Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

We're off to foreign parts with the album opener "Another Country", which is apparently a cover version of a song by Demon Fuzz, another equally obscure English band. It's a stirring saxophonic Jazz-Rock refrain, very similar in style to some of the other British Jazz-infused rock bands of that era, such as Affinity, Audience, Mogul Thrash, Skin Alley, Tonton Macoute and many other obscure English bands of that ilk too numerous to mention. "Another Country" is a lively up-tempo opening number to set the optimistic mood, in what promises to be a solid Rock album of Jazzy tunes, some of which may be worthy of an exclamation mark! Who knows how Pesky Gee came up with the title of our next lively instrumental Jazzy number "Pigs Foots" (also known as "trotters"), but one presumes it's because it's groovy music you can *trot* along to and jump and jive along with. Anyway, you're unlikely to sit this one out because it's a real lively foot stomper, or a toe-tapper if you're reclining on the sofa and not in the mood to get up and dance. There are spooky goings-on for our third song "Season of the Witch", a moody and hauntingly-atmospheric, bedknobs and broomsticks witches brew that's just as scary as a hollowed-out candle-lit pumpkin on the night of Halloween. "Season of the Witch" represents an eight-minute-long eerie ghost train ride that's a "phantasmic" stunning highlight of the album. It's a nightmarish cover version of the well-known 1967 song by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity and it was also covered in magnificent style by the U.S. band Vanilla Fudge, who recorded their own inimitable and unforgettable version of the song in 1968. The splendid female vocalist Kay Garrett deserves a mention here too on this spooky Halloween song because this is her bright shining moment of glory in the spotlight. It's a devil of a great song too, worthy of at least two exclamation marks!! It's time to take a trip back in time to the Heartbreak Hotel now for "A Place of Heartbreak". It's a storm and thunder, all-out stratospheric rocker barrelling along at lightning speed, featuring some simply sublime harmonising from the whole septet of singers in glorious unison. This is fantastic!!!

Side Two opens with another stunning album highlight, "Where is My Mind", another great cover version of a Vanilla Fudge song. The song title sounds like a bad LSD trip, but the music is a tremendously rousing excursion which takes the listener on a soaring magic carpet ride back in time to the psychedelic sixties. In an album that's choc-a-bloc full to the rafters with great cover versions, the next "Poptastic!" classic is "Piece of My Heart", a fabulous cover of the well-known Janis Joplin and Dusty Springfield number. There's another lively Jazzy instrumental on the way with "Dharma for One", a sensational saxophonic blast from the past with the Hammond organist and pounding percussionist going hell for leather in an all-out sonic assault on the eardrums. It's Jazz, given a heavy infusion of Rock, in similar fashion to those other British Jazz-Rock greats, the Graham Bond Organisation and Ginger Baker's Air Force. There's no peace for the wicked, so they say, and there's no way you'll sleep through the next stormy breeze, "Peace of Mind". It's another sonic outburst of no-nonsense Jazz-Rock with attitude! EVERYONE will be familiar with the rip-roaring Easy Rider song to close the album, because it's one of the most famous Hard Rock songs of all time - Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild!" ..... so if you're in the mood for some "Smoke and lightning, Heavy metal thunder, then "Get your motor runnin', Head out on the highway", and if you're "Lookin' for adventure, Take whatever comes your way!"

This relentless non-stop artillery barrage of great cover versions of well-known songs is a real blast from the past worthy of four exclamation marks!!!! - or four stars ****

The first stop on our musical tour is the curiously-titled "Big Bear Ffolly", a fairly typical heavy Blues-Rock excursion into the realms of Cream and other heavy British blues bands of the late-1960's era, so there are no real surprises in store here. The same goes for "Bring It On Home", a dirty-low-down, plodding bluesy harmonica number, that sounds a long way off the beaten track from the London Bakerloo Line. This bluesy Louisiana Swamp Rock sounds like it could have emerged straight out of the Missippippi Delta. We're not going anywhere with our next stop on the journey because we're "Drivin' Bachwards". That's no spelling mistake or typo error in the song title, because this is a Jazzy instrumental inspired by Mr. J.S. Bach no less, so you can expect to hear some very familiar-sounding classical motifs in this free-style jazzy jam session, demonstrating that Bakerloo have more diverse musical strings to their bow than just back-to-basics British blues. The fourth stop on our tour is "Last Blues", so it'll come as no surprise that this seven-minute-long piece is another (lower case) moody blues number. The music begins as a slow lament, but the band really crank up into high gear at the midway point for a full-blown psychedelic acid trip in true Jimi Hendrix style. Even more surprising is when the song returns to a sedate leisurely pace for the conclusion, so it's really a three-piece suite. Bakerloo are proving to be far more versatile than first appeared. The next song "Gang Bang" sounds rather rude, but it's really all about percussion, because the fired-up drummer bangs away manically on his kit here as if his pants are on fire, featuring an almost obligatory very long and very impressive drum solo in the style of legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker.

There are just two tracks on Side Two and the first seven minute song "This Worried Feeling" is very reminiscent of the early blues of Eric Clapton and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. It's a real raw and earthy, S--L--O--W plodding blues number, but don't let that put you off, because there's a truly awesome virtuoso performance to enjoy from the talented blue guitar player. If you don't know the song, If you can't put the words to the tune, Tell the rhyme from the reason, What should it matter, To the fool or the dreamer? ..... but that's another moody blue guitar song altogether. And so, we've arrived at the final terminus on the Bakerloo Line with the 15-minute-long "Son of Moonshine", a spirited wild ride along the illegal U.S. moonshine trail, featuring a manic outburst of heavy guitar riffing in an all-out psychedelic freak-out to take you to flower-power hippy heaven and back again.

If you're in the mood for some heavy British Blues-Rock, then get onboard the Bakerloo Line. It's going to be a wild ride, so fasten your seat belts and hold on tight to your dreams.

There's an air of mystery surrounding "Come Back June". It's a typical American west coast Psychedelic Rock song (from England) but who or what is June? Is it the month of June or is it a lady of the female agenda? Well, let's find out by delving into the lyrics:- "My world's breakin' in pieces, My world's breakin' in two, My heart's breakin' in pieces, My heart's breakin' in two, Come back, June." ..... Mystery solved. The song is a boulevard of broken dreams where the lovelorn singer is clearly going through some deep emotional turmoil here after being dumped by his lovely lady June. Some of the best songs are written as the result of broken relationships though, and that's certainly true with this song too. It's no lilting ballad though. It's a rousing, rip-roaring opening burst of psychedelic sixties Rock. There's another great song on the way with "All of My Life". You can wait all of your life for a great song like this to come along, and then they all arrive together at once on one awesome album, and that's proving to be the case here. "All of My Life" is like a gorgeous summer breeze. It's a song that's perfect for surfing the soaring California breakers at Big Sur, although you don't see too many surf boards in the heart of Hertfordshire, England, where this particular band hails from. We're continuing the sunny California theme now with "We Built The Sun". This is an altogether mellower groove, and not the psychedelic purple haze of the first two opening sunbursts of raw solar energy. No, this sounds more like the saccharine sweet Psychedelic Pop of The Association than the wild and far-out Acid Rock of Jimi Hendrix. The clear honey-voiced vocals are what really shine like a beacon on this lovely laid-back song, featuring some beautiful sun-drenched Beach Boys-style harmonising from the whole band singing together in unison. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's "Comets", a weird out-of-this world excursion into the dark and mysterious realms of deep space where no one can hear you scream. "Comets' are in a highly irregular orbit if this wacky Twilight Zone song is anything to go by. To paraphrase Hawkwind, "Comets" represents an album highlight of "Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music". We've waited over half a century for "Comets" to come around again, a bit like Hailey's Comet, but the wait is now over, because this long-lost icy snowball (named "Pussy Plays") has returned with a stream of fantastic songs in its glowing wake. "Comets" is a scintillating sci-fi fantasy ride across the universe, featuring an exotic cosmic extravaganza of spooky voices and weird sound effects that could have come straight out of Doctor Who or Star Trek. Beam me up another great song Scotty!

Side Two opens magnificently with "Tragedy In F Minor", which is no tragedy at all, but an absolutely sensational instrumental that's simply sublime. It's a lavishly-produced lush symphonic epic that's positively awash with sensational strings, creating a rich tapestry of sound, guaranteed to carry you away on an ecstatic pleasure wave of sweet blissful dreams. We have lift-off! Just when you think this album couldn't possibly get any better, along comes "The Open Ground" to astound and delight us in equal measure. This is a psychedelic supernova of truly epic proportions! Heavens above! This earth-shattering blast from the past has enough stored energy to lift the Space Shuttle up into orbit way above the Earth. This tremendous spacey music might even take you to the Dark Side of the Moon and back again, long before Pink Floyd travelled there with their stellar 1973 album. We're plunging back down to Earth now for "Everybody's Song", a storming psychedelic Jazz-Rock number where the dynamic keyboard player and wild wah-wah guitarist battle it out together to see who's the greatest musician of them all. "Everybody's Song" is indeed a song for everyone. It's almost impossible not to like this song. We've reached the ultimate piece of music on the album now with the intriguingly-titled "G.E.A.B." There's no clue as to what the initials might mean as it's an instrumental number, although to call this thunderous high octane blast of super-charged Rock & Roll an "instrumental", can't possibly do it justice. Make no mistake. This is a relentless all-out sonic assault, and just to remind us that this album is titled "Pussy Plays", there's a loud "Meow" from a pussy cat right at the end!

Pussy Galore! This timeless psychedelic relic is a supersonic blast from the past. The album is an absolute masterpiece that sounds as fresh and original as it ever did, over half a century on from when Pussy first played. This outstanding album is the cat's whiskers!

The album opens with the proggy-titled song "Tread Softly on My Dreams", but there's no chance of falling asleep and dreaming your way through this stormy album opener. There's a dreamy Mellotron to be heard in the background, but right at the forefront is a powerful horn section, so we're in for a good solid dose of some mean and moody blues with a bold and brassy Jazz-Rock attitude. The music of Czar has the same pounding intensity as those other kings of prog, King Crimson, and this tremendous opening song has obvious parallels with "21st Century Schizoid Man". Both songs represent a dramatic and unforgettable storm and thunder entry into the wonderful world of Progressive Rock. Just when you thought it can't get any better, it does!! The second sensational song "Cecelia" is a Mellotron-drenched classic. This Symphonic Prog epic is guaranteed to send any self-respecting prog fan into paroxysms of ecstasy and delight. If music be the food of love, then this is delicious manna from heaven sent down to Earth from the Prog Gods above in all of their infinite glory and wisdom. Heavens above! How on Earth did Czar not come to rule over the prog kingdom, forever and ever, amen, instead of disappearing without trace after just one awesome album!?? Such are the vagaries of the music business, where incredible talent doesn't always guarantee enduring success. Oh well, back to the music at hand after that minor digression. The third song on what's turning out to be a pretty amazing album is "Follow Me". This is another exhilarating artillery barrage of pounding percussive energy that Czar have unleashed from their impressive arsenal. It's a sonic boom of invigorating keyboard-driven prog that barrels along relentlessly for three and a half incredible minutes. It's also a very commercially appealing tune with "Hit Song" written all over it and would have no doubt gone storming up the charts if the song had ever been released as a single. The wonderfully uplifting harmonies on this album deserve a mention too, because they quite simply have to be heard to be believed, as no words can possibly do justice to how magnificent they are.

With the dawning of Side Two comes "Dawning of a New Day", and what a day it's turning out to be! The mighty Czar rules again over the prog empire with another terrific song! The stupendous songs on this album are so outstanding that almost every sentence deserves an exclamation mark!! This is one of those sensational Prog-Rock songs that opens deceptively gently, but gradually builds up in intensity, emerging into a rousing and anthemic, full-blown symphonic epic that will send you up into prog heaven on a soaring crescendo of sound! Space: the final frontier! It's time to boldly go where no man has gone before, because Czar are ascending up into the heavens now with "Beyond the Moon". The marvellous long-lost legends of prog are taking us on a wondrous journey far beyond the dark side of the Moon and out into the realms of deep space for some stellar Prog-Rock that's quite literally out of this world. This dazzling song shines as brilliantly as an exploding supernova for a few brief awesome minutes. It's not just the fabulous music that's awe-inspiring though, the stellar lyrics are gloriously cosmic too:- "Under the stars that we have traveled afar, Without song in our eyes and the rain and the wind in our hair, Starry-eyed faces from deep in the nigh, Without food without thought without even a glimpse of a life." ..... It's prog, Jim, but not as we know it. Drifting gently back down to Earth now, we arrive just in time for "Today", a gorgeous symphony of sound floating on topographic oceanic waves of Mellotron-drenched melodic prog. This truly beautiful Mellotronic epic has all of the magnificent Moody Blues majesty and symphonic splendour of "Nights in White Satin". Yes, it really IS that good! After "Today" it's mostly autumn now for "A Day in September", a radiant song which is positively abounding with joy and optimistic hope for the future, so one presumes it's an indian summer on this particular day in September. This glorious closing number is like a brilliant burst of sunshine on what is an altogether stellar album of fantastic songs.

The Czars were once the awesome rulers of the mighty Russian empire up until the Russian Revolution in 1917, and the band Czar were the rulers of the once mighty kingdom of prog for their one brief shining moment in the spotlight in 1970, or at least, they should have been..... The history of prog is littered with unique one-off album treasures that have become lost in the mists of time, and Czar were to suffer the same fate as many short-lived one-album bands of the late 60's and early 70's era. Thanks to the modern wonder of the Internet though, the band Czar are set to rise again and take the prog kingdom by storm, hopefully. Czar is an absolute must-have album that's worthy of a hallowed place in every Prog-Rock collector's treasure chest.