QUATERMASS

Quatermass is one of the myth of the seventies subterrean scene, even because at the time they sold very little and so they couldn't bring out another albums after their self-titled debut. It was a pity, because they certainly had talent and not receiving a prize for their efforts must have been degreeding. Later, this created quite a hype among prog fans, who eventually recovered it from the mould and gave it the attention it deserved. Many have then hailed this record as a masterpiece, sometimes claiming the band's outstanting superiority on Emerson Lake & Palmer, who gained an extremely wider success in the same era with an analog line up (bass and vocals- keyboards- drums) and playing ideas. I'd just say that Quatermass is surely a good album, but I would not exactly agree with its milestone fame. There are certainly good ideas and undeniable technical skills, especially for the keyboard player- Peter Robinson- and the drummer- Mick Underwood. There are good songs such as Post war Saturnday Post- which seems a traditional blues number, but it's torn apart by Robinson's weird and alienaiting solos, from the majestic introduction to the robotic, synthetized sounds in the ending. Gustafson seems overall quite attached to blues canons in singing- just check out Up on the ground and Gemini, he fills the verses with high pitched, rough shoutings- but the compositions are made precious by the band's jams, and again- Robinson and Underwood are the protagonists in this domain. The record even contains a couple of short numbers: the catchy and nice Black Sheep of the family and the relaxing, string-wrapped Good Lord knows, and even Entropy, which opens and closes the album in an unearthly atmosphere. Sadly enough the instrumental jam of Laughin' Tackle seems quite too untidy and messy to endure the challange of time, revolving on itself without finding any clear idea to work on. A good debut, but the group was still trying to find its own style, and it's sad they were not given the possibilities to do it, because they would probably had come out with some more surprising and homogeneous records. However they proved their worth working as session men for many other artists, and their talent became widely recognized. Quatermass remains a very good record to listen to, particularly if you can appreciate a good and original keyboard style.