Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

I'm going to weigh in here because my opinion differs from both of yours, and I think it's important for others to see that there are other perspectives. 

Canterbury albums from the 1960s and 1970s are notorious for their poor sound engineering and often cheap production, hence I'm not sure anyone would be unjustified rating these albums down. The performances are also often quite raw and filled with flaws (to which we old-timers laugh and praise, inured to and accepting of these mistakes, as we are). I would love to sit and watch a teenager or 20-something sit down to listen to one of their vinyl albums (as I've read with empathy reviews of other "youngsters" listening to classic Yes, Genesis, Crimson, ELP, or VDGG as they cringe, mystified at the praise they've read for that which they are listening to). 

Every here knows I am quite liberal with my four and five star reviews. This due to two predominant factors: 1) I most often choose to only post reviews of albums that I want to draw people's attention to (it takes a lot of time and energy to write a decent review of the 300-400 new albums I listen to per year) or 2) as a failed musician, I KNOW the time and talent it takes just to put together and publish an album, much less an album of complex progressive rock music; with this in mind, I could never muster the arrogance to denigrate someone's legitimate talent and effort--unless it is far below that which I think I or my amateur brothers could do better. I can never remember the PA wording for what each star is supposed to signify, but to me a three star album is a good effort, admirable for being able to pull it off, deserving of being in PA and getting other people's attention and opinions, better than I could ever have conceived or done. 

Saying this, there is very little from the Canterbury domain that feels perfected or polished, yet most of it is astonishing for its creativity and playful inventiveness--plus, the musicians are usually quite competent at their instruments. 

Mike Oldfield has always felt, to me, a master of masturbatory self-parody; Tubular Bells was fresh for its time but is hardly listenable today. All versions of Ommadawn make for tolerable though-sometimes-irritating background music, while Hergest Ridge--both versions--haunt me with some of the best melodies and most flowing continuity of any full length instrumental album, ever. Everything Mike did after Incantations feels like production for production's sake, repetition of all that had come before, in other words, w**king for money. (though I DO understand his continual return to previous works and themes: it is very difficult for many artists to ever think that a piece of art is finished/cannot be improved.) And yes, everything he's ever done feels like stitched together themes... but then, that's what so much of prog artists made their passion: stitching together multiple musical themes (usually employing lyrical stories to help tie it all together). The prog "epic" is one of the signatory contributions the genre has made to the music world and one that many of us look for in our music--concepts, cohesive themes, operatic and/or symphonic constructs.

The perspectives represented by your "conversation" here are, once again, examples of one of the prime reasons human interaction-as-language evolved: we all have our own perspectives, our own likes and dislikes, our own tastes, our own preferences. And it's okay: In the big picture, THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG, there is only different.  

     

 

 

Album Review #112:-   DEMON FUZZ were a psychedelic Jazz-Funk collective with a heart full of Soul! The seven members of Demon Fuzz all emigrated to Britain from Commonwealth countries in the early 1960's. The name of the band and the title of their first album "Afreaka!" (1970) gives some indication of the funky, psychedelic-infused, African tribal rhythms you can expect to hear on this freaky debut album.  A compilation album titled "Roots and Offshoots" (1976) was later released on an independent label following the break-up of the band in the early 1970's. A CD re-issue of "Afreaka!" added three bonus tracks to the original five lengthy songs on the album.

 

We enter the mysterious world of Demon Fuzz with "Past, Present & Future", a psychedelic trip back in time to a bygone age of half a century ago. This funky Jazz-Rock album has really stood the test of time. Stir in some Graham Bond Organisation, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Brian Auger & the Trinity, and add a liberal dose of Funkadelic (all from the same early 1970's era), and you have a recipe for success with the sound of Demon Fuzz. Altogether now..... "They don't make music like this any more!" - and that's certainly the case with this superb debut. When you hear the first burst from the acid fuzz-toned guitar in the opening, swiftly followed by a storming horn section, you know you're about to hear something rather special indeed here, and so it proves to be. "Past, Present and Future" is a 10-minute long instrumental masterpiece of bold and brassy Jazz, featuring a hypnotic captivating rhythm. This cool and groovy music is sure to delight hippyish fans of the psychedelic sixties era too. "Afreaka!" has announced its impressive arrival in no uncertain terms with a fabulous fanfare of trumpets! The second piece of music is titled "Disillusioned Man", but you certainly won't be a disillusioned man (or woman) when you hear this lively and soulful number for the first time. It's a five-minute wonder in a fifty-five-minute-long album of stonkingly good tunes. All of the Jazzy elements are here in full force too, featuring an extended sexy solo on the alto sax and with the organ player belting out some funky rhythms in dazzling accompaniment. The singer sounds in mighty fine voice too with just the kind of deep and soulful vocals needed for this kind of groovy psychedelic Jazz album. He's a Soul Brother! Our musical journey continues with "Another Country", another storming Jazz rocker in what is turning out to be an album full of highlights, and we're barely halfway through the album yet. This is eight and a half minutes of soulful Jazz-Rock heaven!

 

We're in a mellower mood for "Hymn to Mother Earth", an 8-minute-long devotional epic praising the joys of life on our fair
planet. This is a truly beautifully angelic number featuring a heavenly choir and some lovely laid-back percussion. There's also
a soothing organ to help you reach the musical equivalent of Cloud 9. This tremendous piece of music also features a soaring
horn section which will lift you heavenwards on a  joyous emotional high. Yes, it really is THAT good! It's a truly outstanding
slice of smooth and soulful Jazz which bears repeated listening, just like the album as a whole. This is the kind of gloriously
inspirational music that would have folks flocking to Sunday church in their masses, if only..... The fifth and final song "Mercy
(Variation No. 1)" opens with a tribal jungle drums rhythm which rumbles along nicely before the whole band "freaks out" and
goes absolutely ape-crazy strutting their funky stuff in a Jazzy free-for-all of wild and sensational improvisation. This is
wonderful stuff from seven musicians at the top of their game in what is a suitably rousing conclusion to a stupendous album!

 

Demon Fuzz have left us with one marvellously unique album of what can best be described as soulful Jazz-Funk/Rock tinged with a healthy splash of fuzzy psychedelic colours. In other words, it's a veritable smorgasbord of musical delicacies which the band have expertly blended together to make one outstanding album. "Afreaka!" is a timeless evergreen album that always sounds great whether you listen to it in the "Past, Present or Future".

 

To be honest, it was Robert Wyatt's singing on Rock Bottom that put me off the album right from the outset, and I wasn't that enamoured of the music on the album either. Maybe the Canterbury Scene isn't really my scene as I only gave Hatfield & the North's Rotters's Club album a three-star rating and review recently when most other PA members gave the album a four or five star rating. I'm not a fan of Soft Machine either.  I really like the music of Caravan though, as they represent the far more approachable end of the Canterbury Scene.

I think the Matching Mole lp;s to be the weakest in the Canterbury area...and Egg sounds like ELP on acid....maybe not acid but they are quirky but feature keyboards.

;)

:)

The Sallyangie 'Children of the Sun has been re-issued a couple of times in the last few years on vinyl; I had a spare copy and only just recently sold it! Ive got a white label promo copy which is worth a few quid! Its a nice enough lp, very much of its time..

Funny thing, personal tastes.. im as horrified that you'd find 'Rock Bottom' a 2 star lp as you are finding someone who doesn't find Mike Oldfield's lps very interesting... There are nuances to Robert Wyatt's work that are truly sublime, particularly on Rock Bottom.. it is an lp that takes a few listens to let it seep in.. and maybe reading a bit about Robert's Life (his 'different every time' book is one of the best books- not only biography but giving a real feel of how the decades changed, politically, socially and artistically) will give a bit of insight.. He is a true genius and someone who has quietly kept his distance from the progressive tag (despite being one of the pioneers).

I'm genuinely shocked! Are you saying you think Tubular Bells and Ommadawn are mediocre too?

 

I think they're two of the finest prog albums of all time!

 

I'll definitely look out for The SallyAngie album the next time I'm in Nottingham, and I may even order it specially if it's not too expensive. I'm a big fan of Sally Oldfield as well as brother Mike.

I like all of Mike Oldfield's albums apart from Heaven's Open. I doubt if The SallyAngie album will appeal to prog-heads generally, but it's an album I'd be happy to go out and buy for £10 if I could find it in a record store.

Until the full album becomes available, here's a high-flying album highlight: "Balloons"

 

 

Album Review #111:-    THE SALLYANGIE may have been a short-lived Prog-Folk duo, but both members went on to have long and distinguished solo careers, because they were none other than sister and brother duo Sally and Mike Oldfield! The SallyAngie recorded their one and only hippyish Folk album "Children of the Sun" in 1968. It would be another five years before Mike Oldfield stunned the world with his landmark "Tubular Bells" (1973) album. Sally Oldfield launched her long solo career as a Folk singer  five years after brother Mike with the release of her "Water Bearer" album in 1978. The Oldfields were a very musical family - their brother Terry Oldfield was also a multi-talented musician who appeared on Mike Oldfield's "Hergest Ridge" (1974), "Ommadawn" (1975) and "Incantations" (1978) albums. Terry Oldfield also went on to establish a long solo career, specialising in his own particular brand of New Age World music. And so, it's time to travel back over half a century in time now to the late 1960's for Mike Oldfield and sister Sally's unique Prog-Folk offering, "Children of the Sun". The 2002 CD re-issue included a bonus disc, adding eight songs to the original fourteen songs on the album.

 

Right from the opening few bars of "Strangers", we're in very familiar territory with the honey-sweet demure vocals of Sally Oldfield. She's best-known for the song "Mirrors" from her first "Water Bearer" album in 1978. Sally performed the song on Top of the Pops and the single reached #19 in the U.K charts, although the hippyish Sally Oldfield would be the last person to regard herself as a Pop star. One of the most surprising things about The SallyAngie album is hearing Mike Oldfield singing for the first time, when he's not normally noted for his vocal abilities, although he sounds in remarkably fine voice on this endearing Folk album, admirably accompanying his sister Sally in a duet. Mike Oldfield also provides accompaniment on acoustic guitar (obviously!) and there's the sound of a flautist to be heard too on this brief but charming 70-second-long opening introduction to the album. "Strangers" sounds more like two familiar old friends. We're off to meet "Lady Mary" next, a saccharine-sweet Folk song with some lovely harmonies and rich orchestration. Mike Oldfield even takes the vocal lead for a brief time on this song. There's no inkling of the masterpiece to come in five years time, when Tubular Bells was still a twinkling in Mike Oldfield's eye at this early stage in his career. The music on this charming Folk album so far sounds as delicately exquisite as a warm gentle breeze. And now we come to the title track and one of the longest songs on the album at five minutes long: "Children of the Sun". The song opens with a spoken introduction from Sally Oldfield before brother Mike joins in for a duet. This song sounds like the kind of pleasant pastoral Folk number that Peter, Paul & Mary or The Seekers might have recorded back in their heyday. The song certainly has commercial potential, had it ever been released as a single, although a warm and tender Folk melody probably wouldn't have stood much of a chance in the charts when they would have been up against some of the mighty giants of late-1960's Pop/Rock such as The Beatles. The fourth song "A Lover for All Seasons" continues in similar vein with another acoustic guitar and vocal duet, so there are no real surprises in store here. Although The SallyAngie are billed as Prog-Folk, you won't find many proggy elements here, as this is more of a traditional pastoral Folk album, but that's no bad thing as the gentle music contained within is very pleasing on the ears. The SallyAngie features a percussionist, although he's so low-key that you hardly even notice he's there. You certainly won't hear any pounding drums on this album. There's no sign of Mike Oldfield's trademark electric guitar sound to be heard either on this totally acoustic album, but it's still turning out to be a very agreeable Folk album judged on its own merits. Next up is the "River Song" which has a macabre sting in its tail, because despite the pleasant melody and the dulcet tones of sweet-voiced Sally, the lyrics reveal a shocking tale of a brutal murder, so there are no happy endings here. The frightful lyrics to this song bring to mind the classic Neil Young song "Down by the River", which also involves a murder.  We'd better not delve too deeply into the horrifying lyrics of "River Song", so we'll move swiftly on to the next song, which is: "Banquet on the Water". We're on much safer ground here as this lovely song is all about going for a pleasant stroll along the river and  stopping for a picnic with a romantic partner for company.

 

Side Two opens with "Balloons", the longest song on the album at five and a half minutes long. The song begins as a very twee-sounding lullaby that sounds so light and delicate, you feel it might get blown away like a balloon by the slightest of breezes, but don't let that put you off, because it's really a great song once you get past the first minute or so. This song comes the closest to Psych-Folk of any of the songs so far on the album. Not that you'll hear any psychedelic fuzz guitars, but the music is a hauntingly-beautiful Folk refrain, featuring some eerie-sounding harmonising and witchy chanting in the style of Comus, although nowhere near as creepy as those witch-finder generals of Psych-Folk. "Balloons" is a helium-filled uplifting highlight of the album. We're travelling right back in time to the world of Shakespeare now for "Midsummer Night's Happening". This fluty duet sounds like a typical Elizabethan madrigal that you might hear accompanying a medieval banquet, so watch out for those flying chicken bones and glasses being thrown into the hearth fire with gusto and gay abandon! Yes, this is definitely minstrels in the gallery music, so you'll know exactly what to expect here with this merry-making music. The intriguingly-titled "Love in Ice Crystals" conjures up a frosty image of some romantic brief encounter at the South Pole, which is not that far from the truth, as the lyrics are about making love on a rug in front of the warm comfort of a blazing fire when it's freezing cold and snowing outside. Listen out for the soaring echoey vocals on this song, the like of which you may never have heard before. They're really quite incredible! Side Two of this lovely album is so far turning out to be even better than Side One. The next piece of music "Changing Colours" is a brief prelude, featuring some offbeat twangy guitar  strings where Mike Oldfield sounds like he's tuning his guitar up, so we'll leave him there and move on to the next song which is the aptly-titled "Chameleon", which follows on nicely from "Changing Colours". The enchantingly mystical lyrics to this haunting refrain deserve a special mention here:- "The king of Orion brings, The jewels from his belt and his sword, The emeralds shine through the trees, To dance upon the high forest lord, I am to you as I am to me, I am a star in a deep blue sea, I am the queen of a million queens, I am a ripple on a crystal stream, The three kings from the east bring gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh." ..... It's a complex tune in which Mike Oldfield cleverly sings in counter-point to Sally Oldfield, bringing a whole extra dimension to this engaging piece of music. The next brief 30-second-long acoustic instrumental "Milk Bottle" sounds just like a "born on the bayou" twangy country steel guitar, which it probably is! This leads us into the penultimate Psych-Folk song on the album, the ominously-titled "The Murder of the Children of San Francisco". Mike Oldfield's semi-whispered vocals sound quite sinister on this song, giving the song an ethereal other-worldly haunting atmosphere, which makes a  stark contrast to Sally Oldfield's traditional sweet-voiced Folky tones. This is another album highlight in what is turning out to be quite an extraordinary album, featuring mainly traditional Folk songs on Side One, spiced up with some spookier off-kilter Psych-Folk tunes on Side Two. We're entering a twilight zone world now, as it's time to bed the album down for the night with the 14th and final song and what better way than with the "Twilight Song", a delightful Folk melody where Sally Oldfield's gorgeous dulcet tones carry you away blissfully to a land of sweet dreams and peaceful slumbers. 

 

Mike Oldfield and sister Sally have come up with a very pleasant album of gentle pastoral Folk in their first musical outing together. It's not going to take the progosphere by storm, but it makes a pleasurable diversion to while away a warm summer's afternoon when we can all be transported back in time to the late 1960's and be "Children of the Sun" all over again. That's the theory anyway. If music be the food of love, then let Mike & Sally Oldfield play on forever!