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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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The Dream is Over (1999, 42.40) ***/T |
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| The Dream is Over Goodbye, Max! Red on White on Blue Fortune Cookies Heavy Weather All We Have Interlude Coffee Girl |
Darkness and the Silver Spoon Red Cross I Miss the War What I Live for Sunday Double Fame |
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Mellotron/Chamberlin used:
MK Ultra (named for some dodgo CIA mind-control programme) released three albums over the course of their career, 1999's The Dream is Over being the last. It could loosely be described as 'powerpop', although with a heavy streak of 'indie' and a largish helping of 'dullness'. It's all proficient enough, but ultimately rather boring, I'm afraid, the gloomy Darkness And The Silver Spoon possibly being the best thing here, and it isn't that great. The band's one claim to Planet Mellotron fame is the involvement of John Vanderslice, himself a dedicated 'Tron user.
Adam Cohen is credited with Mellotron and Chamberlin, but it must be buried fairly well in the mix, with only cellos (as against the real ones on the rest of the record), flutes and what have to be Chamby strings on I Miss The War. Overall, then, a rather unexciting slice of late-'90s indie, with little tape-replay work. Whoopee.
See: John Vanderslice
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Green Blues [as MV & EE with The Bummer Road] (2007, 62.43) ***/TEast Mountain JointDrive is That I Love You Canned Happiness Mine All Troubled Blues Big Deal Grassthighs Solar Hill |
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Gettin' Gone [as MV & EE with The Golden Road] (2007, 65.51) **½/½ |
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| Susquehanna The Burden Hammer I Got Caves in There Mama My Day & Night Easy Livin' Coaled Out |
Speed Queen Motorin' Country Fried Home Comfort Sweet People |
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Matt "MV" Valentine and Erika "EE" Elder have been churning out several albums a year since 2001, using a wide range of collaborators and names. Their overall style is best described as 'stoned-out psych', although they prefer 'lunar ragas', apparently. Green Blues (as MV & EE with The Bummer Road) is their first (of six!) albums of 2007, and while it has its moments, an hour is vastly too long for such a prolific band; surely a forty-minute edit would serve their listeners better? Or am I missing the point? Valentine sounds like Neil Young in places, which is a good thing, but far too much of the album is stoned (or pseudo-stoned)-out nonsense and merely drags. Mellotronically speaking, the album opens with J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr, of course) on strings on East Mountain Joint, reprising later in the song, alongside flutes, with more flutes on Big Deal, although I'm not convinced about the latter.
Later that year, the duo released Gettin' Gone as MV & EE with The Golden Road, and the same complaints apply as with Green Blues: it's overlong and unfocussed, and drags badly by about halfway through, with even less gripping material than before. Valentine plays 'Tron this time round, with a near-atonal flute part on Country Fried that neither enhances nor detracts from the rambling piece. Sorry, I thought I might like these albums, but they both drove me mad with their complete lack of focus and insistence on highlighting the worst of the psych era's excesses. One decent 'Tron track between the pair of 'em, and not actually worth buying for that.
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Amarillo Sky (2002, 36.20) **½/½ |
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| Amarillo Sky Sure Feels Like it Anything That Touches You You Take My Heart There Leave Her With Me Yours Squeeze Box Why Not Colorado |
Hasta Luego When Someone Loves You |
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McBride & the Ride (later Terry McBride & the Ride) were formed by producer Tony Brown in 1989 in direct competition with Alabama, who, although apparently massively successful, I have never heard of. Going by their description on Wikipedia, I don't want to, either; sounds to me like they're entirely responsible for that buffoon Garth Brooks' 'arena country' stageshows, now widely copied on the scene. Anyway, McBride and co split in the mid-'90s, reforming for one last album in 2002, Amarillo Sky. Despite being mainstream country, it manages to avoid the worst Nashville excesses, although I wouldn't actually take that as a recommendation. Is there a best track? Yes, actually, albeit pretty much by default, as covering The Who's double-entendre-laden Squeeze Box beats their own material by (wait for it) a country mile. Ho bloody ho. Good banjo solo, too. No, really.
Squeeze Box is also the receptacle for the album's only audible Mellotron, from Matt Rollings, with a few seconds of flutes, although no complaints as to its use, unless you count the mercifully short period of time I spent listening to this. Actually, I've heard far worse; I shouldn't be churlish, but I am anyway.
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Wide Prairie (1999) *½/TT |
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| Wide Prairie New Orleans The White Coated Man Love's Full Glory I Got Up The Light Comes From Within Mister Sandman Seaside Woman |
Oriental Nightfish Endless Days Poison Ivy Cow B-side to Seaside Sugartime Cook of the House Appaloosa |
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Now, after poor Linda's untimely death a few years ago, I feel really bad about saying this, but this album sucks. I've really tried to think of something positive to say about it, but I've hit a blank; poor songs, dodgy lyrics and dreadful vocals. Sorry. One thing I won't hold against it is the idea behind it; after Linda's death, Paul collected the various solo tracks she'd recorded over the years, and released them in her memory. I'm not going to be cynical about this; it's a really sweet thing to do, but unfortunately, the end result is, er, 'not that good'. By its very nature it's a little uncohesive, but that could be said of any retrospective; it might hold together slightly better if the tracks had been sequenced in chronological order, but I presume Paul had a reason for mixing them up.
Anyway, Wide Prairie has Mellotron on four tracks, played by either Linda or Paul. The title track is a faux-cowboy song, showing off Linda's vocals as you'd rather wish it wouldn't, though there's a nice helping of 'Tron strings. Linda has the good sense to keep her contributions to Oriental Nightfish down to some narration, though once more, there's some nice 'Tron. B-Side To Seaside is, of course, the original flipside to Seaside Woman, a 7" Linda put out in the mid-'70s; more narration and a little more 'Tron strings. Unfortunately, she sings again on the rather terrible Cook Of The House, and the Mellotron's inaudible this time round.
It's noticeable how good the playing is on this album; top session people all round, I suspect, and of course hubby Paul's contributions are always spot-on. Sadly, it's all a bit of a waste of talent; for all Paul's protestations, Linda was no great shakes musically, although she played keyboards (including two 'Trons) in Wings throughout the '70s. As I said, I feel pretty bad about trashing this album, but I couldn't in all honesty tell you it's any good. Apart from the general musicianship, one of its few saving graces is the amount of Mellotron on offer, but don't rush out to buy it on those grounds. Please. By the way, is this a bad place to mention the existence of the infamous 'Linda tapes', and to ask why this opportunity to make them more widely available has been missed?
See: Paul McCartney
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Nothing Personal (2001, 49.44) ***/T |
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| Livin' it Down Gotta Get it Worked on When Rita Leaves Squeeze Me in Birmingham Tonight Baggage Claim All Night Long Don't Leave Home Without it |
Desperation Nothin' Lasts Forever Read Me My Rights All There is of Me Watchin' the Rain |
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Although I'd never heard of him before, it seems that Delbert McClinton's been around since the early '60s, playing that peculiarly Texan blend of blues, country and all stages in between. 2001's Nothing Personal is something like his seventeenth solo studio album, and I'd imagine it defines his style perfectly, shifting between the blues and country ends of his oeuvre with a bunch of well-written songs that will do his reputation no harm whatsoever, not least Livin' It Down, Birmingham Tonight and the amusing All Night Long.
Benmont Tench (from Tom Petty's band) plays Chamberlin, with an 'almost fooled me' part on tear-jerker ballad When Rita Leaves, although that seems to be it. Overall, then, a good album of its type, though probably not one to excite my regular readers (yes, you lot - you know who you are).
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The Things We Do (2004, 49.06/77.07) **½/T |
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| It's Been Done Somebody Got Lucky Love is Stronger Than Death Know it All A Thousand Drunken Dreams Sleep on it Perfect Girl Eleven Wrong Side |
Dirty Pearl Sucker This Night Long Live I Hidden Song [Bonus tracks: Famous Blue Raincoat My Funny Valentine |
Lady Grinning Soul Soldier's Thing Don't Explain] |
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Angela McCluskey is a Scottish vocalist who moved to the States, co-founding The Wild Colonials, amongst other projects. 2004's The Things We Do is her first solo album, full of slightly over-dramatic songs about all the things that make the world go round. Trouble is, it's a bit... boring. Of course, I'm listening more to the music than the lyrics, thus doubtless missing out on the bulk of the album's appeal, but her ever-so-slightly off-Broadway approach sets my teeth on edge after a while. Sorry.
Nathan Larson plays (real?) Mellotron, with faint flutes on Somebody Got Lucky and strings on Dirty Pearl, although it could be hidden away on two or three other tracks, too. Overall, then, one for the drama queen (of either sex) in your life, I think, particularly the bonus tracks. Certainly not worth it for its minor Mellotron input, though. Incidentally, a later version of the album features a handful of bonus tracks that add nearly half an hour to its length, with McCluskey tackling standards like My Funny Valentine or classics such as Bowie's Lady Grinning Soul, all in a torch style. Strangely, they work rather better than most of the contents of the regular release; maybe she should concentrate more on this style? Maybe she has?
See: Wild Colonials
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The Riddle & the Rhyme (1980) ***/TT |
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| Sentimental Boys Cause of Confusion Distant Drum (Vertical Hum) Universal Prime Force Reflection Omnipresence The Riddle and the Rhyme |
Predestination Time Identity Collision With Destiny Meltdown Creation The Tree of Life The Fall |
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Steve McDonald is known these days as a highly successful Celtic musician, despite being a New Zealander; he's clearly tapped into his Scots heritage, and good luck to him. He's actually been around since at least the early '70s, playing with bands such as Taylor and Timberjack and appearing on Human Instinct's final album, Peg Leg, only released in 2002. The Riddle & the Rhyme was apparently his first solo album, featuring a rather eccentric sleeve design; not just the cover itself, but the montage of pictures inside the gatefold, showing Steve carrying what is clearly his favourite string synth around various locations, including a pub and a bus stop. And I haven't even mentioned the rear sleeve, with Steve in white evening dress (and waist-length hair), seated at a grand piano with the maker's logo replaced with a plaque displaying the album title...
Anyway, the album is a strange mixture of styles, from the pop/rock of Universal Prime Force through the soft rock schlock of Sentimental Boys and Distant Drum (Vertical Hum) to the proggy Predestination and Meltdown, which take up much of side two. Steve's Mellotron work is somewhat variable, with cellos and exceedingly murky strings on Sentimental Boys and Distant Drum, while Omnipresence has a slightly better string part and sound, with more strings and mushy choir on the title track. This leaves Universal Prime Force as probably the album's best 'Tron track, though despite the number of songs featuring the beast, this is some way from being a top-notch 'Tron album.
Actually, this is some way from being a top-notch anything album, really, although it's interesting as a curio of late-period Kiwi (semi-) prog. Try not to pay as much as I stupidly did for a copy. Oh, and going by recent pictures, he still has the hair.
See: Human Instinct
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This is Not a Rebellion... (2002, 16.06) ***½/TAwakeGet Jimmy Strange Arrangement Something to Love Motorboat |
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Steve(n) McDonald is better known as bassist with the excellent Redd Kross. He formed the Steven McDonald Group while the mother group were in hiatus, although they released just the one EP, This is Not a Rebellion... (or This is Not a Rebellion... This is a Mass Awakening!) before Redd Kross reformed. Despite only containing five tracks, this is a blast; powerpop bordering on bubblegum while, crucially, never quite tipping over. 'Best track' award is probably split between Get Jimmy and their cover of the outrageous Kim Fowley's ridiculous Motorboat.
Mellotron (amongst other things) from Anna Waronker (daughter of über-producer Lenny), who, it turns out, is married to McDonald. She sticks a nice flute part onto Something To Love, which, although presumably meant to back the guitar solo, ends up being higher in the mix. And I'm complaining? So; one very nice little release, one cool 'Tron track, shame they didn't do more.
See: Redd Kross | Anna Waronker
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McGough & McGear (1968, 44.52) ***/T |
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| So Much A Little Bit of Heaven Basement Flat From 'Frink, a Life in the Day of' & 'Summer With Monika' - Prologue: Introducing - Moanin', Anji From 'Frink, a Life in the Day of' & 'Summer With Monika' - Epilogue |
Come Close and Sleep Now Yellow Book House in My Head Mr. Tickle Living Room Do You Remember Please Don't Run Too Fast Ex Art Student |
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Roger McGough and Mike McCartney (younger brother of the better known... and professionally known as McGear, to avoid accusations of nepotism) were two of three members of Liverpool-based comedy troupe The Scaffold, along with John Gorman (biggest hit: the immortal Lily The Pink). They released their only album as a duo, McGough & McGear, in 1968, enlisting the help of loads of famous friends, most of whom couldn't be credited for legal reasons, including Jimi Hendrix, an inveterate jammer (that has to be him on wah guitar on closer Ex Art Student). It is, to be honest, a bit of a curate's egg, as you might expect, with 'straight' songs (So Much) rubbing shoulders with sillier material (A Little Bit Of Heaven) and essentially spoken-word tracks (both parts of Frink, A Life In The Day Of).
Mellotron, apparently from Paul McCartney, although with musicians largely uncredited, one or more other players could easily be involved. Anyway, background brass on So Much and a few seconds of very obvious flutes on Frink, A Life In The Day Of (Prologue) and slightly more in the background on Do You Remember, in other words, fairly low 'Tron content. So; psychedelic music-hall? Comedy poetry? Call it what you will, it's pretty unique, but may not bear repeated plays.
See: Paul McCartney
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Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors (2003, 66.03) **½/½ |
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| Comfort Me Tickin' Away Home Red Ragtop That's Why God Made Mexico Watch the Wind Blow By Illegal Sleep Tonight |
I Know How to Love You Well Sing Me Home She's My Kind of Rain Who Are They Real Good Man All We Ever Find Tiny Dancer |
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Tim McGraw is proof positive that an artist can be huge in their own 'world', yet mean little to the rest of us. I'd never heard of him before adding him to this site, yet he's apparently sold over forty million records, which is quite shocking. Obviously, he's a veritable superstar in that world, married to another country superstar, Faith Hill, with whom he sometimes tours and records. His eighth album, Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors, apparently bucks a Nashville trend, as McGraw gets his touring band to play on the record, rather than the usual 'A'-list Nashville sessioneers. Radical, eh? In the country world, it seems it is. As mainstream country goes, it's relatively inoffensive, having as much in common with 'roots rock' as country, so plenty of Hammond, not much pedal steel. It seems McGraw doesn't write, so while I suspect that most of the album's songs were written for it, McGraw also covers Elton John's Tiny Dancer, in case you thought the title was familiar.
The Mellotronist seems to be uncredited, although Jeff McMahon plays the album's keys, so assuming it's real, he seems like the likely culprit. Anyway, there's not much here, with the only obvious use being a few string stabs on Sleep Tonight, although it could be buried away in the mix elsewhere. Anyway, while this might be a not-too-offensive country album, it isn't going to get most of us hopping up and down with glee for either its musical or its Mellotronic content.
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Peace on You (1974, 35.04) ***/T |
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| Peace on You Without You Going to the Country (Please Not) One More Time Same Old Sound Do What You Want to Together Better Change |
Gate of Horn The Lady |
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By 1974, The Byrds were well and truly history, and Roger McGuinn had already released his eponymous solo album. His second such effort, Peace on You, was a decent enough slightly country-rock effort, very recognisably McGuinn on the vocal front, although his trademark Rickenbacker 12-string only appears sporadically, notably (and ironically?) on Same Old Sound, although Gate Of Horn and probably the album's best track (probably because it sounds most like The Byrds), The Lady, feature it too. Overall, it'd be hard to argue that this is his finest work, and while Byrds completists shouldn't be wildly disappointed, nothing here matches the quality of his best work with that band. Well, are you surprised?
Uncredited Mellotron here and there, apparently from Paul Harris, with strings on the opening title track, which starts nicely before going slightly honky-tonk later on, and the same on (Please Not) One More Time, clearly recorded 'on the fly', as chords fade out and back in, as Harris re-triggers notes. So; passable, nowt special, for either music or 'Tron, although The Lady could well do with anthologising.
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Ashley MacIsaac (2003, 48.40) ***/T |
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| Cello Song Lay Me Down Save Me From Tomorrow I Don't Need This Grapes To America We Go Chorus Jig/The King's Reel Wedding Funeral |
Captain America Mull of Kintyre Bog an Login This is My Father Fairy Dance |
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Ashley MacIsaac started his career as a folk fiddler from Nova Scotia, moving into more mainstream areas as time's gone on. It seems he's also quite a controversial figure, leading a slightly fragmented lifestyle and infuriating people by being rather more open on his views regarding politics and his own sexuality than many people might like. Ashley MacIsaac is his seventh album, incorporating various very un-folklike rhythms in places; I know artists have to move on, but into commercial pop? Pretty much every track features some kind of folk influence - MacIsaac's fiddle sees to that - but it's a bit few and far between in places. Best track? Maybe the fiddle frenzy of Grapes, complete with monosynth and Clavinet, or possibly Chorus Jig/The King's Reel. Worst? The entirely pointless version of Wings' horrible Mull Of Kintyre. It might not be quite as awful as the original, but, y'know, why?
Paul Bryan plays Chamberlin on the album, although it's not wildly obvious where, as is irritatingly common with the Chamby. It sounds like the instrument's strings on Cello Song and This Is My Father, though I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it turns out to be nothing of the sort, and they're used inaudibly elsewhere. So; a modern Gaelic folk-influenced pop/rock album. Hmmm. Listen to the real thing instead? Next to no obvious Chamby, either.
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Rarities, B-Sides & Other Stuff (1996, 62.32) **½/T |
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| Dear God I Will Remember You Fear [LunaSol remix] Gloomy Sunday [live] Full of Grace Song for a Winter's Night Blue Drawn to the Rhythm [live] |
Shelter [violin mix] As the End Draws Near [extended remix] Vox [extended remix] Into the Fire [extended remix] Possession [rabbit in the moon remix] |
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Sarah McLachlan is possibly the archetypal Lilith Fair artist; a rather wet female singer-songwriter who over-emotes at every opportunity. There's a huge audience for this sort of thing, mostly single women, but I'm afraid to say it couldn't leave me much colder if it tried. The slightly clunkily-titled Rarities, B-Sides & Other Stuff does exactly what it says on the tin, although it's only a selection of the apparently large number of tracks she recorded for singles, compilations etc. The album has moments of genuine beauty - McLachlan's multitracked harmonies on Blue are gorgeous - but all too many tracks feel, to an outsider like myself, to be a Carole King by numbers for this generation.
Mellotron on a couple of tracks (from David Kershaw), starting with cellos on Sarah's take on XTC's Dear God, also found on A Testimonial Dinner, the 1995 XTC tribute album. A brief burst of flutes on Song For A Winter's Night, but that seems to be your lot. So; if you're a McLachlan fan, you'll probably like about half of this, if you don't already own the tracks anyway. I can't imagine who would want to listen to several crapola dance remixes of her work, as they're not going to satisfy either the dance crowd or her fans, and by all accounts, there are better rare tracks not on here, but that's compilers for you. Not much Mellotron, and not a very exciting record, so the rest of us should probably discretely withdraw.
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A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Emotional Party (1998, 47.03) ***½/T½ |
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| Sex With Someone You Love A Guy Like Me (and a Girl Like You) Loveless Age You Only Get What You Deserve Bloom The Man Who Can Make a Woman Laugh Liverpool Girl Absolutely Wrong |
Little Princess Girls Are Birds |
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Ian McNabb (2001, 59.42) ****/TT |
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| Livin' Proof (Miracles Can Happen) Whatever it Takes What You Wanted Liverpool Girl (If We Believe) What Love Can Do Alright With Me Hollywood Tears Open Air |
Nothin' Less Than the Very Best Hotel Stationary Rockin' for Jesus Friend of My Enemy Moment in the Sun (I Wish I Was in) California |
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Waifs & Strays (2001, recorded 1993-2000, 79.06) ***½/TT |
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| Loveless Age Camaraderie Fire Inside My Soul Gak Mummy No.1 I'm a Genius Me and the Devil Why Are the Beautiful So Sad? Misty Meadows |
Not Lost Enough to Be Rescued Time of My Time Great Dreams of Heaven Nobody Say Nothin' to No One You Stone My Soul The New Golden Age |
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Before All of This (2005, 56.11) ***½/T½ |
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| There Oughta Be a Law Before All of This Unfinished Business in London Town Western Eyes The Lonely Ones (1) Rider (the Heartless Mare) Finally Getting Over You |
Let the Young Girl Do What She Wants to The Nicest Kind of Lie Lovers at the End of Time Picture of the Moon The New Me Keeping Your Love Alive The Lonely Ones (2) |
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Liverpudlian (and proud of it!) Ian McNabb was the mainman of '80s jangly popsters The Icicle Works, who always had more depth to their sound that they were given credit for. His second solo album, 1994's Head Like a Rock, was notable for containing several tracks recorded with the incomparable Crazy Horse, although they only exacerbated McNabb's Neil Young comparisons. After '96's excellently-titled Merseybeast, his fourth effort was the largely acoustic (deep breath) A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Emotional Party. I can see this one being something of a 'grower'; the songs are mostly heartfelt, with excellent lyrics and a refreshing lack of cynicism. I'll probably re-review this in a year, and give it a higher star rating. McNabb's credited with Mellotron on two tracks, with a regular string part on opener Sex With Someone You Love, with its ever-rising key changes, and also one of the small number of songs in the popular canon dealing with masturbation. You Only Get What You Deserve has more strings, but that's it, at least for this album.
Three years later, Ian McNabb, is, if anything, an improvement on its predecessor, with excellent, witty songwriting, viz Liverpool Girl or Rockin' For Jesus. The playing is more upfront than on A Party Political Broadcast..., with several tracks rocking out in grand style, with notable irony on Whatever It Takes, although McNabb's Neil Young fixation rears its slightly disfigured head again on Moment In The Sun. Difficult to work out exactly what is and isn't Mellotron here, as McNabb and drummer Geoff Dugmore both also play 'digital keyboard', but it sounds like 'Tron strings on (If We Believe) What Love Can Do, Open Air and Moment In The Sun, of which only the first is a typical ballad.
A collection of odds'n'sods from later the same year, Waifs & Strays, also features the Great White Beast; its contents range from '93 to 2000, and are pretty much all good enough to have made 'proper' album release (several are, in fact, 'work in progress' versions of tracks which ended up on McNabb's '90s albums). As with so many such projects, the tracks which aren't pre-production demos (Fire Inside My Soul, Loveless Age, several others) aren't sub-standard, just didn't quite fit onto the album for which they were recorded. There are some real gems here, not least the vocal and solo electric take on Head Like a Rock's Fire Inside My Soul, with no track making you think, "Wish they'd left that off...", even the generic blues, Not Lost Enough To Be Rescued. Mellotron on three tracks, with some really cranky single-note choir on Gak Mummy No.1 (cocaine/ancient Egypt reference), complete with outrageous key-click, strings on the balladic Why Are The Beautiful So Sad? and Nobody Say Nothin' To No One.
McNabb's 2005 release, Before All of This, is a single disc laid out as a double, split into 'acoustic' and 'electric' halves. The songwriting's as good as ever, although splitting the tracks this way might not work quite as well as integrating the styles. Best tracks? Maybe Western Eyes from the acoustic half (clever lyrics, too) and The Nicest Kind Of Lie from the electric camp. McNabb plays Mellotron on four tracks, with gentle strings on opener There Oughta Be A Law and The Lonely Ones (1), the latter also featuring McNabb's weird 'autotune vocals', a.k.a. how to gleefully misuse an expensive piece of studio gear. On the electric half, there's nothing audible on The Nicest Kind Of Lie, with more of those background strings on Picture Of The Moon, making for a fairly low-key Mellotron album.
So; A Party Political Broadcast... and Ian McNabb, are a cautious recommendation for those of you into singer-songwriter territory, but only the second is at all worth it for the 'Tron. Waifs & Strays and Before All of This are decent enough, with a handful of real gems on the former, but are unexciting Mellotronically.
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Jukebox Sparrows (2002, recorded 1997, 55.13) ***/TT |
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| Down and Dirty I'll Always Be Around Bitter Blue Now That I Know (It Ain't Easy Being) Green It Could've Been Me Colorado Bolder Than Paradise |
Start All Over Bury My Heart on the Jersey Shore Jukebox Sparrows |
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Shannon McNally recorded her first album, Jukebox Sparrows, in 1997, her charmless label then shelving it 'indefinitely'. Luckily for her, they finally decided to stick it out five years later, although it must have been a pretty dispiriting experience having relatively ancient material treated as if it were 'new'. It's not a bad album, in a roots-rock/alt.country vein, although several tracks slightly outstay their welcome and few really grab the listener by the throat yelling "Listen to me!", although the closing title track stands out by dint of sounding nothing like the rest of the record.
Ron Aniello is credited with Mellotron, although the ubiquitous Patrick Warren also turns up, merely credited with 'keyboards', making me wonder if he brought his Chamberlin along. Anyway, it sounds like tape-replay of some description on several tracks, with strings on Now That I Know, It Could've Been Me and Colorado, although it could be elsewhere, too, not least opener Down And Dirty. Overall, then, a fairly ordinary record, which may be why Capitol shelved it originally, although I've heard an awful lot worse in a similar style. Three reasonable 'Tron tracks, although not enough to get too hot under the collar about.
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Jester (1977, 46.12/50.23) ****/TTTT |
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| Wisdom Sparkling Jaw Moments In the Reign of Queen Pollution The Jester Mr. Street Fair Rock, Sea and Tree |
[CD adds: The Birds Are Gone I'm Nowhere] |
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Mechanical Moonbeams (1978, 41.44/53.39) ****½/TTTT |
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| Beyond the Silence Summon Up Your Strength Rope Dancer Rebirth After the Crop Mary The Fifth Season |
[CD adds: Wind of Life I'm Not a Loser] |
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Urban Games (1979, 37.01/43.27) ***/TT½ |
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| The Humans Over the Hill Still Alive City Flowers Dancing Heroes I'm Not a Loser Let Me Live My Life The Dictators |
[CD adds: Over the Hill (remix) King of Slogans] |
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A few years ago, my mate Danny persuaded me to accompany him on an insane overnight trip to Belgium to see the reformed Machiavel, featuring Danny's friend and Now keyboard player Hervé Borbé. I really didn't know what to expect (this was my first trip across the Channel to catch a gig. But not my last...), but they were magnificent. Despite playing some pretty awful later material, they opened their set with the massed synths of Wisdom from Jester, and proceeded to play many other numbers from the band's first three albums. So, what was all the fuss about? Why get four hours' sleep in 48 to see a band almost no-one outside Belgium has ever heard of?
I'd bought a reduced copy of Jester a year or so earlier as an experiment, and was instantly captivated. Machiavel's strange mixture of Genesis, Yes and Supertramp is actually quite unique, although it sounds only partly-formed on '76's Machiavel, despite some decent material. Keyboard man Albert Letecheur obtained a Mellotron before recording began on the following year's Jester, which put them into a whole different league. I don't know if they ever really played abroad, but I'm sure they could've broken out of Belgium with some hard work and a little luck. Mind you, '77 in Britain wasn't the best year for prog...
On Jester, Machiavel found the elusive quality that escapes so many bands: Their Own Voice. The influences mentioned above are just that; influences. The Supertramp comparison (not one that many bands would clamour for) is evident only in Letecheur's percussive electric piano, his chief instrument, but his synth and Mellotron work show how individual his style had become. There isn't a duff track on the album, with particular highlights being Wisdom and The Jester, with its scintillating Moog part. Most of the 'Tron use is on the choir front, although Moments gives the strings a rare outing (Letecheur mostly used string synth, for some reason), but the album's strengths are in its songwriting and arrangements rather than the Mellotron parts.
1978's Mechanical Moonbeams is, if anything, even better, although the first hints of their later mainstream style can be heard creeping through some of the arrangements, particularly with regard to Jean Paul Devaux's more upfront guitar parts. This is still superbly symphonic progressive, however, just with more rhythm guitar than many bands utilised. The material is almost universally excellent, with particular highlights being Rope Dancer, The Fifth Season and one of their best-loved songs, After The Crop. Again, most of the Mellotron work is choirs, although there's a string part in The Fifth Season; good all round, very atmospheric, very tasteful, although there is one 'Tron oddity on the album. After The Crop features, at around the five-minute mark, what has to be the only example of 'boogie 'Tron choir' ever. This quite defies description, to be honest; hear it and marvel! Although excellent, it's indicative of the direction the band would head in before long, but don't let that put you off. The CD has one 'Tron bonus track, too, in Wind Of Life; more choirs, usual stuff. Top marks, incidentally, for the bizarre artwork on these two albums, although I'm not entirely sure how they got away with the inside gatefold of Jester...
In retrospect, I suppose it's quite amazing that Machiavel put out a prog classic as late as 1978, so it's no surprise at all that '79's Urban Games is something of a letdown, although the following year's New Lines is much worse. Mainstream rock with progressive bits in places, Urban Games is generally one for the prog fan to avoid, to be honest, although it tends towards 'low side of average' rather than 'complete rubbish'; imagine a much less progressive version of their previous sound and you're probably somewhere near. Opener Humans, City Flowers and The Dictators are the best things here, although they pale in comparison to the best material from Mechanical Moonbeams. Letecheur (on his last album with the band) still gets some 'Tron choir onto most tracks (Humans/City Flowers/I'm Not a Loser/Let Me Live My Life/The Dictators, plus King Of Slogans, on the CD version), but it's mostly rather uninspiring stuff.
So; buy Jester and Mechanical Moonbeams immediately. Two superb albums, with excellent Mellotron work to boot. Machiavel's also worth hearing, but apart from a recent-ish live album, er, Live, from the period when I saw the band, give everything else a miss. It would be nice if any contemporaneous live recordings crept out, but don't hold your breath.
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Gilt (1995, 42.56) **½/TT |
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| Richest Junkie Still Alive Kiss Destroyer Suicide King Animal Mass The Soft Collision Solar Temple Tryst Casual Users |
Twofold Godhead Last Serpico |
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Current availability:
Chamberlin used:
Machines of Loving Grace operated in the 'industrial' demi-monde; that is, beat-heavy '90s metal with the odd sample thrown in, not SPK-style road-drills-on-stage industrial. Not 'industrial' at all, really, is it? 1995's Gilt was their third and last album, the cover shot tastefully based on an infamous '40s picture of a suicide victim. Nice. The music's everything you'd expect and less, with all the usual Nine Inch Nails clichés, all seeming strangely lifeless on cold plastic; I'm sure you had to see this lot live for it to make any real sense.
Mike Fisher plays Chamberlin on several tracks, with string parts on Kiss Destroyer (GREAT title!), Suicide King, The Soft Collision and a few seconds at the end of Tryst, though not obviously on closer Serpico, one of two tracks I was led to believe did have some. Anyway, unexpectedly heavy use on a rather dullsville album, so let's not look the proverbial gift horse, eh?
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Sealight (1995, 53.09) **½/T |
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| Strange to Be Here Transatlantic Telephone Conversation Gotta Get Back (to Something) Here Goes Nothing Black Flye Marching Song Silhouette Birthday Party |
Spilled Oranges Choose Hoping You Wear Funny Clothes Watertanks My Dreams Are Losing Their Teeth Starshine |
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Current availability:
Mellotron used:
New Zealanders Mad Scene (originally Monsterlight) moved to New York in 1991, releasing their debut EP, Falling Over: Spilling Over the following year. After '93's A Trip Thru Monsterland, it took them two years to produce the sort-of psychedelic Sealight, which turned out to be their last album, although they put a couple more EPs out before they folded. Sealight's one of those 'yeah, it's OK' kind of albums that has more ambition than actual talent, or so it sounds to me, although the band contained members of such Antipodean luminaries as the Go-Betweens and The Clean. West Coast heroes Love are an obvious influence, particularly the trumpet work, but the songs seem to be missing, or maybe I'm just not hearing them. Also, like so many other albums of its type, it's too long. Just because you CAN fit lots of music on a CD doesn't mean you HAVE to, OK?
Mellotron from Dean Falcone, with flutes and strings on opener Strange To Be Here and slightly skronky string and choir parts on My Dreams Are Losing Their Teeth, though hardly enough to make a purchase worthwhile. I hate to shoot well-meaning efforts down in flames, but this is a 15-track, 53-minute album, and I was bored after about track 8. Sorry.
