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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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10cc 11.59 3rd & the Mortal |
311 34 Satellite |
4 Non Blondes 4/3 de Trio |
9.30 Fly 90 Day Men |
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10cc (1973, 34.35) ***/½ |
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| Johnny, Don't Do it Sand in My Face Donna The Dean and I Headline Hustler Speed Kills Rubber Bullets The Hospital Song |
Ships Don't Disappear (Do They?) Fresh Air for My Mama |
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Sheet Music (1974) ***½/T½ |
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| The Wall Street Shuffle The Worst Band in the World Hotel Old Wild Men Clockwork Creep Silly Love Somewhere in Hollywood Baron Samedi |
The Sacro-Iliac Oh Effendi |
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10cc appeared fully-formed in '73, rising from the ashes of Hotlegs, with the witty, intelligent Rubber Bullets, on Jonathan King's independent UK label. All four members had been around for a while, particularly bassist/whatever (all members were multi-instrumentalists) Graham Gouldman, who wrote For Your Love for the Yardbirds a good eight years earlier, not to mention being a member of Wayne Fontana's Mindbenders.
10cc rather proves the point that great singles bands frequently don't make good albums bands; there's nothing wrong with the material, but it tends to fail to excite in quite the same way as the singles (Donna and The Dean And I being the other two). The lyrics are, without exception, witty and urbane and the arrangements are exceptionally clever, but somehow, most of the tracks leave you (or me, anyway) slightly cold, although Headline Hustler's not at all bad, and the doo-wop pastiches of Donna and Johnny Don't Do It are exceptionally accurate, if a little soulless. Fresh Air For My Mama is the sole Mellotron track on offer (player unknown), with a distinct Beach Boys feel on the chorus, and a little bit of strings, but that's it for the 'Tron.
Sheet Music is a better album than its predecessor, although like all their LPs, it suffers from the same 'the singles are the best bits' syndrome, in this case, the superb Silly Love and The Wall Street Shuffle. Saying that, live fave The Worst Band In The World is excellent, and Clockwork Creep, while not the greatest song, is the direct precursor to their (much) later hit, I'm Mandy, Fly Me. The Mellotron on The Wall Street Shuffle, played by guitarist/chief singer Eric Stewart is superb, with some moody string chords under the middle eight, and a strings-switching-to-flute part to die for. Hotel's flutes (from Lol Creme) are OK but nothing special and Baron Samedi's strings are almost inaudible, leaving the best 'Tron track (not to mention one of the two best songs full stop) easily available on any 'best of' compilation.
So; two OK albums, one great 'Tron track. Buy their Greatest Hits instead. Oh, and just to clear up some long-running confusion, no, that ISN'T Mellotron (or Chamberlin) on their biggest UK hit, I'm Not In Love, from '75's The Original Soundtrack (***½). Apparently, they got the 'ghostly voices' effect by (get this) recording the massed vocal parts onto a looped strip of 24-track tape, then 'playing' the mixing desk to fade different parts in and out. The effect is truly magnificent, but (heresy time) that's why samplers were invented.
See: Hotlegs | Graham Gouldman
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This Our Sacrifice of Praise (1974, 41.34) ***/T½ |
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| The Earth is the Lord's To Thy Holy Name The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us Hallelujah Jesus! Let Us Thank the Lord Praise the Lord By the Waters of Babylon The Musical Box Song |
Trust in the Lord The Shepherd |
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As you might have gathered from the song titles, 11.59 were a full-on Christian band, working at the folk/rock end of the spectrum. So; am I going to slate it? No. Because? a) My copy has been provided by their old keyboard player, Andy Kinch, and b) it's actually better than that, although calling it This Our Sacrifice of Praise bugs me slightly. Why sacrifice? Stop being so sacrificial, and just get on with living. Er, sorry Andy. Anyway, the record is a tad sweet in places, particularly on the female vocal front, and some of the lyrics will raise the hackles of non-believers, notably the jaunty Hallelujah Jesus!, which is, in all honesty, a bit hard to bear. If you concentrate on the music, though, what you get is a nice folk rock album with a bit of Mellotron, which is rare enough in itself to warrant attention. All but one of the songs is based on the psalms, the best-known in the secular world being No.23, The Lord is My Shepherd, tackled at the end of the album on one of Kinch's two compositions, although strangely, neither of his songs has any Mellotronic content.
Speaking of said 'Tron, there are flutes and strings on opener The Earth Is The Lord's, then nothing until By The Waters Of Babylon, which you may or may not be glad to hear has nothing to do with the later Boney M song, apart from the obvious lyrical content. Actually, it's one of the nicest pieces on the album, a melancholy, minor-key piece with 'Tron flutes, but sadly, that would appear to be it. Although this is now on CD, it's through the Korean M2U label, so is almost certainly a bootleg. Andy still owns his (fully working) M400, which means it must be about time he recorded with it again. Andy?
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Painting on Glass (1996, 64.33) ***½/T½ |
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| Magma Commemoration Crystal Orchids Persistent and Fleeting White Waters Aurora Borealis Dreamscapes Aurora Australis |
Azure Veiled Exposure Stairs Eat the Distance Vavonia part II Horizons |
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The 3rd (or Third) and the Mortal started as a metal band in the early '90s, but by their second album, 1996's Painting on Glass, they had already ditched the more clichéd elements of their sound, going for more of a goth/prog crossover thing, maybe like a less heavy and immeasurably better version of the likes of Nightwish, but a decade earlier. Vocals are female throughout, and the wordless part that opens Persistent And Fleeting actually reminds me a lot of Dead Can Dance, making me realise that they're an obvious influence on the quieter bits of the record as, above all, this is still a rock album.
Nice 'Tron strings on Commemoration, from Lars Lien, with more of the same on Persistent And Fleeting and Azure, though that appears to be it. I'm not totally, totally convinced that the 'Tron is real, but until I find out to the contrary... Anyway, a pretty decent album that should appeal to your inner goth, and will probably click with many progheads. Far better than expected.
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Evolver (2003, 40.17) **½/T |
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| Creatures (For a While) Reconsider Everything Crack the Code Same Mistake Twice Beyond the Gray Sky Seems Uncertain Still Dreaming Give Me a Call |
Don't Dwell Other Side of Things Sometimes Jacks Rule the Realm |
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311 are one of those bands who have seemingly been around forever, without having made any impact on yours truly whatsoever; I mean, I had the impression they were some sort of boy band, when it turns out they're an early rap/metal crossover who dip into reggae every now and again. So there you go. They apparently hit the news after some fuckwit decided that their name referred to the KKK (11th letter, × 3...), at which point they came clean and admitted it was the 'Omaha Police Department citation for indecent exposure'. Rap, reggae... Yeah, most racist... I have to admit that what they do, at least on the wittily-titled Evolver, doesn't float my boat in any way, to the point where I have no idea whether or not they're actually any good at it; suffice to say, I was bored enough to flip almost every track on before the end, though the album may be perfectly good in its own milieu.
There is Mellotron, or something that sounds a lot like a Mellotron to be heard on one of the album's two quieter tracks, Seems Uncertain, with a flute part running through most of the song, plus a brief cello line. No keyboard player is credited, however, and the chances of it being genuine tape-replay are vanishingly small, though you never know... As a result, don't bother unless the musical description above quickens your heart.
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Stop (2002, 51.41) **½/T |
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| Elijah St.Marie Get Out Alive You're Coming in Clearer Longest Day Stop Charleston There is Gonna Be a Problem Caroline |
Smoke From a Funeral Rock Stars Plastic Cars Getting High With a Stranger Nineteen Spaceman |
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34 Satellite play a rather generic type of US indie, far too similar to a load of other bands I've heard recently, and no more interesting. Admittedly, there's far worse than Stop around, but it doesn't exactly grab you by the short'n'curlies, screaming "Listen to me!" Highlights? Didn't hear any.
Joe McGinty arranges the string section on Longest Day, also playing Mellotron strings on Smoke From A Funeral, with a decent enough part. You know the score... One passable 'Tron track, dull album, don't bother. Is this my shortest ever review?
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Bigger, Better, Faster, More! (1992, 41.08) **½/½ |
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| Train Superfly What's Up Pleasantly Blue Morphine & Chocolate Spaceman Old Mr. Heffer Calling All the People |
Dear Mr. President Drifting No Place Like Home |
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The three-quarters female 4 Non Blondes had one of the odder career paths detailed on this site: their debut single, What's Up, crossed over from 'alternative' to mainstram radio, they sold a monstrous six million copies of their sole album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! then fell apart in disarray. Let's hope a) they actually made any money from it and b) they managed to keep it. It's an entirely predictable album of safe alt.rock, to be honest, with Linda Perry's rather irritating vocals and clichéd lyrics splattered all over it like a second-rate Jackson Pollock painting; 'highlights' just ain't gonna happen, baby.
Rory Kaplan is credited with Mellotron on one of the album's massively successful singles, Spaceman, but if you can hear the background strings and/or cello I think are there with any clarity, you're doing better than me. So; don't buy this album, unless blandola college rock's your thang. Rubbish 'Tron, too.
See: Christina Aguilera | Celine Dion | Goapele | Pink | Daniel Powter | Skin
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Faiblesse (1999, 68.28) ****/T½ |
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| Faiblesse Os Queen Wilson Marie J Vicious Heart En Depit Spare Yourself the Pain The Taste of You |
Ma Devise Loe Acore Ile Dying for Religion |
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Ersatz (2004, 69.49) ****½/T½SolmhinärmErsatz Bleu Cerise Ayahusca Oceane Kossmokardak La Blonde DDar #1 DDar #2 |
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French quartet 4/3 de Trio presumably started life as a three-piece before expanding. They play a sort-of RIO-influenced progressive style with twin guitars, heavy on instrumental interplay, with one of the guitarists, Sébastien Grammond, doubling on various interesting keyboards. They actually remind me (ever so slightly) of mid-'70s Charisma outfit AFT (Automatic Fine Tuning) with their keyboardless sound; now there's a band long overdue for CD reissue...
Like AFT, the vocal numbers on their debut, 1999's Faiblesse, should maybe have been quietly excised, particularly the lyrics on The Taste Of You, but this is only a minor criticism. For a band who own some fine old gear, they seem to use it surprisingly little, although the two tracks featuring their 'Tron don't mess around too much with subtlety. The strings on Queen Wilson and choir on Ma Devise are quite overt, with both songs building to a Mellotronic crescendo, making you wonder why they didn't use it slightly more. 4/3 de Trio sometimes slip over into complex hard rock territory, especially on the keyboard-free numbers, but I think they're closer to 'prog' than anything else, although they're unlikely to appeal to your symph die-hard.
Apparently, the band split in 2002, despite having partially recorded a second album. After their drummer was subsequently killed in a car crash, they decided to finish the album in his memory. Of course, it would be vastly preferable had he survived and they'd decided to regroup anyway, but as a memorial, 2004's Ersatz beat your average marble slab hands down. A more 'typical' prog album than its predecessor, with a heavier keyboard presence, it's probably a more satisfying listen overall, while retaining the eclecticism of their debut. Grammond gets a little 'Tron in again, with choir and cellos on Solmhinärm, although the strings are real, with some 'stabbed' choir chords at the end of the 16-minute Kossmokardak, leaving La Blonde as the nearest the album gets to a 'Tron track, with major string and choir parts throughout. Incidentally, the two parts of DDar that close the album are listed as 'bonus tracks', although without a 'non-bonus' version, I think we have to assume that the band never intended them to be part of the album per se, but wanted them heard.
Anyway, not really 'Tron albums per se, but for complex, guitar-based prog, look no further. Sadly, more releases seem unlikely, but I suppose the band may reform at some time.
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9.30 Fly (1972, 40.02) ***/TLife and TimesSummerdays September Unhinged Mr. 509 Brooklyn Thoughts Time of War |
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Difficult to know how to describe 9.30 Fly; sort-of folky, sort-of proto-prog, sort-of quite a few things, without ever really being any of them. To be quite honest, 9.30 Fly isn't the most exciting album ever, although it's perfectly pleasant as background music, with male and female vocals from husband-and-wife team (?) Barbara and Michael Wainwright at different points, and a relaxed feel that has nothing in common with, say, Van der Graaf Generator. It isn't helped in the slightest by Michael's consistently flat voice, though, especially when he's attempting to harmonise with Barbara, as on Time Of War.
Just one 'Tron track, presumably from Barbara Wainwright, with some full-on strings (MkII?) on Brooklyn Thoughts, but far from enough to make it worth buying for that alone. Sorry, but this album really didn't grab me at all, despite there being nothing actually 'wrong' with it, so I can only say: buy at your discretion.
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Panda Park (2004, 34.34) ***½/TTTEven Time Ghost Can't Stop WagnerWhen Your Luck Runs Out Chronological Disorder Sequel Too Late or Too Dead Silver and Snow Night Birds |
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90 Day Men apparently started out as some kind of post-punk thing, but by what appears to be their final album, 2004's Panda Park, they sat more in the prog/psych area, in a post-rock kind of way. The material here's actually pretty impressive, with some interesting harmonic twists here and there; one that will most likely be played again, I think. Best tracks? Probably opener Even Time Ghost Can't Stop Wagner and Chronological Disorder, but there's nothing here that offends.
Keys man Andy Lansangan plays Mellotron (sounding very real, I have to say), with a lengthy flute accompaniment on Even Time Ghost Can't Stop Wagner, background strings and flutes on Chronological Disorder, beautifully clunky flutes on Sequel and cellos all over Too Late Or Too Dead, making for an unexpectedly 'Tron-heavy record. It all sounds wavery enough to be real, though who knows? Let's hope. Anyway, a surprisingly good album on both musical and Mellotronic fronts. Worth the effort.
