25TH ANNIVERSARY BEST

Novela is perhaps one of the most popular and pivotal (prog)rock bands in Japan. Between 1980 and 1987 they delivered many albums. The sound on the first records was 'heavy progressive', later Novela turned more into a harder-edged rock band. The band featured two known 'Japanese progrock legends': keyboard virtuoso Toshio Egawa (later Gerard and Sheherazade) and multi-instrumentalist Terutsugu Hirayama (he founded Teru's Symphonia). The first four albums contain both short, more heavy up-tempo tracks as long, very symphonic compositions with lush keyboards (many majestic Mellotron waves). In 1993 Japanese label Nexus released the compilation CD entitled Symphonic World (7 tracks), that album includes all their 'epic' Mellotron drenched songs along a few shorter tracks.

The CD of the CD/DVD set 25th Anniversary Best (compiled by the six original members) contains 10 songs, the focus is more on the shorter tracks, only two compositions are 'epic' (including the wonderful Lettica). These two are beautiful and very moving with the Mellotron drenched eruptions as symphonic rock highlights, in the vein of the legendary In The Court Of The Crimson King waves of Mellotron! The DVD (34 minutes, different concerts) delivers for the first time in the Japanese progrock history live footage from Novela. Despite the 'bootleg quality', for me it was very exciting to see my Japanese keyboard hero Toshio Egawa, surrounded by an array of keyboards, including a Hammond organ and Minimoog synthesizer, this is the Japanese equivalent of Wakeman, Emerson and Jobson! But most of the music is 'heavy progressive' with lots of metallish guitar soli, a thundering rhythm-section and high-pitched Japanese vocals. It's great to see how popular this band was in Japan (a mega-status) and how 'macho-androgyn' they looked with their painted eyes and nails, silk shirts and coloured tight leather trousers, very distinctive! If you are up to heavy prog and Japanese vocals, this band deserves a further investigation.

Thanks to Japanese proghead Honganji for his translation of the track- listing!