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Highlighting in album tracklistings denotes 'contains Mellotron'. On 'multi-part' tracks I've tried to indicate which parts contain 'Tron, although this isn't always possible.
Ratings:
The * rating (½-5) is my personal, entirely subjective and completely partisan rating of the music.
The 'T' ('Tron, of course...) rating (0-5) is an only slightly more objective indicator of an album's Mellotronness.
By the way, if you know of any Mellotron albums that aren't listed here, please look at my albums page first! Thanks.
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Richard Barone Luciano Basso Batti Mamzelle |
Bauer Peter Baumann Beach Boys |
Beachwood Sparks Be-Bop Deluxe Beck |
Beck, Bogert & Appice Bedlam |
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Clouds Over Eden (1993, 47.42) ***½/TT |
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| Within These Walls Paper Airplane Forbidden Nobody Knows Me Clouds Over Eden Waiting for the Train Miss Jean Beautiful Human |
Standing in the Line Law of the Jungle Within These Walls (reprise) |
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After his first band, the Bongos, split in the mid-'80s, New Jersey native Barone's solo career kicked off with a live album, Cool Blue Halo, presaging the 'chamber pop' of the following decade, and including cellist Jane Scarpantoni of Tiny Lights. By his third solo release, Clouds Over Eden, he was sitting fairly and squarely in singer/songwriter territory, with those chamber pop elements creeping in here and there (Scarpantoni guests again). The songwriting really is very good, without straying into the sort of schmaltz of which so many of his contemporaries are guilty, which isn't to say that it's all great, but there's enough good material to make this a decent listen.
Digital keys seem to be a no-no here (hoorah!), with a Hammond used on several tracks, along with Barone's Mellotron work. Credited on five tracks, it's only really audible on three, although I hear a couple of string chords on excellent opener Within These Walls, along with a string quartet. More strings on Forbidden (played by co-writer George Usher) and Beautiful Human, with flutes on Standing In The Line, leaving Paper Airplane as the 'OK, so where is it?' track.
As the album progressed, I moved from 'hmmm, pretty good' to 'so what?' then back to 'OK, worth a listen', although this seems to have nothing to do with the quality of the material at any given point on the disc. Basically, if you like well-crafted singer-songwriter material, chances are you'll like Clouds Over Eden, and there's enough Mellotron to be worth hearing should you find a copy cheap. Barone's previous album, the apparently overproduced Primal Dream is also supposed to feature 'Tron, and is available, along with this album and his debut, on German label Line's 3-CD set, The Big Three.
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Voci (1976, 38.50) ****½/½PreludioPromenade I Promenade II Voci Echo |
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I don't really know anything about the estimable Mr. Basso, but Voci is an excellent album, overflowing with lyrical (if instrumental) Italian mid-'70s Italian prog of the highest order. Preludio is good, but Promenade I is quite superb, with some lovely harpsichord/clavinet interplay, with all keyboards played by Basso himself. The other three tracks are all excellent, too, with Echo sounding a lot like early Pink Floyd, appropriately enough. I don't know the identities of any of the other musicians, but there's a violinist and a cellist involved, adding an almost classical feel to proceedings; appropriate, since Basso's three subsequent albums are apparently pretty much in the neo-classical vein.
About the only disappointment here is the almost total lack of audible Mellotron; I keep thinking I can hear it, only to realise it's real strings, ditto the voices on Echo. I finally spotted a flute line on Echo that has to be 'Tron, but it's not exactly overt. So, although the album barely merits a review on this site, it's an absolutely fabulous record that deserves your attention at the earliest opportunity, being right up there with the best of its genre. Buy unreservedly.
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I See the Light (1974) ***½/T½ |
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| Lament San Juan Caroni Seasoning Voodoo Man Get Out of My Way Love is Blind Bird |
I See the Light Streaking |
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Batti Mamzelle (French patois for 'crazy lady', the Trinidadian term for a dragonfly) found themselves attached to the London 'afro-rock' scene in the early '70s, alongside the better-known Osibisa, despite not actually featuring any African musicians per se. They mixed steel drums and other percussion into a kind of Latin/funk/rock brew, making music that must have been devastating live. Their sole album, I See the Light, apparently took a while to record, as the band (unsurprisingly) had trouble capturing their live sound on tape, and while the end result gives some idea of how they must've sounded, the limitations of the studio presumably hindered the band's chances commercially. Voodoo Man is a prime example of their, er, voodoo, with an outrageously propulsive rhythm, while Bird sounds like a Caribbean Santana, although Winston Delandro's guitar work lack's Carlos' fire.
Osibisa's ex-keyboard player, Robert Bailey, produced (his brother was the drummer and their dad was manager), adding Mellotron to a few tracks. The background string part on Seasoning is neither here nor there, but an upfront flute part on Get Out Of My Way enhances the track nicely, although that would seem to be your lot. I had the impression this was pretty hard to find, but I found a slightly battered copy in a suburban London shop for two quid, although that was probably more down to luck than judgement. Its almost unique mix of steel pans and more standard instrumentation is worth hearing, with most of the solos taken on percussion rather than guitar or keys, the notable exception being the ripping fuzz guitar solo on album closer Streaking. Not that much Mellotron, but an interesting curio that still stands up well today.
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Baueresque (2004, 45.59) ***½/TTT |
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| Bouillabaisse of Brilliance Libitz in a Car A Renegade Cop Cubicle The Record Machine Thin White Line It's Getting Better Life's a Breeze |
Open Air A Bird Called Fish Swag Climbing Trees Doctor in Love Everything After All |
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It seems Bauer are essentially a duo of Berend Dubbe (ex-Bettie Serveert) and Sonja van Hamel, who between them play everything on their third album, Baueresque. They use a whole raft of vintage gear, including a MiniMoog, an ARP Odyssey, Rhodes, Wurly and Hohner pianos and a new Mellotron MkVI (does that mean it's no longer 'vintage'?). Musically, they describe themselves amusingly as 'queasy listening' or 'soft psych synth pop', both of which should give you some idea of their sound. The songwriting's really rather good, although I suspect this is going to take a few plays to really sink in, and highlights are difficult to pick out on a first listen. Actually, d'you know what this reminds me of? Mattias 'Änglagård' Olsson's work with several of his recent projects such as Reminder or Nanook of the North, so if you're into them, you can't go too far wrong here.
I'm having trouble identifying the string sounds on opener Bouillabaisse Of Brilliance: M300B solo violin? A new sound? Cellos underneath, I think, but it's hard to tell. No such issues on Thin White Line; standard M400 strings throughout, and a front-of-the-mix flute melody on Open Air. I think that's 'Tron choir on Swag, along with more strings, flutes and cellos again on Climbing Trees, and more of the same (the band must own at least two tape frames) on the other highlighted tracks.
If you don't object to retro/modern crossover pop, you may well go for this; I've seen it memorably described as 'pop made by a prog band', which isn't to say that it isn't pop - just clever pop. Less Mellotron than expected, but what's here is good, so; tentatively recommended.
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Romance 76 (1976, 36.58) ***½/TTTBicentennial PresentRomance Phase By Phase Meadow of Infinity (Part 1) The Glass Bridge Meadow of Infinity (Part 2) |
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Mellotron used:
Peter Baumann was still a member of Tangerine Dream when he recorded Romance 76, his first solo album. The title obviously refers to several things, including its year of release and the 'aged' half of Baumann's face on the sleeve. Unsurprisingly, the album delves deeply into Tangs territory, though without Edgar Froese's guitar interjections; six lengthy instrumental synth-led pieces with a reasonable dash of Mellotron here and there. Apart from the usual sounds, I suspect that's Mellotron piano and tuned percussion to be heard, though it's always difficult to prove with the 'lesser-known' sounds.
So, while nothing outstanding, Romance 76 is both a good electronic album and a reasonable 'Tron one. Worth a flutter.
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Wild Honey (1968, 24.22) ***½/T |
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| Wild Honey Aren't You Glad I Was Made to Love Her Country Air A Thing or Two Darlin' I'd Love Just Once to See You Here Comes the Night |
Let the Wind Blow Now She Boogalooed it Mama Says |
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Sunflower (1970, 36.49) ***½/½ |
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| Slip on Through This Whole World Add Some Music to Your Day Got to Know the Woman Deirdre It's about Time Tears in the Morning All I Wanna Do |
Forever Our Sweet Love At My Window Cool, Cool Water |
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By 1968, the Beach Boys were beginning to lose their way. After the Smile debacle and the half-arsed Smiley Smile (****), Brian Wilson co-wrote most of Wild Honey with his arch-nemesis, Mike Love, with patchy results. It opens well enough with the title track, but most of the tracks fade awkwardly and sound slightly unfinished, with the obvious exception of the album's standout, Darlin'. It's also about the shortest album on this entire site, including one that runs at 45 rpm and at least one mini-album, indicating, I suspect, the band's serious loss of direction and confidence. Now, this has been ping-ponging its way between this page and Mistaken ID for the last couple of months, but it seems to have found its way back here for good. Country Air has a little of what are presumably Chamberlin flutes, as the chances of any Mellotron finding its way to the West Coast in 1968 are slim-to-vanishing. A nice part, but nothing outstanding.
Sunflower is generally regarded as the best Beach Boys album since the mid-'60s, although, to be honest, it sounds a bit lightweight to my ears after the wonders of Pet Sounds, or Brian Wilson's slightly belated Smile (only 40 years late, Bri). The harmonies are certainly there, as are those gorgeous chordal twists (the 4th in the bass or whatever it is), but there's no God Only Knows, no Caroline No, no Surf's Up (finally unveiled to the listening public on the album of the same name the following year). I'm probably being a bit churlish, though, as there's plenty hear for the ear attuned to the Beach Boys' unique melodic sense, and not all of it written by Brian; he has no writing input on five of its twelve tracks, while Dennis writes or co-writes three.
But what's it doing here, eh? Donny Lang tells me that Add Some Music To Your Day and Forever have faint Chamberlin string lines, probably played by Brian. They're there all right, hidden away beneath the vocals, but they're hardly the most auspicious use of the instrument ever, to the point where I wouldn't have known if I hadn't been told. So; two good Beach Boys albums, if not classics, with little enough Chamby to be worth ignoring on that front.
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Once We Were Trees (2001, 51.25) ***½/T |
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| Germination Confusion is Nothing New The Sun Surrounds Me You Take the Gold Hearts Mend Let it Run Old Manatee The Hustler |
Yer Selfish Ways By Your Side Close Your Eyes Banjo Press Conference Jugglers Revenge The Good Night Whistle Once We Were Trees |
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Make the Cowboy Robots Cry (2002, 28.43) ****/T½DrinkswaterHibernation Ponce de Leon Blues Sing Your Thoughts Galapagos Ghost Dance 1492 |
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Beachwood Sparks fit fairly and squarely into the 'alt.country' ghetto, though it seems to me there are far worse places to be. Along with Wilco, Son Volt et al., their efforts to build on the brief career of Gram Parsons, including his work with the Byrds, is not only admirable, but actually rather good, even to those of us who loathe mainstream country music with a passion; how thankful I am that I live in a country where that bilge isn't ubiquitous. They released their eponymous debut in 2000, following it a year later with Once We Were Trees.
Distinctly different from the other Americana I've heard, it's a good selection of songs, without being especially outstanding, although Let It Run's drifting-tumbleweed feel and Syd Barrett-ish guitar definitely catch the ear; possibly the work of a band still trying to find their collective feet. I wasn't at all sure they was going to be any Mellotron on here, but Close Your Eyes' choirs are pretty authentic, and the vibes on Banjo Press Conference (best song title award) have that 'Tronnish key-click about them. The flutes on By Your Side are slightly less convincing (as in, could be real), but I'll leave it highlighted until/if I find out it isn't.
The mini-album (remember them?) Make the Cowboy Robots Cry gives the impression of being a stop-gap release between the band's second and third albums, only it seems they disintegrated before recording anything else, leaving this as their last will and testament. And a very fine one it is, too, with its oblique songwriting (the climax of Drinkswater is really quite transcendent) and unusual juxtapositions of instruments, notably the plucked banjo and pitchbent synth on Galapagos. It's rather hard to tell, but there seems to be some Mellotron use on at least two tracks, with some occasional background string chords on Hibernation and a distant flute part towards the end of Galapagos. The string part on Sing Your Thoughts has a very 'Mellotronic' feel to it, too, although the precise sound isn't entirely familiar. String section? Uncredited Chamberlin? Not tape-replay at all?
Anyway; if you're thinking of dipping a toe or two into the murky waters of Americana, you could do a lot worse than pick up a copy of either of these releases. A little 'Tron, but much excellent music. Recommended.
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Futurama (1975) ****½/TStage WhispersLove With the Madman Maid in Heaven Sister Seagull Sound Track Music in Dreamland Jean Cocteau Between the Worlds Swan Song |
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Sunburst Finish (1976) ****½/T |
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| Fair Exchange Heavenly Homes Ships in the Night Crying to the Sky Sleep That Burns Beauty Secrets Life in the Air-Age Like an Old Blues |
Crystal Gazing Blazing Apostles |
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Radioland: BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert [a.k.a. Tremulous Antenna] (1997, recorded 1976/78, 77.26) ****/TT½ |
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| Life in the Air Age Sister Seagull Third Floor Heaven Blazing Apostles Maid in Heaven Kiss of Light Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape Fair Exchange Ships in the Night |
Modern Music/Dancing in the Moonlight/ Honeymoon on Mars/Lost in the Neon World/ Modern Music (Reprise) New Precision Superenigmatix Possession Dangerous Stranger Island of the Dead Panic in the World |
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Be-Bop Deluxe were a rather excellent band who never did as well as they should've, falling through several gaps, although, of course, this can occasionally work in a band's favour. Be-Bop weren't really prog enough for the prog crowd, heavy enough for the rock fraternity or arty enough for the Roxy/Bowiephiles, although the last is where their allegiances probably really lay. Led by the charismatic Bill Nelson, Be-Bop had an almost complete lineup change between their first two albums, Axe Victim (***½) and Futurama.
Futurama is a superb piece of work, pieced together lovingly by Nelson, who plays all guitars (and there are a LOT of guitars) and keys. There isn't a duff track to be heard, from the opening killer punch of Stage Whispers on, with particular highlights being Between The Worlds and live faves Maid In Heaven and Sister Seagull. The care and attention taken over the recording brings contemporaneous Queen to mind, so it's no surprise that Roy Thomas Baker produces here, too, although I wouldn't want to get involved in an argument over whether Nelson or Brian May was the more innovative player. Closer Swan Song features what I at first took to be real voices, though I'm now fairly certain they're Mellotron, probably multi-overdubbed male voices, though it's hard to tell. While it's not exactly a central part of the album's sound, this is a 'must-own' record, if you have any interest in the era whatsoever.
It wasn't until Be-Bop's third album, Sunburst Finish, that their 'classic' lineup was complete, with the addition of ex-Upp keys man Andy Clark. It's a superb album which still holds up well today; it's dated surprisingly well, at least to my ears, and provided the band with their only hit in Ships In The Night, along with other killer tracks like Fair Exchange, Life In The Air-Age and the determinedly rocking Blazing Apostles, a blinding put-down aimed at religious nutters. The only tracks that concern us here, though, are the emotive ballad Crying To The Sky, with some rather nice 'Tron choirs thrown in from Clark, with less of the same on Sleep That Burns. So, while I can't really recommend this on Mellotron grounds, it really is a great record, well worthy of your attention. After another studio album (Modern Music (****½)) and an excellent live effort, Live! In the Air Age (*****) Nelson radically changed the band's style, making them more contemporary, but, well, rather dull I'm afraid to say. He split Be-Bop soon after, forming one-off outfit Red Noise, then moving into a lengthy solo career, helping invent the concept of 'ambient'.
Various Be-Bop compilations including non-LP tracks appeared over the succeeding decade or so, but it wasn't until twenty years after their demise that any completely unheard material appeared. Radioland (later reissued as Tremulous Antenna, apparently with much-improved sound) is a compilation of various BBC radio appearances, with the usual problem that some performances get edited to squeeze everything onto a single disc. In this case it's principally the late-'76 show that gets sliced, which is a real shame, as the original broadcast featured most of their current album, the forward-looking Modern Music. The four songs from early that year, however, have the feel of a complete short broadcast to them, and going by the picture on the right, Andy Clark was using a Mellotron at this stage, although by the later set, and their official Live! In the Air Age LP + EP, he's using a Solina string synth. You can hear the 'Tron on three tracks here, along with a few bum notes from various band members (naming no names...), although it's not really used that effectively, to be honest. In fact, at risk of being labelled a heretic, I actually think the Solina sounded better on these tracks. Sorry, but sometimes a Mellotron isn't what's actually called for. Not often, mind you...
Anyway, two great and one good album, though none of them are really 'Tron classics. Buy if you like tuneful '70s rock with an arty bent.
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Mutations (1998, 49.18) ***/T |
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| Cold Brains Nobody's Fault But My Own Lazy Flies Cancelled Check We Live Again Tropicalia Dead Melodies Bottle of Blues |
O Maria Sing it Again Static Diamond Bollocks |
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After a shaky 'one-hit wonder' start, Beck Hansen has gone on to become the darling of the 'alternative' scene, and one of its most visible members. Although his early-'90s signing with Geffen was ostensibly because they allowed him to concurrently release less commercial material on indie labels, he only seems to've made use of this facility initially, with two indie albums in '94, after his Geffen debut, Mellow Gold. Mutations was his third major release, after the unexpected success of '96's Odelay, and is a blend of low-fi(ish) folk-influenced material, with just about everything thrown into the pot somewhere down the line, not least the slightly unwelcome country of Cancelled Check and Sing It Again.
Roger Manning, once of the extraordinary Jellyfish, plays Mellotron on two tracks: a gorgeous flute part on Dead Melodies and some solo strings right at the end of Diamond Bollocks (which isn't a word in use in the States; why has he used it?). So; if you're a Beck fan, I'm sure you own this anyway. For the rest of us, if a laid-back, slightly countryish album with odd bits thrown in sounds like your thing, go for it. I can't say it blows me away, but there you go. Only one overt 'Tron track, too. Oh, and please can we hear no more of that Scientology bullshit please, Mr. Hansen? Just because with you grew up around that insidious crap is no excuse to get caught up in it yourself. You're far more intelligent than most 'celebrity Scientologists', after all...
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Beck, Bogert & Appice (1973, 37.10) ***/TBlack Cat MoanLady Oh to Love You Superstition Sweet Sweet Surrender Why Should I Care Lose Myself With You Livin' Alone I'm So Proud |
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BBA were Jeff Beck's then-latest attempt to find a band scenario that suited him (he never did, of course), with the defunct Vanilla Fudge's rhythm section, Tim Bogert and the superb Carmine Appice. Musically, Beck, Bogert & Appice's a bit of a mish-mash of funky hard rock; not heavy enough to really grab the Zeppelin/Purple fans, but too 'rock' for the mainstream. Typical Beck, really; rarely in quite the right place at quite the right time. Saying that, it has its moments, Lose Myself With You rocks and funks with equal enthusiasm, and opener Black Cat Moan gets things off to a good start, but thirty years on, much of the album just sounds far too stodgy and lifeless compared to many of their contemporaries, whose work still stands up well today.
There's only one Mellotron track, credited: Oh To Love You, 'Tron played by Duane Hitchings; an undistinguished ballad, with 'Tron strings (and possibly cellos) coming in about a minute from the end. Beck, Bogert & Appice is, well, OK I suppose, but I'm having difficulty getting excited about much of it, although some of Beck's guitar work is as good as you'd expect. Maybe pick it up if you see it cheap, but don't bother for the 'Tron.
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Bedlam (1973, 37.48) ***/T½I Believe in You (Fire in My Body)Hot Lips Sarah Sweet Sister Mary Seven Long Years The Beast Whisky and Wine Looking Through Love's Eyes Putting on the Flesh Set Me Free |
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Cozy Powell was already über-session drummer extraordinaire when he put Bedlam together, who, to be quite honest, were a rather average early-'70s hard rock outfit, with few particularly outstanding features. The songwriting was OK, the playing was reasonably good, Francesco Aiello's vocals were fine, but there was nothing about them to set them apart from many other similar bands, unless you count Cozy's name, of course. Actually, I know exactly who they remind me of - Cream, or maybe Mountain. This is obviously no accident, as the album's produced by Felix Pappalardi, who produced the former and played in the latter, but it's got that sort of 'half-arsed hard rock' sound that seemed to be reasonably popular at the time, at least with American audiences.
Pappalardi also plays most of the keys on Bedlam, which would include the Mellotron on two tracks; the balladic Sarah has some muted strings over a rather cheesy chord sequence, as does Looking Through Love's Eyes, although the song's better. Overall, I have to say that I can't really recommend this; for 'rock', it's startlingly middle of the road, and I can't think who this might actually appeal to these days. I mean, if I don't like it... Incidentally, The Bedlam Anthology was released in 2000, apparently consisting of various demos, alternate takes etc., with one Mellotron track. More news should I get to hear it (though I'm not going to go out of my way).
