CLEAR BLUE SKY

A thunderous, bluesy power-prog trio who released this self-titled debut in 1972, Clear Blue Sky belong to that select group of artists whose legacy has, for one reason or another, been exhumed and re-examined thanks to the excellent re-issue label Repertoire Records. Now available in a beautifully-packaged, mini-vinyl gate-fold replica edition, 'Clear Blue Sky' has been released under the dubious 'lost classic' tag that record companies give to albums that failed to succeed either commercially or critically in their own time, thus the opportunity to foister the music upon unsuspecting music fans who either do not remember or simply weren't alive the first time round. Though by no means a classic album, it is still a worthy entry into the prog canon, with an edgy, metallic sound undercut by bluesy rhythms and hoarse vocals that give the music a very slight punk aesthetic. Fans of Steamhammer and The Groundhogs may find much to admire, especially in the album's 18 minute long opener 'Journey To The Centre Of The Sky' which assaults the listener with a barrage of buzzing riffs and tribal drumming and, most importantly, never gets dull despite it's epic length. The shorter, sharper, more melodic songs that fill out the second-half of the album, such as the catchy 'You Mystify' and 'Tools Of My Trade', bring a touch of funk into the equation, again with John Simms brazen guitars pushed to the fore. A nice little bonus is the understated artwork from a certain Mr Roger Dean(one of his earliest pieces), and the only disappointment is the fact this under-rated threesome failed to record again until 1990, when they released a hugely-belated follow-up that is a Clear Blue Sky album in name only. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010