Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

There's plenty of time for "Reflection" on this opening 12-minute-long, psychedelic Jazz-Rock freak out. If you're on a mission to boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before to explore strange new music and to seek out "new" artists and "new" albums, then beam up right here and be transported back nearly 50 years in time and have a listen to this extended and exotic psychedelic Jazz-Rock Jam session. "Reflection" features echoey swirling vocals, a reverberant saxophone atmospherically phasing in and out and the ever-present sound of a psychedelic acid guitar soaked in reverb. If you're in an insouciant mood, then a bright sunburst of unrestrained Jazz-Rock "painted" in vibrant psychedelic colours might be just what you need. Be prepared for a dramatic metamorphosis eight and a half minutes into the song though, when this Catapilla song emerges like a beautiful butterfly into a floaty hypnotic ambience of swirling and echoey sound where you can be carried away peacefully into a sea of love and heavenly dreams. This music is groovy, baby! Returning to Earth now and our destination is London for "Charing Cross". This begins as a lovely laid-back and mellow Jazz-Rock groove. Prepare to be carried away by the soaring and uplifting vocals from Anna Meek with a cool saxophonist in accompaniment. There's a dramatic change of pace midway through the song though, when there's a sudden burst of energy and the song barrels out of "Charing Cross" station with all the power of a diesel locomotive daubed in psychedelic rainbow colours.

Side Two opens with "Thank Christ for George". There's no clue as to who the mysterious George might be, but putting that aside, it's another 12-minute-long psychedelic Jazz-Rock jam, featuring those lovely swirling and mellifluous vocals from Anna Meek with the gorgeously smooth and sophisticated sound of the saxophone in accompaniment. It's another two-part number, beginning as an uptempo and upbeat psychedelic Jazz groove and emerging into a slow dreamlike sequence where you may be tempted to just lay back and let the hypnotic and transcendental waves of music wash over you in an ocean of calm and peaceful serenity. If you haven't quite reached the heights of musical nirvana just yet, then the final meditative laid-back instrumental groove on the album, "It Could Only Happen to Me", might just help get you there. It's seven minutes of sheer unadulterated psychedelic joy and saxophonic delight!

This mesmerising album of hypnotic beauty is like a potful of calming musical nirvana without the aid of marijuana. In the same way as nature can transform a grubby caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly, the British band Catapilla have transformed sound into beautiful music with this marvellous album of Jazz-Rock drenched in bright and radiant psychedelic colours.

The album opens with the instrumental title track "The Magic Carpet", which sets the scene (and the table) very nicely indeed. Imagine, if you will, that you've just sat down and ordered a meal at your local Indian curry house. The waiter arrives with your chicken vindaloo curry and a plate full of poppadoms with a turban-headed man dressed in a dhoti robe playing away merrily on his sitar next to your table. That's the kind of hot and spicy image this music conjures up. The next track is like "The Phoenix" rising from the ashes because that's the title of the song. It's an uplifting song featuring an Indian tabla drum and we get to hear the beautiful lilting tones of Alisha Sufit for the first time. It's a gorgeous spiritual song full of radiant beauty and love and Alisha's warm and delightful voice will carry you away to a warm and exotic place somewhere in the distant land of the Raj. "Black Cat" is another lovely Indian-themed song, served up hot and spicy at your table. Alisha Sufit's dulcet tones are very reminiscent of some of Sally Oldfield's exotic songs from her first album "Water Bearer" (1978). We're still in the exotic land of a thousand and one Indian nights with "Alan's Christmas Card", a nicely laid-back instrumental guitar and sitar number, although there's nothing particularly Christmassy about it. This charming piece of spicy exotica will put you in a mellow mood with the sound of an Indian drummer gently tapping away on his tabla drums. Try not to get too laid back and fall asleep though because we're not even halfway through the album yet. It's time to gather in the "Harvest Song" now as Alisha sings "You reap what you sow, You sow what you reap". Her mellifluous rich tones are part of what makes this a very special album indeed. We're still in the land of The Far Pavillions for "Do You Hear the Words", another hot and sultry sitar number to close out Side One.

A gong announces the arrival of "Father Time" to open Side Two. It's four and a half minutes of sheer delight with the ever- present sitar player and Alisha Sufit's charming voice bringing to mind evocative and exotic images of India. We're in La-La Land next for "La-La". There's no need to ask what the lyrics are about, because as you've probably guessed, the only "lyrics" are "La-La" repeated ad infinitum until the sitar player finally runs out of steam. It's still a jolly nice tune though. If you're not in a peaceful mood already, then you will be after the next spiritual song, because it's the Magic Carpet "Peace Song", which is just as relaxing and peaceful as the song title implies, so just lie back and think of India. It's time to order your "Take Away Kesh" now, because that's the title of the next song on the album. If you can't afford a trip to exotic eastern lands, then close your eyes and let this side order of Indian exotica take you there. It's time to take a trip down to your local Indian restaurant now on the "High Street", which, as I'm sure you'll guess by now, features a tabla drummer and a sitar player to entertain you while you dine on curry and poppadoms. You'll need something to quench the thirst after all that hot and spicy food, so take a good long swig of your favourite aperitif and have a listen to "The Dream", the final song on the album. Alisha's passionate and mellifluous tones are a real dream and delight to listen to and she's in unusually high voice for this divinely spiritual closing number. Wait a minute though, our magic carpet ride is not quite over yet, because there's the long bonus track "Raja", which is 20 minutes of heavenly sitar bliss!

"Magic Carpet" really IS an Indian "Jewel in the Crown". It's a hot and spicy spiritual adventure, conjuring up images of exotic and distant foreign lands somewhere in the Indian subcontinent. It's not an essential prog album, because it's not in the least bit proggy, but it IS an essential Raga Rock album. Give it a listen. It might just spice up your life.

It's sunny side up for the 7-minute-long opening number "Sol Caliente" (Spanish for "Hot Sun"), a warm and inviting sunburst of fuzzy guitar-driven, psychedelic Jazz-Rock. This long uptempo instrumental piece really gives the musicians a chance to shine in a psychedelic jazz guitar freak out, with a nifty keyboard player in his element and with the drummer pounding away on his kit with frenetic energy as if his life depends on it. It's not exactly a toe-tapper, because your feet could hardly keep up with the frantic pace of this upbeat and offbeat piece of music with its unusually complex time signature, so just lie back and enjoy it. There's more funky fusion on the way with "Trumpets with Motherhood". It's anybody's guess what this bizarrely- titled piece of music is all about, because it's another instrumental number. You might at least be expecting to hear some trumpets though in a piece of music titled "Trumpets with Motherhood", but no, there's not a toot of a brass trumpet horn to be heard anywhere, because this is another uptempo fuzzy guitar and electric piano combination. It's less than two minutes long though so there's barely time to nip out the room and make a cup of tea, so you may as well stick around for the next number, "Bargain Classics". You're unlikely to find this rare album in the bargain classics section of your local store though, as it's a pretty hard album to get hold of these days. So, what does the music sound like you may well ask. Well, it's a very offbeat and "off-piste" piece of music in a highly irregular time signature, which is intricately complex and fascinating to put it kindly, but which is all over the place, to put it unkindly. It all depends on your point of view: if you're an aficianado of Jazz Fusion, then you may go into rhapsodies of delight upon hearing this musical mayhem, but on the other hand, if Jazz-Fusion is not your thing, then you may want to skip to the next piece of music, which is "R.F.D.". The meaning of the initials "R,F.D." are shrouded in mystery, but this is a pleasantly soothing, laid-back mellow number to close out Side One, so lie back, relax, and let the music play as the cares of the day drift away, because this gorgeous piece of music is like a bright ray of sunshine on a hot sandy beach.

Side Two opens with one of the most bizarrely-titled pieces of music of all time: "Mummy was an Asteroid, Daddy was a Small Non-Stick Kitchen Utensil". It's just as well it's an instrumental piece, because if this song had lyrics, they'd probably make no sense at all, although that's never been a problem in the wierd and wonderful world of prog, where just about anything goes when it comes to song lyrics. Anyway, back to the music we have here, and it's another intense and fast-paced Jazz-Fusion freak out, which is *almost* as freaky as the track title implies, but don't let that put you off, because the music is very impressive. It's also pretty wild and "finger-licking" good, so be prepared to hear some fast and furious acid guitar riffs. We're off at a "Trot" for Song No. 6 now, a 5-minute-long piece of uptempo Jazz-Fusion which gallops along nicely to bring us to the closing piece of music on the album, "Rongwrong". It's another bizarre track title in an album full of peculiar and offbeat track titles, and at times, peculiar and offbeat music to match. "Rongwrong" is the longest song on the album at nearly 10 minutes in duration. It's also the first real song on the album, as it actually includes lyrics for the first time. If you think the song title is bizarre though, take a look at these off-the-wall lyrics:- "I'm looking in my little black book, to see if I was right or rongwrong, within the confines of whoremonger logic, to even try to sing this song. I could have asked the I Ching, but that would have taken up too much time, And with the time before fall, I didn't see there was no time to lose, If things got bad it could always turn into a blues, Like they do back home on the Delta ? grunt and groan." ..... Confused? You will be! Never mind the lyrics though, what about the music? It's joyful, uplifting and exuberant, but also quite offbeat, which is just what we've come to expect by now from an album that is a little bit off the beaten track.

This Canterbury Scene album of Jazz-Rock/Fusion is certainly not "Mainstream" and it may not be to everyone's taste, but it is pretty good and definitely worth a listen. One can't help feeling though, that the album could have been better if most of the tracks had included vocals instead of just the final song on the album. It certainly would have made the music more memorable if most of the tracks had included lyrics. That said, if you're heavily into Jazz-Fusion, then this rare long-lost album might be right up your street.

It's a very sedate 1-minute opening to the album with "Entropy". It sounds like we're attending a solemn religious occasion in church with the delicate sound of a solo organist introducing us to the album. Don't be fooled though, because this is just a prelude to "Black Sheep of the Family", a rip-roaring, organ-driven rocker. This is a solid-as-a-rock, heavy rocking song with a good pedigree: it was originally recorded by Chris Farlowe in 1970, turned down for Deep Purple's "Stormbringer" album in 1974, and later covered by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow on their first album in 1975. Forget about piano fortes, this is a full- force organ forte, played loudly, played proudly, and played powerfully. This raucous rocker is as rock solid as reinforced concrete! And now we come to the first of the long epic numbers on the album, "Post War Saturday Echo". At nearly 10 minutes in duration, it's a multi-part suite, opening with a moody and magnificent organ piece. There's no peace for the wicked (or the good) though, because this song really explodes into life like a stick of dynamite before we're even halfway through the song. Make no mistake, this is powerful all-guns-blazing rock & roll with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Prepare to be blown away, because this music will make your day! Let's take a look at the impassioned lyrics:- The city is a ravin' neon nightmare, Freudian symbols lay my soul bare, And every way I turn, Electric hoardings burn, And words that mean nothing, Are endlessly rushing, Telling me nothing I really wanna learn." ..... This is invigorating and reverberant music with powerful lyrics to match. "Good Lord Knows" we're onto Song No. 4 now, an altogether mellower number, so you can take it easy, make a cup of tea and put your feet up to this laid-back 3-minute ballad. It's back to some good old-fashioned hard rockin' again for the next song though, the 7-minute barnstormer "Up on the Ground". This powerful organ-driven number has Deep Purple written all over it. It's a riveting, rollicking, rock & rolling number with all of the surging power of a steam locomotive!

Well, after the sonic attack of Side One, what does Side Two have in store for us. Let's find out. Fasten your seat belts and hold on tight because there's no let-up. We're going supersonic up into the stratosphere for "Gemini", a romping, stomping, branstorming song that's positively pulsating with energy. There's enough radiant power here to light up a lighthouse. It's time to "Make Up Your Mind" now for Song No. 7, another multi-part epic, running at nearly 9 minutes long. Well, I've made up MY mind that this song and the album as a whole is very reminiscent of the powerful keyboard-heavy sound of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, which has to be a good thing. This grand-sounding piece of music has all the power and resonance of the Big Ben bell. Next comes the longest song on the album so get your "Laughing Tackle" around this. It's a 10-minute long instrumental number, giving the power trio a chance to flex their musical muscles with some very impressive and superlative soloing. This epic number features the requisite long pounding drum solo, an energetic and pulsating bass guitar riff, and of course, some frantic antics from the omnipresent keyboard player, who could give Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Jon Lord or Ken Hensley a good keyboard run for their money any time of the day. And so, we end this high-flown, hard as a rhinestone Quatermass album the same way as we began, with a brief gentle reprise of "Entropy". You can stop headbanging and stomping those feet now.

This grandiose and spectacular album of relentless, pile-driving British Rock is sure to appeal to fans of the sonorous keyboard-heavy sound of bands such as Deep Purple, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Uriah Heep. This stupendous 50-year-old album has all the power and hard driving energy of a pneumatic drill. Quatermass are a supersonic blast from the past!