TALES BY GASLIGHT

This is basically a re-release of the two Nolan and Wakeman albums that bookended the turn of the millennium (Well not really since 2001 was really the changeover but who can resist the three zeroes in a row). In addition the boxed set includes a third CD entitled Dark Fables.

A number of reviewers have compared the first two albums to Rick's (I will use the Wakeman's first names to avoid confusion) "Journey to the Centre of the Earth"; I couldn't disagree more. Journey was a mainly instrumental composition punctuated by a few songs. Journey also featured the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, neither of which appear here in person or sound. There is a choir in Jabberwocky, but it sounds nothing like the ECC.

On the other hand, the Nolan and Oliver works are very close to stage musicals/rock operas, whatever you wish to call them. Like the theatre pieces, each "role" is sung by a different singer, and much of it sounds like a Lloyd Webber piece. So much so that when my wife passed my room she said, "That's not the type of music you usually listen to!". And she was right.

Like "Journey" they have a narrator. The narrator takes the place of the stage action and spoken lines, linking the songs together into a coherent story. I wonder whether Nolan and Oliver had hopes of actually staging them as musicals?

Many well-known musicians (some of whom are associated with Rick) appear including, Tony Fernandez, Jon Jeary and the late Peter Banks,

The first album, "Jabberwocky", is based on a Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass". It's full of nonsense words and phrases: "Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe..." It is about a young boy (knight?) who slays the fearsome Jabberwock.

Rick acts as the narrator and does a passable job. I don't particularly enjoy Bob Catley singing on this CD and indeed all the vocals have a stage musical sound. For me the most successful bits are the Instrumentals.

The second album, "The Hound of the Baskervilles", is the more successful of the two. It has a bit less of a stage musical feel and there is a bit more "prog" in it. It follows a similar path to "Jabberwocky" but there is quite a lot more narration as "The Hound" is quite a complex novel, so lots of links are required.

Robert Powell as the Narrator (Dr John Watson of course) has far more gravitas than Rick. Many of the same musicians and singers turn up for a second outing. Again the instrumentals featuring the two keyboardists are the highlights. I especially enjoy the closing "Chasing the Hound".

Both discs have been re-mastered and guitar solos have been added to "The Burgundy Rose" (Jabberwocky) and "Three Threads" (Hound) by David Mark Pearce.

The new CD, "Dark Fables" is a mish-mash of pieces that Nolan and Oliver had written for a third album, "Frankenstein", which didn't get off the ground and pieces not good enough to be included on "The Hound". Oliver rather disingenuously suggests they didn't fit the story, but it begins at 221B, so that would fit, and "The Baker Street Irregulars" is an instrumental. The song excluded from "The Hound", "The Man called Sherlock" is quite plodding and it is obvious why it was cut. The stand-outs on this are "The Overture" and "The Descent into Madness".

I doubt these albums will get played in full again. I'll probably put together a compilation of the better instrumentals (when these guys are good, they are very good). Overall a bit of a disappointment.

Sometime back in the last century, young Mr Nolan and myself were on the way to the pub (all our interviews took place in the pub back then, no idea why), and he was incredibly excited about his next project. "I'm recording an album with Oliver Wakeman" he said to me, "and I'm going to have Rick on it but he will be providing narration and not playing keyboards, that will really mess with people's minds!". By this time in his career Clive had already been working on multiple projects (often many at the same time), some of which were bands but he had also undertaken Strangers On A Train which had seen him bring together different musicians and some singers (BTW ? where is the third album in that set Clive?), and in some ways this was the next logical step.

This set brings together both albums released by Clive and Oliver, namely 'Jabberwocky' and 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' along with 'Dark Fables' which is more of a bonus disc, containing songs from the unfinished 'Frankenstein' project plus a few others which did not make it onto the first two. Here we find Clive really pushing away from the progressive scene and instead much more into theatre, although using many from that genre to provide the music and vocals. Bob Catley (Magnum) and Tracy Hitchings (Quasar, Landmarq) are two key lead singers on both albums, but Ashley Holt is also involved and he is not the only Rick Wakeman musician as Tony Fernandez is also here, while Clive also reached into his back pocket to involve Karl Groom (Threshold) who was involved in virtually everything Clive was doing back then, as well as the likes of John Jowitt, Peter Gee etc.

'Jabberwocky' has less in the way of narration, but Rick does a nice job, while the songs and performances are a delight throughout. I have always felt that Tracy has been an under-utilised and somewhat under-rated singer, and throughout this and the next album she is an absolute delight, certainly showing no sign of nerves of being pitted against Bob Catley. Playing this album now, one can almost feel this is a transitional piece in some ways, as Clive and Oliver moved into theatrical but not leaving the prog world too far behind. There was a higher concentration on performances and songs than spoken word, and while there are some incredible passages, in some ways they were holding back a little.

After it had been released, Clive was at one of Rick's parties where he met Robert Powell. The actor said he had enjoyed 'Jabberwocky' and would be pleased to be involved in the next one, which is how he came to be an integral part of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. I have no hope at all of saying anything useful about this album as not only has it been one of my favourites ever since it was released, it was also the same for one of my daughter's and there was a solid year when it was the only music played in the car when she was in it (strangely enough, one of her older sisters had the same affinity with the debut Shadowland album). It is the perfect bringing together of music and narration, telling the story of Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes and the case of the hound of the Baskervilles. Clive and Oliver have warmly embraced the storytelling, and have combined to produce an album which to my mind is incredibly important to this day. Just putting this on the player was like listening to an old friend and I was immediately transported back in time and up to Dartmoor.

It is a faultless album from start to end, and if one listens to this with an open mind with no expectation of it being an overbearing progressive masterpiece then there is much to be gained from it. Yes, of course there are proggy elements but there are also times when we get Russian folk dancing, classical, theatre, and so much more. Powell adds a certain gravitas, something which comes through with the singing as well, where all the performances have been taken to a new level.

'Dark Fables' is in many ways a bonus disc, and as I have only just written my review I suggest you seek that out separately, but to hear Rick closing the complete set with his rendition of "The Jabberwocky" is fitting.

For those who did not come across these albums the first time around then now is the time to discover the wonderful music of Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman. They have stood the test of time, while 'Baskervilles' will always be a classic in my mind.