THE TIME MACHINE: COLLECTION

This is one of the pivotal progressive bands that emerged in the second part of the Sixties. However the progressive world was more impressed by The Nice and King Crimson, so in my opinion Colosseum is a bit understimated progrock band. In '68 the founding members were drummer Jon Hiseman, saxophone player Dick Heckstall-Smith and bass player Tony Reeves, later joined by Dave Greenslade (keyboards), Dave Clempson (guitar), Chris Farlowe (vocals) and Mark Clark, he replaced Tony Reeves. Colosseum made three studio albums: "Those Who Are To Die We Salute You" and "Valentyne Suite" (both from '69) and "Daughter Of Time" ('70). The music is a progressive mix of several styles (rock, jazz, blues) with lots of sensational solos and captivating interplay. In '71 the band released their highly acclaimed live album "Colosseum live", a proove of their great skills on stage but also showing that at some moments the compositions sounded a bit too stretched. After Colosseum was disbanded in '71, most of these members formed or joined known groups like Humble Pie (Clem Clempson), Atomic Rooster (Chris Farlowe), Greenslade (Dave Greenslade re- united with Tony Reeves) and Colosseum II (founded by Jon Hiseman).

In '91 the label Castle Communications released this comprehensive compilation CD entitled "The Time Machine". It's a good impression of Colosseum their varied sound: catchy and swinging with strong vocals, raw guitarwork, lots of saxophone and floods of Hammond organ in Walking In The Park and Those About To Die, bluesy in Theme For An Imaginary Western and Butty's Blues, flute in The Machine Demands A Sacrifice and vibraphone in Rope Ladder To The Moon. The final two tracks are live: lots of jazzy saxophone in Tanglewood '63 and an impressive and powerful drum solo in The Time Machine. But the absolute highlight on this CD is the epic titletrack of their second album entitled The Valentyne Suite (almost 17 minutes). It starts with a fluent rhythm delivering strong work on organ, saxophone and vibraphone, then a wonderful mellow part with Grand piano and wailing saxophone. Next we can enjoy a churchy Hammond organ sound and powerful bass runs, culminating in a swinging rhythm with swirling Hammond organ, jazzy saxophone and a propulsive rhythm-section, very exicting and the interplay between the musicians is outstanding! The rhythm slows down and Dave Greenslade delivers a Hammond solo with a kind of wah-wah sound, spectacular. After a bass solo the guitarist plays a long, bluesy oriented solo with wah-wah. The final part has a very dynamic atmosphere with great interplay between organ, sax, guitar and the rhythm-section, Colosseum at their best!

This band needs a bit more attention on Prog Archives and especially if you like the omnipresent sound of the saxophones (Dick could play saxophones simultaneously!) and Hammond organ, Colosseum will not disappoint you!