ROGER GLOVER

"The Butterfly Ball" is really one long suite of music with all of the nineteen songs segueing into each other. As "Dawn" breaks on the album, we hear the sound of birdsong and the melodious sound of a synth, conjuring up images of a peaceful Sunday morning spent lazing in bed. This leads us nicely into the bright and lively "Get Ready", with the quirky sound of the synth giving the song a New Wave feel to it, before the term "New Wave" had even been invented. Remember, this is 1974 we're talking about here. The song is a real rocker at heart though, with Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple given a chance to really stretch his vocal chords. Next up is "Saffron Dormous and Lizzy Bee", a very silly song title with silly lyrics to match, but with a childishly charming appeal. Barry St. John & Helen Chappelle share vocal duties on this cheap and cheerful little number with its happy-go-lucky vibe. It's only a mere 90 seconds long and it sounds a little offbeat and off-the-wall, but being "Off The Wall" never did Michael Jackson's career any harm. The next song "Harlequin Hare" barrels along at a rapid hare's pace with the relatively unknown singer Neil Lancaster doing his best impression of David Essex. Burrowing onwards now with "Old Blind Mole", featuring John Goodison (who?) on vocals. It's a playful lyric sung in the nursery rhyme style of "Old King Cole". It's short and sweet at 70 seconds long, featuring the sound of a tabla drum, which somehow reminds one of Indian curries and poppadoms. Fluttering into view comes "Magician Moth", a mournful synthesiser piece, featuring the man himself, Roger Glover on keyboards, proving there are many more strings to his musical bow than "just" being a bass player in a Hard Rock band. Next up is "No Solution", a brassy and rollicking Jazz-Rock number which you could be forgiven for thinking it's titled "Don't Drink the Water", as that's the main recurring lyric of this romping stomping song. It features Micky Lee Soule on vocals, who, just in case you may not have heard of him before, was a member of Ronnie James Dio's band Elf, as well as being a founder member of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. You'll have no problem recognising the rich velvety tones of the singer on "Behind the Smile" though, because it's no less than David Coverdale, the acclaimed frontman with Deep Purple and Whitesnake. It's a quirky little song with an offbeat time signature, which is quite a departure from the Hard Rock songs we're more accustomed to hearing from Mr. Coverdale. We're in Countrified mode now for the bright and twangy Pop song "Fly Away". The virtually unknown singer on this song Lisa Strike sounds remarkably like Kiki Dee , which has to be a good thing. Next up is "Aranea", an imitation white Reggae number featuring Judy Kuhl on vocals. It's a happy-sounding song with the same kind of cheerful vibe to it as the cod Reggae song "Tropical Loveland" by ABBA. We reach the end of Side One now with Song No. 11: "Sitting in a Dream", featuring the barely-recognisable voice of Ronnie James Dio, no less. This beautiful ballad represents the high point of the album so far, with it's gorgeously-rich orchestration and with hard rocker Ronnie James Dio in romantic balladeer mode. Yes, really! This is an album FULL of surprises.

You may recognise the singer on the opening song on Side Two: "Waiting", because it's the sweet and soulful voice of Jimmy Helms. "Waiting" is a lovely Pop-Rock song with a heart full of soul which sounds as happy and carefree as a bright ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. The lyrics are uplifting too:- "I'm waiting here for something good to come my way, And I've been waiting patiently all day, The sunshine begins to stretch upon the sky, I'm just waiting, Oh I'm waiting." ..... This bright sunshiney song is enough to brighten up anyone's day. Creeping along now comes "Sir Maximus Mouse", a song which is the complete antithesis of a timid mouse, because this is a powerful, hard rockin' mouse (and song) with attitude, featuring Eddie Hardin (of Hardin & York fame) on vocals. Next comes "Dreams of Bedivere", an instrumental number combining synthesiser and lush orchestration. Roger Glover does his best impersonation of Rick Wakeman on the keyboards before the orchestra takes over, concluding with a classical piece in the style of J.S. Bach. It's back for some more synthesiser virtuosity from Mr. Glover in the opening to "Together Again", before taking a completely different turn with the sound of a honky-tonk pub piano and with the Chas & Dave-style singer, Tony Ashton (of Ashton, Gardner & Lake), sounding like he's had a bit too much to drink. There's a complete change of pace again for the next song "Watch Out for the Bat", a warning that Ozzy Osbourne would have done well to take heed of. It's a good old-fashioned lively rock & roll number (complete with orchestra) with John Gustafson giving it his all on vocals. It's time to feast your ears on the next piece of music because this is a beautiful solo piano piece titled "The Feast", which leads us into "Love is All". This is a real humdinger of a song, featuring Ronnie James Dio on vocals. It's a very commercially appealing and happy-sounding Pop song, so you won't be surprised to hear this uplifting Beatle-esque number was released as a single. It didn't make much of an impression in the U.K. charts, but it reached number one in The Netherlands, so I guess the Dutch know a good song when they hear one. The song also received a lot of airplay in America, often being featured in children's TV shows. It's "Homeward" now as we reach the end of our entertaining musical journey. Ronnie James Dio returns again for this beautifully-orchestrated romantic ballad. It also features a charming, sweet-voiced children's choir. This emotionally-rich and enchanting ballad closes out this marvellous album in fine style with an unrestrainedly joyous song of love.

"The Butterfly Ball" is a very musically diverse rock opera album where you never quite know what to expect next. The album is a veritable smorgasbord of music, featuring primarily Pop-Rock songs, but also including Hard-Rock songs and gentle ballads, with a sprinkling of Reggae and Classical music thrown into the mix too. If there's one thing this album definitely isn't though, it's not in the slightest bit proggy. If you're in the mood for some bright and cheerful Pop/Rock though, then look no further, because this is the album for you. You'll really have "A Butterfly Ball" with this sensational album. It's "Poptastic!"

Still, it wasn't until much later I heard "Child in Time" on the radio and said "This is AWESOME" "Who is this"? that I dug deeper and found out they have four albums that are put right up there with the best material of the period, music that shaped the face of heavy metal on par with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath (stalwarts on classic rock radio in my area).

Then I started working with a guy in his fifties and we started talking music. He was an enormous Deep Purple fan, he had all their US released CD's, a bunch of imported bootlegs and solo material from the band members. I tried the Ian Gillan Band first, Clear Air Turbulence is fantastic. I argued with the guy (Kelly is his name) that is actually a funk record. I never would have discovered that album if it wasn't for him, I'm grateful.

I'm also grateful he turned me on to Roger Glover, calling him the "invisible talent" in the band. Elements is a prog/funk/disco/rock/ambient/symphonic tour de force, focusing on the four elements (fire, water, wind, earth) and utilizing to great effect the talents of the Munich Philharmonic.

Elements really is an outlier album in the history of progressive rock and it deserves more exposure among its fans. The second song on Side A, in all of it's King Crimson glory, should appeal to all fans of true prog. My favorite is the light and airy The Fourth Ring's With the Wind. That track has been on repeat in my player many times.

I'm surprised this one hasn't gotten more run, but I'm glad knowing when I listen to it Kelly and I are probably the only people doing so within a thousand mile radius in either direction. A solid four stars.