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10" (1998) ***/TTT½ Candlefire Skullcrusher (David Holmes & Tim Goldsworthy Remix) |
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Dawn of the Replicants are one of those outfits who passed me by, largely due to their dance-orientated stance, although it seems they were pretty hot on the synth front, in a '90s kind of way. The David Holmes & Tim Goldsworthy remix of Skullcrusher, a track originally available on their first release, the previous year's All That Cheyenne Caboodle EP, was released as the flip to the 10" of Candlefire, the second track of three on the CD EP and as a 10" promo in its own right. It's pretty acceptable to the non-fan, as these things go, being a lot less 'dancey' than I'd expected, helped along no end by Darrin Morris' credit for Mellotron.
Mellotron? They ain't kiddin'... Morris splatters what is quite clearly a real M400 all over the place, with string chords throughout, skronky cellos and a mad, lengthy flute part, full of key-clicks and pops, giving this a startlingly high rating for a single track. I've no idea what the rest of their stuff sounds like (they seemed to be keener on EPs than albums), or whether they used a Mellotron on anything else, but this one track is genuinely worth hearing for some of the most full-on 'Tron work you've heard in a long time.
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7" (1980) ***½/TT½ Spellbound Hall of Mirrors |
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7" (1982) ***½/TT Backlash Salvador's Dream |
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While trading NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, for what it's worth) rarities recently, I was pleased to discover Dawnwatcher, from Keighley, Yorkshire. I'd been aware of the band since '81 or so, but had never heard them, so it came as a pleasant surprise to discover that they were an epic, keyboard-heavy outfit, (very) vaguely in the same area as early Magnum. It came as an even more pleasant surprise to hear a Mellotron on some 1979 demos, although I don't feel I can review this material, as it's never been commercially available. There are seven proper studio tracks on my disc, five of whose provenance I can trace, although it would be nice if this stuff was released officially at some point.
Their first single (the preferred format for NWOBHM outfits, over the demo tape) was Spellbound, which appears to be a heavily-rewritten version of an older song. If you're familiar with the era, it sounds more like Geordies White Spirit than anyone, with a similar organ-driven sound, although it's actually its b-side, Hall Of Mirrors, we're interested in here. A seven-minute plus song, it fits all the criteria for epic hard rock of the time, with extra added 'Tron choir in the chorus, played by Peter Darley, 
who frequently plays to, or sometimes beyond his capabilities, particularly on the monosynth lines. Anyway, 'Tron strings later in the song, helping to make it a minor classic of its era.
Single no.2 and final, Backlash, came out in '82, with the band no doubt struggling through financial vicissitude and general public apathy, as they didn't sound like a carbon copy of Iron bloody Maiden. If anything, Backlash is even less commercial than Spellbound, which, while laudable, wasn't guaranteed to sell copies or make megastars of the band. Again, no 'Tron on the a-side, but the flip, Salvador's Dream, opens with some gothic Hammond before (again) 'Tron choirs in the chorus and strings towards the end. Their only other officially available track of which I'm aware is Firing On All Eight from the mostly appalling New Electric Warriors compilation featuring one of the most stupid sleeves of all time, admittedly against stiff competition. Well, a guy with a (cheap) guitar slung round behind him with his back to the camera, standing next to a trials bike in a field, in the rain, watching three other blokes off in the distance, all wearing bike helmets and playing air guitar? I don't think that description does it justice, although I doubt if you can see that much detail on the image to the right. Anyway, don't blame Dawnwatcher.
So, both these singles go for silly money on eBay these days, but recordings are floating around the traders' circuit. They're actually well worth hearing if you're into the style, with some passable 'Tron work to boot. Reasonable.
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Jim Dawson (1974, 36.16) **/0 |
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| The Singer Four Strong Winds Oh No, Mercy Me Montego Bay (Love and Other Things) I First Came From the Mountains The Light of Day Whatever Happened (to You and Me)..? Until I Find Someone |
Somewhere Down the Road The Woman With the Beautiful Eyes Close Your Eyes |
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Jim Dawson was a New York-based folkie, although there isn't an awful lot of 'folk' in evidence on his third album, Jim Dawson. Sadly, there is an awful lot of weak-as-water singer-songwriter stuff, with over-fussy arrangements and the sort of lyrics that you could only get away with for a few years (see: The Woman With The Beautiful Eyes), with 1974 at the epicentre.
Tommy West is credited with Mellotron, but I'll be buggered if I can hear the thing anywhere. Two tracks (I First Came From The Mountains/Until I Find Someone) have real strings, leaving The Woman With The Beautiful Eyes as the only track with any uncredited string parts. Really doesn't sound like a Mellotron, though, so this one may have to remain a mystery. Anyway, a tedious, if heartfelt album, with no obvious 'Tron. Just don't.
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Stop All the World Now (2003, 52.37) **/T½ |
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| Brace Yourself Perfect Time of Day Collide Trouble in Here Sunday Morning Song I'll Take You on She Says Numbness For Sound |
You & a Promise End of Our Days Come Lay Down |
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Howie Day's second album, Stop All the World Now, is something of a 'sleeper', apparently, taking off two years after release, with tracks ending up being used on various TV shows, all of which impresses me not one jot. Yeah, it's very professional, yeah, I'm sure it's terribly heartfelt, but it all sounds a bit too much like modern U2 for comfort, and his vocal style makes me want to chew the arm of my sofa, which isn't a good thing. Oddly enough, the best track is also the last, Come Lay Down, when Day actually starts to sound like he really means it, but it's too little, too late for this listener.
Les Hall plays most of the album's keyboards, including (natch) Mellotron, but it's not so easy to tell where, precisely. Real strings on several tracks, leaving vague string parts on Brace Yourself, She Says and Come Lay Down, which might be 'Tron, or might be Hall's credited 'synthesizer', which covers a multitude of potential sins. Finally, there's some obvious solo 'Tron cellos at the end of You & A Promise, but that's the only track you can absolutely rely upon, to be honest, so I really wouldn't bother picking this up, unless sub-U2 sounds like your bag.
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Alles is Nog Bij het Oude (1975, 38.14) **½/T |
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| Tim 5 Uur Alles is Nog Bij Het Oude De Schoolstraat Onze Jeugd 't Leven is Schoon Rozerood - Oranje Rozie |
De Gokkers Drie Heren Portret Van Gisteren Piepoe (Morgten Wordt Beter) |
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Wim de Craene was a Belgian singer-songwriter, who released eight albums before his tragic suicide in 1990. 1975's Alles is Nog Bij het Oude is the third, a respectable enough set, although its typical early '70s lightweight style dates it terribly. While nothing here actively offends, without understanding the lyrics, the music has little appeal on its own, making it a poor bet unless you're an obsessive era collector.
Jean Blaute plays Mellotron, with flutes and strings on opener Tim, flutes on the title track and very background flutes on Onze Jeugd, to passable if not exactly startling effect. Given that this isn't available, unless you fancy searching out a download, you're unlikely to track a copy down, anyway; I'm afraid to say, you really won't be missing much.
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Nacht en Ontij (1969, 29.16/38.25) ****/½BabylonHeksen-Sabbath (Deel 1) Heksen-Sabbath (Deel 2) [CD adds: Aeneas Nu Wie Kan Me Nog Vertellen] |
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Nacht en Ontij was Boudewijn de Groot's fourth album, finding him in experimental mood, making the kind of record that would probably have fallen foul of British or American record company conservatism. A two-track album was entirely unheard of in 1969, one so long it was split over both sides of the vinyl. Heksen-Sabbath (Witches' Sabbath) is essentially a suite of pieces of greater or lesser orthodoxy, featuring a great many spoken-word parts, sadly indecipherable if you don't speak Dutch, although their ominous tone translates perfectly.
The album's other track, the relatively brief Babylon, opens with Mellotron cellos, available on the M300 'A' set; given that said machine M300 appeared in 1968 and only stayed in production for maybe two years, Phonogram Studios would definitely have owned theirs by '69. Most of the track features real strings, but another short Mellotron part at the end (all played by de Groot himself) completes the album's 'Tron work. All 'Tron work confirmed by Boudewijn himself, incidentally.
The mid-'90s CD issue of Nacht en Ontij not only rejoins the two parts of Heksen-Sabbath (they were originally split at a convenient moment of silence, anyway), but adds two (Mellotron-free) single tracks in Wie Kan Me Nog Vertellen and Aeneas Nu, oddly putting them at the beginning of the disc. A contemporaneous single, Waterdrager, is also rumoured to contain 'Tron parts, although all I can hear is a rather piping organ and a real string section. This is actually a really good album; practically unknown outside the Dutch-speaking world (er, Holland?), it's inventive, original and more proto-progressive than psych. Seriously, if you love the era and your palette is jaded, you could do a great deal worse than to track a copy of this down. Recommended, though not for the Mellotron.
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The Lover & the Beloved (2004, 48.52) **½/½Ganapati OmOm Nama Shivaya He Ma Durga Hare Krishna Govinda Jaya Jaya Samba Sadashiva |
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Donna De Lory's day job is as a singer/dancer with various mainstream acts, principally Madonna, for whom she worked for twenty years. I can't comment on her earlier solo work (she released her first album in 1993), but 2004's The Lover & the Beloved isn't the drippy singer-songwriter stuff I'd expected: it's an album of Indian spiritual chants, set to a semi-Western backing. All rather unexpected, that. While harmless, it's also somewhat unengaging, drifting past the listener like the musical equivalent of clouds, which hopefully gives you some idea of the album's sound.
Zac Rae plays Chamberlin, with a recurring string part on Ganapati Om, although I can't say I spotted anything else obvious. Overall, perfectly pleasant, but not an album to really get your teeth into, being far too light and fluffy for anyone after anything but a temporary distraction.
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The Dead Texan (2004, 46.31) ***/0 |
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| The 6 Million Dollar Sandwich Glen's Goo A Chronicle Of Early Failures Pt. 1 A Chronicle of Early Failures Pt. 2 Taco Me Manque Aegina Airlines When I See Scissors, I Cannot Help But Think Of You |
Girth Rides a (Horse)+ La Ballade D'Alain Georges Beatrice Pt. 2 The Struggle |
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The Dead Texan's eponymous (and to date, only) album falls somewhere in between 'slowcore' and 'ambient', I'd say, i.e. very slow, essentially rhythmless soundscapes of piano, guitar and sundry keyboards with the very occasional vocal. This is a very relaxing album, but as with so much 'ambient' stuff, listen too closely and you'll realise it has very little real content, which is almost certainly the point, of course.
Christina Vantzos apparently plays Mellotron on Aegina Airlines and When I See Scissors, I Cannot Help But Think Of You, but I'll be stuffed if I can hear what and where. Maybe the accompanying DVD clears things up, or maybe it doesn't, since I don't have access to a copy. Maybe there's one in there somewhere (cellos?), or maybe they've just decided to credit some random modern keyboard that produces string sounds as a 'Mellotron'. Who knows? Anyway, a good, if very quiet album, with no obvious 'Tron.
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Porcella (2005, 39.10) ***/T½ |
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| Debt Collection 200 Nautical Miles Sissy Blues High Prices Going Down Gore Veil So Young & So Cruel Let it All Go Work |
Oh Lord, My Heart! I Heard Your Voice By Morning, it's Gone The Banquet A Bird in the Hand is Worthless |
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The Deadly Snakes are a Canadian garage rock band with a difference, that difference being that they're influenced as much by Nick Cave and Tom Waits as the usual suspects. As a result, their final album (they split the following year), 2005's Porcella (also released as a longer double LP version entitled Porcella - A Bird in the Hand is Worthless), features strange waltzes, pizzicato strings and soulful Hammond, with no two tracks sounding alike. I'm not sure if it entirely works, but it's certainly a brave attempt.
Someone calling himself Age Of Danger (a.k.a. Max McCabe-Lokos, apparently) plays Mellotron, with some very real-sounding strings on High Prices Going Down and flutes on Gore Veil (ho ho), with a repeating part that carries on after everything else stops, although all other string parts seem to be real. Overall, then, good at what it does, but I'm not convinced that the world actually needs that thing. Good try, though, and a couple of decent 'Tron tracks.
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Our Eternal Ghosts (2005, 46.24) ***½/½ |
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| When the Music's Not Forgotten Won't Be Long Brother John Werewolves The Monsters of Goya Sad Ole' Geronimo Slow Dance Absalom! Absalom! |
Love Will Guide You Home Brother |
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Deadman are Texan couple Steven and Sherilyn Collins, who make suitably haunted folk/Americana, nominally country, but about as far from Nashville glitz or 'stadium country' (aren't they now one and the same?) as you can get. I believe 2005's Deadman is their second album, mostly consisting of quiet, ghostly songs (When The Music's Not Forgotten, Werewolves, almost all the rest), although Sad Ole' Geronimo ups the ante with a full band arrangement and squalls of feedback guitar.
Sherilyn plays piano, Hammond, Omnichord, Mellotron and 'analog keys', although the only place the Mellotron even might be is the distant strings on Sad Ole' Geronimo. I suppose it could be buried in the mix elsewhere, but most of the album's strings are presumably from a string machine or an analogue synth. Overall, then, an excellent album of its type, although it's probably not for everyone (but then, what is?). Next to no 'Tron, but a must for Americana fans.
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Deadwood Forest (1998, 68.45) ****/TTTT |
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| Music From God Theme for the Forest Peace Garden Living the Life in Between Remote She Was a Pretty Girl New Braunfels Pebble Stream |
Basically Nothing Better Go Back Home Heartspill Blow Away Days of Wonder Vital Commentary |
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Mellodramatic (2000, 47.51) ****½/TTTTT |
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| The Pioneer — O L D King of the Skies The City in the Sea Dry Stolen Smile — |
The Ultraviolence Departure |
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Deadwood Forest are/were a Texas-based outfit with a heavy psychedelic bent to their sound; it seems the various members can't decide whether the band is in 'indefinite hiatus' or has simply split, so let's hope for the former, as at least it provides some hope. Their self-titled debut is good without being outstanding, although I suspect many of its songs will grow on me with repeated plays. There's very little 'prog' to what they were doing at the time at all, bar the near-15 minute closer, Vital Commentary, but if you're into a sort of psychedelic singer-songwriter thing, Deadwood Forest is definitely worth a listen. Mitch Mignano plays 'organ and Mellotron' throughout, and despite a slow start on the 'Tron front, he ends up sticking it on over the half the tracks, including the aforementioned Vital Commentary, with dirty great slabs of (mainly) strings and choir, with the odd burst of flute. Very nice.
Their second album from two years later, the wittily titled Mellodramatic, is one of those records where the more you play it, the more you hear. An intriguing pot pourri of styles, it's probably best described as psychedelia-influenced progressive rock, with the occasional contemporary touch to throw you off the scent. At least two songs use percussion loops on their intros, but that late-'60s sound is rarely far away, making it an Album For All Eras, maybe. Another specific influence that crops up here and there is that of early-'90s Swedish wunderkind Änglagård; hardly surprising, given that the album is produced by their drummer Mattias Olsson, although in a 'chicken or egg' situation, it's difficult to tell whether or not the influence was there first.
It's also difficult to tell just how much Olsson influenced Mitch Mignano's Mellotron use. The band already owned their machine, but it's to be found on every single track here, with some noticeably Änglagård-like chord sequences in places. Strings, flutes, cellos, choirs all over the shop; this really is a Mellotron fan's wet dream, not to mention an excellent album. Individual highlights are hard to pick out, but opener The Pioneer is especially good, and seems to best capture their eclectic mix of styles. Oh, and the two '—' tracks are basically untitled instrumentals, the second of which sounds for a moment like it's going to quote 'All Things Bright and Beautiful', but thankfully doesn't.
So, one very good album, and one superb one. Deadwood Forest is more straightforward than its illustrious successor, but they're both very worth hearing. Buy for both music and 'Tron.
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Grandfather (1970, 44.40) ****/T½ |
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| Birth - the Beginning Out of Time Make Your Peace Your's Claudia Prelude (to Your Country Needs You?) Your Country Needs You? A Dawning Moonshine Years & Fortunes |
A Prayer for Her Light Up a Light On a Lonely Night Grandfather |
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Dear Mr Time were an obscure British outfit who straddled the late-period psych/early prog divide with their sole album, a concept piece entitled Grandfather. It (loosely, of course, in true concept album style) tells the story of one man's life from his birth around the turn of the century to his own death, as recounted by his grandson. Birth - The Beginning makes for a pastoral enough start, but the pace picks up quickly enough as the story races towards the protagonist's experiences as a soldier in the trenches. The rest of the album veers between acoustic and electric, but quality's maintained throughout, avoiding the 'only two or three decent tracks' syndrome. On reflection, the concept actually owes a little to the Pretty Things' seminal SF Sorrow, but it's a very different album and, let's face it, a fairly universal subject.
No-one's credited with Mellotron, so I'll assume keyboard player Barry Everitt was responsible for the excellent MkII strings on Prelude (To Your Country Needs You?) and the rather shorter part in closer Grandfather. Pity they didn't use it more, but there you go. Incidentally, the cellos in Prelude are real.
All in all, this is really rather good, and undeservedly obscure, especially when you consider some of the third-rate stuff that's been available for years. The CD appears to've been pressed from a vinyl copy, but the surface noise isn't too bad, and rather a slightly crackly copy than none at all! A welcome addition to the field of UK psych/prog reissues, with a couple of good 'Tron tracks. Assuming you can find it, buy.
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Forbidden Love EP (2000, 19.37) ***½/T½PhotoboothTechnicolor Girls Song for Kelly Huckaby 405 (acoustic) Company Calls Epilogue (alternate) |
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The main thing I know about the curiously-named Death Cab for Cutie is that they pinched their name from a Bonzos track. It seems they're an 'alternative' (to what?) US outfit, and the Forbidden Love EP is their third release, coming after two albums, Something About Airplanes and We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. Going by the EP tracks, they play a perfectly pleasant kind of semi-intelligent pop, while not really being a patch on, say, The Posies, although they're perfectly listenable, just a little unexciting. Maybe I'm missing the point.
Anyway, despite some faux-tape replay strings on Photobooth, Song For Kelly Huckaby is the only 'Tron track on offer here, with a melodic string part added to the disc's most rocking track, oddly. I'd swear blind it's real, too; the way the pitch wobbles at the song's conclusion is completely typical, and almost impossible to replicate using samples. Hooray! So; one for US college kids everywhere, I think. It actually isn't at all bad, though I'm never going to be the style's biggest fan, I suspect. Putting the word 'cigarettes' in two out of five tracks isn't ever going to endear them to me, either. Anyway, not bad, one nice 'Tron track.
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Histoire de Fou (1979, 38.27) ****/TTDroit Vers le SoleilMalédiction Canicule Amédée le Mal Maudit Apocalypse |
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Francis Décamps is, of course, keyboard player with Ange, by a long chalk France's most successful progressive band, although he seems to've languished in his elder brother Christian's shadow for most of their career. After a decade in the band, Histoire de Fou was his first solo album, and can, in many ways, be regarded as the 'lost' Ange album between their last classic (Guet-Apens) and the beginning of their terrible 'commercial' period. Ah, the '80s; don'cha just love 'em? It's difficult to describe this album without repeatedly mentioning Ange, to be honest, although Canicule's orchestral arrangement is interesting, as I don't believe Ange ever went down that particular path. The rest of the material sounds like, er, Ange, so the most useful thing I can think of to say is; if you like them, you should like this.
I believe this was Décamps' last Mellotron album, as well as his last progressive one (at least for a while). He doesn't overuse it, as usual, and (again as usual) it's not always easy to tell the 'Tron strings apart from his heavily modified Viscount organ, but it sounds like background strings on Droit Vers Le Soleil and Malédiction, with a far more upfront string part, plus choirs, on Amédée Le Mal Maudit, and a final choir part on Apocalypse. Quick note: the queasy-sounding barrel-organ at the end of Amédée Le Mal Maudit is almost worth the price of admission on its own...
So; do you? (As they say). Well, to repeat myself (again), if you like Ange, you can't go too far wrong here, and some of the material (notably Canicule and Amédée Le Mal Maudit) is quite excellent. It's not exactly a top-notch 'Tron album, although there's probably enough to keep the obsessive happy, but its chief appeal is the quality of the actual music.
See: Ange
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Husbands & Wives (2010, 47.23/55.54) **/T |
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| Husbands and Wives Have it All Leaving Me Baby Come Back I Love You Kiss Me Heavenly Since He's Gone |
Weep for Me Run Mouse in My Kitchen Daddy Daddy Leaves Fragile Heart [Bonus track: Have it All (Tiësto remix)] |
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Upon nothing that Renée "Charlie Dée" van Dongen performed a Joni Mitchell tribute tour and album a couple of years ago, I had vague hopes that she might not be awful, but no, her third album, 2010's Husbands & Wives, is your typical modern singer-songwriter/pop travesty. Comparisons? Have It All sounds like Coldplay on an even worse day than usual (i.e. U2's The Joshua Tree without the good bits), while the enigmatically-titled I Love You hints at Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, albeit not in a good way.
Reyn Ouwehand (Stephan Eicher, Kane) plays Mellotron on several tracks, with flutes on Heavenly, Mouse In My Kitchen and Fragile Heart, but nothing obvious on Since He's Gone, Weep For Me or Leaves, unless it's the distant cellos on the first-named. Overall, then, a rather insipid little effort, although I'm sure a certain demographic (weepy young women. Sorry) will go for this in a big way. Despite six credited tracks, not even that much Mellotron, assuming (as usual) that it's real.
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Loving & Free (1973, 39.46) ***/TT |
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| Loving and Free If it Rains Lonnie and Josie Travellin' in Style You Put Something Better Inside Me Supercool Rest My Head Amoureuse |
Song for Adam Sugar on the Floor |
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I've Got the Music in Me [Kiki Dee Band] (1974) **½/½I've Got the Music in MeSomeone to Me Step By Step Water Out of My Head Do it Right Little Frozen One Heart and Soul You Need Help |
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Kiki Dee (1977) **/0 |
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| How Much Fun Sweet Creation Into Eternity Standing Room Only Bad Day child Chicago Night Hours Keep Right on |
In Return Walking First Thing in the Morning |
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After her early career on Motown, Kiki Dee moved into the soft-rock arena with 1973's Loving and Free, with her mate Elton John on keyboards, including Mellotron (two of the songs are also John/Taupin compositions). In all honesty, I can't get too excited about any of the material here; it's perfectly good at what it does, but it all sounds a bit dull with thirty years' hindsight. Anyway, Elt's 'Tron can be heard on three tracks: strings on Lonnie And Josie and Kiki's cover of Stealer's Wheel's You Put Something Better Inside Me, and although the credits say it's on Sugar On The Floor, I not only can't hear it there, but I can hear 'Tron flutes on just about the best song here, Jackson Browne's Song For Adam.
Her follow-up, I've Got the Music in Me contains her career highlight in the title track, a sassy, funky piece of mid-'70s pop, displaying her soul roots for all to see. The rest of the album, sadly, is rather average fare, being very ordinary mainstream pop, with a largish dose of balladry which may have sounded OK at the time, but is terribly dated now. One 'Tron track this time, with keys man Bias Boshell (that's 'Tobias', and he was ex-fabulous British folk rockers Trees, last seen playing with the Moody Blues on a recent tour) playing flutes on Do It Right, along with real strings, to rather underwhelming effect. Don't go out of your way, to be honest. Don't go even less out of your way for her biggest (as against best) hit, '76's Don't Go Breaking My Heart, a duet with Elton, and possibly one of the most irritating hits of the decade, against stiff competition.
Her last album of any relevance to this site was '77's Kiki Dee, and I'm afraid to say, it's a bit sorry. Most of Elt's band were on it, but all they succeed in doing is producing another bloody mid-'70s pop/rock album, with irritating blues piano licks thrown in at every available opportunity (How Much Fun is a notable offender), not to mention the appalling cod-Philly soul of Chicago. Or is it Chicago soul? Dreadful, wherever it's supposed to be from. About the best track is the only one with any credited Mellotron (funny, that), Into Eternity, which is a reasonable ballad with an unusual enough sound to catch the ear, although James Newton Howard's 'Tron is entirely inaudible under the real cellos and string section.
So; Sorry to be so hard on Kiki - she's got a great voice, but everything I've heard by her bar I've Got The Music is pretty ropey. Loving and Free's got a couple of OK 'Tron tracks, but don't go too far out of your way.
See: Elton John
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The Book of Taliesyn (1968, 43.58/65.27) ***½/T |
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| Listen, Learn, Read on Wring That Neck Kentucky Woman Exposition/We Can Work it Out Shield Anthem River Deep, Mountain High |
[Remastered CD adds: Oh No No No It's All Over Hey Bop a Re Bop Wring That Neck Playground] |
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Burn (1974, 42.25/72.11) ****/T |
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| Burn Might Just Take Your Life Lay Down, Stay Down Sail Away You Fool No One What's Goin' on Here Mistreated "A" 200 |
[Remastered CD adds: Coronarias Redig (remix) Burn (remix) Mistreated (remix) You Fool No One (remix) Sail Away (remix)] |
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Stormbringer (1974, 36.35) **½/TStormbringerLove Don't Mean a Thing Holy Man Hold on Lady Double Dealer You Can't Do it Right (With the One You Love) High Ball Shooter The Gypsy Soldier of Fortune |
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Deep Purple's second album, The Book of Taliesyn (named for a collection of Welsh legends), was a major leap from their debut, Shades of Deep Purple (***), containing material as adventurous as Wring That Neck and Shield that they would never have tackled (or probably been allowed to tackle) earlier. Admittedly, it also 'features' some dodgy covers, not least Neil Diamond's Kentucky Woman and The Beatles' We Can Work It Out, although Ike & Tina Turner's River Deep, Mountain High has a fantastic, several minute proto-prog intro, making the actual song, bombastic though it is, sound rather prosaic in comparison. Rod Evans' cabaret vocals were clearly already hanging around the band's collective necks like a bouffanted albatross, although he lasted one more album, the following year's Deep Purple (***½). Jon Lord used a Mellotron for the first time on Anthem, with a strings part before the real strings later in the song, although that was it for the next five years, despite Lord's symphonic ambitions, realised (poorly) on '69's Concerto for Group and Orchestra (**½).
1973 brought Purple's second major lineup shake-up, oddly enough, both changes being in the vocalist and bassist department; so, Gillan and Glover out, Coverdale and Hughes in. The story goes, Glenn Hughes left Trapeze for Purple on the understanding that he'd reprise his bassist/lead vocalist role, and was more than a little miffed to find that they'd also recruited the previously unknown David Coverdale to sing lead, leading to the uncomfortable compromise of both men singing lead at different points, with much harmony vocal. Anyway, Burn was the first result of the new lineup, and like '72's Machine Head (****½), was recorded with the Rolling Stones' mobile in Montreux, although under less trying circumstances. Unfortunately, it also suffers from that album's poor sound and lack of dynamics, as do most of their studio albums, with the extremely honourable exception of 1970's stupendous In Rock (*****), with live versions invariably crapping on their studio counterparts. Burn contains two cast-iron classics in its title track and the slow-burn blues of Mistreated, but there aren't actually any dogs on the album, even including lesser-known efforts such as Sail Away or What's Goin' On Here. Jon Lord's keyboards expanded from his faithful Hammond to include occasional ARP synths and, on closing instrumental "A" 200, to my surprise, a few Mellotron string pitchbend swells, although hardly enough to qualify the record for Mellotron Album status.
Stormbringer turned out to be Ritchie Blackmore's swansong for Purple (at least in that decade), before he sloped off to form Rainbow and listening to it, you can see why. The band was essentially being hijacked by new boys Coverdale and Hughes, the latter's soul and funk influences making themselves apparent on tracks like Hold On and You Can't Do It Right. Saying that, it's not all bad, with the title track and Lady Double Dealer proving to be live faves, although the album's pretty ropey overall. Now, I'd never even considered that Jon Lord may have used a Mellotron here, although I've been alerted to the fact that he layers 'Tron flutes all over probably the album's best track, closer Soldier Of Fortune, later to be Coverdale's vocal tour de force with Whitesnake, before they went down the shitter. Actually, that may be Mellotron strings, too, but the flutes are a definite.
So; I really can't recommend Stormbringer to Deep Purple fans, or anyone else, really, although Burn is definitely worth hearing, as is, maybe surprisingly, The Book of Taliesyn, although none of them are really worth it on the 'Tron front.
See: Rainbow
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Yeah! (2006, 47.41) ***½/T (T½) |
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| 20th Century Boy Rock on Hanging on the Telephone Waterloo Sunset Hell Raiser 10538 Overture Street Life Drive-in Saturday |
Little Bit of Love The Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll No Matter What He's Gonna Step on You Again Don't Believe a Word Stay With Me [Various ed. bonus tracks include: American Girl |
Search & Destroy Space Oddity Dear Friends Heartbeat] |
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This may sound weirdly anachronistic now, but when the world outside Sheffield first heard of Def Leppard, in mid-1979, they were regarded as being at the Thin Lizzy/Rush end of the NWoBHM, although, in hindsight, their future as the British Bon Jovi was hinted at almost from the off. I bought a copy of the second pressing of their self-released EP and have never quite forgiven myself for passing up a copy of the first pressing (red label, picture sleeve, lyric sheet) for a whole six quid at a record fair in 1980, now worth somewhere over three hundred. In mitigation, it was a lot of money back then... Dork. The EP was fantastic, the flip, the seven-minute amusingly-named The Overture (to what, precisely?) being their reasonably successful attempt at 'doing a Rush', with two short, Lizzy/UFO-style rockers on the 'A', Ride Into The Sun and the iconic (though not obviously ironic) Getcha Rocks Off. They were snapped up by Phonogram, their debut (1980's On Through the Night, dreadful sleeve and all) appearing with unseemly haste, featuring re-recordings of two of the EP's tracks, a couple more Rush-alikes and snappier fare such as Wasted and Hello America. Oh what a giveaway...
The following year's High'n'Dry moved further towards commercial hard rock territory, then they broke through with '83's Pyromania, which set them well and truly on the path to hugeness, only matched by their glossy horribleness. Their rise to stardom was temporarily halted in 1984 after drummer Rick Allen's terrible car accident, the band watching in anguish from the sidelines as the aforementioned Bon Jovi caught up with them. Oh, fickle public... Of course, what goes up, must come down, as their early hero Philip Lynott once wrote and the mid-'90s saw their appeal becoming more selective, all the more galling for the band, as Bon Jovi's didn't, almost certainly largely due to ol' JBJ himself having kept his looks into early middle age, unlike most of the Leppards. Saying that, the Leps have had a subsequent partial career resurgence, but they shan't be playing Wembley Stadium again (if they ever did), I fear...
Er, that went on a bit, didn't it? Anyway, 2006 brought the classic 'we've run out of ideas' album, a covers set, Yeah!. Unsurprisingly, it concentrates on the band members' younger days, tackling The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset passably well, plus reasonable takes on Blondie's cover of The Nerves' Hanging On The Telephone, ELO's 10538 Overture, Roxy Music's Street Life, Free's Little Bit Of Love, The Faces' Stay With Me and, of course, Thin Lizzy, with Don't Believe A Word. We get a bevy of glam-era hits, too, to no-one's surprise: opener T. Rex' 20th Century Boy, David Essex' underrated Rock On, The Sweet's Hell Raiser (complete with ex-The Darkness buffoon Justin Hawkins on camp backing vocals), Bowie's Drive-In Saturday and Mott's deathless The Golden Age Of Rock'n'Roll. As with many similar sets, how can it fail? OK, the versions may not have the caché of the originals, but as long as the band in question don't completely balls them up (although they often do, don't they, Duran Duran?), the end result should be at the very least listenable, particularly to fans of the era covered.
Ronan McHugh plays Mellotron on two tracks on the main release, with a string line under the guitar on Drive-In Saturday and a more upfront (and real?) octave string part on Little Bit Of Love, making a first (and last?) for the band. There's a multitude of bonus tracks on various versions, including a whole eight-track disc attached to the Japanese version, with a Mellotron-fuelled take on Bowie's Space Oddity, amongst Queen (a crap version of Dear Friends), Tom Petty and The Stooges. I'm not sure of the point of albums like this, as anyone who's a fan of the era will own most of the originals, anyway and are younger Leppard fans interested? Anyway, not a bad covers set, as they go, but not much Mellotron.
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Chariot (2003, 37.54) **/T |
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| Follow Through Chariot Just Friends (Nice to Meet You) Anyway Chemical Party Belief Crush I Don't Want to Be |
Meaning More Than Anyone Over-Rated Get Lost |
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Gavin DeGraw is a mainstream US singer-songwriter, albeit one considerably less offensive than the likes of, say, the horrible Daniel Powter and his ilk. Saying that, his first studio album, 2003's Chariot, isn't something I'll be listening to again in a hurry, although at least it didn't actually (particularly) offend me.
Patrick Warren does his usual Chamberlin thing, with strings on Just Friends and Over-Rated, although, as ever, low enough in the mix that it's difficult to work out if that's actually what you're hearing. Anyway, passable modern singer-songwriter stuff, as far as that goes, with a rocky edge in places, but no classic, either for its songwriting or its tape-replay use.
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Between the Leaves (1976, 55.23) ****/TBurning BridgesBetween the Leaves Free Man Flying Somebody Cares Time Visions of Nirvana |
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Déjà-Vu, including ex-members of Høst, released just the one album, 1976's Between the Leaves, although it was apparently completely unknown to collectors before its 1995 CD issue, having only ever appeared as a sleeveless test-pressing at the time. Given how many mediocre to downright appalling records are given a commercial release, the fact that this came close to disappearing for good is close to criminal. I'm not saying it's a lost classic, but it's a good heavy prog album in a mid-'70s style, with several stretched-out compositions featuring decent keyboard and guitar work. One major anomaly, though, is its length; was the original vinyl really 55 minutes long, or do we have some 'bonus tracks' here? No point arguing, as there are no duffers on board, although some of the individual tracks are a little overlong.
Harald Otterstad is credited with Mellotron, but until the dying seconds of the album, it seems to be a misnomer, as he sticks chiefly to string synth, monosynth and Clavinet, with a little Rhodes thrown in. Then suddenly, just as all hope is gone, a triumphal choir part enters within the last 90 seconds of final track Visions Of Nirvana, in the manner of the cavalry riding over the hill. Anyway, definitely worth a purchase for fans of the genre/era, but don't go expecting much Mellotron.
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Clean Up (2003, 54.35) **½/½ |
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| All Alone Thank You Déjà Vu New Beginning Heavenless Follow Clean Up Machine People |
Not Waiting for You No Reason to Be Shy Nobody Really Knows Here I am |
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Although Dutch, country artist Ilse DeLange (de Lange) relocated to the States early in her career; believe it or not, there's been a strong country influence on Dutch music for decades. Remember Pussycat? No? Count yourself lucky. Anyway, by 2003's Clean Up, DeLange's music had slowly shifted to a kind of Americana/AOR hybrid, harmless yet somewhat uninspired, better tracks including the bluesy Machine People and the title track.
Tony Harrell is credited with Hammond and/or Chamberlin on four tracks, although the Chamby is only apparent on Heavenless, with a background string part that adds little to the song, frankly. Overall, then, a rather ordinary effort that pleases more by its lack of awfulness than due to any real quality.
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Quinze Chansons (2008, 36.32) ***/½ |
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| Tous les Acteurs S'Appellent Terence Allan et Louise Je Pense à Toi Martin Parr Le Cœur des Volleyeuses Bat Plus Fort pour les Volleyeurs Et François de Roubaix Dans le Dos Dans Tes Bras |
78543 Habitants Shea Stadium Un Temps pour Tout North Avenue From a Room Un Tacle de Patrick Viera N'est Pas une Truite en Chocolat Monterey La Vie est la Même |
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Vincent Delerm's fifth album, 2008's Quinze Chansons (der, Fifteen Songs) is precisely what it says on the tin; fifteen gentle, French-language songs that somehow manage never to tip over into 'cheesy'. Maybe it's something to do with the French chanson tradition? Or the way French lyrics sound better on this kind of stuff than English? Or simply because I can't understand the bulk of them?
Jean-Philippe Verdin plays Mellotron flutes on opener Tous Les Acteurs S'Appellent Terence, although given that the sound (or one very like it) crops up again on Je Pense à Toi, with a credit for 'programming', should we find this all a bit suspect? Anyway, I doubt if you'll be very interested in this, but the very fact that it wasn't a painful listen vaguely endears it to me, although I doubt if I'll ever listen to it again.
