodwinds and a unique lead singer with a distinctive voice and plays strictly acoustic guitars. The delicacy of the acoustic guitars mixed in with the thrust of everything makes a near perfect sound balance that few can match. Maybe that explains the relative obscurity of Audience; the sound, while great, was hard to categorise, and that seems to have made it difficult for Audience to achieve even cult status.

On this particular album, the North Americans again get the better bargain much like on MOONTAN. Sure, Europe got the snappy ''Eye to Eye'', a great song in its own right and better than ''It Brings a Tear'', but the order on the NA release is better. I know there isn't much of a difference, but ''Indian Summer'' does not sound like a track that should close the record; it opens the record on the NA release, much more suitably too. The slow moving yet epic ''Jackdaw'' doesn't sound like an opener to me. I know I'm being nitpicky, but still?

HOUSE ON THE HILL can thrust power when it needs to; the title track is a perfect fusion of blues, rock and folk with an extended jam session at the right spot. The saxophone solo with two echoes is quite imaginative, and it's a few years before Mr. Freddie tried that when singing about prophets. There are also calmer, quieter bits as offsets. The beautiful rendition of Screamin' Jay's ''I Put a Spell on You'' is a slice of freshness to a normally sinister piece (it still kind of sounds that way), and classical buffs will enjoy the interceding orchestra on ''Raviole''.

There are times when HOUSE ON THE HILL compromises the two dynamic levels. ''You're Not Smiling'' executes this near flawlessly. The softness of the verses crescendoing into that haunting vocal/sax line is pure music euphoria.

It's hard to rate an album like HOUSE ON THE HILL on a prog site, but it belongs here and it's one of the better albums of this genre. The country-fied ''Nancy'' is the only blemish I could find (either version, it's on both), and even then, Howard Werth's vocal delivery saves the song. Highly recommended.

I bought the American LP on Elektra was a bit miffed to see that "Eye to Eye" wasn't on it. Also I noticed "Indian Summer" in its place, plus one song off Friend's Friend's Friend, "It Brings a Tear". Turns out "Indian Summer" was a single the band put out around this time and became a minor hit, but as usual in the UK that song never made it on LP, but did in the States, at the expense of a truly great song. At first I didn't like the album, I think it was a lot to do with Howard Werth's voice. I have since found the original UK LP on the pink scroll Charisma label, so I can get "Eye to Eye". To me, this music sounded strangely like if Van Morrison was backed up by Van der Graaf Generator, if Van Morrison had artsy ambitions, that is (since Van Morrison's music is anything but art rock, never mind prog, and his music is very much R&B based, it's no wonder he's a darling to rock critics everywhere). "Jackdaw" is without a doubt one of the great high points of the album, I especially dig those extended jazzy jams. "You're Not Smiling" I couldn't stand, and even to this day I still have trouble with it. "I Had a Dream" bears more than a passing resemblance to Moondance-era Van Morrison, the band even managed to create that "And It Stoned Me" vibe in the song, I can't help but think of that Morrison song upon hearing "I Had a Dream". "Raviole" is a largely instrumental orchestral piece with nice acoustic guitar playing. "Eye to Eye" is an incredible piece with more than a passing resemblance to Jethro Tull. They do perhaps one of the most interesting take on the blues standard "I Put a Spell on You" (Screamin' Jay Hawkins') giving it a wonderful jazzy bent to it, complete with flute. Seems everyone from the Crazy World of Arthur Brown to the very mainstream Creedence Clearwater Revival wanted to take on this song, but nothing like how Audience did it. The title track is amazing! I really dig the lyrics, it sounds like how kids may feel of some creepy house on the hill and how they want to avoid it, so the song really has an ominous vibe. Also there's some great proggy passages to go with it, especially the nice flute.

It's one of those album I didn't care for at first, and while I still don't care for "You're Not Smiling", the album really grew on me. Wonderful stuff that I can highly recommend.

20-Year Chronological Run-Through pt. Nine: 1971.

London-based group AUDIENCE debuted in front of a live audience in Marquee Club, February 1969 and signed a recording contract with Polydor. The eponymous debut came out the same year. The tours over Europe made them popular especially in Italy, and soon they were Charisma label mates with Van der Graaf Generator and Genesis. For their sax parts they share some charasteristics with VdGG, whereas the more delicate moments featuring nylon guitar and flute have some reminiscence with Trespass-era Genesis. Otherwise Audience's music is more blues flavoured like the early Jethro Tull. Vocalist-guitarist Howard Werth has a voice reminiscent of Mick Jagger, Van Morrison or Robert Plant.

The most appreciated album of this fairly short-lived band is undoubtedly the third one, House on the Hill, produced by Gus Dudgeon. In addition to the lengthy title track, a prog listener might be charmed in particular by the many- sided instrumental 'Raviolé', which in its Baroque nuances remind me of focus and Anthony Phillips. Rough songs like 'kackdaw' and 'Nancy' are like missing link between the rock'n'roll of The Rolling Stones and the prog of Jethro Tull or VdGG with their sophisticated arrangements. The strong interpretation of the old Jay Hawkins number 'I Put a Spell on You' is IMHO better than Arthur Brown's version three years earlier.

Despite good reviews the album sold poorly, and after the weak fourth album Lunch (1972) the band collapsed, although in 2004 they made a comeback, in a live context only.