THE LOST TAPES

Dutch Prog Nostalgia Part Three. In the second half of the Seventies I was becoming a huge Genesis fan, this is still my favorite progrock band. One day a schoolmate asked me to join him on a concert, given by the band of his brother who played bass. According to his enthousiastic stories, this band should be a must for symphonic prog fans! Well, from the first moment I watched Plackband I was in love with their wonderful, 24-carat symphonic prog sound: Moog Taurus bass pedals, ARP Pro Solist synthesizer, Mellotron M400 and guitarwork with often use of the volume-pedal, this was Heaven for 70-77 Genesis fans! Plackband got a huge cult-following and they even did a concert that was broadcasted on the Dutch radio. Unfortunately Plackband never released an album, only the single Seventy Warriors, nowadays a collector's item. Thanks to the efforts of Dutch proghead Jerry Van Kooten (from the Dutch Progresive Rock Page), this live CD was released. It contains all the 'classic' Plackband songs from the Seventies, including the dynamic The Good Earth (great soli on guitar and keyboards), the compelling The Hunchback featuring singer Kees Bik his 'stage antics, the exciting Sign Of The Knife and the 'crowd pleaser' Seventy Warriors'. The sound quality is not optimal, the vocals by Kees Bik will not be everybody's cup of tea but if you love 70-77 Genesis inspired prog, you should give this live CD by Plackband (recorded in 1981) a try!

If ever you would like to take a journey into the "Genesis" world, "Plackband" might well be for you. I only discovered this Dutch band recently while I was attending a show of "The Musical Box" (a fantastic "Genesis" tribute band) in Amsterdam. Plackband" was the support act and their short half an hour set was rather convincing and pleasant to listen to for an old nostalgic as I am (which is the case of 100 % of the crowd attending such concerts).

Actually, several tracks of this album are quite influenced by the masters to say the least (a bit too much IMO). The opener is also a kaleidoscope into the giant's repertoire : some notes of "I Know What I Like" to start, demonstrative vocals a la PG (in the style, not in the voice), fully Banks oriented keyboards and a Hackett solo. And the song get back to "I Know what I Like" at the end. All this in eight minutes! Another example being "End Of The Line" for instance. A clone of "Squonk".

"The Good Earth" is the longest song featured on this live album which was recorded long ago. It is probably the most personal one, but too much extended with passionless soli.

My favorite song out here is "Sign Of The Knife". It opens on a long and sweet instrumental part, fully Gabriel-esque vocals this time and lots of emotional symphonic breaks. The last song "Seventy Warriors" is the most rocking one. The lead singer will introduce to song in Dutch and tells us that it was a self-released single by the band. Tony Banks seems to be a guest here on the synthesizers.

"Plackband" is not a very original band of course, but once in a while it is pleasant to listen to this work. You have to accept though that the sound of the masters is "borrowed". Due to the old age of these songs (late seventies), this album belongs more to the symphonic genre than the neo-prog one.

Three stars.

Veteran Dutch outfit,formed in 1977 in Hauge,which became more mature through a small number a gigs in the Netherlands and even recorded an EP with two songs in 1978.A record company was interested in the band,but pushed them towards a more commercial sound.The members denied and this was PLACKBAND's end (in 1982).A reunion at the dawn of the new millenium brought the tape of their last performance at ''De Paap'' in Hague on Christmas Eve 1981,which was remastered and released as a private pressing in 2000.

STYLE: Pure Symphonic Rock in the old GENESIS tradition with influences from both 70's era's.They present also a good amount of fairly complex interplays,some jazzy traces here and there and a slight early 80's neo-influence,but the music focuses strongly on the expressive vocals and refined melodies.Guitars are full of HACKETT-like sounds,while keyboardist Michel van Wassem had to be a big fan of TONY BANKS (take some listens on his work on moog).

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: GENESIS for 90% of the album plus a hidden FOCUS/YES impact on their sound.

PLUS: Very good orchestrations,decent record quality, series of delicate melodic parts and good instrumental interplays,the singer has an OK voice,without being exceptional or copying Gabriel's vocals as many GENESIS wannabees,a few fantastic keyboard passages.

MINUS: Total absence of originality.Parts of the album good could have been easily on a GENESIS album without even noticing it.Also a better singer could have easily given the band the appropriate lift.

WILL APPEAL TO: Die-hard fans of vintage GENESIS and followers of calm Symphonic and Classic Progressive Rock in general.

CONCLUSION/RATING: 3.5 stars,a quite good album of Classic Progressive Rock with a few excellent parts.