JADIS

JADIS along with Twelfth Night, Pallas, Marillion and IQ was amongst the very first neo-prog bands to emerge in early 80s Britain having formed in Southampton in 1982 after members of the bands Icarus and Saruman Grass crossed paths as they were seeking different lineups. Initiated by guitarist and vocalist Gary Chandler who has been the only constant member since the beginning, JADIS was early to the scene but was a bit low key throughout most of the 1980s only releasing the demo "Baboon Enquiries" in 1984 and then only playing live gigs. It wasn't until 1987 that the band found itself scoring a gig with IQ on the "Namzano" tour when things really started to take off.

It wouldn't be until the band buddied up with Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery who assisted in crafting this demo turned legit debut album in 1989 which found a limited pressing of only 500 copies making it one of the most coveted collectibles of the early neo-prog years. This collaborative effort led to opening for Marillion on the "Clutching At Straws" tour which ushered JADIS into the limelight but also signaled an exit stage left for bassist Trevor Hawkins and keyboardist Pete Salmon who would be replaced by Martin Orford and John Jowitt who would propel the band into its golden years as the neo-prog 80s morphed into the more all-encompassing prog revival 90s.

JADIS' debut featured four tracks that were recorded in 1989 before the album was released and four more (the entire B-side) that were recorded earlier in 1986 and 1987. The band delivers a fairly typical neo-prog style of the era leaning more on the pop side of the equation rather than the prog but nevertheless featured the expected mix of catchy melodic grooves that feature lots of keyboards and Genesis inspired guitar sweeps. Likewise Chandler's vocals evoke the neo-prog standard of the day but lacked the charismatic delivery system of Marillion's Fish or the better executed elegance of IQ's Peter Nicholls. Neo-prog was going through a rough patch at the end of the 80s with Marillion losing Fish and IQ and Pendragon releasing some of its cheesiest material of both their retrospective careers.

JADIS is a rather unremarkable debut that pretty much ticks off all the neo-prog boxes and places them more into a pop rock context much like Pendragon's "Kowtow" or IQ's turkey of an album "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" but actually delivers a much more convincing slice of more pop infused neo-prog than either of those albums pulled off. This eight track album of 33 1/2 minutes may not find JADIS at its peak despite existing for a good seven years however constantly lineup changes kept the band from becoming a tight knit unit until the 90s. This is one that is rather mediocre to my ears. The melodies are somewhat limp and the accompanying musical performances are average at best as well as Chandler's rather limiting vocal style. JADIS was never really a top tier neo-prog band and not for lack of trying.

This album has only been released once by itself making the original vinyl an expensive collectible. Although a second pressing never occurred, the album was added as a bonus CD on newer editions of the band's second album "More Than Meets The Eye." Personally i don't find this album the least bit essential but will surely be of interest to hardcore neo-prog bands who want to take the deep dive into the classic bands' earliest offerings. As far as i'm concerned JADIS was a second tier band that took too long to deliver and even then with the assistance of the biggest names in the biz couldn't muster up an above average album. Not horrible to listen to but pales in comparison to the excellent neo-prog albums that would emerge in the 1990s. Thankfully the band would improve significantly after this debut.