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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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Cuevas de Altamira (1978, 34.52) ***/TT½Cuevas de AltamiraRomance del Conde Lara La Virulencia del Ferrocarril Las Chicas de Laredo A lo Alto y a lo Bajo Pastor La Baila de Ibio |
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Ibio made a pleasant enough sound on their sole LP, Cuevas de Altamira, although it's all a big unengaging, to be honest. Mid-paced, with little of 'that Spanish sound' that many of their countrymen employed (an honourable exception being Pastor), and vocals (when they were used) from a guy who sounds like he'd have been better off doing cabaret on the Costa del Sol. There's some nice folky stuff here and there, although comments like 'the Spanish Strawbs' aren't very helpful or accurate.
Despite using a string synth, Ibio also used their Mellotron for string sounds, and make quite a nice job of it, although their 'Tron use is quite a long way from innovative. It lifts the album where it's used, however; best track is probably opener Cuevas De Altamira itself. So; not bad, not great. Don't pay full whack for it.
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Tutankhamon (1978, 36.52) ****/TTTT |
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| Tebas Prólogo Sacerdotes de Amon Amarna Lying on the Sand Amenofis IV Himno al Sol La Muerte |
Close to God Too Young to Be a Pharaoh Tebas (Reprise) |
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Iceberg are primarily known as a pure fusion band, but their debut, Tutankhamon (presumably a concept piece), is a masterpiece of prog/fusion crossover, with great material and fiery playing from all concerned. There is the occasional lapse, like the drum solo in Close To God (why does anyone record studio drum solos?) and the average balladry of the opening section of Too Young To Be A Pharaoh, but overall, this is an excellent album that should appeal to both prog and fusion fans.
Josep Mas "Kitflus" slaps Mellotron all over the first four tracks, then, mysteriously, ignores it until near the end of the album. Tebas opens with a full-on symphonic section, 'Tron strings to the fore, with more of the same on the following three tracks and Too Young To Be A Pharaoh. There are (male voice?) choir parts on Sacerdotes De Amon and Tebas (Reprise) too, making this something of a distinct Mellotron Album. So; recommended on all fronts; I may even come back to this in a while and bump up its star rating. Excellent.
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Where Are We Going (1976, 43.58) ***/TTT½Sunrise (a New Day)(Part One) Where Are We Going (Part Two) Where Are We Going Solar Wind |
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I don't even know whether this lot should be called Id or ID, but the former seems more likely, even though the latter is more prevalent amongst its few Internet hits. As far as I can work out, they were a power trio (?) from Texas who recorded just the one album, Where Are We Going, before imploding. It's basically an acid guitar freakout from beginning to end, showcasing the 'talents' of one Gary Oickle, who proves himself to be highly adept at wanking furiously on his chosen instrument, to little effect, as hoping for any remote hint of melody or invention from him is essentially equivalent to pissing in the wind, sad to say. Don't get me wrong; the album has loads of energy, just a certain lack of... focus, maybe. While not entirely instrumental, vocal appearances are few and far between, as the band (or Oickle) are clearly far more interested in just letting rip.
The copious amounts of Mellotron strings on display here were played by Bob Halsell (or just possibly David Oickle; information on this record is amazingly hard to find...). It's essentially used for chordal backdrops to Oickle (Gary)'s guitar work, although there are a few moments of near-solo playing, not least towards the end of the arse-about-face titled (Part One) Where Are We Going, which closes side one. And is that 'Tron brass on Solar Wind? Hard to tell, mainly due to the beyond-murky production, not to mention the fact that the Mellotron sits mainly in the upper registers, in a vain attempt to be heard over the ever-present guitar. So why haven't I given this a higher T rating, given how much 'Tron is actually present? Lack of originality, never mind listenability; there's an awful lot of Mellotron here, but you're exhausted by the end of the first (and shortest) track, and the album's end really came as some sort of relief. A random 90-second burst of this stuff is exhilarating; 45 minutes is mind-numbing.
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The Birthday Party (1968, 28.48) ****/TT½ |
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| The Skeleton and the Roundabout Happy Birthday The Birthday I Like My Toys Morning Sunshine Follow Me Follow Sitting in My Tree On With the Show |
Lucky Man Mrs Ward Pie in the Sky The Lady Who Said She Could Fly End of the Road |
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The Idle Race seem to have been consigned to a strange, forgotten corner of UK psych, which is doubly odd as they were not only a perfectly good band, but also the first recording home of future ELO man Jeff Lynne. Their debut effort, The Birthday Party, is a really rather good little typical psych-pop album, with all the period detail you could ask for, married to an excellent selection of songs. The best-known of these is the opener, the wonderful The Skeleton And The Roundabout, but The Birthday, I Like My Toys and Mrs Ward are all right up there, too.
There's a fair helping of Mellotron (almost certainly a studio instrument) on the album, played, I believe, by Barry Pritchard, although I can't find any reference to him, just rhythm guitarist Dave Pritchard. Anyway... The Skeleton And The Roundabout has what sounds like some form of muted brass (saxes?), while I Like My Toys has a classic 'Tron flute melody, as does Morning Sunshine. Lucky Man has more of those probably saxes (key click and all), and Mrs Ward has both strings and pitchbent flutes. The strings on End Of The Road are definitely real, but I think I'm correct in my 'Tronspotting on the other tracks.
They followed up with The Idle Race (***); not bad, but not really a patch on its predecessor, and there's no Mellotron. There was a third album, too, Time is (***), recorded after Lynne left to join The Move and subsequently ELO, but it's not really anything to write home about. There were also several single-only tracks, including their other best-known number, Imposters Of Life's Magazine, but sadly, there's no more 'Tron to be heard. Incidentally, the Idle Race's entire recorded output is available on a double CD set, Back to the Story (***½), which is almost certainly the easiest way to track this material down. Anyway, I'm not sure I can call The Birthday Party a Mellotron Album as such, but it's a worthy addition to any collection of late-'60s UK psych. Buy.
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Out of the Mist (1977, 35.41) ***½/TTTIsadoraRoads to Freedom Beautiful Country Solo Flight Everywhere You Go Face of Yesterday Candles Are Burning |
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Illusion (1978) ***½/TTTMadonna BlueNever Be the Same Louis' Theme Wings Across the Sea Cruising Nowhere Man of Miracles The Revolutionary |
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In 1968, the Yardbirds fragmented, and guitarist Jimmy Page recruited a new lineup, initially called the New Yardbirds; you know the rest. Bassist Chris Dreja became a professional photographer, and vocalist Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty formed a new outfit with Relf's sister Jane, bassist Louis Cennamo and keyboardist John Hawken called Renaissance. This lineup made two albums, then in what appears to have been some bizarre power struggle, the entire band was replaced by the musicians more commonly associated with the name. The original Renaissancers went on to play in various bands; Cennamo and Keith Relf eventually formed Armageddon, releasing their self-titled effort in 1975, and John Hawken spent a couple of years in the Strawbs. Tragically, Relf died in 1976, electrocuted at home by a malfunctioning guitar amp.
The following year, the surviving members of the original Renaissance, with a couple of other guys, reformed as Illusion, named after the second Reniassance album. Their sound is best described as somewhere between the Strawbs and what the then current Renaissance lineup was doing; lush folky prog, if a little lightweight. Jane Relf's voice had lost none of its quality in the intervening years, and several of the other members had honed their playing skills in the interim. John Hawken's stay in the Strawbs had introduced him to a wider keyboard palette, including the Mellotron, to which the band added real strings on a few tracks.
There's little stylistic variation between the two albums; Out of the Mist uses slightly less 'Tron than Illusion, but there isn't that much to choose between them on that front. The closing tracks on each album probably feature the 'Tron the most, but it's mainly strings and choir used here and there, rather than blanket coverage. The material is indubitably pleasant and highly melodic, but don't expect much excitement. Chiefly for fans of Renaissance, old or new.
There was a third, unreleased album from '79 which finally saw the light of day in 1990, titled Enchanted Caress, apparently still featuring the 'Tron. I haven't heard it, but I'll add it to this review when I do. STOP PRESS: Word has it that the original four ex-Renaissancers have reformed in late 2001, though it's a dead cert there won't be any 'Tron to be heard on any new recordings...
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Children (1995, 57.45) **½/THazeIn Our Lives Given Away Late of Conscience Cracker Eye Next to Glass Your Darkest Hour The Final Stroke |
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A Story Two Days Wide (1999, 59.15) ***/TTSojournsSavant Dreaming With the Lights on Holidays and Miracles Better Days Even Angels Fall Indian Rain |
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It has to be said; Ilúvatar (with or without the ´) are solidly, unrepentantly neo-prog. Whether or not this makes your hackles rise is, of course, an entirely personal matter, and largely dependent on where you stand on the great Marillion debate, i.e. are they, or are they not shite? Ilúvatar clearly don't think so, and have proved it over the course of a handful of rather unimaginative albums, not least their dull self-titled debut.
Children, from '95, didn't exactly herald a New Dawn Of Prog, being completely bog-standard neo-, with its only even slightly unusual (note: not welcome) feature being vocalist Glenn McLaughlin's Phil Collins fixation, along with the usual Fishisms, of course. The rest of the band plod away in time-honoured fashion for at least twenty minutes too long, although twelve minute closer The Final Stroke is probably the most inventive thing here. As far as Jim Rezek's Mellotron use goes, background choirs on Late Of Conscience and a reasonably upfront string part on The Final Stroke are all I can hear, apparently from M400 #1463.
Four years on, A Story Two Days Wide is a marginal improvement, with the odd interesting musical idea (Dreaming With The Lights On, Indian Rain) battling it out with the usual musical same old same old. Rezek's more pronounced Mellotron strings can be heard on Sojourns, Savant and Better Days, with choirs on the latter and Indian Rain, but nothing that you couldn't live without, to be honest. I'm afraid I can't think of anything more inspiring to say about this album; the band obviously weren't the slightest bit interested in coming up with anything new, and it shows.
Overall, I'd find it difficult to recommend either of these albums; unlike, say, Visible Wind, Ilúvatar don't seem to've moved beyond their neo-prog roots, Mellotron or no Mellotron. Despite not having released anything for a while, the band are still going, so we can always hope they've taken some new influences on board sometime during the last decade.
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Iman, Califato Independiente (1978) ***½/½Tarantos del Califato IndependienteCanto al Califa Tarantos Estate Quieto, Boabdil Pasco por la Plaza Cuarto Menguante Darshan Cerro Alegre Cancion de la Oruga |
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Iman, Califato Independiente were one of the all-too many obscure progressive bands from the '70s; Spain in this case, although they were on CBS Spain, giving them some local mainstream credibility. Like many Spanish bands from this era, they had a slightly jazzy touch and also brought in a flamenco influence; the album is instrumental, and a good example of its genre, particularly the side-long Tarantos Del Califato Independiente.
Marcos Mantero is credited with playing Mellotron on three out of four tracks on the album, but the only track where it's even remotely evident is Darshan, with a few seconds of choir (thus the lack of notation in the various parts of Tarantos). All the strings appear to come from an Elka string synth, and Mantero also plays a 'Farfisa Syntorchestra', so it seems the string sounds are definitely not 'Tron. The only other clue I have is what just might be some background flutes at the end of side one, under the synth strings.
So; a cool album, particularly the sort-of title track, but not really one for the Mellotron fan, I fear. There was a second album, but I've no idea whether or not it might contain any 'Tron, audible or otherwise.
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Mysteriernas Trädgård [a.k.a. The Garden of Mysteries] (1994/96, 73.53) ***½/TT |
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| Gates of Andorra Karakoram Pass Escape From Canaan Hiram Abiff Kekova (the Sunken City) Ali Hasan Aslan Meditating Minotauros |
The Garden of Mysteries II Monsoon Andalucy Journey to Hel Moorish Rapsody Trans Turkish Express Aral |
Moorish Waltz Desert Visions Ya Qader The Garden of Mysteries I La Dame Inconnue Almeria Palm-Cat |
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Walking on Clouds (1999, 56.35) ***½/TTT½ |
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| Kali Mahatma Over the Wall The Caravan From Sheeba Birka Lop Nor (the Wandering Lake) Dervish Dreams Golgonda |
Gates of Oneiron Chandrika Walking on Clouds |
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Dryad (2002, 59.37) ****/TTT |
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| Lost in the Woods Out of This Maze Catch a Cloud Nargal Dryad (the Spirit of the Woods) Trident Jabberwocky Muscarin Madness |
Deep Saffron Night of the Baskerville Killer Farewell Little Brother |
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Peter Lindahl, born in 1951, formed the ethnic outfit Aladdin's Lantern in Stockholm in 1980, which (very) eventually morphed into Labyrint in the early '90s. After releasing the initially cassette-only Mysteriernas Trädgård, they changed their name to In the Labyrinth, and have been singlemindedly ploughing their world/prog crossover furrow ever since. The tape was reissued under their new name as The Garden of Mysteries in 1996, although, due to disagreements with ex-members, it has been officially unavailable for some years. The band actually make a pretty unique noise, with elements of various ethnic musics combining with a modern progressive style to create something new; surely what 'progressive' rock should be all about? About the only clear influence you could point to is that brand of krautrock acts who assimilated 'world' influences before there was such a term, particularly Embryo. Led by the multi-instrumentalist Lindahl, their lineup seems to be fairly fluid apart from his lieutenant, Håkan Almkvist, with other musicians obviously being brought in as and when needed.
The Garden of Mysteries sets out their stall quite unequivocally, opening with what sounds like plucked banjo, although it has to be something more exotic, going by the musicians' credits on their site. Their chief ethnic influence is definitely Middle Eastern, carrying on from their Aladdin's Lantern days, when they apparently worked backing belly dancers (!), among other gigs, although all sorts of stuff pops in and out of the mix. Most of the material is instrumental, which seems to work better to my ears than their actual songs. Not actually that much of Lindahl's Mellotron (yes, it's real), with quick flurries of echoed 'Tron flute on Karakoram Pass, a more 'standard' string part on Kekova (The Sunken City), and what sounds like tape-replay flutes, rather than the real thing, on Ali Hasan. I think the flute on Monsoon is real, but those are definite 'Tron strings on Moorish Rapsody [sic] and Moorish Waltz, although the flute on the latter is, again, inconclusive.
'99's Walking on Clouds carries on in similar vein, only maybe more focussed, being a real pot pourri of influences, often applied simultaneously. It's difficult to pick out highlights on a single listen, as I imagine this will take several plays to really appreciate, although the middle-eastern pipes on Golgonda are notable. Not so sure about the vocal tracks, though they're relatively few and far between. Lindahl plays Mellotron on several tracks, mostly strings, although some of the flute work is quite clearly 'Tron, too. The string parts are mostly upfront, if not actually solo, blending nicely with the more unusual instrumentation, at least to my ears. 'Tron highlight? Probably the end of Mahatma, although several similar parts could also qualify.
Three years on, Dryad is actually slightly less 'world' than its predecessor, although sitars, darboukas, tablas and the like still proliferate. The vocal tracks here seem better integrated into the album as a whole; in fact, 'well-integrated' is a phrase that sums the record up in general. Lindahl's diverse influences come together more smoothly here, at least to my ears, making for a more satisfying listen all round. Marginally less Mellotron than on Walking on Clouds, with a similar mixture of about 90% strings to 10% flutes, with Muscarin Madness only featuring a few seconds of the latter. Overall, a slightly better album than its predecessor, but a little less 'Tron.
So; if you're intrigued by this description of In the Labyrinth, either of the easily-available albums is worth a shot. Decent Mellotron work on both, too, though if you're offended by the sound of 'ethnic' instrumentation, you may wish to go elsewhere.
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Good Enough to Eat! (1999, recorded 1969, 27.10) ***/TT |
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| It's Been a Hard Hard Day Big Ben Is it Love The Kids Are Alright Baby I Love You Brother Where Are You I Gotta Love You Again Take a Little Bit of Lovin' |
The Rest of My Life Take Me for One Last Ride In Too Deep The World is Ended Right Now |
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Indescribably Delicious were originally a Bay Area beat group, forming in the early '60s, and after a series of failed singles, they recorded their lone album in 1969, although it took 30 years for it to achieve general release. It's a bit of a mish-mash of styles, harking back to their origins in places, while other tracks are of a more psychedelic bent, although even that was a little dated by then. Most of the tracks are home-grown, although they notably covered The Who, with a version of The Kids Are Alright with a wrong chord. Going by the (brief) evidence here, the band didn't really know what they wanted to be, with the one thing missing from their sonic palette being anything contemporary. Don't get me wrong, Good Enough to Eat! (a.k.a. Indescribably Delicious, apparently) isn't a bad album, just nothing special.
In 1969, the Mellotron had barely had any impact in the States at all, although, of course, the originator of the tape-replay concept, Harry Chamberlin, had been building his machines in California since the early '50s. As a result, the 'is it/isn't it?' dilemma hovering over this album is resolved by its final track, The World Is Ended Right Now, which is smothered in that weird Chamberlin solo male voice, proving beyond a doubt that the Chamby had vocal tapes several years before the 'Tron. Anyway, keyboards were played by both regular keys man Greg Munford and one J. Bielan, so I've no idea which one plays the Chamby, but there's also strings on Big Ben, one of the album's more psychedelically-inclined numbers, and on the more straightforward The Rest Of My Life.
So; a rather ordinary album, probably best described as a 'curio', to be honest. Three Chamberlin tracks, but apart from the male vocal (which may just possibly crop up elsewhere, too), it's all rather run-of-the-mill.
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Indian Summer (1971, 49.50) ***½/TTGod is the DogEmotions of Man Glimpse Half Changed Again Black Sunshine From the Film of the Same Name Secrets Reflected Another Tree will Grow |
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Indian Summer fall fairly and squarely into the 'UK proto-prog' category, along with Spring, Beggars Opera, Gracious! and many others; think 'late-'60s feel in the early '70s' and you're getting near. This isn't a criticism by any means; many of these bands were excellent, but had the misfortune to head up one of music's blind alleys. Pink Floyd aside (who were always completely a law unto themselves, anyway), the progressive bands who 'made it' were mostly those who had the courage to really push at the boundaries, and leave the '60s behind.
Indian Summer's a good album, though, with several lengthy Hammond workouts, but it fails to transcend its influences and create anything genuinely new. Opener God Is The Dog is one of the best tracks, with Bob Jackson's Mellotron lifting it towards its conclusion. The 'Tron is used sparingly and tastefully throughout, in fact, although you sometimes feel they could've used a little more without spoiling the pudding.
So; a good psych/prog crossover album, and a few nice 'Tron bits. One for enthusiasts, but by no means a bad record. Recommended for fans of the genre.
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Intergalactic Touring Band (1977) */T½ |
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| Approach (Overture) Silver Lady Universal Zoo/Why Starship Jingle Heartbreaker Reaching Out First Landing Space Commando |
Robot Salesman Love Station A Planet Called Monday/Epilogue Keeper Keep Us |
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The Intergalactic Touring Band were, ironically, a studio outfit put together in 1976 consisting of a couple of members of US progressives Fireballet, synth whizz Larry Fast (a.k.a. Synergy) and a cast of thousands. The concept appears to be a science-fictional band zooming around the galaxy playing to the music-starved masses of Ursa Minor or wherever. Sadly, this has all the hallmarks of a 'vanity project', funded by a record company too out of touch to realise the futility of the whole affair; by the time of its release it was hopelessly outdated, with Wil Malone's rather cheesy orchestral arrangements dating from an earlier (and by no means better) age. I'm afraid to say that it's difficult to recommend this in any meaningful way; vocalists such as Rod Argent, Annie Haslam, Dave Cousins, Arthur Brown, Meatloaf and even Rossi and Parfitt from Status Quo (!), along with instrumentalists of the calibre of Anthony Phillips, Percy Jones and Clarence Clemons were unable to drag the leaden material up to a listenable level. Sorry to be so harsh, but Intergalactic Touring Band was not a very pleasurable listening experience. This is why punk happened.
Larry Fast's Mellotron? Flutes and choirs on album opener Approach, then choirs on Silver Lady and Robot Salesman, though it's hardly the most audible 'Tron you'll ever hear. There's a 'thanks' in the album's expensive-looking booklet to US Mellotron distributors 'Bill Eberline and Sound Sales Inc. for use of their Mellotron tape library', too. Surprising they didn't use it a little more.
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Interpose+ (2005, 47.30) ***½/½AirconDayflower Zitensia Koibumi Last Sign |
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Interpose formed in the mid-'80s, and after two turbulent decades of lineup changes, splits and reformations, finally regrouped as Interpose+ in 2003. Their eponymous debut starts badly, with Aircon sounding just like every neo-prog horror you've ever encountered, but more so, making their abrupt shift in direction on Dayflower towards more 'standard' female-fronted '80s Japanese prog all the more surprising, not to mention welcome. Zitensia is a bonkers, full-on Japanese fusion workout, while Koibumi shifts back towards Dayflower territory, and Last Sign sits somewhere between the album's better tracks, being a good prog/fusion crossover, making the bulk of the album well worth a listen.
I really don't know whether Ryuji Yonekura's Mellotron is real or not; they don't use one live, but nor do many bands who use one for recording. Basically, all you get are a short string part at the beginning of Dayflower and a few chords in Koibumi, and I'm not convinced about the latter. Interpose+ would have got four stars were it not for that appalling opening track; I can only urge you to start playing the album at track two, should you buy a copy. The rest of the album ranges from 'good' to 'excellent', but that opener is truly horrible.
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Sun & Steel (1975, 36.26) ***/TT½Sun and SteelLightnin' Beyond the Milky Way Free Scion Get it Out I'm Right, I'm Wrong Watch the World Going By Scorching Beauty |
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Iron Butterfly reformed in the mid-'70s, having initially split a few years after 1968's groundbreaking In-a-Gadda-da-Vida album and single. By 1975's Sun & Steel, however, they were on an unstoppable downwards trajectory, which was a shame, as instead of the washed-up career-end effort you might expect, it's actually a passable mid-'70s hard rock record. Stronger tracks included the title track, Get It Out and I'm Right, I'm Wrong, although wussy ballads like Beyond The Milky Way tended to let the side down somewhat.
Keys man Bill DeMartines (replacing Howard Reitzes, who played on the previous year's Scorching Beauty) got some Mellotron on the album, with a brief burst of flutes on the opening title track, while I'm Right, I'm Wrong has a scorching strings intro, with more flutes later in the track, oddly alongside real strings. More strings and choir on Watch The World Going By, with a final flurry of strings on what should've been the title track to their previous release, Scorching Beauty, although the strings on Beyond The Milky Way are real.
Well, while no classic, parts of Sun & Steel are fairly decent, with a surprising amount of Mellotron work, largely towards the end of the record. Could've been far worse.
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Dismorphophobia (1996, recorded 1971-73, 55.36) ***½/T½ |
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| Claustrophobia Let it Grow Gonna Be Free Lightning Pavement Artist Loving You All I Really Need Take Me Back |
Knock 'em Dead Winter Strait-Jacket Rock Band Blues Real Mean Rocker Spider's Web |
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I can't say I know an awful lot about Iron Claw; it seems they were a very early-'70s Scottish hard rock band, with Black Sabbath influences, among others, although they also had an unfortunate penchant for 'good-time boogie', or whatever you care to call it. Although they never released anything at the time, they laid down a whole load of tracks; now, this has always confused me. How is it that obscure, penniless bands can record so much material that an hour-long CD can be compiled thirty years hence, when I never managed more than a three-song demo with any of my old bands? How did they afford it in those 'studio or nothing' days?
They did, however, and those excellent Audio Archives folks have given us 55 minutes of Iron Claw at various levels of clarity, with some tracks featuring fairly untenable levels of hiss, although I suppose you take what you can get, really. Incidentally, I've no idea how much say the band had in the title, but Dismorphophobia means 'a disorder where the sufferer is unhappy with aspects of their own body', or somesuch; sounds like a wider-reaching version of anorexia to me, and I've zero idea what relevance it had to their music. Anyway, for the record, track 1 is from 1970, 2-9 from '71 (an aborted album project?), 11-14 from '72 and 10 from '73, although it has to be said that the first half of the album fares better than the second, with disposable efforts such as Rock Band Blues and Real Mean Rocker (ugh!) serving only to dilute the power of Claustrophobia or the Stray-like Let It Grow, although I accept that if you're going to clean up a bunch of old tapes, you should be pretty completist about it.
It's difficult to work out whether the band were a four-piece who added keyboards where necessary, or whether Billy Lyall was a full member who wasn't used on every track, as he adds sax and percussion to some of the keyboardless numbers. Anyway, on the Mellotron front, he provides a strings intro on Pavement Artist, but goes for it properly on All I Really Need, with a strings part throughout, with a cello and strings intro on Take Me Back. Three tracks, all dating from the same period looks like a studio machine to me, although given his cello use, it must've been a new M400, which only came out the previous year.
So; a very archive recording of a primitive hard rock band from the early days of the genre; probably one for completists rather than the casual listener, and not as good as Audio Archives' usual hype would lead you to believe, but also nowhere near as bad as many similar efforts. Three 'Tron tracks, only one of which is at all essential, so you know the drill: pick it up if you see it cheap...
n.b. A very odd piece of information has cropped up regarding Iron Claw... Another early-'70s bunch whose work has appeared on CD in recent years, Antrobus (quite possibly named in honour of the first man to restrict access to Stonehenge, fact fans), are no more or less than the same band! Their CD, Buried Together, includes the four surviving tracks by the Flying Hat Band, who included a pre-Judas Priest Glenn Tipton amongst their ranks. Irritatingly, although fewer Iron Claw/Antrobus tracks are included on this version, they're better quality than on Dismorphophobia. Your choice, I suppose.
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Isildurs Bane [a.k.a. Sagan om den Irländska Älgen] (1982, 37.17) ***½/½Sagan om den Irländska ÄlgenOvertyr Saga Eller Verklighet Ove P. Sex Minuter En Vilja Att Leva Evighetens Visdom Marlboro Blues Fredrik |
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Sea Reflections (1985, 39.25) ***/½BlizzardBatseba Sea Reflections Part I Sea Reflections Part II Poseidon Bilbo Top Secret - UFO The Story of Chester & Sylvester |
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Isildurs Bane are a decidedly strange sort of band, spending their first decade constantly changing styles, doubtless confusing the small number of people who knew who they were anyway. Of course, CDs and the Internet have made their music, like so many others', widely available, but it's difficult to know what to recommend, as they've taken several different paths in their career already. The one thing that seems to tie all their different incarnations together is their use of mallet instruments. I saw them in late '98, and they had no less than three different sets of mallets up there (presumably vibraphone, xylophone and marimba), helping to make them one of the most impressive bands of the festival.
Isildurs Bane (later available, retitled Sagan om den Irländska Älgen with Sagan om Ringen on one CD) is a neo-proggish effort, but ends up being better than that sounds. Some of it is quite pastoral, some a little jazzy (not least because of the vibes), and it ends up being really quite listenable, if not exactly wildly exciting. A little Mellotron choir, probably played by Mats Johansson, at the end of Sagen... part 3, Ove P., but not nearly enough to make it worth buying on those grounds alone.
As far as I can work out, despite recording four of Sagan om Ringen's tracks right back in '81, the next album the band actually released was '85's Sea Reflections, and it's immediately obvious they'd moved in a jazzier direction, with much sax and those mallets to the fore again. A couple of 'Tron tracks this time round (I've no idea whether or not the band actually owned a Mellotron, but I rather doubt it); Batseba and Sea Reflections Part II have some faint choirs, but there's only a few seconds in each song. Barely worth mentioning, to be honest.
Isildurs Bane settled down after their mid-'80s jazz period, and are still going now. If you like the sound of their jazz stuff, Sea Reflections and the album with which it's doubled-up on CD, Eight Moments of Eternity, might be your thing, but the rest of you might be better off going for some of their later stuff (Cheval: Volonté de Rocher is particularly good), or maybe the first CD. I wouldn't bother for their minimal 'Tron use, though.
