MAY BLITZ

Oh my, this album is a storming 'Progressive' rarity that features NO keyboards what-so-ever, quite unusual, truth be told (not that the 'keyboard' is the be-all and end-all of all Prog-Rock.....) MAY BLITZ was a not-so-average 3-piece, harder-edged band, simply consisting of a marvellous Guitarist in James Black, and a solid 'backbone' of Bassist Reid Hudson and Drummer/Percussionist Tony Newman. All musicians display a quite adventurous zeal on their respective instruments and their creativeness holds no boundaries to their song- writing. Admittedly, it's taken some years for me to get around to the band, and I have to say that I'm quite impressed with what I hear (if only I discovered them around 1989/90, back when I ........) anyway, here we have something that could be considered as a basic Blues-based band, but their seasoned musicianship and colourful arrangements stretch out further than many of their contemporaries. The album (now a seldomly obtainable record that was originally released on the famed 'Vertigo' label, lovingly re-issued by the amazing Italian vinyl specialists, AKARMA) features the original 7 tracks that offer the listener a surprising insight to what this inspired group of professional musicians can achieve within their simplistic, 3 piece format. The opening piece, the 8 min+ 'Smoking The Day Away' makes me wish I was (ho ho). It's a totally blowing piece of guitar-heavy music, superb riffs, great singing (in a Jack Bruce kinda way) with the rhythm section supplying a constantly changing backdrop for Mr Black to demonstrate his chops - indeed, the middle section displays some of the finest acoustic-guitar playing I've heard for a long time. The album also shows off some early-morning 'descending mood' moments (as I recall them.....) with 'Tomorrow May Come' and 'Virgin Waters', which are great mellow-out tracks. 'Squeet' is very impressive, too - Reid Hudson absolutely cooks on the Bass-Guitar. I'm inclined to give this fantastic album a 5, but I'm aware that many folks will find its contents less than enthralling - so, a strong 4.5 stars feels adequate - not really a weak moment throughout. Please discover this under-rated gem.