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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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Lady Lake Landberk |
Lands End Lana Lane |
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SuperCleanDreamMachine (2005, 54.47) ****/TT½ |
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| The Untold Want Children's Playground Be Still! Mum’s the Word Grow up! For Heaven’s Sake Mystery Spot The Untold Want Seen From a Train Die Maienfelder Furrga A Coign of True Felicity I Don’t Mind if I Do Too Far! Too Late! Already Bolder Proggers Were at the Gate! |
Children’s Playsong Stumped Doo Dah Damage Wet Sounds Ford Theatre No One Will Ever Know (Fare Thee Well) The Chief Radio Reminiscence Children’s Playground Revisited |
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Current availability:
Lady Lake formed in the early '70s, releasing an album, No Pictures, in '77. After many years and lineup changes, they followed it up 28 years later with 2005's oddly-titled SuperCleanDreamMachine. It wouldn't be unfair to say it could be compared favourably with Camel, with maybe a hint of the obligatory Focus. Wholly instrumental, its chief melodic input comes from Fred Rosenkamp's Andy Latimer-style guitar work, solidly backed up by Leendert Korstanje's keys, including drummer Jan Dubbe's brother Berend's MkVI 'Tron, Hammond and Rhodes. Album highlights are probably the relatively short The Untold Want (sounds like a Spock's Beard title), which squeezes 12 parts into 14 minutes, and the album's second-longest track, Ford Theatre, although there are no clunkers, despite an occasional slight blues influence in Rosenkamp's guitar style.
The MkVI sounds so smooth it could almost be mistaken for samples in places, although it's definitely the real deal. A short string part somewhere towards the end of The Untold Want is bettered by the flutes in Wet Sounds and strings in No One Will Ever Know (Fare Thee Well), although the album's 'Tron highlight has to be Ford Theatre, with its full-on strings and choir parts, rising to a stunning crescendo at the end of the piece. All in all, this is a good, modern symphonic prog album, and what it might lack in originality, it makes up for with tasteful and imaginative playing, not to mention some nice Mellotron work. Worth a punt.
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Riktigt Äkta (1992, 42.29/45.15) ****½/TTTT½I Nattens TimmaSkogsrået Trädet Vår Häll Visa Från Kallsedet Undrar om ni Ser [CD adds: Tillbaka] |
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Lonely Land (1992, 50.52) ****½/TTTT½Waltz of the Dark Riddle (I Nattens Timma)The Tree (Trädet) Pray for Me Now (Skogsrået) Song From Kallsedet (Visa Från Kallsedet) No More White Horses You and I (Vår Häll) Lonely Land (Undrar om ni Ser) |
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One Man Tell's Another (1994, 47.58) ****½/TTTT½Time (Jag är Tiden)Kontiki Mirror Man You Are (Du Där) Rememberence Valentinsong Tell |
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Jag är Tiden EP (1994, 15.37) ***½/TTTJag är TidenMarie & Anna Du Där |
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Unaffected (1995, 59.41) ****/TTTTAfterwardsWaltz of the Dark Riddle You and I The Tree Rememberence Pray for Me Now Song From Kallsedet Undrar om ni Ser |
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Dream Dance EP (1995, 18.26) ***½/TTDream DanceAll Around Me Waltz of the Dark Riddle |
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Indian Summer (1996, 47.30) ****/TTT½HumanizeAll Around Me 1st of May I Wish I Had a Boat Dustgod Dreamdance Why Do I Still Sleep Indian Summer |
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Progfest '95 (1996, 16.10) ****/TTT[Landberk contribute]Kontiki Dream Dance Time |
Current availability:
I'd really like to write about Landberk in the present tense, but I've had it pretty much confirmed that they've followed their countrymen Änglagård into oblivion. I spoke to their chief mover and shaker, bassist Stefan Dimle, in 1998, and he didn't say anything about a split, but they seem to have just quietly faded away, sadly without anyone really noticing. Maybe that was the problem. Anyway, Landberk are generally regarded as being the least-known of Sweden's early-'90s triumvirate of 'trad prog' bands, along with the aforementioned Änglagård and Anekdoten. All three bands started around the same time, and they all discarded the changes made to progressive rock in the '80s for a more 'fundamentalist' approach to the style (thank God); organs and Mellotrons are strictly the order of the day. Unlike Änglagård, Landberk's approach is relatively simplistic, relying more on the (slow) groove than complex instrumental interplay.
Their first album was originally released in its Swedish-language version, Riktigt Äkta, which they re-recorded in English as Lonely Land. These appear to be two entirely different recordings; the Swedish version plays flatter and has a rawer sound than the English, and both albums have different bonus tracks, making them both essential for the aficionado. I Nattens Timma/Waltz Of The Dark Riddle is something of a 'Tron classic; Mellotron flute (underpinned with cello) and vocal, with the 'Tron (played by Simon Nordberg, incidentally) switching to strings halfway through each verse, coupled with a haunting melody that could only be Scandinavian. The rest of the album carries on in a similar vein, although there are a couple of slightly more upbeat numbers; Landberk were nothing if not melancholy, to the point where they made their aforementioned contemporaries sound like quintessential party bands. Well, nearly. There are too many highlights to name, but the 'Tron strings on Undrar Om Ni Ser (redolent of Crimso's Epitaph) are really quite superb. One of the band's strengths was not overusing the 'Tron, although it would've been far too easy to have smothered the whole thing in it. Admirable restraint, and a great album.
Unlike previous efforts to 'do an English version' (PFM, Kraftwerk), Lonely Land works very well indeed, with Dimle and Nordberg's lyrics translating well, assuming they are straight translations; some of the titles certainly are. Aside from the slightly brighter sound, the album is very similar to Riktigt Äkta, to be honest, although the English lyrics put a different slant on the material for the English-speaker. The other chief difference between the two versions is the excellent cover of T2's No More White Horses, complete with the Mellotron missing from the original. The bonus track on the Riktigt Äkta CD, Tillbaka (a cover, apparently, though I don't know of whom), hasn't been re-recorded, so you really need both of these.
Now, I've been under the impression for some years that Landberk recorded their second album in Swedish, too, titling it Jag är Tiden, but after a lengthyish online search, I've come to the conclusion that every mention I've seen of this title actually refers to the 3-track EP they released in '94. One Man Tell's Another (sic), therefore, is the only version of their second album ever recorded, despite the Swedish-language EP versions of two of the songs. Noticeably more rhythmic than their debut, One Man is decidedly 'artier', both in sound and packaging, and marks the ascendance of Reine Fiske's guitar in the band's sound. There's still plenty of Hammond and Mellotron to be heard, but it sounds to me as if the guitar took precedence during the album's writing sessions, particularly in the rhythm department. Album highlights include Kontiki, Valentinsong and the sublime Tell, also the album's Mellotron classic, with a superb chord sequence in the 'chorus' and a fantastic conclusion where Nordberg holds a dissonant chord, then flicks the track selector across all three sounds until the tapes run out. In fact, the 'Tron work throughout is excellent (again), with Tell being only the tip of the iceberg. Superb. The Jag är Tiden EP is probably less essential, being Swedish-language remixes of two of the album tracks, with the fairly ordinary Marie & Anna being the only otherwise unavailable track. While not a bad song, it's the sort of track that would get itself lost about halfway through an album, and probably isn't worth splashing out a fortune for, although it has a typically nice 'Tron part.
Unaffected's a bit of an odd one; when I spoke to Stefan Dimle about it, he laughed and referred to it as a 'bootleg', although other people have refuted this, so it's difficult to know what to think. It sounds like a soundboard tape to me, with the vocals sometimes too high in the mix, and the sleeve lacks the professional sheen of the band's official releases, but it's been so widely available, unchallenged by the band, that I feel compelled to include it. N.B. Mauro Ranchicchio tells me that it was supposed to be given away free with issue #6 of 'Melodie & Dissonanze' fanzine, but the mag went under after issue #5. As the CD had already been mastered (and manufactured?), it was sold through shops instead, although it would appear that the band had no say in this state of affairs.
Anyway, the band are playing in front of small club audiences in Italy and Germany in early '95, with vocalist Patric Helje singing in both Swedish and English. Many of the songs are extended versions, giving the band room to relax and stretch out a little, making a change from the also valid 'straight copy of studio version' outfits. The one outstanding performance included here is the opener, a great, Mellotron-driven version of Van der Graaf Generator's Afterwards, from The Aerosol Grey Machine, the Peter Hammill solo project that somehow ended up as the first VdGG album. In fact, thinking about it, Van der Graaf are one of Landberk's more obvious influences, although without the shouty bits. Anyway, most of the rest of the songs are from Riktigt Äkta/Lonely Land, mainly with 'Tron parts intact, although strangely, neither Pray For Me Now or Song From Kallsedet have any Mellotron at all, with the band presumably preferring Nordberg's Hammond drones. Whether or not Unaffected is 'official' isn't that relevant, really, especially with the band having gone the way of all things, so, generally recommended.
The Dream Dance EP appeared in time for the band's 1995 Progfest appearance, previewing two of the tracks from the following year's Indian Summer. Actually, All Around Me is a different version, though not as different as the rerecording of the first album's Waltz Of The Dark Riddle, which utilises a string section instead of the original's Mellotron. Indian Summer itself continued Landberk's transition to art rock as against prog, interrupted by their eventual split. OK, I suppose it isn't that different to their first two albums, but there's a shift somewhere in their sound which suggests that they could, given time, have, er, 'progressed' away from progressive rock entirely. Now, there's an oxymoron for you. Bizarrely, I've seen an online review of this album that states 'no Mellotron, but more modern keyboards'. Hmmm. So what, exactly, is making the Mellotron sound on half the tracks? Of course there's Mellotron on it, although less than on its predecessors, and I don't hear anything more 'contemporary' than, er, a Hammond, to be honest. The 'Tron work is up to usual standards, although no one track leaps out at you and says 'I'm a classic'; a worthy addition to their oeuvre, however.
A final release containing Landberk's music is the official double CD of 1995's Progfest, titled, funnily enough, Progfest '95. As with Anekdoten's set from the previous year, it would be good to hear the whole of their set, but that seems rather unlikely now, so we'll have to make do with the three tracks on offer. Good run-throughs of all three, but nothing you haven't heard before, to be honest; sounds like the same Mellotron parts as the studio versions, too, but worth hearing if you were going to buy the set anyway.
So... What to buy? All three English-language studio albums, followed by Riktigt Äkta and Unaffected. You'll be hard-pushed to find either of the EPs now, but they're worth it if you've already got the other stuff. I wouldn't call this stuff exactly 'symphonic', but it should appeal to progressive fans with slightly more open minds.
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Terra Serranum (1995, 71.10) ***/TTTLife as We Know it...The Revolution, Like Saturn, Devours its Children For Reasons Unknown The Philosophy of Containers Terra Serranum A Castle, Mother, Nanny and a Warm Soft Bed Neptunes Last Tear Daura ...The End of Life as We Know it |
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Lands End were one of the earlier entrants into the, er, New Wave Of American Prog (NWOAP?), following hot on the heels of Magellan, Episode and Now, amongst others, all of whom were hanging onto '80s neo-merchants North Star's coattails. After a couple of demos, their first 'proper' album was '94's Pacific Coast Highway, quickly followed by Terra Serranum. Now, it isn't a bad album, but in all honesty, nor is it that good a one, either; reasonably complex material is sabotaged by simplistic neo-prog style chord sequences and frequently cheesy keyboard sounds. The album's epic, Neptunes Last Tear [sic], holds together for a while, but slumps into a morass of neo-prog clichés after a while, and would have been a great deal better heavily edited.
The band's site mentions the Mellotron, disproving my conjecture that it's early sample use; the only sound they use (from Fred Hunter) is some very wobbly strings, though, which sound like they've been put through some sort of pitch-shifting device. Anyway, there are a few chords in (deep breath) The Revolution, Like Saturn, Devours Its Children, (another deep breath) A Castle, Mother, Nanny And A Warm Soft Bed and Neptunes Last Tear, all completely upstaged by the fairly heavy string use on the title track and the (relatively) brief ...The End Of Life As We Know It.
I haven't heard '96's An Older Land, but '97's Natural Selection uses samples, and pretty ropey ones at that (reviewed here). So; Terra Serranum is OK, but pretty unadventurous for an album described by the band as, "We tried a bit too hard to be 'progressive'", but many of you may well like it anyway. Actually pretty good 'Tron use, even if it sounds like a dying animal in places.
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Love is an Illusion (1995/98, 47.01/65.42) **½/T½ |
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| LIAA Prelude Love is an Illusion Coloured Life Cold Outside Through the Fire Through the Rain Faerie Tale State of Mind Dream Burnin' Down |
Can't Find My Way Home LIAA Postlude [1998 remix adds: Into the Ether LIAA Interlude A Night in the Garden] |
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Curious Goods (1996/2002, 70.28/67.12) **½/½ |
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| Curious Goods Part One Emerald City Escher's Staircase Heart of Dawn Take a Breath Reverie Satyr's Moon Symphony of Angels |
Two Can Play That Game Voices Do it Again Curious Goods Part Two Clouds ['Special Edition' replaces Do it Again with: You Only Live Twice] |
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Garden of the Moon (1998, 57.43) **½/T |
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| River of the Stars Destination Roswell Seasons Moongarden Evolution Revolution Under the Olive Tree Eternal Waters Dream of the Dragonfly |
Garden of the Moon Symphony of Angels (live with Rocket Scientists) |
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Ballad Collection (1998, 52.09) **/T |
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| Avalon Athena's Shadow Stardust Seasons End Through the Fire (acoustic) When Time Stood Still Clouds (1998 version) Heart of Dawn (1998 version) |
Take a Breath (1998 version) Across the Universe Avalon Reprise |
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Queen of the Ocean (1999, 51.18/71.00) **/T½ |
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| In the Hall of the Ocean Queen Night Falls Queen of the Ocean Let Heaven in Frankenstein Unbound Souls of the Mermaids Rainbow's End Without You |
[Some versions include: Through the Rain Escher's Staircase (live) Symphony of Angels (live)] |
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Secrets of Astrology (2000, 72.47) **½/T½ |
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| Astrology Prelude Secrets of Astrology Alexandria Raining The Bell Speed of Sound Under the Sun Tarot |
Asherah Guardian Angel Long Winter Dreams Astrology Postlude Romeo And Juliet |
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Ballad Collection II (2000, 57.12) **½/½ |
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| Nether Lands Hands to Heal Goodbye Yellow Brick Road A Place in Time Nevermore A Place in Time Reprise Ghost Beside My Bed |
To the Last Whale Critical Mass Wind on the Water The River Maid Autumn Leaves Innocent When You Dream If Everyone Was Listening |
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Project Shangri-La (2002, 55.01/60.57) **½/½ |
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| Redemption Part I Project Shangri-La Encore Before You Go The Nightingale The Beast Within You Tears of Babylon Ebbtide |
(Life is) Only a Dream Time to say Goodbye Redemption Part II [bonus track: Romeo and Juliet] |
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Covers Collection (2003, 60.52) ***/TT |
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| The Wall Kashmir Soaring Hold Your Head Up Innocence I'll See You in My Dreams Don't Try So Hard Northern Lights |
Still Loving You Weep in Silence Stargazer |
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Winter Sessions (2003, 59.28) **½/TT½ |
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| What a World Spirit of the Gypsy A Whiter Shade of Pale December Moon I'll Be Seeing You Carnivale (Let it Rain) Carry Me Home |
Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good) California Dreamin' Winter Song Terminus Pro Tempore |
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Lady Macbeth (2005, 54.11) **½/T |
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| The Dream That Never Ends Someone to Believe Our Time Now Summon The Devil No Tomorrow Shine on Golden Sun The Vision Keeper of the Flame |
We Had the World Dunsinane Walls |
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Solid biographical information about Lana Lane seems to be thin on the ground. Her official site bio carefully omits any mention of birthdate, age etc. opting simply to mention that she 'moved to Los Angeles in the late '80s', where she met and married keyboard whizz/producer Erik Norlander, who had already released albums on his own and with the Rocket Scientists; he still runs his parallel solo career, also guesting with artists such as the Netherlands' Ayreon. They decided to launch Lana's solo career with 1995's Love is an Illusion, which basically falls into the 'melodic rock' (read: slightly toughened-up AOR) category, with progressive stylings in places, notably Norlander's keyboard work. Now, be warned: if you're looking for dark, symphonic rock, don't come here. Lane's music is that 'style over substance' thing that so many 'progressive' artists are coughing up these days; Ayreon are actually a pretty good comparison. Excessively grandiose, with swathes of sampled strings and over-effected guitars, and without really having anything much musically to say for itself, it betrays her roots in pseudo-commercial soft rock. One thing I will say in her favour is that her voice is quite excellent, albeit in 'AOR diva' mode. I mean, compare her to the dreadful Tracy Hitchings (Quasar, Landmarq, Gandalf), if you dare; Lane wins hands down, knowing exactly how to use her voice to maximum effect, and is easily the best thing about her identikit albums.
Unfortunately, most of the songs on Love is an Illusion are fairly forgettable, although Coloured Life sports a pretty nifty hook. Keyboardwise, alongside a bunch of modern synths, Norlander plays several genuine vintage 'boards (see pic), with lots of Rhodes work and a couple of excellent Hammond solos. Several credited Mellotron tracks, with choirs on LIAA Prelude, while Coloured Life opens with a flute/cello part, with pitchbent strings later in the song. More choirs in the new recording, LIAA Interlude, and distant strings on Can't Find My Way Home, although whatever's supposed to be on Faerie Tale State Of Mind is pretty damn' inaudible.
Now, a rather odd state of affairs exists with Lane's back catalogue: after finding success in Japan with her third release, Garden of the Moon, Norlander went back and reworked her first two albums from the ground up, chiefly for the Japanese market. Love is an Illusion 1998 Version has new guitar parts (wonder what the original guitarist thought?), extended versions of some tracks and three new songs, inserted into the running order where applicable, all of three years after its initial release. How different is it? Well, the guitars are more whizzy, the production has a more 'professional' sheen, and it's longer. Three years on again, the 'Special Edition' double set was released, containing both versions; do I detect that distinctive hollow sound of barrels being scraped? There are plenty of other anomalies within her catalogue, with some Japanese-only mini-albums having some of their contents spread over later 'bonus' discs, although, in fairness, the extensive discography on her website attempts to unravel the confusion.
The following year's Curious Goods is more of the same, musically, although track lengths seem to be up slightly all round, which isn't a good thing. Once again, a 'Special Edition' was released, this time six years later, in 2002, and once again, much messing about with track lengths and overdubs. Not much 'Tron on either version, with the original release only having a string part on Emerald City, while the Special Edition adds choirs on Curious Goods Part One, and flutes on the version of Bond theme You Only Live Twice, replacing her cold-blooded butchery of Steely Dan's Do It Again from the original.
Garden of the Moon, the album that broke her in Japan, is marginally more 'progressive' than its predecessors, as Norlander correctly ascertained that small though the market is for prog, it's still larger than that for AOR. Hey! Let's mix the two, and draw in fans of both... The only way this could be considered 'progressive' is in its overlong tracks with extended instrumental breaks to keep the technique geek faction happy, which really doesn't count in my book. No highlights whatsoever, funnily enough, and only one 'Tron track, with surprisingly upfront strings and flutes on Moongarden. Later that year, Norlander and Lane opted to release, in Japan only, a collection entitled Ballad Collection and yes, it's every bit as horrible as that title suggests. To quote from Norlander's sleevenotes, the album was designed to feature Lane's voice "in a more intimate and demur [sic] setting...", which just about sums up for me the way she's being marketed, appealing to the sexist wanker that lurks in all men, doing the whole submissive little girly schtick that female artists with more gumption have been fighting for decades. Anyway, on the Mellotron front (can't keep me off it for long), Through The Fire has a brief string part under the real viola, while When Time Stood Still (a lesser-known Jeff Lynne song, apparently) has flutes running right through it, with a flute intro on her version of The Beatles' Across The Universe.
Queen of the Ocean (is it just me, or do these titles all essentially sound the same?) carries on (guess what?) in a similar vein to Garden of the Moon, with absolutely nothing about it being outstanding in any way. Norlander's credited with 'Mellotron, Hammond organ, Rhodes piano, MiniMoog, Yamaha and Alesis synthesizers'. Guess what you hear most of? Clue: these instruments are not listed in order of preference. Anyway, enough about the album's failings (which are many); wotabout the Mellotron? I hear you cry. Well, when it's used, it's nicely at the front of the mix, as on the title track. It opens with a chordal string part, shifting into rhythmic flute chords, before Norlander falls back on his rather tedious string samples; I seem to remember there being more 'Tron than this, but the only other bit I can hear is some rather ordinary strings on Let Heaven In.
Secrets of Astrology (aarghh!) doesn't try to fix what ain't broke, or something, while also managing to be Lane's longest album yet. Sadly. Anyway, 'Strawberry Fields'-style 'Tron flutes on the title track and Alexandria, although the flute on Tarot sounds real. Strings on Asherah, and while the flutes on Guardian Angel are 'Tron, the strings defy easy categorisation, possibly being Mellotron doubling samples. The next (and to date, last) volume of ballads, Ballad Collection II, is a lot like volume one, funnily enough, being a mixture of covers (Elton John, Dan Fogelberg, Supertramp) and originals. The trouble with these albums (as against the trouble with her 'normal' releases) is that they're like being drowned in molasses; so sickly sweet that you end up gagging, and begging for some of that dodgy metal guitar work she employs so often. Think it's 'Tron flutes on two tracks, Fogelberg's Nether Lands and Ghost Beside My Bed, although similar sounds and parts on other tracks turn out to be something digital. Project Shangri-La starts off marginally better than its predecessors, but proves unable to keep up the pace of change and slides back into the old rut as soon as possible. Only one even slightly obvious 'Tron track, with flutes on the title track, so nothing to write home about here, then. Apparently, the Japanese version's bonus track, I Believe In You (written by John Wetton) is smothered in 'Tron strings, but most of us aren't going to hear it, making it a little irrelevant.
After several similar releases, Lane chose to record some of the songs that inspired her for 2003's Covers Collection, although I'm surprised to see there's nothing by Heart, apparently one of her favourite bands. As with the rest of her catalogue, whether or not you'll like it depends largely on how much you like her frequently bombastic voice, and hubby Norlander's frequently bombastic arrangements. One criticism I would level at the album is that on the songs I know (by no means all of them), there seems to have been very little effort made to make them her own, with arrangements being almost identical to the originals, although, for better or worse, she makes a feminist statement on Argent's Hold Your Head Up, changing the original's 'whooah!' to 'woman'. A few of the tracks are (I should hope) obvious, but the ones you may not spot are The Wall (Kansas), Soaring (AOR-sters Aviary), Innocence (Enuff Z'nuff), I'll See You In My Dreams (also AOR-sters Giant), Don't Try So Hard (late-period Queen), Northern Lights (TNT, not Renaissance), Still Loving You (the Scorpions) and Weep In Silence (Uriah Heep). Again, it's often hard to tell when Norlander's using 'Tron, or just generic string samples, but I'll assume all the highlighted tracks above actually contain 'Tron until/if I find out otherwise. None of his use stands out particularly amongst the mush of the arrangements, although the occasional flute or choir part at least makes a change from the strings, particularly the choirs on Weep In Silence. Overall, though, despite the higher star rating than her earlier work, I can't particularly recommend this to any but her hardcore fanbase.
Winter Sessions seems to be yet another 'inbetween' album; a mixture of original material and covers, not really designed to be a 'proper' release at all. It is, of course, essentially the same as all the above, with the 'bonus' of not especially good renditions of A Whiter Shade Of Pale and California Dreamin', plus some jazz standards with which I'm not au fait. Nicely detailed track-by-track credits inform us that opener What A World has Norlander playing Mellotron strings, cello and choir, although it seems the flute is real, while Spirit Of The Gypsy has all the above plus flute. The strings and cello on Carnivale (Let It Rain) are pretty much inaudible, as is the cello on Carry Me Home, although the strings on Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good) are the chief keyboard instrument. The strings on California Dreamin' are somewhat background, but more upfront on Winter Song, making this one of Lane's more pre-eminent Mellotron albums.
Finally (for now), Lady Macbeth is a concept effort, though I'm not sure how well it tells the story or otherwise. Despite Norlander's assertions on his wife's website that her albums progress throughout her career, there's little real difference over the course of a decade; barely prog-flavoured AOR with overlong songs, in an attempt to sound 'symphonic', in other words, no change here. A little 'Tron, with strings on Our Time Now, and flutes and strings (?), plus definite cellos on We Had the World, with distant choirs on Dunsinane Walls.
Listening to these albums has been a deeply painful experience. I'm no fan of 'commercial hard rock', or whatever you want to call it (and no, early Boston don't count!), and these albums are more likely to appeal to those of an AOR bent than the progheads, although the song lengths may put many of them off. Mind you, just because a track's eight or nine minutes long doesn't make it prog; most of the longer tracks here (of which there are far too many) contain very little musical development, mostly simply consisting of a couple of ideas repeated ad infinitum (or should that be nauseam?). There are an awful lot of great prog albums, and an awful lot of great Mellotron albums. These are neither. Avoid.
