MANDALABAND

Had this record been faultless you probably would have heard about it, but sadly this otherwise brave project is a bit plagued by its poor recording sound. Playing it loud helps though. There is actually much to like here; symphonic prog meets (Tibetan) spiritual music. An interesting musical vision with a side long suite as well. Orchestral sound palette including a choir on some passages. The keyboards are not that different from Barclay James, The Enid and ELP and the thick Les Paul guitar leads of Ashley Mulford will probably be enjoyed by fans of Hacket and Hillage. On the second track the band also shows some jazz-inspired chops with particularly fine drumming of Tony Cresswell. The musicianship here is quite good and the compositions do reach some prog bliss heavens - albeit sounding as if they were reached in a bunker. The vocals are fine too, though the lyrics are either not in English or full of dated political cliches. On some tracks the lead vocals are a bit buried in the mix, like on the opening track. The mood is quite glorious, celebratory and heavenly and people who frequent the word 'bombastic' will most certainly have their way here. The instrumental sections are particularly strong compared to the somewhat cheesier song- writing. On 'Om Mani Padme Hum (Movement Four)' the band is particularly on fire with a fine show of forceful prog rock with some great guitar solo's. The second side is bit more straight-forward and therefor more like your typical prog rock. The main riff of side two's opener 'Determination' could have been written by Yes themselves. It has yet another stellar guitar solo. 'Song for a King' sounds like it came straight from a Barclay James Harvest album. The singing on 'Roof of the World' reminds me a bit of Arthur Brown, another nice up-tempo orchestral rock track. The last track 'Looking In' is a mellow track with funk and jazz influences and soulful vocals. It ends the album with a great instrumental break-out. In conclusion; this is a nice curiosity and I'm glad to have owned the vinyl for a while, but it's a dated record that I would only recommend to real collectors of symphonic prog. For eastern influences in progressive rock I would gladly recommend mid-seventies Jade Warrior instead.

The fourth album of the Mandalaband is a step forward. Where the third album misses balance this one has far more better songs and is a nice album to listen to. The songs have heads and tales (in Dutch: kop en staart) and especially 3 songs of the album makes it coherent. I will mention the best song on the album (at least for me): England's Heart and Soul. This song brings me back to the Eye Of Wendor and give me goosebumps, it could also be a hitsingle. There is also a nice rehearsal clip on Youtube of this song with the full band in action. The contribution of Marc Atkinson on vocals and ofcourse Wooly Wolstenholme of BJH (RIP) with a new version of Galadriel sung by the master himself makes it special. The first song on the album A Bloodlineline Born is also a highlight. You can't find the third and fourth album on Spotify, i don't know the reason maybe music licensing. I hope there will be a fifth album, already 10 years have past now, i shall check the website for more details. I rate this album with 3 stars but the 3 special songs on the album makes it 4. Have a fine listening.

As a fan of the Mandalaband, especially the first two albums Mandalaband (1975) and the Eye of Wendor (1978), i saw that they produced after 30 years 2 more albums: Mandalaband III BC: Ancestors (2009) and Mandalaband IV AD: Sangreal (2011). So I decided to download the Mandalaband III album and give it a listen. After 3 listens i asked myself what has happened to this fantastic band? Where is the magic and the melody? I can't get into this album. It's shallow with no inspiration or experience. Sorry guys, after such a long time i was expecting a little bit more than this. It's very disappointing, you can do much better. There are no highlights or songs that will be memorable only the cover and artwork are nice. I hope the Mandalaband IV album will be better (later my review). I rate this album with 1 star but as a fan of the band i'll give it 2.

Mandalaband were a progressive rock project formed in 1974 by David Rohl, who wrote, arranged, mixed and produced their material. Their self-titled debut a year later, a concept album based around Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetans' resistance to the Chinese invasion in the 1950's, had a rather controversial history, mainly due to the removal of founder Rohl by the Crysalis Records label as producer/mixer at the time. The musicians brought together for the project recorded David's compositions as well as additional songs in the same theme, but it was only a last minute decision due to the dissatisfaction of the production that Rohl was brought back in to salvage the recordings. In this case, the decision proved to be a masterstroke, as Rohl clearly had the golden touch that makes `Mandalaband' a truly superb symphonic work loaded with incredible playing, superior vocal performances and classy arrangements - without forgetting to rock out with the best of them constantly as well!

`Mandalaband' is comprised of one long multi-part continuous suite and four shorter pieces, most with frequent lengthy instrumental stretches combining classical, theatrical and symphonic styles. On side A's opening four part twenty-minute side-long work `Om Mani Padme Hum', Renaissance, with John Stimpson's constant upfront coursing bass and Vic Emerson's ravishing piano, and the Rick Wakeman solo works are constant reference points, especially the latter with David Durant's occasionally stuffy yet ambitious vocals and extravagant male/female choral arrangements that burst forth and a final pompous blast of Moog fanfare over a stirring choir. It's a frequently uplifting epic of top-notch instrumental prowess, snappy time-changes and wild soloing, with Tony Cresswell's powerhouse drumming an absolute standout.

What a blast of energy to kick off the second side! `Determination' is a heavy delirious all-out grooving up-tempo rocker with endless red-hot wailing guitar soloing from Ashley Mulford and thick pulsing bass, and with little traces of Greenslade and the Alan Parsons Project , the track works better thanks to a sole lead-vocal from David that ditches the choirs. `Song for a King' brings back the symphonic pomp with a pleasing tune, whimsical synth themes and romantic lead guitars that almost wouldn't have sounded out of place on the early Camel and Caravan albums. `Roof of the World' sounds like an Arthur Brown outtake and is another wilder, dramatic rocker with relentless galloping drumming and break-neck guitar runs, and introspective album closer `Looking In' delivers dreamy electric piano, a sympathetic sobering vocal and carefully implemented jazz/fusion/funk elements before a final burst of power in the closing minute.

Despite brief elements that are rather dated and a little cringe-worthy, the incredible instrumental playing, elegant pomp, strong melodies and ambitious arrangements of `Mandalaband' are all hugely impressive, and much of the album is simply a great and diverse Seventies rock album at heart. Beyond the bluster and frequent bombast is some respectable song-writing, and there's probably never been a symphonic prog album as wild and ballistic as this one, which makes it an intriguing title to investigate!

Three and a half stars.

An album with some merits, but...

Continuing a similar overblown classical sound as on the debut album, producer/composer David Rohl completely retooled the band and brought in an army of musicians for the follow up. The second album featured, among others, all of the original members of 10CC, the current members of Barclay James Harvest, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, and Steeleye Span's Maddy Prior.

The result is, understandably schizophrenic. There is a good amount of symphonic rock, although at many times the orchestral arrangements sound like Mantovani, where true emotion is replaced with heavy pounding on piano keys. The better portions are the tracks that more closely resemble the lighter, slightly folky sound of the Moodies and BJH. 10CC members add to the lushness of the vocals. Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman and Kevin Godley all have standoutmoments, while Lol Crème is left in the background. Maddy Prior's single track, Like The Wind is a fine showcase for her excellent voice.

So this album is a bit uneven, but it is also a slight step up from the debut.

Originally Mandalaband were never destined to exist since the great first album, but, while going to work at Indigo Sound in Manchester in 1976, Rohl was asked to write the soundtrack for a film version of The Lord of the Rings.This movie never appeared in the industry, but, as Rohl had already started working on its music, he finished his composing work around 1978.Without a supporting group he asked his close friends to help him out with the recordings of the so called ''The eye of Wendor'', that ended up to be a fantasy story by Rohl with a Tolkien-esque atmosphere.The result was a line-up of more than 30 musicians/singers, including Woolly Wolstenholme, John Lees, Justin Hayward to name a few, for a process that took place at Strawberry Studios in Stockport.The album was released in 1978 on Chrysalis.

While not exactly moving away from the style of the masterful debut, ''The eye of Wendor'' can be regarded better as an Orchestral Rock album, delivered as a symphony of multiple variations, somewhere in the middle of BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST smooth, melodic orchestrations and THE ENID's more grandiose and Classical-influenced style.No long epics in here, this album consists of 14 very short movements, that are tighly connected to offer a long symphonic-oriented work, where a dreamy and ethereal atmosphere is evident throughout.Plenty of string sections, wind instruments and choirs produce a trully cinematic feeling, perfect for the needs of a similar movie.A few cuts are rather close to sound effects than structured musicianship and the extreme dose of orchestral textures may annoy the traditional prog listener.On the other hand Rohl's ability to create majestic soundscapes is undoubtful with all these nice piano interludes, beautiful, romantic vocal arrangements and Classical sections.Guitars and synthesizers are really measured, used where Rohl thought they should, but definitely adding the work an excellent power.A couple of more GENTLE GIANT-like quirky passages are also present, but seem to be a bit far from an otherwise very atmospheric and at moments dramatic work.Again though, at the end remains a bittersweet taste of the sporadically used guitars of Steve Broomhead, who managed to deliver some amazing melodies.

Absolutely far from the extraordinary compositions of ''Mandalaband'', this albums is a real stunner for all fans of cinematic Art Rock or melodic semi-Symphonic Rock of the BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST school.Still among these short pieces every listener will find plenty of beautiful arrangements with a rockin' attitude.Recommended.

Many years back I managed to lay my hands on the second album by the Mandalaband. I was interested mainly because all members of Barclay James Harvest took part in tha project. The music turned out realy nice, in a way very much different from BJH but also reminiscent of the pastoral atmosphere that BJH used to come up with.

Last week I encountered this album in our local record store and since the album is dedicated to the memory of Woolly Wolstenholme I bought it immediately. I can surely recommend many of you to do the same if you like beautifully crafted, symphonic music with lots of intricate arrangements for flute, oboe, complete orchestras, brass sections, Indian instruments and, last but not least, electric guitar. The melodies are deceivingly simple, the lyrics are rather good telling the story of a holy Sangreal, a cup that could have been the Holy Grail but isn't, the vocals sung by different members of the project are not great but certainly very satisfactory and the overall feeling is just great. There are no stand-out tracks for me, although I like 'A bloodline born' and, of course, 'Galadriel' more than the other songs. I find this a really beautiful album, absolutely stronger than their first two albums (a far better production) because of the richer variety in songs and arrangements. And for those who really like BJH (like me) the fully new arrangement of Galadriel that is added as a bonus track is a absolute must: sung by Woolly, lushly arranged with orchestra, a different tempo yet very recognizable.

The art work is simply stunning, with all lyrics and the players in each song, accompanied by photos of all the people that contributed to the album musically. A very tasteful booklet is the result, a nice gem to look into.

For those who like BJH, Moody Blues, Renaissance or, maybe, the recent albums by Big Big Train, this is an album you won't regret to buy.

This is a tough album to judge. The musicians are absolutely superb. Particularly I find Vic Emerson's keyboards and Tony Cresswell's drums to be up to par with many better known prog performances. But the compositions rarely do them justice.

The album is essentially two parts. The first half is a four part suite called Om Mani Padme Hum. This is a bombastic somewhat symphonic work, that relies heavily on orchestral and choral arrangements. There are some nice passages, but much of it sounds like it was recorded in a vast cavern, giving it a mushy sound. And while compositionally, the music is fairly good, it is spoiled by overly theatrical vocals.

The second half consists of four slightly proggy tracks, that have a sound that reminds me a bit of early Yes, or possibly Flash. Unfortunately, these songs also have the overbearing vocals, which happen to be singing unbearably naive lyrics, all pertaining to Tibet and the Dalai Lama.

There is some intrinsic value to the album, based mostly on the instrumental performances. But I can't give it any more than three stars.

Woolly Wolstenholme's final words

This is the fourth album released under the name of Mandalaband, the first two coming in the 70's (Mandalaband I in 1975 and Mandalaband II in 1978). It then took more than 30 years for Mandalaband III to see the light of day in 2009, and now in 2011 they present us with Mandalaband IV - AD: Sangreal. Like all the previous Mandalaband releases, this one too is a concept album. Musically, it is most similar to Mandalaband III in its pleasant mixture of World Music, New Age, Soft Rock, Symphonic bombast and some more modern sounds. Fans of Mike Oldfield, Barclay James Harvest, The Moody Blues and perhaps Vangelis will probably like this, but this new album is less good than all the previous ones.

Like on previous albums, there is a plethora of instruments played by a number of guests including Woolly Wolstenholme who took his own life shortly after this album was created. In tribute to Woolly, a new version of Barclay James Harvest's Galadriel is attached as a bonus track.

As I have pointed out in previous reviews, Mandalaband is not so much a band as a "project", similar to the Alan Parsons Project. The Alan Parsons of Mandalaband is David Rohl who is the main composer, orchestrator, producer and engineer. He also sings and plays various instruments. And he is also a professor of archaeology!

I recommend investigating the albums of Mandalaband in chronological order, this one is their least interesting so far. It is not bad as such, but it adds little to what they already gave us on the previous album.

Recommended only to fans (if there are any such?!)

Mandalaband - Sangreal

My love for the Mandalaband dates back to 1976, when that tremendous album "Eye of Wendor" was released (on vinyl) with collaborations of members of 10cc, BJH and the Moody Blues(and Maddy Prior of course), what a beautiful album. David Rohl, the initiator of the Mandalaband was/is a producer turned Egyptologist. So it wasn't until 2009 he released, as Mandaland, a follow up on "Eye of Wendor": BC Ancesors. (The previous follow up albums were scrapped due to lack of income/interest for/of the record companies). Not with the "star" line up we saw in "Eye of Wendor" but still with the basic musicians and with Wooly Wolstenholme of Barclay James Harvest, came BC Ancestors in 2009. Now then, out of the blue (for me), the new album "AD Sangreal". With same line up as BC and probably the last musical contribution of Wooly Wolstenholme, he sadly died December 2010. This is a good successor of BC, somewhat more direction in the album I think. A lot more mellow moods as in BC. Not realy prog I think, but not far off. If you like BJH you're well off. What I like the most is the Gregorian chant on the album. But also the more up-tempo songs. For that reason I could compare this album a mix of "Journey" from Janus and the Enid's "Journey's End". As in every Mandalaband's albums there is a story to tell, and this one is: (from the website) Mandalaband IV brings you the legend of the Holy Grail? but not the tradition surrounding King Arthur and the Round Table Knights. This is the story as handed down to us through the Romano-Spanish tradition of the Sangria - the true history of the cup used by Christ at the last supper. Arriving in Europe with Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea, over the centuries, it was transformed into the mystical relic known as the Holy Grail. I think for every BJH fan a must have, for others this is a trully fantastic album if you like a fairy tale style of music, or indeed with a liking of British tradition/myths.