STRANGE PLEASURE ; NEW DAWN

This rather obscure British band had very original style. Besides Jazz Rock / Fusion, as they are categorized here, they played Brass Rock and Folk Rock with Medieval/Renaissance flavour, thus reminding at times either bands like IF, FLOCK and CHICAGO - or GRYPHON, who came a bit later. On more acoustic songs they approach bands like PENTANGLE or FOREST. Quite safe to say they are criminally undernoticed, if only one person before me has reviewed them!

This 2-in-1 disc I found from Helsinki Library (Finland). The release is really poor in the outlooks; no band historics or such, and even a confusing track listing. But a handy package to get both albums at once if only the music matters.

[A personal confession: Like with dozens of prog bands I've burnt into CD's during recent years, I am not yet that familiar with the music to give a deep review. This has always been my problem being a PA reviewer (unless I write about classics I've known for ages, of course). Well, in Galliard's case I won't compete with Sean Trane who has reviewed both albums analytically.]

To me these albums were quite uneven, ie. I chose only a handful of tracks for myself. Most likely I rejected songs of the Brass Rock wing (though GALLIARD are less brassy than IF which I liked less) and favoured more folkish ones. Or maybe it wasn't so much a case of unevenness but "less of this is enough" way of thinking. But anyway there were many songs I enjoyed, and I can recommend this band to anyone interested in the mentioned bands.