SONG OF THE MARCHING CHILDREN

Earth and Fire, a successful rock group in the Netherlands in the seventies, went where the musical fashion of the day was. Their '70 debut is somewhat of a sought after psychedelic rock relic and this '71 'Song of the Marching Children' is a full-blown symphonic prog record with only minor hippi traces (the opener 'Carnival of the Animals' comes to mind). After this album and 'Atlantis' (which I can also recommend for symphonic prog collectors) the band would turn to pop and disco and stayed into fashion way into the eighties.

On 'Song of the Marching Children' the band struck gold with some major tracks like the heavenly & unapologetic progrock hammond-organ exposition called 'Storm and Thunder', which also has some expressive vocals by female lead singer Jerney Kaagman (who would later become jury member of the first few Dutch Idols' television series). With its light-hearted doom feel (enhanced by that late sixties vibe) and an endless organ-intro it would prove to be one of the most unlikely hits of Dutch pop history. Ebbtide is a song in the same vain, whereas 'In the Mountains' is a typical seventies melodic lead-guitar driven instrumental song like Focus would also make them (Sylvia). On the second side the band impresses with the multi-part title song that expands on 'Storm and Thunder'. Some more epic doom, lyrical fantasy and Crimsonian mellotron drama, but also a nice part with classical guitar and serene vocals by Kaagman. Though this epic hasn't nearly as much parts as - for instance - Supper's Ready, it does deliver its main ideas in an interesting and rather authentic way. The ending section doesn't seem to offer much new, but it does cement its main theme in a pleasant nostalgic way.

Earth and Fire would never nail the genre as professionally and detailed as its main influences (I'm guessing Moody Blues and King Crimson), but it created a really enjoyable album full of energy, zeitgeist fantasy and youthful enthusiasm. Jerney Kaagman's voice has many glitches, yet her strange register changes (she can sing quite low) and her forceful dedication to the material are really charming. The album a good recording sound, yet it sounds quite dated; sounding way too like the sixties for a '71 record. Perhaps you need some Dutch nationalism to enjoy it as much as I do.