Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

CAEDMON - Caedmon (1978)

Album Review #28:- CAEDMON (named after the 7th Century Father of English verse) were a Scottish five-piece Prog-Folk band, featuring a female
lead vocalist and four male musicians.  They got together in 1978 to record this one self-titled and self-released album at their
own expense after playing a few local gigs in their native Edinburgh. Only 500 copies of the original album were pressed,
which were probably given away to friends and relatives of the band members. Not surprisingly, the original LP has now
become a real collectors item, selling for prices in excess of £1,000. A CD reissue of the album was released in 1994, and this
long-last album treasure is now gaining some well-deserved recognition, thanks to the modern wonders of the Internet. It
seemed as if that one self-titled album from 1978 might be the only album ever released by Caedmon, but they re-emerged
32 years later with another album, "A Chicken to Hug", in 2010.

Cometh with me deare friends as we travel back to Ye Olde Worlde days of yore in Olde Britannia with some traditional Folke
given a modern progressive twist. We begin with "Ten Maidens Fair" which sounds as traditionally British as Morris Men
looking faintly ridiculous waving sticks, swords & handkerchiefs as they prance around the Maypole. Don't be fooled though,
because when you hear the sound of a very untraditional electric guitar rudely bursting into the Olde Worlde Folke
proceedings, you realise this album is going to be something a little bit different. We're in Psych-Folk territory here. Track
2 "Maker Man" ambles along nicely with some laid-back electric guitar riffing and with the percussionist evidently having a
good time pounding away on the bongos. It's a jolly and uplifting little number, with much shaking of tambourines, which
should keep the Folkies happy. The sweet-as-honey vocalist, Angela Naylor, deserves a mention too. She has a charming
English accent, despite Caedmon being a Scottish band, and her lovely voice is as soft as velvet. Onwards to Track 3
and "Death of a Fox" - a fast-paced song with Angela Naylor stretching her vocal chords to reach those high falsetto notes. The
song has the feel of a traditional sea shanty, only this is a sea shanty with some extra progressive oomph added. Avast, me hearties to Track 4 "Sea
Song", which opens with the delightful sound of the harpsichord and with a male singer taking over the vocal duties. It's a gentle
ballad about a life on the ocean wave. Angela Naylor joins in with the singing to provide some beautiful harmonising. The
electric guitarist is in his element too, with some really wild psychedelic guitar riffing to liven things up. This is wonderful stuff!
Onto Track 5 now and "Aslan", another impressively stirring Psych-Folk number which reaches the parts that traditional Folk
songs fail to reach. It's uplifting and emotionally appealing and it's real foot-tapper too. The guitarist is in a Folk band, but he
sounds like he would be right at home riffing in a Hard Rock band with the power and passion he displays on this album. We
now reach the halfway stage with Track 6 "Beyond the Second Mile", the longest track on the album at nearly 7 minutes long.
This is beautiful music in the style of Sandy Denny singing "Who Knows Where the Time Goes". A song to savour, which right
from the first hearing, will have you hooked with its lovely harmonising and the ever-present electric guitar riffing at the
forefront. It's the highlight of the album so far. Track 7 "Living in the Sunshine" is an up-tempo number with much rattling of
tambourines and a happy-go-lucky feel to it, just as the song title implies. It's enough to make you feel like going out into the
garden and throwing caution to the wind by dancing around in the sunshine with gay abandon. Who cares what the
neighbours might think!? We come now to Track 8 and the 6-minute-long "Storm". This is another hauntingly-beautiful ballad,
guaranteed to charm and delight the senses. There's also a long instrumental interlude thrown in for good measure with a
vocalise segment in the style of Annie Haslam of Renaissance. Track 9 "Columba's Song" is a lively number which gallups along
nicely. It's like Fairport Convention fired up with an extra burst of adrenaline. It's fast, it's furious, but it's still rooted in
folkiness. Onto Track 10 now and "Smile on Your Face", where the electric guitarist announces his presence right from the
opening. This uplifting song is bright and breezy and abounding with joy and happiness and it's sure to put a "Smile on Your
Face". Track 11 "Caedmon's Hymn" brings us down from the spiritual high of the previous song with a sad and mournful,
melancholic lament. It's a beautiful song though and  there are shades of Renaissance to be heard if you listen carefully. Onto
the final song now and "Give Me Jesus", an unashamedly religious song, which comes as no surprise as the clue is in the title.
Hallelujah! It's happy, it's clappy, but it's also very catchy.

This wonderful album has the recipe for success. Take some traditional Folk-Rock and stir in a liberal dose of psychedelia and
progressiveness  and that's the stunning album you have here. A rare album treasure that you can return to again and again
and never tire of listening to. Caedmon's one-off album is worthy of being a Desert Island Disc, assuming you can find a 3-pin
socket on a desert island to plug your stereo in to.

The album blossoms into life with "Gone with the Mouse", a very proggy-sounding song which sounds like Fairport Convention with bells on. One wonders what a song with such an obscure title could possibly be about. Well, it's a tale of derring-do in a medieval kingdom with gallant knights battling to defend a maiden's honour, in time-honoured tradition. The song is abounding with the sound of acoustic guitars, violins & cellos and lovely vocal harmonies from the 3-part girl choir. This song is as English as strawberries & cream at Wimbledon with the charming English accents of the singers very much in evidence. It's traditional English Folk with a progressive twist, and very good it is too. This album promises to be very special indeed if this opening number is anything to go by. Once more into the breach dear friends with "A Tiny Book", one of the two long songs on the album with a running time of just over 8 minutes. There are cellos and violins galore on this song, giving it something of a classical feel. The Prog-Folk elements are all there though, with fast-paced drumming, dextrous guitar riffs and constant changes of pace. It's compulsive, it's progressive, and above all, it's very impressive. Onwards and upwards now with "Another Nail", another tale of nefarious goings-on in medieval times. There' a long 3-minute instrumental intro in this entertaining fast-paced number. It's a real humdinger of a song, guaranteed to get the feet tapping with its sprightly rhythm. In keeping with the medieval theme of castles & kings and gallant knights, the song opens with these lyrics, "Is that your daughter, Drinking some water, Laid on an altar, Selling a king for his crown?" ....... It's another 7 minutes of pure Folk-Prog joy and delight. The intriguingly-titled "Shoes and Ships" is up next. The cryptic lyrics are a mystery wrapped in an enigma, but who cares when the music is this good!? If you like the conventional Folk-Rock of Fairport Convention, and you'd like to hear it given an unconventional progressive twist, then this is the album for you. We come to "The Nothing Song" now, although this 8-minute wonder has everything! It's a lively and stirring number that proudly wears it's English heart on its sleeve. It's all about a day in the life of a typical Englishman, going out on a Saturday night, and having a long lie-in on Sunday - and what better way to spend a Sunday morning than lying back and listening to this wonderful album. And now for the penultimate song on the album "Me and My Kite", a jolly little tune with whimsical lyrics to lead us onto the seventh and final song, "Just Anyone," to play out the album. It's a brooding and mysterious song with enigmatic lyrics and it's a marvellous ending to a superb album overall.

For any fans of Prog-Folk out there who are looking for something fresh and original in the style of Fairport Convention & Fotheringay stirred into a progressive cocktail, then look no further than this compelling album of English Prog-Folk at it's very best. Fuchsia are blooming marvellous!

FIRST+AID - Nostradamus (1977)

Album Review #22:- The British band FIRST+AID got together  to record  their one and only album "Nostradamus" in 1977. I prophesise that if you like the sound of some overblown Symphonic Prog, then this memorable ELP-style album may be just the prescription you need. Let's open the medicine cabinet  now and see what the prog-nosis is. Will the album require medical care and attention or will it be given a clean bill of health? Well, let's find out.

"Visions"  opens the album in dramatic style and starts as it means to go on with the sombre voice of the narrator announcing, "When the two great powers of the world unite, Their greatness will be seen to grow, But their power brings fear to the East, And the man of blood is angered, Then it will begin!" ........ I don't know what it all means, but it sounds ominous. The spoken word prologue precedes the doom-laden sound of a swirling solo synth before launching into an ELP-style free-for-all where two manic keyboardists appear to be competing with each other to see who's the nimblest keyboard wizard of them all. Shades of Keith Emerson vs. Rick Wakeman. Now we come to the title track, the 6-minute-long "Nostradamus". Play it loud! This song is full of  pomp and ceremony in the best traditions of classic  Symphonic Prog in all of its glorious splendour. It's everything you'd expect, including a powerful singer, a male chorus, and two sonorous synths competing with full orchestra, which is guaranteed to reverberate around the room and rattle the windows.  If Phil Spector was a Prog-Rock producer, then this is what it might sound like. It's the prog equivalent of the "Wall of Sound". Now comes "The Awful Truth" where the listener is given a bit of a  breather when the keyboard player displays his classical credentials with this pleasant little piano interlude. The next brief tune "By Royal Appointment" lives up to its name as it sounds like the kind of dramatic fanfare that might herald the announcement of the arrival of royalty at some historic occasion. "Catherine" closes out Side One. It's an emotionally appealing and  heartfelt tribute to  Catherine de Medici, the Queen of France (1547-1559), back in medieval times when France still had a royal family.

Opening Side Two is "Two Brothers", a 6-minute long  instrumental piece with the uplifting sound of two  swirling synths playing along side by side. When the full orchestra emerges, it feels like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds and  bathing you in its warm glow.  Who needs lyrics anyway when the music sounds as good as this. Now follows an orchestral reprise of "Visions", a gloriously beautiful piece of music which would make a marvellous film score. This orchestral piece is full of dramatic flourishes which wouldn't seem out of place gracing the screens of a Hitchcock thriller. To round off the album in impressive style comes  the 13-minute-long opus "The Shape of Things to Come". The song title sounds dramatic and so it proves to be with the music. It's a suitably rousing song to end an epic Symphonic Prog album, with sudden shifts in tempo and time signature, so you never know quite what to expect on the first hearing. Prepare to be impressed though, because this long epic really grows on you and it's worth hearing for the stirring chorus and dramatic finale with voices from the pages of history, including Adolf Hitler and John F. Kennedy. Pretentious? Au Contraire!

This album may sound like an overblown Symphonic Prog effort to some ears, but if you like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, then this album should appeal to you. An interesting album from a historical perspective, released at a time when punk was just emerging and prog was accused of being overblown and pretentious by the snooty music press, but what do they know? Not that this album was  even noticed by many people at the time of its release. It's not an essential album, but it does have impressive power and symphonic majesty and it's definitely worth a listen. A good dose of Symphonic Prog is the best medicine. It's just what the doctor ordered!

"This Morning" opens this magnificent album in true Moody Blues style with sweeping symphonic soundscapes and the familiar heartfelt tones of Justin Hayward, as he imploringly sings, "As the dawn is breaking on your future my child, Is there none of your love alive?, If every door you open closes on me, I don't know if I can survive." The production and orchestration on this opening song is just superb. It's a masterly demonstration of the art of the producer and it sets the tone for the album as a whole, where you know you're in for a real symphonic treat. "Remember Me (My Friend)" is another magnificently orchestrated ballad with Justin Hayward's beseeching words asking, "I am your friend, You must remember me, I'm the one who saw through the world's disguise, Took away its cloak and made it hide from me, Remember me?" The lovely harmonies and sweeping orchestration are just awesome, with the trademark sound of Justin Hayward's superb guitar always there to remind you that this is really a Moody Blues album. The pace slows down a bit for the next song "My Brother", a gentle ballad with those Oh-So-Beautiful harmonies at the forefront again and masterly orchestration from producer Tony Clarke. who also produced all of the Moody Blues albums between 1967 and 1979. Continuing this magic carpet ride on a symphony of sound is "You", a romantic song of love gone sour with these words from balladeer Justin Hayward, "You don't even know my name, Time was when you would take the love you've given all away, Take a part of me, You don't even walk my road, Can't find where you turned, Looked away and you were gone." ..... These are the kind of melancholy heart-wrenching songs that have become Justin Hayward's trademark speciality and his beseeching voice always has that urgent emotional appeal that never fails to tug at the heartstrings. "Nights Winters Years" rounds off Side One in magnificent style. It's a fully orchestrated symphonic epic in the style of "Nights in White Satin", only more so. If you haven't been transported to a magical place before now, then this song will take you there. Prepare to be amazed by this epic production of dynamic proportions! Side Two opens with the most up-tempo rocker on the album, the uplifting "Saved by the Music", although the song does have its quiet reflective moments too. "I Dreamed Last Night" follows next. This sweeping symphonic masterpiece is another emotional rollercoaster ride, guaranteed to tug at the heartstrings with its tale of lost love, where Justin Hayward opens the song with these imploring words, "Oh, I dreamed last night, I was hearing, hearing your voice, And the things that you said, Well, they left me, left me no choice." There aren't many singers of Justin Hayward's calibre who are capable of pouring so much emotion into a bittersweet romantic ballad. "Who Are You Now" is a nice gentle acoustic guitar-driven ballad with the ever- present lush orchestration from Moody Blues producer Tony Clarke. You'd have to be as emotionless as Mr. Spock in Star Trek not to be touched by the powerful emotional appeal in all of the heartfelt songs on this wonderful album. If you're in the mood for some full-blown classically inspired symphonic music, then "Maybe" this next song is for you. Just lie back and let this beautiful music carry you away to an ocean of harmonic serenity. This is the music that dreams are made of. Finally, we come to the album closer, "When We Wake Up" which seems an appropriate title, bearing in mind coming to the end of this album is like waking from a beautiful dream. As you'd expect from two-fifths of the Moody Blues, this is a full-on symphonic masterpiece of lush orchestration with everything but the kitchen sink thrown into the mix.

This is truly an outstanding album which reaches the parts that other albums fail to reach. "Blue Jays" is an album that's guaranteed to linger longer in the memory with its timeless romantic ballads with everlasting appeal for generations to come. If you're a hopeless romantic, or just hopeless at romance, then this is the album for you. An absolute must-have album for any fans of the Moody Blues. In comparison with other Moody Blues albums, this solo endeavour from Justin Hayward & John Lodge ranks as one of their finest albums. This album is a master-class in production technique and represents one of the pinnacles of classic 1970's Symphonic Rock.

"Space Hymns" - The final frontier! Prepare to blast off into orbit with an out-of-this-world collection of 11 devotional space- themed songs where Ramases boldly (or baldly!) goes where no album has gone before. The countdown has begun..... Five!.....Four!.....Three!.....Two!.....One!.....We have lift-off!..... Launching us into orbit in spectacular style on this 11-stage rocket is "Life Child", which opens in suitably atmospheric style with some spacey sound effects. The spaced-out song takes us on a wild acid guitar trip, where the singer tells us with a religiously-inspired passion for the environment that..... "The sun is fading from Your city, Life Child, From where I stand it ain't so pretty, Life Child, I see Your sun is going down, I see Your wreckage on the ground, Life Child, Your seas are full of poisoned water, Life Child......" Taking us through the stratosphere and up into orbit comes "Hello Mister", which sounds like a devotional Hare Krishna chant, with the title words of the song chanted seemingly ad finitum, although that's no bad thing. Achieving orbit now, and along comes Space Hymn No. 3, "And the Whole World", another Hare Krishna inspired song with the pleasant harmonies blending nicely with the gentle sound of the acoustic instruments. You can almost picture the singers gathered half-naked around a campfire at night with their eyes pointed towards the heavens. "Quasar One" continues our journey around the Earth in similar devotional style with much chanting and featuring a whole jamboree of acoustic instruments. "You're The Only One Joe" follows next, where the only lyrics are the song title repeated endlessly for 2 minutes, which does become rather repetitive and you're left wondering who on Earth Joe is. The next song "Earth People" features a beautiful female vocal lead and represents one of the highlights of the album. It's a delightful song to listen to at night with the lights turned down low where you can be carried away into a higher orbit, or failing that, you can drift off to sleep and have pleasant dreams of drifting through endless space with the magnificent Earth down below. The next song "Molecular Delusion" is probably the most religious-inspired of all of the Space Hymns on the album. It's an acid-tinged song George Harrison might have recorded during one of his more meditative moments after visiting the Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Next up is "Balloon", where the singer imploringly sings "Don't burst your bubble, or you're in trouble." which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but who cares, because it's a fun lyric and a great song. The intriguingly titled "Dying Swan Year 2000" is a short little a capella album filler before "Jesus Come Back", an unapologetically devotional song that wears its religious heart on its sleeve with these words, "Have you got fears for the future, my friend Jesus, Jesus come back". It's *almost* enough to turn a confirmed atheist into a devout follower of Jesus. Who needs Jehovah's Witnesses knocking at their door when there's devotional music as good as this to inspire you!? Finally, we return to Earth with "Journey To The Inside" to close out the album. It's a weird 6-minute-long, drug-induced acid trip, which is nothing less than you'd expect from a religiously-inspired album drenched in psychedelic colours.

If you want to get all religious without going to church and fancy listening to some gentle and devotional Prog-Folk songs with a sprinkle of psychedelic flower-power, then this is the album for you. The album will have special appeal if you like the idea of dancing naked around a tree under a star-filled moonlit sky with some flowers in your hair. "Space Hymns" features enchanting harmonies and various acoustic delights designed to transport you to musical heaven on Earth.

Album Review #14:-  THE GODS featured an impressive line-up of musicians. First and foremost, there was keyboard wizard Ken Hensley, the powerhouse and driving force behind Uriah Heep. And then there was legendary guitarist Mick Taylor, a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967-69) and the Rolling Stones (1969-1974). Lee Kerslake played on drums, who later went on to achieve success in Uriah Heep with Ken Hensley. Greg Lake, of Emerson, Lake & Palmer fame, was also a member of THE GODS for a brief time. The line-up for this first album "Genesis" consisted of:-  John Glascock  (bass, vocals); Ken Hensley  (keyboards, guitar, percussion, vocals); Joe Konas  (guitar, vocals) & Lee Kerslake  (drums). THE GODS released a second album in 1970 "To Samuel a Son" before disbanding. As might be expected from a band led by keyboard maestro Ken Hensley, the "Genesis" album is a keyboard driven Heavy Prog album of impressive driving power, very much in the style of early Uriah Heep. If this was a Uriah Heep album, then it would surely rank as one of their finest albums. There were four bonus tracks included in the 1994 CD reissue of the album.

This album ROCKS!! "Genesis" is an album that's meant to be played LOUD and proud, so fasten your seatbelts, lock up your daughters, and prepare to hear some impressive keyboard histrionics from Mr. Ken Hensley! Music maestro please! The album opens in powerful take-no-prisoners style with "Towards the Skies", with the heavy keyboard sound of Ken Hensley very much at the forefront. The singer has a powerful emotional urgency to his voice and there's some wild guitar riffs thrown in to the mix too, All in all, it's a magnificently powerful album opener which really means business and hits you for six with its raw power, The listener is given a bit of a breather with the slower-paced "Candles Getting Shorter", although the song still maintains the band's heavy rock credentials. Just when you thought it was safe to lie back and relax though, "You're My Life" hits you with its pounding drum rhythm and freaky guitar breaks with the vocalist going hell-for-leather and giving the song everything he's got and more besides, very much in the style of David Byron of Uriah Heep. And if you thought that was good, you ain't heard nothing yet (to paraphrase Mr. Bachman, Mr. Turner & Mr. Overdrive), because along comes "Looking Glass", a real highlight of the album with soaring vocals and the keyboard-heavy sound that Uriah Heep fans have grown to know and love. The impressive singer really reaches those HIGH notes on this song, without the aid of helium,  and you really have to hear it to believe it! Next up is "Misleading Colours",  a heavy bluesy number of impressive power. Side Two opens with "Radio Show", an all-out rocker to get the feet tapping and set the heart pumping.  If you heard this for the first time in the late 1960's, you might even have been inclined to do some head-banging before head-banging had even been invented. "Plastic Horizon" is Song No. 8 which sounds like one of Uriah Heep's slower-paced numbers, although no less impressive, especially for Uriah Heep fans who will surely love it. Next up comes "Farthing Man" a bright and breezy upbeat Pop song,  which is undoubtedly the least-heavy song on the album. It's the kind of catchy late 1960's Pop song that might have done well in the charts, had it been released as a single. The penultimate song "I Never Know" is the longest song on the album at over 5 minutes long. It's a moody and atmospheric number where Ken Hensley and guitar player Joe Konas are given the chance to stretch their musical muscles with some truly outstanding keyboard and guitar motifs, not to mention the singer, who always puts all of his emotion into every song on this outstanding album. As might be expected from an album of such impressive majestic power, the closing song of the album "Time and Eternity" is another powerhouse performance from the combined might of four very accomplished musicians at the top of their game.

This impressively powerful and awe-inspiring keyboard-driven album will appeal especially to fans of early Uriah Heep. The "Genesis" album gives a superb foretaste of the powerhouse keyboard-driven sound still to come from Ken Hensley, who would go on to  delight fans during his legendary Uriah Heep years. If you're looking for the Best of British late-1960's Proto-Prog, then look no further. "Genesis" is an outstanding album for Heavy Prog fans everywhere!