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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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Grant Lee Buffalo Grapefruit Graphite |
Grasshopper & the Golden Crickets Gravy Train Macy Gray |
Grays Greenslade |
Dave Greenslade Grey Lady Down |
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Jubilee (1998) ***/T½ |
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| APB Seconds Change Your Tune Testimony Truly, Truly SuperSloMotion Fine How'd Ya Do Come to Mama |
She Say 8 Mile Road Everybody Needs a Little Sanctuary My My My Crooked Dice Jubilee The Shallow End |
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Grant Lee Buffalo's fourth and last album, Jubilee, was apparently the point at which their disparate influences came together, producing an all-American blend of rock, folk, country, vaudeville etc.etc. It's not my fave kind of stuff, if truth be told, so I'll just concentrate on its tape replay aspects. Incidentally, there's 'Tron to be heard on their previous effort, '96's Copperopolis, too; review if I get to hear a copy.
Mainman Grant Lee Phillips plays Mellotron, while the ubiquitous Jon Brion adds Chamberlin in places, although you feel that a few more tracks may have benefitted from their inclusion. Testimony has some background flutes, while all I can hear in Fine How'd Ya Do are some strings in the middle 'phased' section, and cellos, inaudible until the end. The title track has Chamby brass (very subtle, and unlike anything a Mellotron would do), while The Shallow End sounds like cellos again, though it's pretty hard to tell, to be honest. So; I can't wildly recommend this on either musical or Mellotronic grounds, but there are plenty who would, so maybe you should take their advice instead.
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Around Grapefruit (1968, 34.23) ***½/T |
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| Another Game Yesterday's Sunshine Elevator Yes C'mon Marianne Lullaby Round Going Round Dear Delilah |
This Little Man Ain't it Good Theme for Twiggy Someday Soon |
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Grapefruit are another UK psych obscurity, although unlike many of their compatriots, they managed to release not one, but two albums, 1968's Around Grapefruit and the following year's listless Deep Water. Their debut is a good slice (sorry) of contemporaneous pop/psych, almost all of which could've passed muster as singles, and indeed, two tracks were hits, with Dear Delilah actually reaching no.21.
I've no idea who plays the Mellotron on the instrumental Theme For Twiggy, but it's an excellent track, possibly the album's highlight, with a great 'Tron strings part. Very much of its time, but that's no bad thing, unless, of course, your time happens to be any time from the early '80s on... Also mandolins on Elevator (thanks, Chris), though nowt essential. Overall, good album, but don't chuck out your copy of Pet Sounds just yet. One decent 'Tron track, but that's your lot.
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Chestnut Loke (1996, recorded 1970-74, 74.29) ***/T |
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| Starflight Over the Skies Chestnut Loke Tide Freedom A Dragon's Tale Dawn (Morning Has Come) Set it Free Out in the Rain |
Don't You Think it's Kinda Strange In Our Country Home Evil Arms Spring Autumn She's Gone Away I'm Feeling Low Freedom (Reprise) |
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Graphite are another of those 'almost lost forever' bands whose works have been resurrected, this time by the estimable Audio Archives label. Sadly, unlike their long-overdue issue of the second Fantasy album, Chestnut Loke is all a bit ordinary, really. It's difficult to categorise the music, though not in a particularly good way; laid-back rock, but with an English rather than an American approach is the nearest I can get. In other words, this isn't terribly exciting, but doesn't have either the complexity or the melodic strength to really appeal to the prog crowd. It's perfectly pleasant, but that's rather damning it with faint praise, isn't it? The lyrics are of the 'a little too cosmic' variety, too (see: Starflight Over The Skies and A Dragon's Tale, in particular), dating the music almost to the year.
I can't tell for certain, but it looks like this is material that has never been previously released, so it's not an album with bonus tracks, more a new album of various studio recordings. Most of the tracks just drift along pleasantly, with considerable Fender Rhodes input, but both the title track and Freedom feature a bit of the old 'Tron strings, to passable effect, played by Chris Gore. I'm sorry I can't be more positive about this, as I applaud the efforts of labels Like Audio Archives, but it's really not the sort of album that's likely to grab anyone much, I'm afraid. Of its time, really. File under 'play once, then shelve'.
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The Orbit of Eternal Grace (1998, 43.46) ***/T½ |
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| Silver Balloons The Ballad of the One Eyed Angelfish O-Ring (Baby Talk) Nickel in a Lemon The Orbit of Eternal Grace September's Fool Univac Bug Track SMPTE for the Devil |
N.Y. Avenue Playground Sketches of Saturn (Love in Space) Midnight Express N.Y. Avenue Playground (Reprise) |
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Grasshopper and the Golden Crickets are effectively a Mercury Rev side-project, led by multi-instrumentalist Grasshopper. The parent band's Deserter's Songs is something of a recent Mellotron classic (sampled, sadly), so while The Orbit of Eternal Grace, released the same year, was never going to equal it on that front, it gets a little bit of 'Tron in here and there. The album itself is a bit of a hodgepodge, with some tracks (the 'Tron-heavy The Ballad Of The One Eyed Angelfish or N.Y. Avenue Playground (Reprise)) working vastly better than others (the rather punky O-Ring, reverting to an earlier era of Mercury Rev, or the techno-esque Univac Bug Track).
I personally feel that the gentler tracks work better, including both the 'Tron numbers here. The Ballad Of The One Eyed Angelfish is mostly flutes, but with a few strings chords coming in at the end, and the instrumental title track has flutes running all the way through. It sounds like Mellotron on various other tracks, but the track-by-track instrumental credits are quite explicit, so they must be either samples or more generic synth patches. So, I'm not sure if this is one for Mercury Rev fans or not; it's more eclectic, while having some of the Appalachian feel of their recent work. It also sounds more 'indie', so I think I'm going to have to say, one for die-hards only. Oh, and for the non-musicians out there 'SMPTE' is pronounced 'simpty'. Very droll.
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(A Ballad of) a Peaceful Man (1970, 39.08) ***½/TAlone in Georgia(A Ballad of) a Peaceful Man Jule's Delight Messenger Can Anybody Hear Me Old Tin Box Won't Talk About it Home Again |
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Staircase to the Day (1974, 43.59) ***/TStarbright StarlightBring My Life on Back to Me Never Wanted You Staircase to the Day Going for a Quick One The Last Day Evening of My Life Busted in Schenectady |
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Gravy Train were a Manchester-based band whose first album, Gravy Train (****) is an enjoyable blend of early Jethro Tull and, er, slightly later Jethro Tull. Its flute-heavy blues-based style is a little dated now, but it's got loads of energy and the writing's excellent. Sadly, the band never really equalled their debut. By (A Ballad of) a Peaceful Man, later the same year, they were almost unrecognisable as the same outfit; a more mellow sound, replete with (real) string parts on many of the songs. The only Mellotron track here is Messenger, with 'Tron strings, possibly fed through a Leslie, along with the guitar part. The album's no less dated than its predecessor, but hasn't aged as well, I'm afraid, although Messenger is actually a decent enough song.
I don't know why, but after spitting out two albums in such quick succession, there was a three-year gap before Second Birth (***½) (probably due to label hassles), which wasn't dissimilar to their second effort, though with noticeably more keyboards. Gravy Train's last album was Staircase to the Day, and it was business as usual, with the band basically rehashing their previous two albums, although the formula was beginning to wear a little thin by this time. There's a minute or so of 'Tron strings on the title track, but once again, one track and that's yer lot.
So; neither of these are great, but they're not bad, either, and deserved to do better at the time. The Mellotron presence is fairly negligible, though, and neither album is worth it on those grounds alone. Actually, their best effort is most definitely their debut, so I'd go for that one if I were you.
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On How Life is (2000, 44.55) **½/TT |
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| Why Didn't You Call Me Do Something Caligula I Try Sex-O-Matic Venus Freak I Can't Wait to Meetchu Still I've Committed Murder |
A Moment to Myself The Letter |
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The Id (2001, 58.25) **½/TTT |
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| Relating to a Psychopath Boo Sexual Revolution Hey Young World Part 2 Sweet Baby Harry Gimme All Your Lovin' or I Will Kill You Don't Come Around |
My Nutmeg Phantasy Freak Like Me Oblivion Forgiveness Blowin' Up Your Speakers Shed |
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The Trouble With Being Myself (2003, 49.50) ***/T½ |
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| When I See You It Ain't the Money She Ain't Right for You Things That Made Me Change Come Together She Don't Write Songs About You Jesus for a Day My Fondest Childhood Memories |
Happiness Speechless Screamin' Every Now and Then |
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It's quite possible that some readers of this site may not have run into Macy Gray before, despite her massive popularity. Well, she's a much-fêted so-called 'R&B' singer, i.e. that soul/funk/rap crossover that's so hideously popular at the moment. To be fair to her, Macy's been around for years, finally breaking big well on the wrong side of 30, so kudos to her for persistence. It's just a shame that her chosen oeuvre is so devastatingly dull, although there do actually seem to be some tunes on her albums, which is more than I can say for many of her contemporaries.
So what's she doing here? Well, for whatever reason, she's soaked all her albums in Chamberlin. 2000's On How Life is has Jon Brion, Patrick Warren and Jeremy Ruzumna on the ol' tape replay, two of whom you'll recognise from numerous other projects. To be perfectly honest, although there are fairly obvious strings on Do Something and I Try, I'm at a bit of a loss as to where it might be on, say, Caligula. It's that 'Chamberlin Effect' again, isn't it? Stick it on tape and watch it disappear in the mix! All in all, despite having six tracks'-worth of Chamby, I really wouldn't go too far out of your way for this one. You shouldn't need to anyway; it's pretty difficult to escape Ms Gray at the moment.
Next album up, the following year's The Id, sounds more upbeat than its predecessor, but other than that, it's business as usual. Chamberlin by Zac Rae this time round, with strings, flutes and brass all over the place. Actually, the Chamby's far better produced this time round, being clearly audible on almost every relevant track, with some interesting parts, to boot. Not that I'm actually recommending the album, you understand...
Third time round, The Trouble With Being Myself, opens with a full-on Jackson 5-style '70s funk groove on When I See You, though by second track in, it seems nothing's changed that much, with some tedious hip-hop type rapping over a rather tuneless effort. Or hasn't it? It turns out that most of the album is fairly palatable, given its overall style, to the point where it didn't really offend me at all, certainly compared to some 'melodic rock' rubbish I've just subjected myself to... Chamby (from Rae and Ruzumna) on several tracks. A string part opens She Ain't Right For You, carrying on throughout the song, sounding an awful lot like real strings, which may be part of the instrument's appeal and its problem, unless, that is, it's actually real strings... More strings in Things That Made Me Change and strings and cellos in the lyrically amusing My Fondest Childhood Memories and the other highlighted tracks, although in a rather less interesting manner than on her previous effort.
So; I can't personally stand most of her music, although The Trouble With Being Myself could be a lot worse. Either way, more obvious Chamberlin on The Id than on her other two albums, but I wouldn't actually buy any of them.
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Ro Sham Bo (1994, 59.06) ****/TTT |
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| Very Best Years Everybody's World Same Thing Friend of Mine Is it Now Yet Oh Well Maybe Nothing Between Us Both Belong |
Nothing Not Long for This World Spooky All You Wanted No One Can Hurt Me |
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The short-lived Grays consisted of four multi-instrumentalists, some of whose names will be familiar to you; Jon Brion, Jason Falkner (of the mighty Jellyfish), Buddy Judge and Dan McCarroll. It seems that all concerned were sick of the bands they were in, and formed The Grays as an experiment in leaderless democracy, although, sadly, it only lasted for one album. As you'd expect, Ro Sham Bo is stuffed with intelligent pop tunes, with Very Best Years being a 'radio hit', which presumably means it didn't translate into sales. In fact, there isn't a bad track on the album, which is an achievement in itself.
Brion and Falkner both play Chamberlin, with more flutes than anything, with very obvious use on Is It Now Yet, amongst others. Oh Well Maybe has some pretty upfront strings, but given that we've entered the Wacky World of Chamberlins, there could be all sorts of stuff going on here that I haven't spotted (again). I'm assuming the cellos on a couple of tracks are Chamby; actually, on All You Wanted, there seems to be a polyphonic part that gives the game away. Anyway, much Chamby all round, though subtly.
So; do you need this album? I'd have said so, especially if you're into any of the members' other works, or intelligent powerpop in general. Loads of Chamberlin, albeit sans the massive block chord work you'd get from the prog crowd, adding up to a fairly unequivocal Buy.
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Greenslade (1973, 41.11) ****/TTTTFeathered FriendsAn English Western Drowning Man Temple Song Mélange What Are You Doin' to Me Sundance |
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Bedside Manners Are Extra (1973, 39.20) ****/TTTTBedside Manners Are ExtraPilgrim's Progress Time to Dream Drum Folk Sunkissed You're Not Chalkhill |
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Spyglass Guest (1974, 38.40) ***½/TTTSpirit of the DanceLittle Red Fry-Up Rainbow Siam Seesaw Joie de Vivre Red Light Melancholic Race Theme for an Imaginary Western |
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Time and Tide (1975, 32.23) ***½/TT |
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| Animal Farm Newsworth Time Tide Catalan The Flattery Stakes Waltz for a Fallen Idol The Ass's Ears |
Doldrums Gangsters |
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Live (1999, recorded 1973/75, 62.39) ****/TTTTSundanceDrowning Man Feathered Friends Mélange Joie de Vivre Bedside Manners Are Extra Sundance Red Light Spirit of the Dance |
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Reading Festival '73 (1973, 6.00) ***½/TT½[Greenslade contribute]Feathered Friends |
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Upon leaving Colosseum, Dave Greenslade (son of orchestral arranger Art Greenslade) put his own band together in 1972, featuring the unusual lineup of two keys (with Dave Lawson, ex-Episode Six/Web/Samurai), old friend and musical sparring partner Tony Reeves on bass and drummer Andrew McCulloch. The most noticeable thing about their take on progressive rock is how much it's rooted in the blues, unlike many of their contemporaries. Now, not everyone's going to see this as a good thing, but they did have a fairly original style for a 'second-generation' band, formed after the first wave had either taken off or sunk without trace.
They released Greenslade in '73, carving their own little niche in the UK music scene, while never being in any real danger of catching up with the market leaders. The album is pretty laid-back, with big themes rather than particularly strong melodies, but they made a good noise, and really didn't sound much like anyone else. On the Mellotron front, as with so many bands, most of the use (by Greenslade himself) is in the large string chord department, although I believe I can hear cellos on the intro to Drowning Man and a faint flute part in Temple Song. The best use is probably in fans' favourite Feathered Friends and What Are You Doin' To Me, although every track has at least a few seconds, taken to a ridiculous extreme by the single closing chord in An English Western.
Given that it was their second album of the year, Bedside Manners Are Extra is excellent; several strong compositions ensure that this is probably their best album, though those looking for Crimson/Van der Graaf-style prog should, again, probably go elsewhere. The title track and Pilgrims Progress are the best of the bunch, with a good deal of 'Tron strings, especially on the latter. There's a solo flute part in Drum Folk, rescuing the track from being no more than a vehicle for that oddest of things, a studio drum solo. So, once again, 'Tron throughout, and a damn' good album to boot.
Despite containing two of Greenslade's most popular pieces in Spirit Of The Dance and Joie De Vivre, Spyglass Guest shows a slight slacking-off on the quality front, but three albums in two years must have taken its toll. The cracks were already starting to show in the apportioning of roles within the band, with several tracks only featuring the composer on keys, effectively making the band a part-time trio, with several guest musicians appearing, including DG's old colleague, guitarist Clem Clempson from Colosseum. I don't know if Dave Lawson refused to play Mellotron, or was just more interested in pianos and synths, but his compositions are resolutely organ and Mellotron-free. DG's Mellotronic contributions are as good as ever; if only there were more of them. The aforementioned 'best songs on album', Melancholic Race and Spirit Of The Dance are both excellent Mellotronically, too, with overdubbed strings and flute on the latter.
By Time and Tide, all the usual stuff was happening with Greenslade; shorter tracks and more of them (it's a very short album), more straightforward material, and little integration between the two keyboard men. Saying that, Tide is a wonderful piece of music, consisting of no more than DG on Fender Rhodes bass and overdubbed 'Tron strings and choir, with some string work on Catalan and Gangsters, a piece written for a BBC play. The rest of the material's OK, but their glory year(s) were certainly behind them by this stage. Incidentally, there's an excellent pic of the band's stage setup inside the album gatefold, showing that DG had a far cooler keyboard rig than DL. Well, it was his band...
After the band's final split in '76, DG went on to record a couple of progressive-ish solo albums (see below), before moving into full-time TV music work. In the late 1990s, he was instrumental in reforming Colosseum, before deciding that maybe Greenslade were worth a revival, too. Live was released in '99 to test the water, consisting of excerpts from gigs in '73 and '75, including two very different versions of Sundance, showing how the band's approach changed in the space of two years. It's a damn' good album, actually, displaying the band at their best, playing some of their best material; there's also some serious Mellotron action from DG, with most tracks featuring at least a little. Red Light adds some not on the studio version, while Spirit Of The Dance takes it away, but it's all well worth hearing. Incidentally, as you can see, one live track was released way back in '73, on the Reading Festival 1973 various artists LP, along with the Faces, Rory Gallagher, Status Quo etc. It's an excellent version of Feathered Friends, with some well-recorded 'Tron strings, if you can track a copy down. It was re-released in 1990 with a different sleeve, but I don't know if it's turned up on CD.
To my knowledge, the band are still technically 'together' at the time of writing, although they haven't played live for over a year. They actually released a new studio album, Large Afternoon, in 2000, but don't hold your breath on the keyboard front. Both DG and Lawson's replacement, prog journeyman and all-round good guy John Young are all-digital (big surprise, there), and live, they didn't even try to recreate the 'Tron sounds of yore. 2002 Live documents the current lineup on stage; good, but not that startling, to be brutally honest, although if you're a fan, you shouldn't be disappointed.
So; what to recommend? I think Live might actually be a good starting point for the uninitiated, given that it collects some of their best tracks together, with the extra 'zing' of a live performance. Other than that, start with Greenslade and work your way through; they were never going to be in prog's Division One, but they were a good little band in their own right, deserving of being heard. Oh, and for the Mellotron, just go by my 'T' ratings above.
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Cactus Choir (1976, 42.42) ***½/T |
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| Pedro's Party Gettysburg Swings and Roundabouts Time Takes My Time Forever and Ever Cactus Choir The Rider Greeley and the Rest March at Sunset |
Country Dance Finale |
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The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony (1979) ***/0 |
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| Introit Moondance Beltempest Glass Three Brides Birds & Bats & Dragonflies Nursery Hymn |
The Minstrel Fresco/Kashrinn Barcarole Dry Land Forest Kingdom Vivat Regina Scream But Not Heard |
Mischief War Lament for the Sea Miasma Generator Exile Jubilate The Tiger and the Dove |
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The year after Greenslade (the band) split, erstwhile leader Dave put out his first solo album, Cactus Choir. More than anything else, it sounds like the lost fifth Greenslade album, or maybe a lopsided version of them, minus Dave Lawson's input. Most of the material is good, if a little unexciting, although Time Takes My Time was a mistake, as was Dave's singing on the track. Now we know why Lawson was the band's vocalist... About the best thing on the album is the lengthyish closer, Finale, with a string section sounding amazingly like a Mellotron at one point. Talking of which, there's very little 'Tron to be heard here; some choir, though not sounding like the regular 8-voice, on Swings And Roundabouts, and something completely inaudible (but listed) on Forever And Ever.
Dave's last regular release for some time was the hugely ambitious The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony; an album out of time if ever there was one. It's actually hard to say whether it's a double album with accompanying hardback book, or a book with albums enclosed; it has both a label number and an ISBN, but we'll treat it primarily as an album for the purposes of this review.
The story is the standard fantasy-literature-as-allegory thing, with its tale of a planet's ruination being a fairly obvious ecological metaphor concerning our own world. Very worthy, but how many people by 1979 actually gave a damn, especially considering the packaging? Patrick Woodroffe's artwork is beautiful, in a fantasy art kind of way, but by the end of the '70s the world had moved on (before partially moving back again), and that, combined with the album/book's high selling price meant that few people actually bought a copy. It's actually a lovely collector's item, and has recently been reissued as a CD miniature, but that rather misses the point, somehow; its appeal lies in its 12"x12" size, allowing the magnificent detail in the illustrations full reign.
Sad to say, the music (all instrumental) is actually pretty weak; a pale shadow of the stuff Greenslade was producing a few years earlier, although I suppose it was written to fit the concept, and Greenslade (the band) were very much a vocal group. There don't seem to be any particular highlights, and although at one point I'm sure I could hear some faint Mellotron on side 4's Miasma Generator, it doesn't seem to be there any more. Maybe it fell off. Anyway, there's one listed in the sleevenotes, but I'll be buggered if I can hear it anywhere.
So; Cactus Choir's OK, Pentateuch's rather dull, extremely little Mellotron anywhere. I'd stick with the band stuff, if I were you.
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Star-Crossed (2001, 66.23) **½/TFading FaithShattered As the Brakes Fail Fallen New Age Tyranny Sands of Time Truth Crossfire |
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Grey Lady Down (name taken from a Charlton Heston film, apparently) are one of those bands I used to like (rather like Jadis, with whom they have musical similarities), before deciding that second-generation neo-prog, or the second generation of at least the third generation (!), was a bit of a waste of time. After all, just because you can't go to see the good bands, doesn't mean that you should settle for fifth-rate copyists who wouldn't know a key modulation if it fell on them, does it? Sorry to be so down on GLD, but after buying (and liking) their demo tape in the early '90s, I bought their debut album, The Crime (**½), although after never really be able to warm to it, I ended up giving it away. I was dragged along to their 'farewell' gig in '98, where I was bored almost to tears for two hours, although a 20-second burst (!!) from their third release, Fear, made me think there might be slightly more to the band; sadly, it appears to be the best 20 seconds of their career.
GLD have been through a few lineup changes over the years, with the excellent Sphere³'s Steve Anderson playing guitar in both bands for a while (hardly a problem in Sphere³'s case...), so it came as no great surprise when various ex-members ran into each other a couple of years after their demise, and decided to have another go. The end result was Star-Crossed, the sleeve of which is a prime example of what happens when you use computer-generated graphics. I can't in all honesty say that they've improved any; then again, I've no doubt they were trying to appeal to their small but enthusiastic fanbase, so change wasn't really an option. Then again, they weren't suddenly about to become Änglagård now, were they? Musically unexciting and unadventurous, it resembles a heavier version of Marillion, with slightly better vocals. To illustrate my point: Fallen seems to be regarded as the album's 'classic'. However, there's a section in the song where the keys hold a single chord for around a minute, while guitar and synth solo over it. This isn't 'not knowing a key change if it fell on you', this is 'not knowing a chord change...' But hey, if you like neo-prog, you stand a good chance of liking this.
Given GLD's considerable links with Sphere³, it's not entirely surprising that keys man Mark Westworth borrowed Neil Durant's M400 for the sessions, even though it's far from standard in neo- circles (early IQ and Pallas excepted, of course). He didn't overuse it (sadly), with a brief choir part on Fading Faith, although I suspect the choir-ish sound at the end of the song is something generic, and strings on Shattered. Another burst of choirs on Fallen, but that would appear to be your lot.
So; this really is unlikely to appeal to the full-on symph brigade, to be honest. Long songs count for nothing; content is all. I think I'm right in saying there was a 27-minute piece on their second effort, Forces, which was the musical equivalent of watching wood warp; a decent prog outfit will do something interesting in two minutes; GLD can't manage it over an entire album. Well, I seem to've written an awful lot about a stunningly ordinary band; sorry chaps (I've met most of you over the years), but Star-Crossed has little in common with progressive rock as we know it, or would like to. Conversely, if you prefer the simplified and bombastic neo- style, go for it. A little 'Tron, but certainly not enough to make it worth buying on that account.
