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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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Gong Phillip Goodhand-Tait Gösta Berlings Saga |
Gracious! Grain Grammatrain |
Granada Grand Funk Railroad Grand Mal |
Grandaddy Granicus |
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You (1974, 44.19) ****/TTThought for NaughtA P.H.P.'s Advice Magick Mother Invocation Master Builder A Sprinkling of Clouds Perfect Mistery The Isle of Everywhere You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever |
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Gong began as an Anglo-French-Australian collective in the late '60s, infamous for their heroic hallucinogen intake and their exceedingly strange music. Some fans believe that this is the ultimate trip, but I've known others who claim that 'tripping to this stuff just doesn't work'; I suppose it's a case of one man's meat, really. Anyway, by the early '70s, they'd concocted a strange tale of Pothead Pixies, Octave Doctors and the estimable Zero the Hero, known as the Flying Teapot Trilogy, consisting of Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You.
If you're at all familiar with Gong's working methods, you'll be on familiar territory with You, although it's probably the least manic of the trilogy, presaging the band's later move into jazzier realms, with more groove-based material, like A Sprinkling Of Clouds or the lengthy and excellent The Isle Of Everywhere. The only jarring note is the rather silly Perfect Mistery, but where Gong are concerned, you have to take the rough with the smooth... Anyway, for (to my knowledge) the only time in their career, the band opted to use a Mellotron on the album, amusingly credited as 'Mellowdrone', played by Hi T Moonweed (a.k.a. Tim Blake). It's used chiefly as a background wash, with a subtle string line on Master Builder and choir and string chords on A Sprinkling Of Clouds. It's hard to say, but the best use is probably on You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever, but none of it's especially overt.
So; if you like Gong, you probably already own this, but if you're new to the band, while I can't really recommend it for its Mellotron use, You is a fine album, worthy of your attention.
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Oceans Away (1976, 35.05) **½/T |
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| Oceans Away On the Waterfront Old Fashioned Love Jewel Love's Like a Song I Will Glide You've Got the Gun Laundry |
Gabrielle Can You Demonstrate |
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Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks (1977, 33.31) **½/T½ |
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| Airborne The Lady Lives in England Are You Alone? Private Lives Just a Dream Parade Angeltown Don't Treat Your Lover Like a Thief |
I Want to Winter With You If We Ever Meet Again |
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Phillip Goodhand-Tait had been around since the beginning of the '70s; I get the impression that he was a bit of a songwriting 'gun for hire', rather in the way that Harry Nilsson et al. started off. Now, I don't know about his earlier albums, but Oceans Away (ho ho) is appallingly bland, real MOR stuff for most of its length. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this brings to mind the slushiest orchestral end of '70s pop; very 'songwriterly' songs, but no excitement whatsoever. Like Gilbert O'Sullivan, or Elton John on Mogadons. OK, more Mogadons. There's only one track with credited Mellotron (from Goodhand-Tait), Gabrielle, with a reasonable flute part, but orchestral arranger Robert Kirby (of concurrent Strawbs fame) is credited with 'choir' on You've Got The Gun, and it is, indeed, Mellotron, with some fairly ordinary block chords.
'77's Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks is a more upbeat effort, no doubt not in keeping with the times, having more of a Philly soul vibe about it in places than anything remotely connected to that nasty punk rock stuff. I found it just as hard to trawl through as its predecessor, though, but that's as likely to be my fault as Goodhand-Tait's; one man's meat an' all that... Kirby plays 'Tron again, flutes this time, on Just A Dream and Angeltown, but nothing particularly outstanding, unsurprisingly.
So; not my cup of tea, though going by 'Net reviews, other people seem to like what he did. Highly average 'Tron work, too, so no recommendation here, I'm afraid.
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Tid är Ljud (2006, 55.39) ****/T½HelgamarktzSyrenernas Sång Aniarasviten Goldondern Aniara Lämnar Doris Dalar Tyngdlösheten Miman Söker, Och Finner... Ljud Från Stan Tog du Med Dig Naturen? Knölsvanen Svarta Hål Och Elljusspår |
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Gösta Berlings Saga are named after the famous late-19th century Swedish novel, or possibly its 1920's film adaptation, featuring a very young Greta Garbo (thank you, Wikipedia...). Although they describe themselves as 'prog', their debut release, Tid är Ljud, is, in many ways, more of a psych album. Opener Helgamarktz is a fantastic slice of instrumental prog with a 'hook' (so to speak) to die for, but tracks such as Ljud Från Stan and Knölsvanen shift into 'jam' territory, albeit in a proggy kind of way, and the overall feel is as much psych as prog, at least to my ears.
Most of the album's keyboard work consists of David Lundberg's obviously genuine Rhodes work (listen to it distort at the beginning of Knölsvanen for proof), with the odd bit of Moog (?) and Solina thrown in for good measure. On the Mellotron front, both Lundberg and drummer Alexander Skepp play 'Tron flutes and cellos on the gentle three-part Aniarasviten, with more cellos and strings on Svarta Hål Och Elljusspår, all recorded using Anekdoten's machine at their rehearsal space, fact fans.
So; you're onto a bit of a winner with this one, I think; if it sounds good after one play, I suspect it's going to sound amazing after several more. Admittedly, the Mellotron work is fairly low-key, but you need to buy this for its musical content and make these guys famous, er, make them their money back. Buy.
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Gracious! (1970, 44.43) ****/TT½IntroductionHeaven Hell Fugue in 'D' Minor The Dream |
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7" (1972) ***½/TTTT Once on a Windy Day Fugue in 'D' Minor |
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This is...Gracious!! (1972, 42.14/46.17) ****½/TTTTT |
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| Super Nova Arrival of the Traveller Blood Red Sun Say Goodbye to Love Prepare to Meet Thy Maker C.B.S. What's Come to Be Blue Skies and Alibis Hold Me Down |
[US CD changes running order slightly and adds: Once on a Windy Day] |
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Gracious (the ! appears to be optional) formed in the late '60, releasing one single, before signing with noted progressive label Vertigo and releasing Gracious! in 1970. It's an interesting on-the-cusp album, straddling the psych/prog divide with ease, although that put them a little behind some of their contemporaries, possibly leading to their eventual split. The band's endless inventiveness still shines through now, though, with composite compositions such as Heaven or The Dream carving out their own little niche in the progressive spectrum. Something that really struck me, listening to this again, was the strength of the songwriting; Introduction is a superb song, worthy of far more attention than it got at the time, and Fugue In 'D' Minor is a gorgeous 12-string/harpsichord piece.
For all that Gracious! is frequently cited as a 'classic Mellotron album', there's only 'Tron to be heard (at least to my ears) on two tracks, although keyboard man Martin Kitcat (his real name - sadly, he died recently) owned a converted Mark II FX machine, so there may be some bits'n'pieces that I'm not recognising. Heaven has a good chunk of 'Tron strings in it, plus what may well be Mark II Hammond, as there's organ on the piece, but Kitcat's not credited with playing one. The fairly bizarre The Dream also has short strings and mandolin parts, but apparently some of the sound effects are 'Tron, too, though it's hard to tell without a detailed knowledge of Mark II rhythms etc. Saying that, his machine had 'lead' tapes on the left-hand manual, too, à la Mike Pinder's in the Moody Blues. So, less 'classic' than expected, but a good album in its own right.
Later that year, a non-album single appeared, Once On A Windy Day, with a rather late-'60s sound, strummy acoustics and 'Tron flutes and strings to the fore. Rare as rocking-horse shit, it's now available on the US Renaissance CD, assuming it's still in print.
Gracious! recorded their follow-up in early '71, but after the band split later that year, record company politics decreed that This is...Gracious!! wouldn't appear until the following year on the budget Philips label. Even better than their debut, it's a tragedy that the band had already disintegrated by this point, as they may well've developed into one of the best progressive outfits of the decade, although those '60s influences would've had to go... While slightly dated for the time, the songwriting's as good as on their debut; they certainly had a way with a melody, which is more than you can say for many of their contemporaries.
The side-long Super Nova is an absolute classic, particularly the first two parts, with some of the most coruscating Mellotron you're ever likely to hear; saxes (?) stuck through an overdriven Marshall, with a driving backbeat from the rest of the band. Blood Red Sun itself exchanges sax for vibes on one manual and a strings/brass mix on the other, as Paul Davis wails "Blood red sun, what has it done?". Bloody phenomenal. Kitcat keeps up the Mellotronic pressure for the rest of Super Nova and while, unsurprisingly, he never quite matches the intensity of the first two tracks on the rest of the album, he comes close at the ends of both Say Goodbye To Love and Prepare To Meet Thy Maker. There's a hell of a lot of brass on the album, particularly on Blue Skies And Alibis and Hold Me Down; in fact, it's almost the main sound used, over the usually ubiquitous strings. I'm not sure if the organ on C.B.S. is real or 'Tron; it sounds real, but it's frequently hard to tell. Anyway, a killer 'Tron album, fully deserving of its five 'T's.
The UK reissue of these albums is on a 2-on-2 set from BGO, with the original running order on This is... The US CD of the album on Renaissance, however, takes What's Come To Be, which should be part three of Super Nova, but was shifted due to the length restrictions imposed by vinyl and puts it back in its rightful place. It also adds the Once On A Windy Day single, but instead of putting it at the end as a bonus track, it's placed between C.B.S. and Blue Skies And Alibis, filling the gap left by What's Come To Be.
So; two classic psych/prog albums, with This is..., in particular, stuffed to the gills with Mellotron. If you want the 'full' version of the second album, you're probably going to have to buy both the UK 2-on-2 and the Renaissance release, but the British one should do for most of you. As a footnote, an album-length demo began circulating in the mid-'90s by an outfit calling themselves Gracious!, consisting of the original band's rhythm section and keyboard player Sev Lewcowicz. Echo (***½) was eventually released in 1996 (reviewed here), and while not a bad album, isn't really up to the standard of the original band. There's a little sampled Mellotron to be heard, but it's all slightly inauthentic to be honest. Buy at your discretion.
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The Bad Years (2003, 51.26) ***/T½ |
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| Intro Landmine I Ruined Love Soul Session #5 Everything You're Not Understood Jump Into the Fire Can't Lose |
Third Floor Anyone's Woman All Your Parts Broken |
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Grain are a female-fronted full-on retro outfit from Pittsburgh, who seem to've been going since some time in the '90s, although I don't know anything about their earlier work. Their sound on The Bad Years (their second album? Very hard to tell) focuses on yer good ol' fashioned vocals/guitar/bass/drums four-piece, with vocalist Carla Simmons and guitarist Wayne Smith both doubling on various cranky old keyboards. Hoorah! Mind you, they haven't entirely ignored the last couple of decades, as Can't Lose features the band playing along with a drum loop, although the opening guitar sound on Everything You're Not rocks in a way no-one seems to do any more, not to mention the cowbell...
I can't say their Mellotron use is exactly over the top, to be honest: nothing audible on I Ruined Love or Can't Lose, with faint strings on Soul Session #5 (those titles!) and Broken, although the underwater flutes on Understood are rather more obvious. There's also a smattering of uncredited strings on Intro, although nothing else is credited on the track either, for what it's worth. So; a rather average record with the odd highlight, not least the extended outro on Broken, with only one at all obvious 'Tron track. Passable.
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Flying (1997, 46.14) ***/T |
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| Jonah Less of Me Flying Rocket Ship Peace Pain Sell Your Soul Fuse |
Spider Web Found in You For Me |
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Grammatrain are another CCM act who transcend the 'genre' by playing 'alternative rock', or whatever you may choose to call it, rather than the insipid, near-MOR dross that passes for 'Christian music' most of the time (well, we wouldn't want to offend anyone, would we?). Flying was their second and last studio album proper, and to prove my point, Rocket Ship is actually, er, heavy, so Christians can rock, too. Allegedly.
Mellotron on two tracks, from vocalist/guitarist Pete Stewart, with a brief cello part on opener Jonah and upfront flutes and strings on closer For Me, although with only one overt 'Tron track, this isn't really worth picking up, unless you find it dirt cheap. Overall, a fairly non-Christian Christian album, making it far more palatable to the heathen masses than the usual stuff. Not bad.
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Hablo de Una Tierra (1975, 36.30) ***½/TTTGranada esRompiendo la Oscuridad Hablo de Una Tierra Nada es Real Es el Momento de Oir un Buen Rock Algo Bueno |
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España, Año 75 (1976, 40.12) ***½/½El Calor Que Pasamos Este VeranoPor Donde Andamos Todo Hubiera Sido Tan Bonito La Auténtica Canción No Me Digas Bueno, Vale Septiembre Noviembre Florido Hora Vamos a Ver Que Pasa (Vamonos Para el Mediterráneo) |
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Valle del Pas (1978, 39.01) ****/TNo Se Si DeboBrave Silueta de Color Carmin Noches Oscuras, Ocas Contentas Himno del Sapo Valle del Pas Calle Betis (Altardeciendo) Ya Llueve |
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Granada were a relatively early entry in Spain's late-flowering progressive scene (doubtless due to the restrictive atmosphere of Franco's regime), which was just taking off as it was dying away across the rest of Europe. They're not the best of the bunch by some way, being seriously outclassed by, say, the excellent Canarios, although their debut, Hablo de Una Tierra, is by no means a bad record. There is something of a Spanish influence on the band's sound, although nowhere near as much as with some of their contemporaries. The instrumental tracks/sections work better than the vocal ones, with a slight jamming feel in places and some nice guitar work from Michael Vortreflich, although I'm not at all sure how it might stand up to repeated plays.
Carlos Cárcamo plays Mellotron, along with flute, violin, several other keyboards and just about everything else, by the look of it. Reasonable string use on Granada Es and Rompiendo La Oscuridad, neither of which prepare the listener for the exceedingly full-on string chords that open the title track and carry on in similar vein throughout the song. More of the same on Nada Es Real and Es El Momento De Oir Un Buen Rock, leaving only the upbeat Algo Bueno 'Tron-free, making this one of the better Spanish Mellotron albums.
Their follow-up, España, Año 75, isn't a bad album, just a little generic. Despite crediting Mellotron again, I can't help being reminded of Iman, Califato Independiente's first album, that credits it on three out of four tracks, then buries it under washes of string synth (a.k.a. 'The Spanish Disease'). All I can hear here is a few seconds of Cárcamo's (possible) strings during Noviembre Florido, although that could be merely wishful thinking; a particular disappointment after such heavy 'Tron use on its predecessor. Yet again, I'm at a loss to understand why you'd make the effort to use a 'Tron, then... not use it. Is it buried beneath the cheap string synth? Was it loaded with the hitherto-unknown 'Spanish Tape Set', consisting of three varieties of string synth, all recorded at ¼ volume? If anyone knows anything about the strange approach the Spanish took to the Mellotron, PLEASE tell me!
Well, who'd have thought it? Granada's last album, 1978's Valle del Pas, is far better than you might expect of a late-'70s prog album. Then again, this is Spain... Carlos Cárcamo replaced the entire lineup, adding Joaquín Blanco on 'Northern Spanish woodwinds', including the Celtic bagpipes indigenous to the region, with the end result being an album of fairly typical instrumental Spanish progressive with added Celtic influences. Standout tracks are difficult to pinpoint, although opener No Se Si Debo recovers after a ropey start, and Himno Del Sapo is notable, with the most Celtic piece here being closer Ya Llueve, bagpipes and all. Despite the real strings on a few tracks, Cárcamo gets a bit of 'Tron in, too, with a handful of string chords on Brave Silueta De Color Carmin, Noches Oscuras, Ocas Contentas and Calle Betis (Altardeciendo), but not enough to bother with on those grounds.
So; three reasonable albums, particularly the more folk-influenced tracks towards the end of España, Año 75 and the similar material on its follow-up, though only their debut is worth it on the 'Tron front. Reasonable.
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Shinin' On (1974, 36.20) **½/TShinin' OnTo Get Back in The Loco-Motion Carry Me Through Please Me Mr. Pretty Boy Gettin' Over You Little Johnny Hooker |
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Caught in the Act (1975, 74.29) ***/T |
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| Footstompin' Music Rock and Roll Soul I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home Heartbreaker Some Kind of Wonderful Shinin' on Loco-Motion Black Licorice |
Railroad We're an American Band T.N.U.C. Inside Looking Out Gimme Shelter |
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The only thing that stops Grand Funk (the 'Railroad' seemed to come and go, possibly dependent on legal action) being the least talented hard rock band ever is the continuing existence of Kiss. I once owned a copy, on some idiot's recommendation, of their first live album, er, Live; it's crap, particularly the side-long instrumental jam T.N.U.C. (go on, reverse it). Risibly sexist and stupid (so what's wrong with being sexy, anyway?), Grand Funk define American party metal, years before its supposed genesis with the emergence of the aforementioned Kiss in the mid-'70s. This is music to drop quaaludes to, to throw frisbees and/or firecrackers to, to paaarty to. How this lot were ever mentioned in the same breath as Sabbath or (God help us) Zeppelin is utterly beyond me. OK, they sold a lot of records to disaffected Midwestern teenagers, but they're musical lightweights compared to any of their equally successful contemporaries you might care to name.
Shinin' On was Grand Funk's eighth studio album (count 'em) in five years, and it's immediately evident that they'd mellowed a little since their early bludgeon-athons. Chiefly notable for the inclusion of their hamfisted cover of Little Eva's The Loco-Motion, which was a US No.1 hit, the rest of the album is a mixture of hard rock-lite stuff like the title track, and slower material along the lines of Carry Me Through and Mr. Pretty Boy. The latter is the album's sole Mellotron track, with a fairly ordinary string part running through most of it; hardly world-beating, but nice to hear.
Caught in the Act came out the following year and, in fairness, they'd learnt a little subtlety since that early live tragedy, doubtless partly due to the addition of Craig Frost on keyboards. Frost is a perfectly good player, concentrating largely on organ and clavinet, although he uses his onstage 'Tron on one track, with really nice upfront strings and flutes on the Closer To Home part of the medley on side one, although it rather irritatingly fades out. Actually, for all my ranting above, this isn't that bad an album, with (good singing) good playing throughout, and a few memorable tracks, not least their major US hit, We're An American Band.
So; if you're American and of a certain age, these will almost certainly bring back memories, good or otherwise. For the rest of us, if you were contemplating dipping a toe into the murky waters of The Funk, there are worse places to start than Caught in the Act. Like Live. One decent(-ish) track on each album doesn't make them worth buying, but hear them if you get the chance, particularly Caught in the Act.
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Bad Timing (2003, 40.50) ***/T |
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| 1st Round K.O. Bad Timing Quicksilver Old Fashioned Disaster Film Duty Free Get Lost Flowin' Tide |
Black Aura Lay Right Down Steal it Back |
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All the reviews I've seen of Bad Timing equate it with early-'70s rock, so is it only me that hears '77 punk in there? The first several tracks, in particular, have that 'devil may care'-ness about them, although maybe I'm just hearing their Lou Reed influences (Get Lost) filtered through other bands influenced by Reed. Influences and counter-influences... Anyway, this is Grand Mal's third album, which bravely travels a path from a raucous beginning to a rather more gentle, laid-back end, although if you're not into that New York thing, you probably won't be too into this.
Guest Steven Drozd plays 'piano, organ, slide guitar and Mellotron' on four tracks, but it must mean collectively, not individually, as Disaster Film (how very British!) is the only one to obviously have any 'Tron, with a rather screechy string part that doesn't particularly enhance the track. So, unless you're a Lou/Velvets fan and can't get enough of that sound, I'd go somewhere else, to be honest.
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Under the Western Freeway (1997, 46.48) ****/TT½ |
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| Nonphenomenal Lineage A.M. 180 Collective Dreamwish of Upperclass Elegance Summer Here Kids Laughing Stock Under the Western Freeway Everything Beautiful is Far Away Poisoned at Hartsy Thai Food |
Go Progress Chrome Why Took Your Advice Lawn & so on |
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The Sophtware Slump (2000, 46.52) ***½/TT |
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| He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot Hewlett's Daughter Jed the Humanoid Crystal Lake Chartsengrafs Underneath the Weeping Willow Broken Household Appliance National Forest Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground) |
E. Kenievel Interlude (the Perils of Keeping it Real) Miner at the Dial-a-View So You'll Aim Toward the Sky |
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Californians Grandaddy are refreshingly difficult to categorise, although their sound contains inescapable elements of the dreaded 'alt.country' ghetto. For sheer invention they outstrip any of their rivals by the proverbial mile, incorporating elements of singer-songwriter gloom, lo-fi oddness and even prog, though I expect they wouldn't be too keen on that last comparison. Despite having existed since 1992, it was '97 before their first album proper, Under the Western Freeway appeared. To my ears, the best material is the quietest, with the occasional noisier tracks sounding slightly forced. In fact, the more a track is suffused with melancholy, the better I like it, with the instrumental title track being especially strong. Most of the tracks run into each other, with a noticeable 'side' gap before Everything Beautiful Is Far Away, giving the album a bit of a 'concept' feel, although I've no idea what that may be, assuming it exists at all.
Tim Dryden plays various cranky old keyboards, and while none of them (or indeed, anything else) is actually listed, I can hear what sounds like two or three distinctly different late-period analogue synths squeaking, whistling and groaning away on various tracks. There's also the matter of the Mellotron; the fractured choir notes on Nonphenomenal Lineage sound very 'real', making me think that there's an actual M400 involved, although I shouldn't be that surprised. It's mainly current progressive outfits that tend to cheat... Anyway, the strings on A.M.180 are brief and background, although they're more upfront on Laughing Stock, and the title track's flute melody is the album's other 'Tron highlight after Nonphenomenal Lineage.
Their second effort, 2000's The Sophtware Slump, is irritatingly inconsistent; after starting really well, it completely loses the fragility of the first few tracks for several less good rockier numbers, although it tries to make amends further along, though with only partial success. The lengthy He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot (no, I don't know either) is a gorgeous album opener, with lush Mellotron strings under the chorus, along with the squiggly analogue synths and fat pads of the verses, although they never quite capture the same feel again on subsequent songs. More 'Tron strings on Hewlett's Daughter and Miner At The Dial-A-View, although I think the strings on So You'll Aim Toward The Sky may be real - certainly not Mellotron, anyway.
So; The Sophtware Slump isn't bad, although it never quite recovers from gaining momentum part of the way through (?!). It's probably not quite up to the standard set by Under the Western Freeway, but both albums are certainly worth hearing, although little of the Mellotron work is quite good enough to buy it for that alone. Sadly, it would seem that Grandaddy have abandoned the Mellotron, as neither 2003's Sumday (****) or 2005's mini-album Excerpts From the Diary of Todd Zilla (****) have any.
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Granicus (1973, 43.38) ***½/TYou're in AmericaBad Talk Twilight Prayer Cleveland, Ohio Nightmare When You're Movin' Paradise |
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Can't say I know an awful lot about Granicus, to be honest. They were from Cleveland, Ohio, they named themselves after Alexander the Great's first major battle, they featured a silver-lunged screamer called Woody Leffel, and they played pure, undiluted hard rock in an early-'70s stylee. Pretty good at it they were, too, although you sometimes find yourself wishing they'd up the energy quotient a little, or at least I do. Since I suspect Granicus will be something of a grower, it's difficult to pick out highlights on a single listen, but the 11-minute plus Prayer builds like a building thing to a ridiculous crescendo. Quite magnificent.
I don't actually know who plays the Mellotron on the instrumental Twilight, but since it was arranged by producer Martin Last, I expect he played it, too. It's an orchestrally-arranged strings part over a gentle (electric) guitar backing; it's only a shame they didn't put any more of it on the album.
So; now that this is easily available, unlike so many similarly obscure but excellent efforts (so are the Limelight and Chasar albums EVER going to come out 'properly'?), I'll give it a cautious thumbs-up for the '70s hard rock aficionado, although only one 'Tron track probably makes it inessential on that front.
