|
|
|
|
||
|
 |
Vertical Man (1998, 52.39) ***/T½ |
|
| One What in the... World Mindfield King of Broken Hearts Love Me Do Vertical Man Drift Away I Was Walkin' |
De Da Without Understanding I'll Be Fine Anywhere Puppet I'm Yours |
|
 |
I Wanna Be Santa Claus (1999, 44.29) **½/½ |
|
| Come on Christmas, Christmas Come on Winter Wonderland I Wanna Be Santa Claus Little Drummer Boy Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Eve Christmas Dance Christmas Time is Here Again |
Blue Christmas Dear Santa White Christmas Pax Um Biscum (Peace Be With You) |
|
 |
Ringo Rama (2003, 49.53) ***/½ |
|
| Eye to Eye Missouri Loves Company Instant Amnesia Memphis in Your Mind Never Without You Imagine Me There I Think Therefore I Rock'n'Roll Trippin' on My Own Tears |
Write One for Me What Love Wants to Be Love First, Ask Questions Later Elizabeth Reigns English Garden |
|
 |
Liverpool 8 (2008, 45.08) **½/T |
|
| Liverpool 8 Think About You For Love Now That She's Gone Away Gone Are the Days Give it a Try Tuff Love Harry's Song |
Pasodobles If it's Love That You Want Love is R U Ready? |
|
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
If you're out of your teens and Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey needs any introduction whatsoever, you've not only come to the wrong site, but probably shouldn't be reading anything to do with music whatsoever. I always used to describe him as 'the luckiest man alive' or somesuch, until the Beatles' 'Anthology' series was shown on the telly, and I realised he was actually a pretty decent drummer. Saying that, he didn't actually need to be that good - his rôle has always been that of inspiration; literally millions of players first picked up a pair of sticks because of Ringo. Name one other drummer who's had that effect; go on... What's more, he was (briefly and strangely) the most successful ex-Beatle for a while, racking up a string of hits in the early '70s, while managing not to kill himself drinking, unlike his pals Keith Moon and Harry Nilsson.
All of which brings us to Ringo's more recent solo career. Beginning in 1989, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band have toured regularly, with Ringo bringing in various really quite big names (the time I saw them, he had Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, Burton Cummings, Dave Edmunds and Nils Lofgren), playing a mixture of Beatles, solo Ringo and the biggest hits of his collaborators. After releasing a good run of albums throughout the '70s, he only released one album in the 15 years before 1998 (1992's Time Takes Time - now there's a Ringoism...), when Vertical Man appeared. It was the first time he'd used a Mellotron himself; despite rumours, he never owned a MkII in the '60s, although John Lennon did, his machine famously living on a half-landing in his house. It's pretty much what you'd expect; pop/rock with a generally retro feel, neither exciting nor shite, just... Ringo. Best tracks are probably Mindfield and Without Understanding, though nothing stands out especially. Worst? The good-time reincarnation of Love Me Do - horrible. Mellotronically speaking, King Of Broken Hearts is a vaguely Beatles-esque ballad, with plenty of 'Tron flutes and pitchbent strings from either Mark Hudson (ex-Hudson Brothers) or Starr himself, with more of the same on the title track; nothing special, but nice to hear it used at all.
In a massive burst of activity, Ringo followed it a mere year later with his Christmas album (aargh!), I Wanna Be Santa Claus, and I'm afraid it's pretty much as bad as you'd expect. It starts promisingly, with the full-on circa '73 glam-rock stomp of Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On, but most of the material is rather anodyne, and more than a little sentimental. So what did I expect from a Christmas album? Not a lot, really, so I wasn't that disappointed. Mellotron on one track, apparently from Ringo and Hudson, though I'm not sure why it took two of them to play it... Anyway, Pax Um Biscum (Peace Be With You) is a bizarre, eastern-flavoured track, with more than a hint of It Ain't Half Hot Mum about it (awful UK '70s TV show, set in wartime India, clearly filmed in a gravel pit in Surrey), and has some background flutes and maybe strings, along with real ones.
Four years on, and Ringo Rama is something of an improvement, with various Famous Friends guesting, not that you'd know it if you hadn't read the credits. David Gilmour slaps a fiery solo onto Instant Amnesia, and Van Dyke Parks is his inimitable self on Elizabeth Reigns, but overall, the album plays it pretty safe, though you don't buy Ringo Starr albums looking for innovation, so I can hardly slate him for not providing it. Mellotron on two tracks this time, from Hudson again, with backgrounds flutes on What Love Wants To Be and the same on Love First, Ask Questions Later, although they can be heard clearly on the dying seconds of the song.
After a break, 2008's Liverpool 8 is another rather backwards-looking Ringo album, and (I believe) his last with Mark Hudson, as the two appear to have had some kind of falling-out. It's a typical enough effort, the title track effectively telling Ringo's life story, with the rest of the album either having a vaguely '60s feel or sitting pretty firmly in the 'middle-aged pop/rock' category; harmless, but unexciting. Hudson plays 'Tron, with strings on Gone Are The Days and the faintest of faint flute parts on For Love and Love Is.
So; hardly groundbreaking stuff here, but then you'd be stunned if it was, wouldn't you? Mostly perfectly good musically, if mainstreamy dadrock's your bag, but generally pretty poor on the 'Tron front.
See: Beatles | Paul McCartney | John Lennon | George Harrison | Hudson Brothers
 |
Let it Go (2009, 57.38) **½/0 |
|
| Sybil III Mansin Humanity Calling All Crows Doctor Ron the Actor Arsenic & Clover Bohemian Grove Knights of Bostonia Let it Go |
Evolution Held Up By the Wires Blood Escaping Man Still & Silent Indian Moon |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
State Radio have been described as 'alternative rock', but what I hear on their fourth album, Let it Go, is a ska/punk band flirting with reggae (several tracks) or a bargain-basement Clash (Knights Of Bostonia), which isn't really going to recommend it to anyone who reads this site with any degree of regularity. For what it's worth, the band are politically savvy, but then, so are Rage Against the Machine. I rest my case.
Bassist Chuck Fay allegedly plays Mellotron, although it's entirely inaudible, so without specific credits, I have to give this a fat '0' on the 'Tron front. I suppose it does what it does well enough, but you've really got to be into this kind of thing to want to hear more than, ooh, about thirty seconds of it. Incidentally, Dylanesque opener Sybil III is one of those tracks that you can only hear by rewinding the CD from 'zero'. Irritating.
 |
Somethin' in the Water (2001, 48.39) **½/½ |
|
| Tip Your Hat to the Teacher Somethin' in the Water The Whole Idea I Can Give You Love Like That We're Makin' Up She Loved Me And the Crowd Goes Wild I Don't Wanna Leave it Like That |
That's What I Keep Tellin' Myself I Remember You I Was Younger Then 3 o'Clock Flight Hollywood Girl |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Country dude Jeffrey "Steele" LeVasseur went solo after his band, Boy Howdy (presumably named for Creem magazine's iconic cartoon character) split in 1996, although it took him five years to release his solo debut, Somethin' in the Water, an earlier album having been rejected by his label. It's a decent enough mainstream country/rock affair, avoiding many of the AOR or schmaltzy excesses of many of his contemporaries, although you'd hardly call it alt.country. Opener Tip Your Hat To The Teacher namechecks just about any country act of note, including, strangely, Creedence Clearwater Revival, quoting Born On The Bayou; ironic, given that neither Steele nor any of Creedence are Southerners, all having been born in California. Other better tracks include She Loved Me (classic country lyric) and bar-band boogie closer Hollywood Girl, but it's not really what you'd call classic stuff.
Scott Baggett and Tony Harrell both play Mellotron, although why it took two of them to play the quiet flute part on 3 O'Clock Flight is beyond me, even if the song's string part is Mellotronic, too. All in all, then, modern country with a rootsy feel, but a very long way from the best Americana, with next to no Mellotron.
 |
Steeple of Fyre (1999?, 40.45) ***/TStiletto Fingernails/Backstreets of PurgatoryHe to Me Procession Journey A Million Years Ago She's Just a Ghost Now |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Steeple of Fyre are yet another Ventricle act, along with Angel Provocateur, Mauve Sideshow et al., so you're pretty safe in assuming it's full of what they describe as 'ethereal female vocals'; ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Darkwave. Ventricle's schtick is to have several different projects running concurrently, utilising various members of the same pool of musicians, each subtly (or sometimes not so subtly) different to each other, so Mauve Sideshow's abrasive experimentalism and Angel Provocateur's drifting soundscapes are both very different to Steeple of Fyre's, er, drifting experimentalism, all of which differ from Torn Curtain's take on the style.
Steeple of Fyre isn't the easiest of listens, but is nowhere near the label's further-out acts, avoiding any actual abrasiveness. While Dusty Lee's Mellotron strings can be heard on three of the six tracks, he keeps it sparse this time (sadly), with just the odd chord here and there, leaving the OTT use for Angel Provocateur. If you're into the label's sound, you'll like this, but the casual listener/Mellotron fan would be advised to look elsewhere.
See: Angel Provocateur | Kangaroo Kourt | Mauve Sideshow | Torn Curtain
 |
Opening Act (1983, 41.32/49.19) ***½/T½ |
|
| Opening Act Celestial Voices Just a Fantasy Crossroads Looking Back The Pandemonium Shadow Show Indian Summer Five Studded Poker Player |
[CD adds: Five By Five Just a Fantasy (acoustic)] |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Stencil Forest (taking their name from a Happy the Man track) were a one-off early '80s pomp outfit, not dissimilar to Styx, Kansas and maybe Saga, amongst others. Doug Andresen has the sort of voice purpose-built for AOR, though he would've made a good prog singer, too, particularly in that 'American style' (think: Kansas, Starcastle), and the rest of the band have the style down pat. So why didn't they make it? Why don't so many decent bands make it? A huge helping hand from Lady Luck tends to be needed (sounds a bit like one of their lyrics, actually), and merely being 'good' clearly isn't enough. Stencil Forest were also unfortunate enough to fall chronologically between the late-'70s pomp boom, such as it was, and '80s AOR; the average AOR fan may well have found them too 'clever' for their tastes, and they would probably have been considered slightly dated by then.
Opening Act is a decent enough album of its type, although it suffers slightly from an 'indie label' production (listen to the 'harmonies' on bonus track Five By Five, admittedly from a decade later), despite a remix for CD. It also sometimes tips over into Journey-esque AOR territory, a statement likely to trigger one of two reactions in the listener, only one of them good. Album highlights, certainly for the prog fan, are the lengthy Kansas-like The Pandemonium Shadow Show and (relatively) complex closer Five Studded Poker Player, although if you have a low tolerance for the style, you'd be advised to avoid it all together, to be honest. Frank Cassella played Mellotron on the album, although I've no idea if he actually owned one, or used a studio/hire machine. Celestial Voices combines a string part with synth strings, but the album's chief 'Tron track is Indian Summer, with strings throughout, although the Mellotron's a pretty minor player overall, falling well behind Cassella's organ, piano, mono- and string synths.
Opening Act would probably have remained a total obscurity, had the band not reformed in the early 2000s and reissued it themselves, before releasing a new album, The Abyss, in 2006. You may have gathered by now that this is an album for pomp fans, and anyone seeking harder-edged prog should look elsewhere. Not much Mellotron, but plenty of pomp. Worth the effort.
 |
Red Weather (1969, 38.17) ***½/TAnother Dose of LifeDrifting Indians I Grow Higher Red Weather If You Choose Too Joannie Mann Chicken Pot Pie |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Leigh Stephens, guitarist with the infamous Blue Cheer, was chucked out of the band after their second album, apparently for not doing drugs (!) He moved briefly to the UK, recording Red Weather in London in early '69 with the usual suspects, including keyboardists Ian Stewart and Nicky Hopkins. Does it sound like Blue Cheer? Nope: more like The Dead, to be honest; it's certainly got some of that San Fran psych sound, although it's a bit of a mish-mash stylewise. Then again, since when did any of those bands achieve anything remotely like consistency in any area? The album's stronger material includes opener Another Dose Of Life, with its acid guitar interjections, I Grow Higher and the title track, and while there's nothing actually bad here, the aptly-named Drifting goes on a bit, while If You Choose Too is a bit too piano-boogie-by-numbers for its own good.
I thought I was going to get through the whole album without hearing any Mellotron, especially as the last track's called Chicken Pot Pie. Nope: although it's an instrumental acoustic-ish psych-folk number, it's got somebody (Stephens? Hopkins?) playing an interesting MkII strings part that enhances the track nicely. Anyway; while not essential, fans of that late-'60s US psych thing who haven't heard this before will lap it up, although it's not worth it on the Mellotron front.
 |
Performance and Cocktails (1999, 51.19) ***/T |
|
| Roll Up and Shine The Bartender and the Thief Hurry Up and Wait Pick a Part That's New Just Looking Half the Lies You Tell Ain't True I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio T-Shirt Sun Tan |
Is Yesterday, Tomorrow, Today? A Minute Longer She Takes Her Clothes Off Plastic California I Stopped to Fill My Car Up |
|
 |
You Gotta Go There to Come Back (2003, 57.24) **½/T |
|
| Help Me (She's Out of Her Mind) Maybe Tomorrow Madame Helga You Stole My Money Honey Getaway Climbing the Wall Jealousy |
I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There to Come Back) Nothing Precious at All Rainbows and Pots of Gold I Miss You Now High as the Ceiling Since I Told You It's Over |
|
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
Stereophonics are quite determinedly UK indie, in its late-'90s incarnation; think Oasis (but only if you absolutely have to) crossed with, er, someone else in the same field. What amazes me about this stuff is how much heavier it is than '80s indie; as metal became more extreme, it seems the indie merchants took over the Gibson-through-a-Marshall hard rock sound, unfortunately mixing it with the weak-as-water rhythm sections and whiny vocalists the '80s scene coughed up. I'm really not a fan of this sort of stuff (what, you'd guessed?), and I have to say that I'd rather listen to, say, Blur or Supergrass in preference.
Saying that, Stereophonics do a passable job on Performance and Cocktails, while being slightly less irritating (and plagiaristic) than some, although Kelly Jones' 60-a-day vocals do grate after a while. I have to say, however, after seven or eight tracks, I found myself wishing the album was rather shorter, as in, only seven or eight tracks. Co-producer Marshall Bird is credited with Hammond, Rhodes, piano and Mellotron, but the only track I can hear the 'Tron on for definite is closer I Stopped To Fill My Car Up, with a pleasant little repeating flute part.
Two albums and four years later, Stereophonics released You Gotta Go There to Come Back, which sounds like business as usual, at least to my ears. It's the standard mix of uptempo and slower numbers, with the requisite level of 'authentic' 3rd-hand soulfulness, like a low(er)-budget Paul Weller; Christ, this makes Oasis sound like they mean it. I really can't think of anything else to say about such a lacklustre release, so I won't even try. Mellotron on two tracks, apparently from Kelly Jones, Tony Kirkham and Jim Lowe, who between them managed to lay down a short string part towards the end of Maybe Tomorrow, and some flutes amongst the real strings on Rainbows And Pots Of Gold. Masterful.
So; indie fans probably do need to apply, but I wouldn't especially recommend these to anyone much else, really, although there's a couple of OK 'Tron tracks.
 |
Weißes Gold (1978, 37.25) ****/½OuvertüreDer Traum Des Goldes Bann Der Goldmacher Die Flucht Zweifel Die Erkenntnis Weißes Gold |
 |
Der Weite Weg (1979, 41.34) ***/T½Die SageGib Mir, Was du Geben Kannst Was Bleibt Der Motor Der Frühling Der Weite Weg |
 |
Reise Zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen [as Stern Meissen] (1981, 38.45) ****/TTT½AlleinHinwendung Romanze Innenwelt Menschenzeit |
 |
Stundenschlag [as Stern Meissen] (1982, 40.03) **½/TTAlso Was Soll aus Mir WerdenDer Eine und der Andere Das Paar Stundenschlag In der Selben Bahn El Salvador Leben Möcht' ich |
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
Stern-Combo Meissen were, to an extent, a typical East German progressive outfit, veering between prog and more mainstream music, presumably to keep the authorities happy. 1977's Stern-Combo Meissen (***½) is a live recording, free of any Mellotronic involvement, although not a bad album, with a reasonable version of that old classical warhorse, Mussorgsky's Night On Bare/Bald Mountain. Their follow-up, Weißes/Weisses Gold is a bit of a monster, though, being a mature, sophisticated piece of progressive rock, recorded with a choir and an orchestra, which makes 'Tron-spotting (from Lothar Kramer or Thomas Kurzhals) a bit of a nightmare. In fact, the only thing I can hear that I'd like to say is Mellotron is a few seconds of flutes is Ouvertüre, and even then, I could be mistaken. Great album, even allowing for the unfortunate ELP-isms on the organ front, but not for the 'Tron.
After the symphonic grandeur of Weißes Gold, Der Weite Weg is irritatingly straightforward, although it starts promisingly enough with the seven-minute Die Sage. The following three tracks are all pretty horrible, although the album's partially redeemed by the twelve-minute Der Frühling, based on some Vivaldi. Mellotron on two tracks only, Der Motor and Der Frühling, both with strings, often doubled on string synth, making it hard to tell in places what's playing what.
Two years on, Reise Zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen is, oddly, a distinct improvement, although it would prove to be the now abbreviated Stern Meissen's last prog gasp. The band utilise quite a 'modern' approach, with sequenced bass figures and polysynths all round, sounding a little like a cross between UK and ELP (again) in places. The material is so much better than on their previous effort that it almost sounds like a different band. Loads of 'Tron, to boot; strings (plus that string synth in places) all over the place, with only short opener Allein being exempt. Romanze is the classic here, with more 'Tron strings than you can shake a stick at (should you, for some strange reason, wish to do such a thing). More than worth the effort.
Unsurprisingly, the following year's Stundenschlag is distressingly mainstream; the jazzy, violin-driven, nine-minute Das Paar harks back to their earlier work, although the title track and El Salvador are particularly bad examples of the band's new-found interest in appalling mainstream pop. There's a surprising amount of Mellotron to be heard, with strings on both Also Was Soll Aus Mir Werden and Der Eine Und Der Andere (though only just on the latter) and brief bursts of choir and strings on closer Leben Möcht' Ich, but not enough of anything to actually make it worth buying.
So; for the Mellotron, Reise Zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen is the only Stern Meissen album actually worth owning, although Weißes Gold is a damn' good album, too. Stern-Combo Meissen isn't bad and Der Weite Weg and even Stundenschlag have their moments, too, but don't go too far out of your way for any of them. Incidentally, a 1996 release, Live, recorded two decades earlier, has Mellotron credited, but actually features string synth.
 |
Foreigner (1973, 36.01) ***/½"Foreigner Suite"The Hurt How Many Times Later 100 I Dream |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
I've heard rumours for a while that Cat Stevens used Mellotron, but having finally been pointed in the right direction, it's hardly the most prominent use ever... His 1973 concept effort, Foreigner, features his only side-long piece in the "Foreigner Suite", and while it's more palatable than his usual bedsitter/wetter singer-songwriter stuff, don't expect some sort of prog epic. Don't expect much 'Tron, either; a few string chords here and there, presumably played by Cat himself, noticeably different from the real strings used on the piece, although I've no idea why he bothered.
Anyway, Cat, these days known as Yusuf Islam, appears to be in the process of emerging from his extremely lengthy, religion-induced retirement, which has to be good news for his long-suffering fans. Don't go expecting a repeat of his lavish '70s tours, though... Don't bother with this album for the Mellotron, either.
 |
Circle (1996, 43.05) *½/½ |
|
| Proud Man When? Mess I'm in Joy Carry the Flame Revolution Circle One on One |
Candles One More Time |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Jon Stevens is a New Zealander who, like so many of his musically-inclined countrymen, is frequently mistaken for an Aussie, although his early career took place in his homeland. After co-founding the apparently very successful Noiseworks, Stevens went solo in the early '90s, eventually releasing his fourth (though second post-Noiseworks) album, Circle. Well, what can I say? Horrible. Truly horrible. If this is 'adult pop', you can bloody well keep it - this is complete drivel. Most of the tracks are ballads, with those horrible '90s programmed drums, and... Oh look, just steer clear, OK?
Mellotron on Candles, from the enigmatically-name Barbarella G, with some typical 'Strawberry Fields'-style flutes. Um, that's it. Do not buy this album. Oh yeah - Stevens joined the appalling INXS for a couple of years in the new millennium, as if you needed any other incentive to run away, very fast.
 |
Brighter Days (1999, 49.30) **½/T |
|
| She's Fading Away To Be Loved End of the Afternoon Well Worn Love Then I Had This Dream Brighter Days Van Said (Sha La La) The Last Embrace |
Undertow Don't Go Far Deep Dark Night |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
'Adult alternative': that's how I've seen Curtis Stigers described. 'Jazz', too. Jazz? Not going by his third effort, Brighter Days, he isn't. Is this what passed for music in the '90s? And there we were thinking it was better than the '80s. 'Adult contemporary pop', maybe. 'Dull-as-ditchwater adult slop', more like. Actually, it's a lot less offensive than many similar I've forced myself to sit through recently, just completely dullsville, which is better than total shitsville, I suppose. Standout tracks? None. Don't be silly.
Credited Mellotron on one track, from (John) Phil(ip) Shenale, who keeps changing his name, which doesn't help anyone. Anyway, a background string part followed by some reasonably nice flutes, although they don't really add anything much to the song. So; more tedious 'adult' pap. Buy something else.
 |
Lything (2009, 37.45) ***½/T½Through the GrainA Remedy Footprints in the Garden August Hour of the Wolf Tenebre |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Still Light are the British/American trio of Kirill Nikolai, Lucy Hague and, er, Sand Snowman, whose debut, 2009's Lything, is a beautiful, ghostly album of haunted folk tunes and the spectre of drone-rock. Highlights include opener Through The Grain, Footprints In The Garden, an ambient piece underpinning a recording of the reminiscences of an elderly British lady who'd grown up in colonial India and the lengthy, harmonium-driven August, but, essentially, it's all good.
Nikolai plays (real?) Mellotron, with distant strings on Through The Grain and A Remedy, sounding just about good enough to be genuine. Or not? Anyway, a lovely album, recommended to folkies and lo-fi fans, although probably not worth it for the its Mellotron use.
 |
100 Year Thing (1998, 49.23) **½/T |
|
| 100 Year Thing Lucifer & Jane Voyeur Last Stop Razorblades If I Were a Mountain Rattlesnakes Desert Sands |
God Won't Make You a Man Trouble Countryside Tears of Envy Doors to the World |
|
Current availability:
Chamberlin used:
Like many others, Stephen Stills' son Chris suffers from 'famous parent syndrome': Jakob Dylan, Baxter Dury, Adam Cohen, Anna Waronker... The list goes on and on. Unlike many, however, he seems to have some genuine talent, although whether he'd have got a contract with Atlantic under his own steam is a moot point... Did I hear someone squeak "Nepotism"? That's not Chris' fault, though, and who's going to turn down the chance to get their music out into the world on a major-label budget? Almost no-one, which is why so many people get fucked over by the majors, but that's another story.
Still's debut, 1998's 100 Year Thing, sounds in places like it could've been made by someone of his dad's generation, although it has an overall late '90s feel, more due to the production than any quirk of his songwriting, I suspect. Said songwriting, sadly, is as cliché-ridden as his dad's least impressive work, full of entreaties to 'keep on singing the blues' and the like, all of which sounded dated by, ooh, 1974. This isn't actually bad, but nor is it that good, and Still's voice is rather too ordinary to tackle this kind of stuff; the reason many of his dad's generation succeeded was a combination of great voices and immense joie de vivre, neither of which Stills minor seems to possess. Ethan Johns acts as Stills' jack-of-all-trades here, playing various keyed and stringed instruments across the album, including a Chamberlin, with strings on Last Stop and Desert Sands, although the strings on closer Doors To The World are real.
Overall, then, not that exciting, with little tape-replay, although anyone looking for a lost early '70s singer-songwriter effort could do worse than to purchase this, roll up a fat one and pretend they're 21 again; the rest of you should probably go elsewhere.
 |
Cryptic & Coffee Time (1987, 44.22) **½/½ |
|
| Behind the Beyond Hopelessness of the Human Race Don't Sell Yourself Short Bitterness The Big Lie Through the Dawn Reason Nor Rhyme The Burden of Dreams |
Tear Them Down Love of a Kind The Big Tide Will Turn Middle Age Spread I'm Growing Old All These Years |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
The Sting-Rays (not to be confused with Bristol's Stingrays, apparently) were supposedly a rockabilly/psychobilly outfit, although a rare studio album, 1987's Cryptic & Coffee Time, features a thrashy, echoey, yet strangely unenergetic sound that seems a long way from The Cramps and their ilk. Maybe they were better live? Anyway, I'm having trouble picking out any tracks for praise, as it all sounds pretty much the same to my ears. Sorry, chaps.
Alec Palao plays Mellotron, with naught but a faint string part under the Farfisa on I'm Growing Old that falls squarely into the 'why did they even bother?' area. This album documents a period and a place, but, these days, sounds like it's just landed from Mars. It does what it does well enough, I suppose, but all seems a bit unnecessary now, with next to zero Mellotron to boot.
 |
Chemins de Terre [a.k.a. From Celtic Roots] (1973, 38.44) ****/½ |
|
| Susy Mac Guire Ian Morrisson Reel She Moved Through the Fair Can y Melinydd Oidhche Mhaith An Dro Nevez Maro Ma Mestrez Brezhoneg' Raok |
An Hani a Garan Metig Kimiad |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
It could be considered insulting to say that Alan Stivell is 'French'; he's actually a Breton, from the area known to English speakers as Brittany, home to one of the six ancient Celtic languages, along with Cornish, Welsh (the most actively spoken of the six), Irish, Scots and Manx (Isle of Man). Along with brief Fairport member Dan ar Bras, Stivell is chiefly responsible for the upsurge in interest in his region's folk traditions in the '60s and '70s. His chosen instrument is the Breton harp, looking a lot like the Irish harp (as used by Guinness as their logo), on which he is apparently a virtuoso; he also plays various pipes and flutes, plus keyboard instruments.
Chemins de Terre/From Celtic Roots was Stivell's fourth album proper, although his earliest recording dates from his mid teens, in the late '50s. I can imagine that parts of it upset traditionalists at the time, especially the twin-guitar workout on his own composition, Brezhoneg' Raok, although there's plenty of traditional music from all corners of the Celtic region to balance it out. She Moved Through The Fair will be familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in English/Irish folk, as it seems to've been recorded by everyone (maybe surprisingly, All About Eve's version is marvellous), although the rest of the 'trad.arr' material is less well known, at least to me. There are a dozen or so musicians featured on the album, including the aforementioned Dan ar Bras on guitar, mixing the ancient and modern (Hammond, electric guitar, kit drums) with aplomb, with the end result that the album fits perfectly into the fledgling folk-rock genre.
As for Stivell's credited Mellotron use, all I can hear is a possible polyphonic flute part on the gentle An Hani A Garan, although it's possible there's some hidden in the maelstrom of Brezhoneg' Raok; hard to say. So; an excellent album, fusing disparate styles with care and sensitivity, but something of a zeroid on the 'Tron front.
 |
Five Star Motel (2003, 44.56) **/T½ |
|
| Stutter Paris Here Nor There Wonderful (it's Superman) 22 Steps Clay Pigeon One Day Miss USA |
Wedding Song Mavis Said... Everest Hymn |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
It's a shame Andy Stochansky's music is so insipid, as he writes a decent enough lyric, and you can't even blame it on '90s blandness. '00s blandness? Five Star Motel is his major label debut, though third album overall, not to mention his '90s backing musician career, chiefly with Ani DiFranco, and it's... bland. Sorry, but this 'adult contemporary' stuff or whatever you call it is simply the Death Of Music; OK, not quite James Blunt (aarghh!!), but not good, either.
Nice, very specific credits, with several 'Tron tracks, mostly from Ian LeFeuvre. A high string line and (uncredited) quite upfront flutes on Paris, cellos on Here Nor There, although you probably wouldn't spot them if you didn't know, and a rare Mellotron clarinet that you really wouldn't spot on 22 Steps. Inaudible strings on One Day, under the real ones, from Tom Beckham this time, with the same going for the 'Melotron [sic] intro' on Miss USA, while the strings and choir on Mavis Said... are (you guessed it) inaudible.
So; pretty damn' dull, but some passable 'Tron work, though not enough to be worth picking up, even as cheaply as I found it. Forgettable.
 |
To Dreamers (2010, 38.52) ***/TTT |
|
| Rock & Roll With Me Pinecone Keeping the Flame Fire Escape I Remember, You Were Wild Ventriloquist Baby I Got News for You Little Girl |
I Don't Get That I Like, I Like August Love Let Me in Again Bottle Up |
|
Current availability:
2010's To Dreamers is something like Kelley Stoltz's eighth album, depending on what you count. His vaguely Brian Wilson-esque approach (in a lo-fi kind of way) works in places, although, at least to my ears, the already short album could easily lose two or three lesser tracks. Best tracks? Pinecone, the brassy Love Let Me In Again and closer Bottle Up, amongst others, although nothing here screams 'classic'.
Someone (Stoltz?) plays apparently real Mellotron ("When making the album I got a Mellotron and a Rickenbacker guitar, so they were inspirational and were used a bunch on the record"), with strings all over opener Rock & Roll With Me, closing with a solo part, a flute line running right through Pinecone and strings on all other highlighted tracks, including pitchbends on Little Girl. Overall, then, not bad, not great, some decent songs and good Mellotron work all round.
See: Samples
 |
Down the Way (2010, 66.01) **½/T |
|
| Hold on Black Crow For You Big Jet Plane Santa Monica Dream Yellow Brick Road And the Boys On the Road |
Walk it Off Hush Draw Your Swords I'm Not Yours The Devil's Tears Old Friend |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Angus and Julia Stone are a brother/sister duo from the Sydney area, whose second album, 2010's Down the Way, is more than a little reminiscent of that '70s West Coast sound, all muted pedal steel and tasteful electric, in full-on Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac mode. An Aussie No.1 album, this is best described as a singer-songwriter/country crossover effort, with the occasional folk influence (the mandolin on On The Road, the fiddle on a few tracks) making itself felt.
Julia and Tommy Elchmann are credited with Mellotron, with background strings on opener Hold On and flutes on And The Boys, with more flutes on final 'hidden' track Old Friend, but I'm somewhat unconvinced as to its veracity, frankly. Anyway, this is an overlong album of rather dull songs, not helped by Julia's irritating 'little girl' voice, with very little (real or otherwise) Mellotron.
Infuriatingly Flash-heavy official site
 |
II (2010, 39.32) ***½/½ |
|
| Old Soul We Know it’s Still Rock'n'Roll Chasing Dragons Live for the Day Those Were the Golden Years On With the Show Ain’t Gonna Miss it One More Time Before I Die |
Just a Little Bit Turned to Stone |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Stone Axe (thanks for the UK spelling, guys) are the US duo of vocalist Dru Brinkerhoff and musician Tony Reed, who, amazingly, plays all instruments in the studio, a bassist and drummer being added for live work. Their second album, er, II, is clearly influenced by that late '60s-to-mid-'70s period, touchstones including Foghat (On With The Show), The Who (Ain’t Gonna Miss It) and Procol Harum (closer Turned To Stone, which pretty much cops A Whiter Shade Of Pale), while Chasing Dragons features that 'glam rock boogie' feel that's considered so unfashionable these days, not to mention Slade-style shouted backing vocals.
Reed (of course) plays Mellotron on Turned To Stone, with an occasional string part that may or may not have emanated from a real machine. All in all, then, a fine, retro hard rock effort, well worth hearing, though not for the Mellotron. Incidentally, for some reason, the album only seems to be available on vinyl (now that's retro), with two differing running orders and one track different, the above one being the version I've heard.
 |
Purple (1994, 46.56) ***/½ |
|
| Meat Plow Vasoline Lounge Fly Interstate Love Song Still Remains Pretty Penny Silvergun Superman Big Empty |
Unglued Army Ants Kitchenware and Candy Bars My Second Album [hidden track] |
|
 |
Shangri-La Dee Da (2001, 47.22) ***/T |
|
| Dumb Love Days of the Week Coma Hollywood Bitch Wonderful Black Again Hello it's Late Too Cool Queenie |
Regeneration Bi-Polar Bear Transmissions From a Lonely Room A Song for Sleeping Long Way Home |
|
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
So, what exactly was grunge, anyway? I can't see how Nirvana, Soundgarden and the Stone Temple Pilots sound anything like each other, apart from their generic hard rock-ness. Never mind Pearl Jam, never mind Alice in Chains, never mind Mudhoney (etc. etc.)... The bulk of it (Nirvana excepted) sounds like rather uninspired '70s-influenced American Rock to my ears, with a touch of '80s downtuning thrown in; meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
1994's Purple was STP's second album (terribly daring initials, chaps), and I believe it's in the same vein as their debut, Core, from two years earlier. Vocalist Scott Weiland hadn't quite hit his Heroin Years yet, apparently, so it's all fairly cohesive, if not entirely to my taste. It's the usual Grunge mixture of quiet/loud, slow/fast, and I can't really say any particular tracks stand out. A few seconds of Mellotron flutes in the quiet middle bit of Army Ants, from guitarist Paul Leary, although some sources quote producer Brendan O'Brien, but it barely seems to've been worth the effort to haul it into the studio.
Three albums, one split and innumerable drug busts/enforced rehab visits/imprisonments later, STP released what looks like their swan song, Shangri-La Dee Da. It's... well, more of the same, really. I can't think of anything much to say about it one way or the other, although closer Long Way Home isn't too bad, but if you like what they do, I expect you'll like it. On the 'Tron front, Brendan O'Brien (again) provides strings on Wonderful and near-inaudible flutes on Black Again, but that's your lot.
Since what appears to be their final split, Weiland (allegedly now clean) has joined various ex-Guns n'Rosesers in the tedious Velvet Revolver, who sound like Gn'R without what passed for songs on their albums. Dunno about you, but STP won't be missed round these parts, and nor will Velvet Revolver after their inevitable dissolution. As for these two albums, if you like STP, you'll probably like them. I didn't. Nor are they worth it for the 'Tron. And if you really can't get enough of this band, everyone except Weiland went off in '97 to record an eponymous album as Talk Show, with minor Mellotron use.
See: Scott Weiland | Talk Show
 |
About Us (1973, 37.00) ****/TT½ |
|
| Darling Don't Ever Let Me Down Love is in Motion Hey France Please, Please Changes Have Begun Circles Believe Me |
Words Top of the City Down Time Blooze What Comes After [some copies include: Brother Louie] |
|
 |
Traveling Underground (as 'Ian Lloyd & Stories') (1973, 41.21) ***½/TTBridgesSoft Rain Hard When You're So Far Away If it Feels Good, Do it Mammy Blue Stories Untold I Can't Understand it Earthbound/Freefall Traveling Underground |
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
Stories were formed by ex-Left Banke founder Michael Brown (a later member, briefly, was apparently Michael McKean, better known as Derek St Hubbins of the wondrous Spïnal Tap), whose baroque stylings helped to set the standards for intelligent pop, even if their name didn't begin with a 'B'. I don't know anything about their self-titled debut, but they followed it with About Us, apparently available in three different versions, the commonest of which contains their cover of Hot Chocolate's Brother Louie, its soulful tones sounding rather out-of-place on the album.
About Us is the work of a band playing, for want of a better phrase, intelligent pop-rock, particularly the material on side one, with imaginative arrangements and skilful playing, although by the end, the album has slightly outstayed its welcome; I could certainly have done without either Down Time Blooze or the aforementioned Brother Louie, but these are minor quibbles. Brown's Mellotron work on the album is occasional but effective, with some really quite full-on string parts on the few relevant tracks; Hey France is particularly good, with a quite unique chorus chord sequence. All in all, well worth the effort, given the well below-par sleeve pic. Well, would you buy a used album from these men?
Brown left after the album's release, leaving vocalist/bassist Ian Lloyd to reassemble the band as Ian Lloyd & Stories, releasing Traveling Underground later in '73. The loss of Brown as a songwriter is immediately apparent, although the album does have its moments, mostly on side two. New recruit Ken Bichel's Mellotron work is, again, only occasional, but he lays it on pretty thickly on Darling and the album's 'epic', Earthbound/Freefall, with choir and strings, and possibly brass on Darling, although it's only barely audible on Stories Untold.
So; I'd say these are both worth hearing, but don't spend a fortune on 'em. About Us has better songs, but Traveling Underground is more 'rock'; you decide.
 |
Garden of Forgotten Ideals (1999, 67.52) ***½/T½ |
|
| Intro Jaded Ageless Moonrock Heavy Rock Revival No Good for No One Hellspawn Top Heavy |
Morning Sun Pussy Cat I Just Want to Celebrate From Cradle to Grave |
|
 |
The Suffering (2001, 68.13) ***½/TT |
|
| You Don't Know! Everything Sucks Blood on the Horizon Cycle of Misery There I Said it Man, That's a Drag Timewarp Closure |
The "I Hate the Blues" Blues Victims of the Status Quo Woman The Suffering |
|
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
Storm at Sunrise were former Covenant mainman Dave Gryder's next project, less prog and more full-on retro hard rock, in the style irritatingly known as 'stoner' these days, although there's little of the herbal cigarette about their high-octane material. Largely a studio outfit, mainly due to Gryder's three-pronged vocals/keys/drums role, they only released two albums, which remain still-to-be-discovered minor classics of the style.
If 1999's Garden of Forgotten Ideals has a fault, it's the sheer amount of material on display; this kind of album works best at 'vinyl length', anything over, say, fifty minutes of this stuff being rather too much of a good thing. After the brief, gentle Intro, the album kicks into high gear immediately, staying there for the next hour-plus in a relentless assault on your cerebellum, sounding like a cross between Uriah Heep, Mountain and any number of rocking American bands who never really made it outside their own state, never mind the country as a whole. Its better tracks include Jaded, Hellspawn and Morning Sun, although with little stylistic variation across the record, there isn't that much to choose between most of the songs. Gryder plays a little Mellotron between monolithic slabs of B3, with a flute melody on uncharacteristic opener Intro, background strings on Jaded and more upfront ones on Hellspawn and closer From Cradle To Grave.
They followed up, two years on, with The Suffering, essentially more of the same, to the point where one's concentration slips after a few tracks; I mean, how many more single-note riffs can one man take? The album's lowest point is probably the lyrics on Woman, sung in Gryder's 'stoner rock' voice, the kind of thing that should've been left in the cupboard marked '1973', while the highlight has to be its fourteen-minute closing title track, the proggiest thing on either of these records, complete with an Änglagård-esque Mellotron flute duo part from Gryder opening and closing the piece. The only other Mellotron on the album is the grungy strings on Cycle Of Misery, the clearer ones on Man, That's A Drag and a part in the middle of the title track, bumping its rating up slightly from its predecessor.
Gryder involves himself in other projects these days, sadly leaving Storm at Sunrise in the 'where are they now?' file. Both of these albums could do with a bit of an edit, too many tracks sounding too similar to too many others, but if you just can't get enough of that '70s thang, chances are you'll love these. Not all that much Mellotron on either, but enough to make 'em worth hearing if you get the chance.
See: Covenant
 |
L'Unità (1972, 32.47) ***/½GaribaldiTre Fratelli Contadini di Venosa Pontelandolfo Sciopero! Suite per F & F La Manifestazione Fratello |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
L'Unità was Stormy Six's second album, and found them in the middle of their 'West Coast' phase. They had been left-wing activists from their inception in the mid-'60s, but for some reason chose soft-rock as the best style to convey their message, at least in the early '70s. In fairness, it's not a bad album, with Suite Per F & F and La Manifestazione being worthy of mention, but there's too much lightweight material to really recommend it.
Keyboard player Franco Orlandini, who left part of the way through the sessions, added Mellotron strings to Pontelandolfo, but not in any major way; presumably he would've played a bit more had he not walked out... So; an OK album, but an awfully long way from the cream of the Italian progressive scene, despite its prog leanings. Apparently, they made more interesting records later, co-founding the Rock In Opposition (RIO) movement, alongside Henry Cow, Samla Mammas Manna, Univers Zero and others, but probably sans 'Tron.
