ELA ELA

3.5 stars. AXIS were a four piece band from Greece but they were able to move to France in order to have some actual freedom musically and in life. Two of the members(bass/ keyboardist) are the lead singers while the other two add harmonies and backing vocals. The two main singers were part of the APHRODITE'S CHILD backing band which came as no surprise as there is a connection between the sound of these two bands musically. In 1972 this was released in Germany, Canada, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and France. Interesting that The Netherlands release had a different cover and title. It's called "Someone". The Spain release covers all the bases as they called it "Someone/ Ela Ela/ Osanna". The only cd release is from 2013 and they take The Netherland's cover and title but on the spine of the cd it has "Someone/ Ela Ela".

The nine songs range from 3 minutes to 5 1/2 minutes and there is a strong 60's flavour to the music both vocally and instrumentally. Kind of a Folk/ Psychedelic style that is often commercial sounding. The thing is that this is clearly a talented band and they hit some real highs here but I find it inconsistent. Still I found this tough to rate because I like a lot of this and it really ends well with the two longest tunes ending the album. The vocals are a strong point and both lead singers while different from each other they are outstanding. "Osanna" isn't really the best way to start this, it's so commercial sounding and I was sick of hearing it pretty quickly with vocals dominating the sound.

How about the vocals on "Living In" which have so much character and the electric guitar and organ standout. I like those two tracks in the middle "Nothing To Say" and "Long Time Ago". The latter is a psychedelic beauty and a top three. Favourite is "Thought" for the vocals and organ which surprisingly bring SBB's keyboardist to mind when he's ripping it up on the organ and singing. The closer is very good too called "Bad Trip". The crazy thing about this one is the harpsichord. I don't think I've heard that instrument played with such passion before. Just a great sounding tune.

I like the sound of the electric guitar throughout and we get quite a bit of acoustic guitar as well. I would recommend this to anyone to at least check out.

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