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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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DFA Dallaglio Damnations Dancer |
Mychael Danna Dark Side Julia Darling |
Martin Darvill & Friends Date Bait David Devant & His Spirit Wife |
Ethan Daniel Davidson Dave Davies Sandy Davis |
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Lavori in Corso (1997, 60.15) ****/T½Work MachineCollage Pantera Pantera La Sua Anima Trip on Metrò Space Age Man La Via |
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DFA (Duty Free Area) are another recent Italian band, along with the likes of Finisterre and their offshoot, Höstsonaten, who have rejected the irritating 'modernism' of the neo-prog crowd, delving instead into their own country's musical past and taking on board influences from the '70s greats such as Banco and PFM. Although jazzier than the above-named bands, DFA are firmly in the 'non-neo' area and, as such, are worth hearing.
Lavori in Corso ('Work in Progress') was their debut release, and the only one to date to feature Alberto Bonomi's Hammond and Mellotron skills. Much of it featured re-recordings of tracks from their 1995 demo, Trip on Metrò which, while listed on their site, is almost certainly long-deleted. The music reminds me of various '70s bands, not least Italian jazz-rock greats Area, with hints of Gentle Giant in places. Incidentally, I've listed the tracks as they are on the band's site, not as per the CD insert, making Pantera a lengthy two-part track including La Sua Anima. There's a little confusion over Bonomi's 'Tron use, as I'm certain the strings in Collage, for one, are modern generic samples, and I've only included Space Age Man because of the 'stabbed' chords near the end which sound more 'Tron than string sample. However, most of his limited use is standard 8-choir, including a short burst at the end of the 16-minute La Via, though you have to begin to wonder whether any of it's real.
DFA followed up a year later with Duty Free Area (***½), a jazzier work, then Work in Progress Live (***½) from their US NEARfest performance in 2000, although nothing seems to have been heard from the band since their appearance at Baja Prog in 2002. They haven't made a bad album yet, though (assuming they're still in existence), and Lavori in Corso is probably the best of the three. Recommended.
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Sera - Mattina (1972, 35.07) ***/TT½Ogni Sera CosiDolce Volonta Quando Scendevi le Scale L'Altro Me Stesso Le Mie Illusioni Il Cielo e la Terra La Grande Pianura Padre Nostro Per Amore |
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Gianni Dall'aglio, later drummer with Il Volo, produced a solo album, Sera - Mattina, in 1972, though it'd be difficult to classify this as particularly progressive, with most of it consisting of piano ballads in the Italian style. It isn't bad at what it does, but even at only 35 minutes, it begins to drag after a few tracks, especially when one is unable to understand the lyrics. The pace does pick up occasionally, notably on closer Per Amore, when the whole band suddenly kick off in the middle of the song, almost sounding like a rock band for a moment.
Gaetano Leandro plays organ, Moog and Mellotron throughout, although Dall'aglio himself plays all the piano and the occasional drum part. Leandro's 'Tron use is pretty upfront, particularly the first time you hear it, with some very high-in-the-mix flutes on opener Ogni Sera Cosi. From there on, it's strings all the way, although L'Altro Me Stesso quite clearly has uncredited string synth. I can't honestly say the 'Tron use is exactly innovative, though it is most pleasant, reducing the album's potential cheese factor from how it might've been had they used real strings (probably didn't have the budget).
So; a somewhat so-so record, with few progressive highlights, but a decent enough helping of Mellotron. Your choice.
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Where it Lands (2002, 36.49) ***½/T |
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| All Night Special Root on Quarter in the Couch Wanna Be Your Mama Steeple Full of Swallows Bloodhound New Hope Cemetery Animal Children |
Corona Tora Tora Tora Time to Go Home |
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After various label hassles, The Damnations have shucked off the 'TX' appendage attached to their name for their debut, 1999's Half Mad Moon, and have gone down the independent route for Where it Lands. Probably the best description of their style is the already-wearing-thin appellation 'Americana', i.e. country-ish post-punk rock - a sort of Cash/Clash crossover, maybe, although they don't really sound like either artist. New Hope Cemetery is a good example of the Clash side of their sound, though they mostly tend towards the Cash.
Like many of their peers, the two-female/two-male outfit use quite retro equipment, where appropriate, so various elderly organs and pianos are the order of the day, not to mention one 'Tron track, Animal Children. It's a fairly typically country number, although the chord changes go in a different direction to the expected, which has to be good; guitarist Rob Bernard plays a mournful string part toward the end of the track, though it doesn't exactly fall into the 'essential 'Tron' category, to be honest.
So; a good album at what it does (which makes a nice change), with one very minor bit of 'Tron. Buy only if Americana's your bag.
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Tales of the Riverbank (2001, recorded 1972, 39.08) ***½/TTTales of the RiverbankAmerica Wood Morning Mac's Cafe This Change in Me Fairhill Affair Mind the Houses |
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Dancer were a little-known progressive band hailing from the Isle of Wight, a rather culturally isolated island off the south coast of England, although it's only a short ferry ride from the mainland. Although they released nothing in their lifetime, luckily they had the resources to record an album's-worth of material in 1972, finally released by those nice people at Kissing Spell in 2001 as Tales of the Riverbank, and would'ja believe it, it's really very good? Its highlight is undoubtedly the lengthy title track, which is a full-on prog epic, no less, but while some of the tracks (Mac's Cafe, Mind The Houses) are a bit on the ordinary side, there's nothing here that actually offends.
One (the only?) interesting fact about Dancer is that their keyboard player was a young Anthony Minghella, now, of course, known as director of 'The English Patient' et al. Given that the album was recorded in a London studio and was produced by the Groundhogs' Tony McPhee, the band had access to some pretty good equipment, and Minghella got some 'Tron (McPhee's?) on a couple of tracks (McPhee is also rumoured to have played it at the session). Tales Of The Riverbank itself has cellos near the beginning, with a good quantity of strings scattered throughout the piece, plus a brass part on Morning, although that appears to be it, despite Internet witterings to the contrary.
So; that rarity, a good 'unreleased album' (see: Fantasy), although most of its reputation rests on its title track, to be honest. Just about worth it on the 'Tron front, too, though again, largely for its centrepiece. Top marks to Kissing Spell, anyway.
A sad footnote to this review is that Minghella died on the 18th March, 2008, of complications from a cancer operation. After such a stellar career in film, it's hardly surprising that his rump musical career hasn't been mentioned in the obituaries.
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Elements (1979, 33.58) ***½/TFireAir Water Earth Ether |
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For the last twenty years, Mychael Danna has been known primarily as a composer of film scores, including Being Julia, Monsoon Wedding and Ride With The Devil, but he'd been making music for a good decade before his 1987 film debut (Family Viewing), with his first release, Mychael Danna & Tim Clement, dating from as early as 1976. 1979's Elements appears to be his debut solo album proper, and, rather unsurprisingly, sounds a little like a soundtrack in places, although it also has the feel of one of those 'classical music played on synths' records, but in a good way. His brother and future soundtrack collaborator Jeff and the aforementioned Tim Clement play guitar, not that there's an awful lot to be heard, ditto Larry Potvin's percussion; this is Mychael's record, make no mistake.
Opener Fire is particularly orchestral sounding, with Air being more of an enhanced piano piece, with side two's pieces being more 'electronic', whatever you take that to mean. Danna uses the Mellotron pretty subtly, with ethereal ('Tron cliché alert) choirs at the beginning of Fire, sparse strings in Water and almost-unnoticeable flutes in Earth, but that would appear to be your lot, with the various synths definitely taking centre-stage across most of the album.
This is sadly long out of print, although I picked an almost pristine copy up at an exceedingly reasonable 'buy it now' price on eBay, so it's not impossible to find. But do you want to? Well, if synth-heavy instrumental prog is your thing, I think you probably do. Let's just hope some label with more sense than money sees fit to reissue this at some point, assuming Mr. Danna hasn't locked the master tapes away or destroyed them or something. Not a classic, but not at all bad, although not worth it for the 'Tron. Incidentally, Canuck power trio Triumph's second album, '77's Rock & Roll Machine, features a certain 'Mike' Danna on extra keyboards, almost certainly including the Mellotron on one track, presumably making it his first recording with the instrument.
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Rumours in Our Own Time, Legends in Our Own Room (1980, 35.30) ***/½ |
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| #1 Man Lamented Love Good Boy Scared Straight Bondage Nobody's Girl Can't Get Used to it Fun in Nicaragua |
Back on the Streets Blow it Up! You Should Envy Me Rendezvous Down the Tubes |
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Odd Fellows on an Even Day: Anthology 1977-1995 (2005, 73.22) ***/½ |
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| Good Boy Lamented Love #1 Man Scared Straight Bondage Nobody's Girl Can't Get Used to it Fun in Nicaragua Back on the Streets |
Blow it Up! You Should Envy Me Rendezvous Down the Tubes How I Cried You & I Are Through Bluestown Out on a Limb Sweet Promises |
Kiss & Tell Dogs on Drugs In the Dark Another Crack in the Jaw Back Off! In the Dark ('95) You Should Envy Me ('95) Back Up Man |
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Dark Side were, essentially, a continuation of Baltimore's avant-gods OHO, although the musical path they chose was utterly different. Imagine a 1980-style 'noo wave' band, with pointed, ironic lyrics, a scratchy, punkish approach to their playing and dollops of Farfisa all over everything, and you won't be too far out. They released one album, the now-so-rare-I-can't-even-find-a-cover-scan-on-the-'Net Rumours in Our Own Time, Legends in Our Own Room, which should probably have done an awful lot better than it did. Just think; what if The Cars had had brains? Decent enough material, although Back On The Streets clearly deliberately rips off (Sittin' On The) Dock Of The Bay, for some unknown reason. Mellotron on one track, Down The Tubes, with some background strings that don't really make that much difference.
As part of a general OHO reissue programme, the whole album was released on CD in 2005 as Odd Fellows on an Even Day: Anthology 1977-1995, expanded to double its original length. Y'know, you've got to really like this stuff to want to listen to an entire album of it... That's not to dismiss it in any way, however; it's good at what it does, just doesn't really hold the attention of one not into the style for over an hour.
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Figure 8 (1999, 43.53) **½/TTT |
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| Overloading God My Inanimate Friend My Face Bulletproof Belief Grace Bury You 26/23 Crinolines and Waltzing |
Soak Me You Closer Look [bonus track: Lady Blue] |
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Yup, you're seeing that correctly - I haven't forgotten to put the 'end bold text' HTML tag. Kiwi Julia Darling's debut album, Figure 8, is stuffed to the gills with Chamberlin, although, sadly, her music is of the 'bland, overproduced girly singer-songwriter' type, sounding like a watered-down (!) version of Sarah McLachlan or someone. It all pretty much stays at one level throughout, so unless you're particularly captivated by her confessional lyric style, you're likely to become as bored by its lack of variety as me.
Anyway, Chamberlin from Patrick Warren, Benmont Tench and producer Tony Berg, largely strings, but with a notable flute part on My Face. There may be other sounds thrown in, but with odd stuff like a marxophone and a bandura on various tracks, it's rather hard to tell. So; not a very exciting album, although Ms. Darling has a perfectly nice voice, and there's plenty of Chamby work for the aficionado. Pick it up very cheap.
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The Greatest Show on Earth (1998, 68.49) **½/½ |
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| Greatest Show ("From the Beach" Excerpt) Modern Man Ceremony Greatest Show ("Rest of Our Lives" Excerpt) I Must Go I Will Love You Forever |
I Must Go (Reprise, including "The Greatest Show" "Mother Nature" Excerpt) Don't Touch the Marble Greatest Show ("Paradise is Waiting" Excerpt) Sodium City Circus in the Sky I am the Future |
Greatest Show ("From the Beach" Excerpt) The Only Way to Fly In Search of the Holy Grail The Greatest Show on Earth Part 1: The Dawning of the Ages Part 2: From the Beach Part 3: The Rest of Our Lives (I) Part 4: The Day of the Rock Part 5: The Rest of Our Lives (II) Part 6: The Greatest Show, Finale (Mother Nature) |
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The Greatest Show on Earth is a rather odd album; going by the extensive sleevenotes, Martin Darvill seems to've been a cohort of members of the fledgling '80s UK neo-prog scene in late-'70s Aylesbury (the town where Marillion first came to prominence, for its sins), but opted to become a successful accountant rather than chance his luck with some dodgy band, and very sensible too. Twenty years later, the fire having never been entirely extinguished, he finally decided to record a batch of material he'd written over the years, getting all his neo-prog mates in to help.
The end result is a rather overblown and overlong neo-prog concept effort about the history of the world or something, which ultimately, I'm afraid, fails to excite, being nearly 70 minutes of averageness, with about as much musical invention as you'd expect. The 18-minute title track is ambitious, and I like the way its themes are spread out across the album, tying it all together, but the nearest the whole thing gets to 'key changes' are the soundtracky chord shifts that crop up in places, with the whole affair reeking of 'vanity project'. The huge number of musicians involved doesn't help in the project's coherence (and listing them on the front of the booklet is just plain naff), with the likes of John Wetton (Darvill's neighbour and drinking buddy, apparently), most of the then-current Arena lineup, Martin Orford and John Jowitt from IQ, Don Airey, Noel Redding and Nick Barrett from the awful Pendragon contributing to the proceedings.
Despite several Mellotronish bits, the only mention I can find in the booklet is a 'thanks to Karl [Groom, Shadowlands]'s bass pedals and Mellotron', which rear their ugly heads at the end of The Only Way To Fly, with some fairly obvious, if subdued choirs, although the credit doesn't tell us who played them. Darvill's regular keys man Paul Ward? Groom? Darvill himself? Doubt if it was Martin Orford... Pretty inessential, anyway.
The Greatest Show on Earth wasn't a huge seller for Music of Life, but given that Darvill can't be short of a bob or two (I mean, mastering at Abbey Road?), I doubt if it hurt him too badly, at least in the wallet department. It's notable that he hasn't repeated the experiment, though - probably run out of material. Well, I can't really recommend this, to be honest; too neo- for my tastes, meaning that however closely I attempt to listen to it, it's always going to have the same tired old musical clichés and silly lyrics, so I probably won't bother. Next to no (obvious) Mellotron, so if I were you, I wouldn't bother either.
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I Split on Your Grave (1990, 47.58) ***/0 |
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| I'm Outta Here Evolution Revolution Poker Chips Didn't Know I Love You... Bog Baby Skull Diggery Crawdaddy Simone Strange Movies |
Master Race Rock I Got a Right Graveyard Stomp College Kids Snakeskin Summer Master Race Rock Do Anything You Wanna Do The Pagoda Mystery |
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Well, you could never accuse me of not going to inordinate lengths to track down obscure Mellotron music for you, even when I fail. Date Bait were an '80s US outfit with their trash aesthetic turned up to eleven, with production somewhere around the zero mark. I Split on Your Grave (paraphrased from the horror flick, of course) is both brilliant and crap, usually at the same time, with band-written numbers like Graveyard Stomp, Bog Baby and the great The Pagoda Mystery rubbing over-reverbed shoulders with the likes of the Stooges' I Got A Right, the Dictators' Master Race Rock, Eddie and the Hot Rods' (!) Do Anything You Wanna Do and a hilarious effort at the now (rightly) disgraced Gary Glitter's Didn't Know I Love You... (sic), otherwise known as 'Didn't Know I Loved You Till I Saw You Rock'n'Roll'. Plenty of snatches of horror film dialogue inserted between tracks, too; play 'spot your favourite film' here...
The differing 'productions' on tracks just adds to the album's appeal, at least in my book; who needs two years in Montserrat and a recording budget of $2m? Insert your choice here. It actually sounds like their entire recorded output stuck onto one LP, possibly posthumously, reinforced by being rather overlong for this type of music. Half an hour's plenty when ripping it out like this; ask The Ramones. Anyway, the beauty of this album is in its idiotic persistence in the face of overwhelming odds, i.e. they were complete rubbish, and knew it, nay, revelled in it. Jeff Zang plays keyboards here and there, mostly Farfisa, by the sound of it. He's also credited with Mellotron (unsurprisingly, given that I'm reviewing the bloody thing), but unless my ears are totally deceiving me, I can't hear a note; maybe there never was any and it's all a big joke that I haven't got. Who knows? Anyway, a good laugh, but don't come here for even the tiniest hint of anything Mellotronic...
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Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous (1997, 51.17) ****½/T |
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| Ginger Miscellaneous Lie Detector The Last Ever Love Song I Think About You Parallel Universe Re-invent the Wheel Ballroom |
This is for Real I'm Not Even Going to Try Light on the Surface Goodnight |
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Although I've been aware of the fictitious Mr. Devant and his unfeasibly discorporeal spouse for a while (although a very real Victorian magician, apparently - thanks, Mark), it's only recently, when I ended up driving them to a gig, that I found out just how good they are. A mix of classic British '60s pop and quirky late-'70s 'noo wave', with more than a dash of surreal humour, 'The Vessel' (a.k.a. Mikey Georgeson) and his unlikely crew have the songs to match the image, particularly in the lyrical department. Well, how many bands do you know who can get away with writing songs about their girlfriend being a human lie detector? Or, for that matter, about a game of Cluedo? Ballroom is possibly the best of an extremely good bunch of songs on Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous, but there's not one duffer to be heard here; I suspect the more I play this album, the better it'll sound, and it's not too often you can say that.
After mentioning Mellotrons as we drove along (as you do), the band informed me that they'd used one on this album, although after that incendiary gig, I'd have bought it anyway. In fact, I can only hear it (played by 'The Vessel') on a couple of tracks, and then only barely: a string line doubling the ubiquitous Vox organ on The Last Ever Love Song and what has to be a few 'Tron choir chords on Goodnight, although they seem to be combined with real voices. So; while it's no great shakes on the 'Tron front, it's a brilliant album, and I look forward to hearing their two subsequent efforts. And don't forget, don't leave your sense of humour at the door...
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Don Quixote de Suburbia (2003, 71.45) ***½/½ |
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| H Kill All Pop Songs Kaldonia Hard Times for Ishmael and Isaac Ghosts of Mississippi Skinny Young Millionaire Blues Incident on U.S. 65 Only One World Blues |
Joys of the Koyukuk The Great Leap Backwards Deirdre of the Sorrows The World Turned Upside-Down Globalize Your Local The Continuing Adventures of Kid Folk |
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Free the Ethan Daniel Davidson 5 (2004, 54.10) ***/T½ |
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| Conquered Beneath a Box-Car Moon Woman / Ladder = You'll Get What You Deserve I Need You Like a House on Fire Situationist (Non) National Commercial Semi-Literate Cowboy Poem I Can't Drink You Pretty Drive-By Diplomacy Blues Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore |
King Coal Made a Mess of My Old Kentucky Home Support the War on Nashville No Gods, No Masters Carry Me Back to San Juan Hill War All the Time A German Woman, an Irish Junkie, Their Three-Year-Old Daughter, and Me |
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Ethan Daniel Davidson plays a sort of politically-aware alt.country, sometimes spilling over into 'rock'; I suppose this is more Americana than alt.country, really, not that there's a lot of difference. I wasn't expecting much of him, to be honest, but the material on these two albums is surprisingly good (why is it surprising? Why shouldn't he be good?). Don Quixote de Suburbia is his fourth album, opening with the authentic vinyl crackle of H, working its way through various styles during its rather overlong duration; it's good, but not 70 minutes good. Saying that, the six minutes of Ghosts Of Mississippi is completely essential; a spoken piece over a bluesy backing, recounting the night Davidson (half Jewish) and his Muslim fiancée discovered a racially mixed juke joint in the heart of Klan country. Actually, the more I listen to this, the more I realise that Davidson is a bit of a hidden treasure, particularly lyrically; the new Bob, anyone? Anyway, Mellotron on two tracks, with a high, sustained, er, something? towards the end of H, and nothing obvious on Deirdre Of The Sorrows, both from Jason Charboneau.
Two albums on, Free the Ethan Daniel Davidson 5 is less focussed; maybe it's the full band arrangements? It's actually not bad, although I'm not sure what's with the ridiculously long titles; still good lyrically, anyway. Two 'Tron tracks, from Davidson, Charles Hughes and Al Sutton. Conquered Beneath A Box-Car Moon has a nice string part followed by really full-on mixed choir ('Tron from all three, shockingly), while closer (deep breath) A German Woman, An Irish Junkie, Their Three-Year-Old Daughter, And Me has a string part that fades in gently, then stays throughout the song from Hughes.
So; two of Davidson's six albums - I have no idea if there's any Mellotronic involvement on any of the others - one good, one not bad, two decent 'Tron tracks on the latter and none on the former. Up to you.
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7" (1969) ***/T Hold My Hand Creepin' Jean |
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The Album That Never Was (1967-9/87) ***½/½ |
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| Death of a Clown Love Me Till the Sun Shines Suzannah's Still Alive Funny Face Lincoln County There is No Life Without Love Hold My Hand Creepin' Jean |
Mindless Child of Motherhood This Man He Weeps Tonight |
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According to the sleevenotes on PRT's 1987 collection of Dave Davies solo cuts, The Album That Never Was, the second best-known Kink released four solo singles over the course of a couple of years, but never completed a projected album. Album opener Death Of A Clown was a huge hit, but Davies couldn't repeat the feat, even with the wonderful Suzannah's Still Alive, memorably covered by the mighty Cardiacs a couple of decades later. With hindsight, several of these tracks are relatively weak, and it's easy to see why neither Lincoln County nor Hold My Hand were hits, although they're still vastly superior to the dross that passed for chart pop at the time, or indeed, any other.
Hold My Hand was his fourth and last single, and, to be honest, is more notable for its excellent b-side, Creepin' Jean, although the 'a' isn't bad, with a vague background 'Tron string part, played by unknown, possibly Dave himself, although nothing you haven't heard better elsewhere, really. As you can see above, this compilation is long out of print except in Japan, but all tracks except Funny Face, the 'b' of Suzannah, are on Essential's 1998 Unfinished Business 2-CD set. So; good material, inessential 'Tron.
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Back on My Feet Again (1975) **/TTBack on My Feet AgainBaby I Do Wild Woman Who Knows Step in the Right Direction Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller Only Love Can Last Forever You and I He's Just a Heartbreaker |
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I initially wrote, "I know nothing at all about Sandy Davis' career, although EMI obviously thought highly enough of him to release two albums in the mid-'70s", but I've just been informed (thanks, Sven!) that he was none other than Paul Davis of Mellotron megastars Gracious! fame, although there's little way of telling unless you're familiar with his appearance. Anyway, going by the second of his albums, Back on My Feet Again, Davis played bland, slightly funky pop with hardly any distinguishing features, about as collectible nowadays as pointy collars and tank tops. Probably less. What a come-down.
I've no idea whether or not there's any Mellotron on '74's Inside Every Fat Man, but Davis gets it onto a few tracks on Back on My Feet Again. Strings on the title track, slowly becoming more prominent towards the end of the song, Only Love Can Last Forever and probably Who Knows (who knows indeed?) although the flute on that track is real. He's Just A Heartbreaker is the nearest this album gets to a 'Tron track, with a decent enough flute part, and upfront strings coming in later on to quite reasonable effect. So; don't bother, even for the 'Tron. That was easy, wasn't it?
