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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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REM Radio Massacre International (r.m.i.) |
Radiohead Ragnarok |
Lutz Rahn Rainbow |
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Green (1988, 41.02) ***½/T |
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| Pop Song 89 Get Up You Are the Everything Stand World Leader Pretend Wrong Child Orange Crush Turn You Inside-Out |
Hairshirt I Remember California (untitled) |
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Monster (1994) ***/T | |
| What's the Frequency, Kenneth? Crush With Eyeliner King of Comedy I Don't Sleep, I Dream Star 69 Strange Currencies Tongue Bang and Blame |
I Took Your Name Let Me in Circus Envy You |
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New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996) ***/T | |
| How the West Was Won and Where it Got Us The Wake-Up Bomb New Test Leper Undertow E-Bow the Letter Leave Departure Bittersweet Me |
Be Mine Binky the Doormat Zither So Fast, So Numb Low Desert Electrolite |
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Up (1998) ***/T | |
| Airportman Lotus Suspicion Hope At My Most Beautiful The Apologist Sad Professor You're in the Air |
Walk Unafraid Why Not Smile Daysleeper Diminished/I'm Not Over You Parakeet Falls to Climb |
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Current availability:
REM are one of those bands whose career can be quite neatly split into two (see; Roxy Music, Genesis); up to Green and after. I've known several people who have made the break at the same point, so I'm quite willing to bow to their superior knowledge. Green, despite its more commercial leanings, is a reasonably good 'college rock' album, still featuring Peter Buck's jangly guitar work, and with material of the quality of Orange Crush and World Leader Pretend, it could have heralded a more successful era for the band without any major loss of quality, but sadly, it wasn't to be. Someone (Mike Mills?) plays Mellotron on Wrong Child and I Remember California, but as with most of their future 'Tron work, all you can hear on both tracks is a rather feeble string line that adds little to the proceedings.
As for their career from there on, you either like them or you don't, and I don't. From 1991's Out of Time on, REM have taken the safe road of mainstream acceptability, with some truly awful singles. Man On The Moon, anyone? Everybody Hurts? Gack. None of these three contains anything quite that bad, but don't expect anything exactly avant-garde...
Monster only has one relevant track, the single Strange Currencies, with a high, quavery string line in the chorus. It's not even one of the most appealing songs on the album, to be honest, and the 'Tron sounds ill; a long way from the lush, deeper sound that it does best. New Adventures in Hi-Fi is more of the same, to my ears; commercialised college rock with a triple emotion bypass, while pretending to be deep and meaningful. The soul left this band a long time ago... Mind you, a few tracks, including The Wake-Up Bomb and Departure inject a little guts into the album, but sadly, the effect doesn't last. For some odd reason, REM seemed to have elected to release most of their Mellotron tracks as singles, so both E-Bow The Letter and Bittersweet Me were hits, in the UK at least. E-Bow (so how come they named the track after the 'infinite sustain' device used on the guitar part?) has some more high-pitched, 'stabby' strings, and Bittersweet Me has the tiniest bit of flutes.
Up is a slightly better album, to my ears, though I'm hard-pushed to say exactly why; maybe the songs are a little less anodyne and radio-friendly. Not sure. Anyway, At My Most Beautiful has a slight Beach Boys feel, which is never a bad thing, Parakeet is a genuinely good song, and overall the band sound slightly less, well, smug, maybe. The only obvious difference is this was the first REM album after the shock departure of drummer Bill Berry, and it may have been the period where vocalist Michael Stipe came out officially, so maybe they reassessed themselves a little in the interim. Who knows, maybe they realised how far they'd fallen artistically. Anyway, You're In The Air has a little 'Tron flute, mainly on the chorus, along with the real string section used on a few tracks, and the single (again), Daysleeper has a nice little flute run right at the end, but it's hard to tell whether it's anywhere else in the song.
Now, I remember catching a 'Top of the Pops' appearance by the band around this time, with guitarist Peter Buck 'playing' a Mellotron string line in the chorus on a generic synth, complete with pitchbend, but I can't hear it on Up, so maybe they released a non-album single? I'll report back if I find out any more. So; if you like later REM, you've probably got these anyway; they're hardly obscure now, are they? For the rest of you, don't go out of your way; the songs aren't exactly essential and the 'Tron use is fairly minimal.
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Frozen North (1995, 133.43) ****/TTTTWrecksWhat's the Point of Going to Crete Small Frozen North Rosemary's Baby Drown Frozen North I Frozen North IV |
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Republic (1996, 74.04) ***½/TTSend OffRaw Cane Approach Republic |
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Organ Harvest (1997, 62.13) ****/TTTTOrgan Harvest Part OneGeiger Edison Rainy Day Song Organ Harvest Part Two A Minute of Silence |
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Gulf (1998, 68.50) ***½/T½ScudGulf Desert Storm |
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Upstairs Downstairs (2000, recorded 1997-8, 71.34) ****/TTT½Part OnePart Two Part Three |
Current availability:
Radio Massacre International, usually known (to their irritation) as r.m.i., play 'EM' (electronic music), apparently of the 'Berlin School', which is amusing, seeing as how they originally hail from Sunderland. I've seen good and bad reviews of their work, with the bad concentrating on their alleged lack of originality, but working on the theory that there's nothing new under the sun (Socrates?), I have no more problem with someone sounding 'quite like' Tangerine Dream, any more than I have with someone sounding 'quite like' Genesis, with the single proviso that it's done well, and without any direct rip-offs. OK, that's two provisos. The trio's central raison d'être is improvisation, as it was for the Tangs, although they will sometimes rework older pieces on the rare occasions they play live. As with the Tangs, they feature two full-time keyboard players in Duncan Goddard and Steve Dinsdale, with Gary Houghton on guitar and synth, although the three could quite easily form a regular power trio if they so wished (note: they have pretty much done exactly that in recent years).
Frozen North was their first album, a two hour-plus double CD that set out their stall in no uncertain terms, and while to my ears there's a strong Tangs influence, it's in no way a copy, any more than any two bands in the same genre can have that accusation levelled at them. Of course there are similarities, but to the untrained ear I expect Motörhead and AC/DC sound the same, or even Genesis and Yes. The album splits down the middle, with the five tracks on disc one being more rhythmic, and the two very lengthy pieces on disc two being more 'ambient', although disc one has its quieter moments, too. There's plenty of Mellotron work to be heard, with the minor problem that since the band record live direct to two-track, and they 'only' own one 'Tron, some of the Mellotron parts are samples, but since they're sampled well, and directly from their own machine, they're pretty hard to spot. Duncan owns at least seven different tape frames, including a couple of old Tangs ones, but most of the 'Tron work is those good old standbys, 8-choir and strings (actually 3 violins), although there's a murky 'orchestra' sound that comes in nearly 40 minutes into Frozen North IV. Ex-Tangs?
Republic expanded on the feel of disc two of Frozen North for most of its length, with a sombre aura to the first two tracks that has an almost soundtracky feel to it. The title track is a little more upbeat, with analogue sequencer parts holding it together, but this is very much a late-night sort of album, however clichéd that may sound. There aren't huge amounts of Mellotron on it, either, at least in comparison to its predecessor, although it's featured on all three tracks. Republic itself has the most, with flutes, strings and choir being used quite effectively.
In 1997, the band instigated a still-running series of privately-issued (but NOT limited) 'companion albums' on CD-R, meaning that the year's second 'official' release, Organ Harvest (presumably named for the practice of 'harvesting' bodily organs from accident victims) was one of no less than five releases that year. Six tracks in an hour brings the average length down to a sprightly ten minutes, with a couple coming in well under that, while Organ Harvest Part One also features (wait for it) a recognisable tune, or at least a memorable bass line, reprised a few octaves up on Part Two. Much 'Tron flute and choir this time round, although the old strings get a look in on a couple of tracks. Particularly heavy choir on Organ Harvest Part Two, but all tracks feature The Beast somewhere along the way.
Gulf is the first of r.m.i.'s 'private pressings' to be reviewed here, and it's an interesting one; despite being released some years after the (first) Gulf War, much of the dark and foreboding music reflects the apocalyptic feel of the bloodthirsty news broadcasts from the senseless conflict that brought the phrase 'friendly fire' into being. Mellotron on all three tracks (no surprise there), with dissonant male voice choirs on Scud, and string (section?) and flute parts on Gulf and Desert Storm, but overall, a rather low score, although what's here is worth hearing.
Upstairs Downstairs is the only live recording of this bunch, and, although more 'ambient' than Frozen North or Organ Harvest, is nowhere near as stark as Republic. 'Drifting' might be a good word to describe much of its length, with a fair bit of Mellotron on both Part Three and 40 minute-plus Part One, although Part Two is rather lesser in the 'Tron department. The album's overall ambience is noticeably different from the studio (well, rehearsal studio) albums, although the band indulge in digital editing of their live tapes as well as studio ones.
I've recently been told that r.m.i. have semi-retired their M400 from live use, due more to logistics than mechanics, so presumably most future live albums will feature samples only, unless they borrow a local machine for the gig. Given that they've also shifted rehearsal sessions to the Manchester area, while Duncan's M400 resides in London, it's hard to say just how many future albums will actually feature it. Assuming all the releases on their website have the Real Thing on them, though, that makes 20 'Tron albums to date (mid-'03), beating everyone except King Crimson into the proverbial cocked hat, not to mention some various artists albums containing r.m.i. work. One of these is the 6 CD-R set Concerts at Jodrell Bank 2000, with r.m.i. taking one disc, which, bizarrely, is not only their set from that night but also their set from the Dutch Alfa Centauri festival two weeks later layered over the Jodrell Bank set. Of personal interest to me, as my tapes were used in their 'Tron at the observatory, and my machine was used alongside theirs in the Netherlands (and a good trip it was, too).
Of course, five out of twenty-odd albums can only give a brief snapshot of r.m.i.'s style, but hopefully these reviews will give you a reasonably clear idea from whence they come. Given that they all sit firmly in the rather restrictive 'EM' category, there's a lot of variation between and within these releases, but I think it's safe to say that if you like the style, there's every possibility you'll like the band. I can recommend all these, although Republic is definitely harder going than the others.
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OK Computer (1997, 53.29) ****/TTT½ |
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| Airbag Paranoid Android Subterranean Homesick Alien Exit Music (for a Film) Let Down Karma Police Fitter Happier Electioneering |
Climbing Up the Walls No Surprises Lucky The Tourist |
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Airbag / How am I Driving? (1998, 25.38) ***½/TAirbagPearly Meeting in the Aisle A Reminder Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2) Melatonin Palo Alto |
Current availability:
OK Computer was the album that broke everything wide open for Radiohead; its predecessor, The Bends, was a critics' favourite, and sold well, but this time round the band took a gamble which paid off. Rather than copy The Bends, they got a bit (but only a bit) 'experimental', and started playing around with song structures and sounds. The end result, to their disgust, was labelled 'the new prog', which, unbelievably, didn't put the buying public off at all.
OK Computer opens with Airbag's unison single-note guitar and Mellotron cello line, mixed with Thom Yorke's subdued vocal and the rather 'indie' feel of the drumming. As you're probably aware, the overriding mood of the album is 'down' rather than 'up', to the point where their music has been used to comical effect on TV to denote misery (see: the last episode of 'Father Ted'). There's no doubt that Yorke really means it; there's no hint of a pose about his singing, and it does lend the album a certain gravitas that many of Radiohead's contemporaries lack. Exit Music (For A Film) brings in the 'Tron choirs, also heard on Lucky and The Tourist. Guitarist Jonny Greenwood definitely has that 'Mellotron touch'; it's a great shame, especially after buying an M400, that Radiohead have used it so little since. They didn't tour with it either, presumably deciding that you can take authenticity a stage too far. Not that that's stopped Paul Weller, the Charlatans et al...
There is actually one more 'Tron track from the OK Computer sessions. A US-only mini-album appeared in '98, Airbag / How am I Driving?, with the album's Airbag as lead track, followed by a bunch of outtakes of variable quality. Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2) is the one that concerns us, a rocking little effort with some heavily phased 'Tron strings lurching in and out of the mix, though hardly enough to make it worth buying for that reason.
After a three-year wait, Radiohead rather belatedly followed up OK Computer with the controversial Kid A, upsetting a lot of people in the process, though it has to be said that an awful lot of them were members of the press, eager for them to recreate OK Computer or even The Bends. Amazingly, their fans bought it in droves, and as we speak, Radiohead appear to be heading for world domination. If, of course, they want it...
So, if you like rather gloomy, understated music with a progressive bent, not to mention quite a bit of Mellotron, buy. I was given my copy of the album by a friend who hated it, but I know other people who worship the ground they walk on. You decide.
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Ragnarok (1975) ***½/TTTT½FenrisButterfly Sky Fire in the Sky Rainbow Bridge Raga Caviar Queen Dream Dawning Horn |
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Nooks (1976) ****/TTTTFive New YearsWaterfall - Capt.Fagg Fourteenth Knock Paths of Reminiscence The Volsung Semolina Nooks |
Current availability:
Like most NZ bands of their era (with the honourable exception of the wonderful Split Enz), Ragnarok sounded several years out of date, sounding closer to the 'proto-prog' of Spring, Beggars Opera, etc. This isn't to denigrate them, just to point out that the old adage about NZ, 'put your clocks twelve hours forward and ten years back' isn't entirely unfounded. I'm told that, like most of their compatriots, Ragnarok played the Kiwi pub circuit, which had little in common with its UK equivalent. Apparently NZ 'pubs', especially in rural areas, were huge barns holding up to 2000 people, with fantastically unforgiving crowds. As a result, most of the bands on the circuit played boogie or hard rock, making me wonder how any progressive bands ever made it out of their basements/garages.
Ragnarok, despite sounding rather dated for '75, is actually pretty good, although the vocals get a little shrieky at times, with tracks like Fenris and Fire In The Sky laying out the band's manifesto. André Jayet only appeared to own two keyboards at the time; a Moog and an M400, rather than the more common organ, and as full-time keys man, used his 'Tron everywhere, with strings practically across the board here, although he uses flutes on one track.
By the following year's Nooks, the band had honed their writing skills, with songs like Five New Years and The Volsung being definite improvements on their previous work. Jayet had a wider range of 'boards this time round, though I don't know if owned them or just hired them for recording, though it has to be said that he still stuck mainly to Moog and 'Tron. Still mostly strings on the 'Tron front, but some choirs creep in around the last couple of tracks, particularly on Nooks itself.
So, while not the most original progressive band ever, Ragnarok made a nice enough noise, and were obviously serious Mellotron fans. Even after a trip to NZ (not for this purpose, you understand), I could only find a rather battered copy of Nooks, which set me back $50NZ, or about 18 quid. Ouch. These may be out on CD somewhere (they were on NZ Polydor originally), but I rather doubt it. Still, if you get a chance to hear them without spending a fortune, do.
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Solo Trip (1978, 29.14) ***/TTSolo TripYeti Galaxy Taxi September Dracula's Kuß Jubel-Trubel Minuetta Ausklang |
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Lutz Rahn was keyboard player with German proggers Novalis, one of those bands who never quite made the first division in their own country, maybe analogous to King Crimson's status in the UK. I don't know if all copies of Solo Trip have the oddity mine has; it has a Japanese 'obi' band printed onto the front of the sleeve, and the back is covered in Japanese script. However, the record company information says 'made in Germany', and the label's the standard Ahorn one, the same as Novalis' releases from around that time. It was sold to me as a Japanese import (!), but I've got a sneaking suspicion it's some strange Germanic joke, and it's a regular German issue. It only really qualifies as a mini-album, to be honest; playing at 45 r.p.m. with eight tracks, it doesn't quite hit the half-hour mark. Amusingly, while listening to the album for review purposes, I played the first three tracks at 33, and wondered why it sounded so sluggish... It was definitely more laid-back that way, and didn't sound especially 'wrong'...
Anyway; the music. It's all instrumental, rather lightweight symphonic stuff crossed with typical German electronic music. The only instruments are Rahn's keyboards and drum machine, with some real drums played by Helge Tillmann thrown in for good measure. Rather like Rahn's parent band, it's pleasant enough but a little unengaging, drifting along for a while without ever doing anything particularly startling. It's actually more progressive than it's got any real right to be; it was around this time that Novalis started moving away from their roots and, like so many of their contemporaries, moved towards shorter song-based material. As far as the Mellotron's concerned, Galaxy Taxi's a good piece of music with some nice 'Tron flutes, and there's a nice choir part on September. There's some more choirs on side two, but nothing outstanding, to be honest.
Buy? Yes for Novalis fans, or fans of that peculiarly German style of '70s prog; no for the 'Tron enthusiast.
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Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975, 37.14) ***/TTMan on the Silver MountainSelf Portrait Black Sheep of the Family Catch the Rainbow Snake Charmer The Temple of the King If You Don't Like Rock'n'Roll Sixteenth Century Greensleeves Still I'm Sad |
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Long Live Rock'n'Roll (1978) ****/T½Long Live Rock'n'RollLady of the Lake L.A.Connection Gates of Babylon Kill the King The Shed (Subtle) Sensitive to Light Rainbow Eyes |
Current availability:
Rainbow were, of course, Ritchie Blackmore's immediate post-Purple project, initiated as soon as he left in 1975. The original lineup was basically US band Elf minus their hapless guitarist; Ritchie's not known for his willingness to share six-string duties. I've always personally found Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow to be something of a disappointment; rushed, badly produced, and with a dearth of genuinely world-class material. Man On The Silver Mountain, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves and their cover of the Yardbirds' Still I'm Sad were all greatly improved in live performance. Elf's keyboard player Mickey Lee Soule played a Mellotron (amusingly credited as a Mellotrom on the sleeve) on a couple of tracks, including the live tour de force Catch The Rainbow, although the studio version, again, sounds only half-formed.
By Rainbow Rising Ritchie had replaced almost his entire band, and got exactly the right balance for possibly the only time in the band's career. Noted short person with rainbow fetish Ronnie James Dio stayed on vocals, but everyone else was new, including journeyman drummer Cozy Powell, Scots bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboard man Tony Carey. The album's an absolute killer from beginning to end, although the supposed 'Tron on standout track Stargazer (over the epic closing section) is almost certainly Carey's Vako Orchestron, shifting its review to Mistaken ID.
After a stunning live LP, On Stage (*****), Rainbow's third studio effort, Long Live Rock'n'Roll was a minor disappointment, but is still well worth a listen today. I've recently had it confirmed that new keyboard player (third in three albums...) David Stone, ex-Symphonic Slam, actually used 'Tron on stage with the band, and you can hear it on a couple of tracks on the album, both of which feature some rather weedy-sounding choir, without the 'edge' that the 'Tron gives, so I'm still not sure. Gates Of Babylon is a real classic, though; MiniMoog and Taurus pedal intro in an Eastern stylee, leading into what is basically a follow-up to Stargazer, though with less energy. Real strings abound, from the Bavarian String Ensemble, no less, and the album's almost worth purchasing for this track alone. Its other classic (apart from the steamrollering title track) is closer Rainbow Eyes, which is one of those cod-medieval ballads Blackmore seems to do so well. Mind you, don't go out of your way to encounter his current project, Blackmore's Night; very silly. 'Please come to concerts dressed in medieval garb' indeed...
Anyway, Dio left next, to be replaced by ex-Marbles singer Graham 'flasher' Bonnet, and although Down to Earth sported a couple of decent tracks, it was down the slippery slope to hit singlesville from then on. So; neither of these is a 'Tron classic, although both are worth hearing in places. Buy according to taste.
