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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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Nine Inch Nails Nirvana No Doubt |
Nonames Erik Norlander Northern Pikes |
Nova Social Novalis |
Ñu Nuova Idea |
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The Fragile (1999) **½/½ |
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| Somewhat Damaged The Day the World Went Away The Frail The Wretched We're in This Together The Fragile Just Like You Imagined Even Deeper |
Pilgrimage No, You Don't La Mer The Great Below The Way Out is Through Into the Void Where is Everybody? The Mark Has Been Made |
Please Starfuckers, Inc. Complication I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally The Big Come Down Underneath it All Ripe (With Decay) |
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With this album, I'm afraid I'm right into the 'if I don't personally like it, how do I review it?' area. I've never really understood why so-called 'industrial' music is so popular; I remember when the term was first used to describe bands like Einsturzende Neubauten and SPK, who were using genuine industrial machinery on stage and generally making a fine old racket. NIN and their ilk, to my ears, anyway, sound like a goth/metal crossover with 'industrial' sounding samples; not the same thing at all really, is it?
Anyway, that's as may be; The Fragile is a huge sprawling double CD's worth of material, sounding, well, rather like NIN really. Main man Trent Reznor plays a bit of 'Tron on a couple of tracks; The Wretched has some almost inaudible strings, and the title track has a quick blast of flutes. And that's it. If you like NIN, you've probably got this already, and if you don't you won't want it. Believe me. Certainly not worth it for the Mellotron, either.
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All of Us (1968, 35.48/46.05) ***½/T |
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| Rainbow Chaser Tiny Goddess The Touchables (All of Us) Melanie Blue Trapeze The Show Must Go on Girl in the Park Miami Masquerade Frankie the Great |
You Can Try Everybody Loves the Clown St. John's Wood Affair [CD adds: Flashbulb Oh! What a Performance Darling Darlane C Side of Ocho Rios] |
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This is the band who took Kurt Cobain's crew to court, eventually settling the matter amicably. Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons started working together in 1967, a few months after Cobain was born, releasing their debut, The Story of Simon Simopath, that autumn, making it possibly the first narrative 'concept' album. Despite being tagged 'psychedelic', the duo were more about well-crafted songwriting than studio trickery, although their 'classic', Rainbow Chaser, used phasing (actually ADT) extensively.
Rainbow Chaser opened their second album, 1968's All of Us, and although it's the album's best track, that's not to denigrate the rest of the material. There are a couple of slightly regrettable moments, not least the children's choir on Everybody Loves The Clown and the rhyming of 'Frankie' with 'wanky' in Frankie The Great, but overall, we're talking songs of the quality of Girl In The Park and St. John's Wood Affair, making this a solid late-'60s effort, while not up with the likes of The Zombies' deathless Odessey & Oracle or Fairfield Parlour's From Home to Home.
Very little Mellotron, to be honest (player unknown), as most of the album's strings are real, although the overlapping single string notes on You Can Try are definitely a MkII, although that seems to be it. A good album, then, without being outstanding, though one killer track in Rainbow Chaser. Try to pick up the expanded CD of the album, as most of the bonus tracks are worth the effort, unlike most.
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Tragic Kingdom (1995, 59.24) ***/T |
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| Spiderwebs Excuse Me Mr Just a Girl Happy Now? Different People Hey You The Climb Sixteen |
Sunday Morning Don't Speak You Can Do it World Go 'Round End it on This Tragic Kingdom |
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I've seen No Doubt described as 'punk/ska', which poses the question, " Where's the punk?" OK, there's some reasonably energetic rock thrown into the mix, but punk? I think not. Mind you, if the ludicrous Green Day are 'punk', so are No Doubt. Anyway, there's enough ska and reggae to support that bit of their description, complete with two-piece horn section. Turns out their singer is the hugely-overrated Gwen Stefani, known mainly to myself for her horrible 2005 reworking of Topol's If I Were A Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof; here she puts in a reasonable performance, while showing little sign that she'd become a (concurrent with No Doubt) solo success. Amusingly, the title track is apparently a reference to Disneyland, with lyrical references to various urban myths surrounding the theme park.
Mellotron on one track, played by unknown (Eric Stefani? Matthew Wilder?), although the flutes on The Climb sound suspiciously suspicious to me, in a sample kind-of-stylee. Overall, better than expected, which isn't actually a recommendation. One 'Tron track, but heavily suspect samples.
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Nonames [a.k.a. Ktzat Acheret] (1975, 43.15) ***½/½ |
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| Travelling Guru The Little Prince Ahemi's Piece Pink Skies Spring Two Chinese Quinta |
The Echo 204 Sweet Song Bissalad |
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Nonames (or No Names, a.k.a. Ktzat Acheret) were one of a handful of Israeli progressive bands in the '70s, along with the better-known Zingale and the recently-discovered Atmosphera; they were apparently something of a 'supergroup', comprising members of other fairly well-known outfits. I believe Nonames was their sole album, and is a mixture of psych, folk and early progressive elements, jumping from one style to another in a slightly disconcerting, though refreshing way. In fact, I think it's fair to say that every track on the album sounds different to every other, but if you're fine with diversity (and why wouldn't you be?), you stand a good chance of enjoying this.
Very little Mellotron indeed, with strings on the frankly bizarre Bissalad from Shlomo Gronich, but really not enough to be worth bothering with. In fact, where the hell did they get access to a Mellotron in mid-'70s Israel? I know there's a couple in Tel Aviv now, but then? Must've been one somewhere. Anyway, a good, unusual album that covers a lot of ground in forty-odd minutes, and which will doubtless repay repeated listens. Worth the effort, though not for the 'Tron.
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Music Machine (2003, 106.21) ***/T |
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| Prologue - Project Blue Prince Music Machine Turn Me on Heavy Metal Symphony Tour of the Sprawl Andromeda Letter From Space |
Lost Highway Soma Holiday Return of the Neurosaur Project Blue Prince Reprise Fanfare and Interlude Beware the Vampires The Fire of Change |
The Fall of the Idol Metamorphosis One of the Machines Fallen Johnny America Music Machine Reprise Epilogue - Sky Full of Stars |
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Erik Norlander's a busy man; not only a member of the (now possibly defunct) Rocket Scientists, not only married to and musical director for Lana Lane, but also a solo artist in his own right. An excellent keyboard player, he also has a bent for vintage gear, owning a Hammond (a D, unusually), a Moog modular and various others, although his productions always seem digital-heavy to my ears. His site lists his full set-up, and I see no sign of a Mellotron, though given how much he uses one on record, I can only assume he borrows/hires one on a regular basis... assuming it's real.
Music Machine, an ambitious double CD, is Norlander's third solo release, following '97's Threshold and 2000's Into the Sunset. It's a concept work, dealing with the creation of a genetically-engineered superstar with a built-in lifespan, dubbed Johnny America, with Norlander clearly taking the opportunity to have a few well-chosen digs at the corrupt music industry along the way. Many of his famous friends are present, notably (at least for me) the Blue Öyster Cult's inimitable Buck Dharma, though sadly only on one track. My problem with this album is that it has more than a whiff of formula about it; that could be deliberate, given its subject matter, but it seems a little counter-productive to produce two hours of music purposefully written to be less good than it could and should be. I have to assume that this is exactly how Norlander wants it; all well and good, but it's musically almost indistinguishable from the work of his friend and sometime collaborator, Dutch musician Arjen Lucassen, a.k.a. Ayreon.
There's no Mellotron credited anywhere, and none to be heard on disc one, making me think this was another case of mistaken identity, when a familiar choir sound appeared on disc two, track four, The Fall Of The Idol, followed by a really overt 'Strawberry Fields'-style polyphonic flute part and some strings in Fallen. So, why wait so long to use it? Loads of other tracks would've been improved by 'more 'Tron, less digital synth', even if they are the Alesis models Norlander helped to design and programme. Anyway, more background choirs on lengthy closer, Epilogue - Sky Full Of Stars, but that's it.
So; one for those of who into flashy playing, I think. Norlander's protestations that 'the melody is all-important' are somewhat undermined by the rather gratuitous instrumental virtuosity on display here, and a lack of any highly memorable material. It's basically an AOR concept album with prog-metal overtones, if you can imagine such a thing (do you want to?), but if that sounds like the sort of thing that floats your boat... So little 'Tron that I'm surprised he bothered, too. Very odd.
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Neptune (1992, 66.12) **/T |
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| Twister Believe All This Man Can Do Worlds Away Why Cry Somedays Crocodile Tears What it's Really About |
Hold on Chain of Flowers Françesca Everything Straight Line Black Cat The Way You Are |
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It's impossible to tell from the sleeve of the Northern Pikes' Neptune what it's going to sound like, although there are several things I would've guessed before a Springsteen/Bryan bloody Adams crossover thing. Opening with the barroom boogie of Twister is not designed to appeal to my good self, not that I'd imagine they give a shit. Least offensive tracks? Françesca and Straight Line. And why exactly does closer The Way You Are start with a quick orchestral sample of a snatch of Mussorgsky's Night On Bare Mountain?
Mellotronically speaking, credited choirs on Believe from Greg Johns, and uncredited strings on Chain Of Flowers, including a 'Tron solo on the intro, and Straight Line, which may or may not be from Ross Nykiforuk, who gets a generic 'keyboards' credit in the booklet. So; an overlong album, especially for the straightforward style the band peddled, with very little 'Tron. Next...
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The Jefferson Fracture (2002, 55.32) ****/T |
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| Fingerprints Sailor There There I Got Lucky Hey Carol Caravan of Kindness The Mechanic Horse Song Part 1 |
One Table Over Horse Song Part 2 You Don't Have to Go to Bed Early Anymore Hardware Store |
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Nova Social are a new US band who fall pretty much into the 'intelligent pop' vein of Jellyfish et al., although they add enough of a contemporary touch to not be considered copyists in any way. The band use a variety of instrumental colouring, both old and new, so The Mechanic, for example, features MiniMoog next to a drum machine and a sampler, whereas Caravan Of Kindness is all-traditional, complete with string quartet. The songwriting is excellent, with some particularly insightful and witty lyrics, like this snippet from 'Hey Carol':
| 'Hey Carol, did someone make you cry? Well maybe I can kick his ass for you, Or maybe I can get my brother to' (reprising later as) 'Or maybe I can get my mother to'. |
Superb! And all this to a Moog line to die for. There isn't actually an awful lot of Mellotron on the album, the only really audible moment being a few bars of strings in the middle of Sailor. There's also some flutes on I Got Lucky, but they're way down in the mix.
So; not a 'Tron classic, but a great album, perfect for summer listening (all assuming we get a decent summer this year). If you like this area of music, buy instantly.
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Banished Bridge (1973, 37.23) ***½/½Banished BridgeHigh Evolution Laughing Inside of Me (Inside of You) |
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Konzerte (1977, 61.42) ****/T |
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| Bolero Dronsz Es Färbte Sich die Wiese Grün Impressionen Wer Schmetterlinge Lachen Hört Wunderschätze |
Sommerabend Wetterleuchten Am Strand Der Traum Ein Neuer Tag Ins Licht |
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Brandung (1977, 33.24) ***½/½Irgendwo, IrgendwannWenn Nicht Mehr Zahlen und Figuren Astralis Sonnenwende Brandung Feuer Bricht in die Zeit Sonnenfinsternis Dämmerung |
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Vielleicht Bist du ein Clown? (1978, 34.15) ***/T½Der GeigenspielerZingaresca Manchmal Fällt der Regen Eben Lang Vielleicht Bist du ein Clown City Nord Die Welt Wird Alt und Wieder Jung |
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Flossenengel (1979, 46.06) ***/T |
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| Atlanto Im Brunnen der Erde Brennende Freiheit Im Netz Flossenengel Walzer für Einen Verlorenen Traum Sklavenzoo |
Alle Wollen Leben Rückkehr Ob Tier, ob Mensch, ob Baum |
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Novalis are one of those odd, frequently German bands who owned a Mellotron (an EMI M400 in this case, fact fans), then either barely used it, or buried it below layers of other stuff (see: Mythos). Why? I keep thinking I can hear it on their records, only to realise it's real flute, or string synth, so it's quite possible it was also used on their two best albums, 1975's Novalis (****) and the following year's Sommerabend (****), although it's not specifically credited on either. For some reason, apart from the enormously dull Eloy, who were on German EMI, the best German prog bands seemed to end up on Brain, the next rung down were on Pilz, with the also-rans on Sky; Novalis were on Brain for much of their history, and seem to me to be the country's third most popular home-grown prog outfit, after Eloy and another Brain band, the wonderful Grobschnitt.
Banished Bridge is a pleasant, if slightly ineffectual album, with side two being unable to match the side-long title track in the quality stakes. The English-language vocals are a bit of a distraction, to be honest, which the band quickly rectified by ditching them, but the music's not bad, in a drifting sort of way. None of Grobschnitt's dynamics here; Novalis were defiantly laid-back, almost to the point of being laid-out in places. Lutz Rahn is credited with the usual organ/piano/Mellotron/synth, but as I said above, it's pretty hard to spot the 'Tron. The choirs on Banished Bridge itself don't sound like any of the standard sounds, but with only one band member credited with vocals, they're unlikely to be massed backing vox. Some faint strings on High Evolution may be 'Tron, too, as could the solo trumpet sound on Inside Of Me (Inside Of You), but it really is hard to tell.
1977's Konzerte is incredibly long for a single LP (I own shorter doubles), and the sound does suffer on vinyl, though I'm sure the CD would sound a load better, if only it were available. It effectively consists of the bulk of their two previous albums, with only one track missing from each, and nothing from Banished Bridge, though to be fair, they had changed their sound considerably in the interim. After the presumed non-'Tronness of Novalis and Sommerabend, you would've thought that a live album with an M400 specifically credited would finally feature the instrument a little more prominently. But no. Rahn's over-reliance on his Solina smothers the sound in long, sustained string parts, although the 'Tron does turn up in places. Impressionen and Wunderschätze feature flute parts from new member Fred Mühlböck, doubled on 'Tron flutes, and I think it's 'Tron flutes, and maybe choir, on the excellent Wer Schmetterlinge Lachen Hört, but Rahn obviously believed in hiding its light under a bushel, for reasons best known to himself. I still can't decide which keyboard makes the pitchbent string sounds on Sommerabend; it sounds more like string synth than 'Tron, but I wasn't aware you could pitchbend a Solina, so who knows?
Recorded and released later the same year, Brandung has a more upbeat sound, presumably in keeping with the times, although the material is generally of a lower standard than on their previous two albums. Irgendwo, Irgendwann starts the album off nicely enough, and Wenn Nicht Mehr Zahlen Und Figuren is a pleasant enough ballad, but the side-long Sonnenwende is nowhere near as good as Sommerabend, for example. Rahn's Mellotron seems to be limited to a few string notes on Irgendwo, Irgendwann, though as usual, it's rather hard to tell.
Novalis' last even remotely 'progressive' album, Vielleicht Bist du ein Clown?, actually features more Mellotron than anything else in their catalogue, for some odd reason, although that Solina's as high in the mix as ever. Der Geigenspieler has some quite upfront strings, and Die Welt Wird Alt Und Wieder Jung has both cellos and strings, so although the album's no better than 'average', there's more 'Tron here than on anything else they recorded. Oh, and the inner sleeve pic is exactly the same as the one inside Brandung's gatefold, which was shatteringly lazy of someone in Brain's art department. They make up for it slightly by having a Hipgnosis sleeve, but it's not exactly one of their classics, either.
Their last 'Tron album was '79's Flossenengel, which is as good as its predecessor, maybe (surprisingly) marginally better. Novalis seemed to tap into a Pink Floyd vein on some tracks, notably side one's eight-minute Im Netz. It's a bit of a cheek calling this a 'Tron album at all, although the strings on Walzer Für Einen Verlorenen Traum are quite upfront, but there's nothing else to be heard.
So; hmmm. Not a bad band, but generally a little uninspired, to be brutally honest. If you're going to buy one album, make it Konzerte, since it covers most of their best material, while also being their 'best' Mellotron album, although that's not saying much. For the enthusiast, all the above are just about worth hearing, plus Novalis and Sommerabend, although Flossenengel's follow-up, Augenblicke (**½) is pretty average fare, and anything after that's a waste of time. One other related release that's actually worth the effort is Lutz Rahn's solo album from '78, Solo Trip, which probably features about as much Mellotron as in Novalis' entire career. Odd.
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Cuentos de Ayer y de Hoy (1978, 37.31/40.38) ***½/T½ProfecíaPreparan Algunos Músicos Fueron Nosotros Cuentos de Ayer y de Hoy El Juglar Paraíso de Flautas [CD adds: La Explosion del Universo] |
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A Golpe de Látigo (1979, 41.11) ***½/TEntrada al ReinoA Golpe de Látigo A la Caza de Ñu El Flautista La Galería Velocidad La Ilegada de los Dioses El Expreso |
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Ñu were surprisingly heavy for a Spanish progressive outfit, to the point where they could be said to be more of a hard rock band with progressive tendencies, despite the flute and violin they utilised in places. Cuentos de Ayer y de Hoy and A Golpe de Látigo were their first two albums and, in fact, the only ones for some years, before they restarted in the mid-'80s. It may be a cliché to refer to rocking prog outfits with a flute as 'Tull-influenced', but Ñu really were, with José Carlos Molina's flute playing being more than a little reminiscent of Mr. Anderson's, but it's easy to overlook the influence and just take the band on their own merits.
It's difficult to pinpoint highlights on Cuentos de Ayer y de Hoy, with most of the tracks being pretty much on a level, although original LP closer Paraíso De Flautas is pretty good. Not sure who plays the Mellotron, with one source claiming Jose M. Garcia and another one José Carlos Molina, but it isn't that ubiquitous, anyway. I'm not so sure about the strings on Profecía and El Juglar, although they're probably Mellotron under real violin, but the strings and flute on Paraíso de Flautas are most definitely 'Tron, making the other two tracks more likely, I suppose.
A Golpe de Látigo is essentially more of the same, with no obvious stylistic changes and again, the album's final tracks are probably its best. The first sound you hear on the album is the Mellotron brass that opens Entrada Al Reino (this time round definitely credited to Molina and Jorge Calvo), although there's not a lot more to be heard, with some strings under the violin on La Ilegada De Los Dioses and a few upfront string chords at the end of El Expreso.
So; Spanish hard rock in a Tull vein, with a small Mellotronic presence. Good, but not outstanding, so while you probably shouldn't put them at the top of your 'wants' list, nor should you delete them. Reasonably worthwhile.
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Mr. E Jones (1972, 42.29) ***½/TSveglati EdgarMr. E Jones Viaggio Nel Mondo dei Sogni Un'Ora del Tuo Tempo Fumo di una Sigaretta Illusione da Poco Premio di una Vita Un Altro Giorno |
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Although PFM's first two, Italian-language albums are frequently thought of as the 'first' Italian prog albums, this is blatantly not the case; ask Le Orme, amongst others. Mr. E Jones was Nuova Idea's second album, and fits into the 'early Italian prog' category without a murmur, featuring inventive, varied, symphonic material without the 'pastoral' feel that PFM would memorably bring to the scene later the same year. There's a blues base to some of the tracks (notably Premio Di Una Vita) that would be expunged from the more purist outfits before long, although its inclusion here reminds the listener that Italian prog wasn't always (mistakenly) characterised by acoustic guitars and flutes.
There's very little of Giorgio Usai's Mellotron work to be heard, with nowt but a short combined string/brass part on Illusione Da Poco, although a couple of keyboard parts earlier in the album could just possibly be 'Tron brass or cellos, although an odd organ patch seems just as likely. Nuova Idea signed off with '73's 'Tron-free Clowns, finishing a short but inventive career. So; should you buy Mr. E Jones? Not for the Mellotron, no, but as a good example of early Italian progressive, this is better than anything by the better-known (OK, relatively) Quella Vecchia Locanda, and vastly better than the overrated The Trip. Worth a flutter.
