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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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Spirit Nation [a.k.a. Sacredness] (1998, 56.50/71.50) **½/T½ |
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| Wankatakiya Celebration Earth Walk Spirit Path It is a Good Day Children Are Sacred Prayer to the Four Directions Sacredness |
I am Water The Thunder Beings She Sleeps Beside the Moon Spirit Nation [Expanded version adds: Journey to Shambala Tara Shahti Mantra Sancha's Love for Amitabha] |
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Winter Moons (2001, 59.01) **½/T½ |
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| Ododaymiwan (Animal Clans) All My Relations We Are Still Here Pishaan (Come to Me) Spirit Medicine Iroquoian Sky Woman Seven Gifts Now and Always |
Winter Moons Ahsayma (Tobacco) Tipikan (Lullaby) |
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Spirit Nation's eponymous album appeared in 1998, but seems to have been reissued as Sacredness, expanded and slightly resequenced, with the artist name changed to Era. Dodgy small label reselling? I think so. They actually seem to be the duo of guitarist Steve Rosen and keyboard player Jimmy Waldo (New England, Alcatrazz), who combine Native American rhythms and chants with electronica and new age synth washes, which is almost exactly as dull as it sounds. I'm sure there's a huge market for this kind of stuff, but it's soporific in the extreme, especially when the expanded version runs over an hour. Waldo plays Mellotron on several tracks, although it's hard to tell whether it's his old M400 or samples. Anyway, we get strings on Earth Walk, Spirit Path, It Is A Good Day, The Thunder Beings and the title track, with very clear flutes opening I Am Water.
They followed up, three years later, with Winter Moons, essentially more of the same, making it almost unreviewable; if you've heard their debut, you're heard this and vice versa. More is it?/isn't it? 'Tron from Waldo, with strings on Spirit Medicine and a chordal flute part on the title track, although it's possible one or two other string parts are 'Tron-generated.
Overall, then, albums more new age than anything, leaving you quite certain what you're getting should you splash out. Mellotron on several tracks on their debut, less on its follow up, little of it particularly overt, making these a bit of a 'don't bother', I think.
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Lies to Live By (1974, 41.06) ****/TT½ |
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| All the Wrong Roads Stay Dead Lazarus Voice in the Wilderness Graveyard Face All is Light War Story Ballad of Jack Boot Requiem - War's Peace |
Factory Where the People Are Made Everything's Under Control Beyond the Fields We Know Prelude (I Don't Know Where I am) Thermopylae Heaven's Lost In Closing |
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The Spirit of Christmas were a later incarnation of Canadian outfit Christmas, with the psych/prog of Lies to Live By following the hard rock of Heritage, as the band defied their label's entreaties to be more commercial. It was actually recorded in 1973, but became tied up in the legal system for a year, only eventually receiving a limited release on an indie label, Daffodil. It sounds oddly dated, even for '73, but that doesn't stop it being pretty damn' good, falling somewhere inbetween the late-'60s sound and the Yes/Gentle Giant school of thought. War Story and Beyond The Fields We Know are probably the best tracks on the album, although Factory is full-on choppy prog mayhem, for those of you for whom nothing is too complex.
There's actually less of band leader Bob Bryden's Mellotron than I'd been led to expect, although I can't tell if the occasional cello part is 'Tron or real. Assuming the latter, there's 'Tron strings on the second part of War Story, and fairly extensive use on the closing Beyond The Fields We Know, both strings and flutes, probably on parts b-d, although it's hard to tell exactly. To sum up, despite being a little dated, Lies to Live By is a good album, with reasonable Mellotron use, though don't go paying a fortune for an original.
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Alien Injection (2008, 78.48) ***/TTT |
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| Alien Injection New Religion Alpha Harmony Every Gun Plays its Own Tune Logger's Revenge (Brian Tawn Speaks!) Augustus Future Memories The Entropy Tango |
Another World The Hawk Imported Serpents Ingleborough Upturned Dolphin Salome Montfallcon Heaven (is One Quality Tree for the Road) |
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Bloodlines [as Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart] (2009, 74.25) ***½/T |
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| Eye of the Day Cleopatra Midas Touch Chaminuka Rocket to the End of the Line Heavens Hide Czaritsa Queen of Ghosts |
Goldmine Follow Me Mistress of the Age Mother of the Dragon Lady Jane Holding Hands Silene's Light |
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Crazy Fluid (2010, 76.01) ***½/TT |
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| Holy Water and the Sea Movers My Caspian Sea Monster Slicing Through the Unknown Plantagenets I Don't Want To Grow Up and Be A Scent Dealer Like You Caravelle Pinball Symphonics (an Ancient Psychedelic Performance @ the Tail End of Youth) |
Martian Crystals Liquid Clocks Fondue Fuels The Book of Luana (i) Luana Doom! (ii) Luana the Duchess (iii) A Preacher for Luana (iv) Luana the Host (and the Carnival for the Defense) |
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Spirits Burning are a California-based space-rock collective, grouped around leader Don Falcone, including (at different times) Michael Moorcock, Daevid Allen and various members of Hawkwind from across the years. 2008's Alien Injection is their fourth album and first in some years, featuring a typical run of guests and a surprising variety of styles, not least the very strange The Entropy Tango and the acoustic avant-jazz of Montfallcon. Overall, though, it's fairly standard space-rock, coming with the usual caveat on the subject of style. You know, if you like this stuff you'll probably like this, and conversely... Falcone plays Mellotron, with fairly upfront string parts on all highlighted tracks above, with the exception of the choirs on Imported Serpents and flutes on closer Heaven (Is One Quality Tree For The Road), making for a reasonably 'Tron-heavy album.
I haven't heard 2008's Earth Born, a collaboration between Spirits Burning and Hawkwind's Bridget Wishart, as is the following year's Bloodlines. It certainly features her vocals, alongside contributions from Nic Potter (once of Van der Graaf Generator) and fellow Hawks Harvey Bainbridge, Alan Davey and Simon House, amongst others. Like Alien Injection, it works its way through various styles, some more contemporary than others, from the rock'n'roll of Cleopatra through the pseudo-Chinese Midas Touch, the hard rock of Rocket To The End Of The Line and the lovely, acoustic Lady Jane. Falcone adds Mellotron string washes to Heavens Hide to reasonable effect, and since he's informed me that's the only 'Tron track, I have to assume that the Mellotronnish choirs on a couple of others are sampled.
2010's Crazy Fluid is back to just Spirits Burning, although Wishart is involved, as are Daevid Allen and others, including electric violinist Cyndee Lee Rule. It's a far more abrasive proposition than its predecessor, but with surprisingly proggy touches, too, notably on the four-part The Book Of Luana, not to mention the near-jazz of Liquid Clocks. Falcone plays 'Tron strings on opener Holy Water And The Sea Movers and strings, choir and maybe cellos on Pinball Symphonics and strings on The Book Of Luana, although Don didn't mention the latter.
There are two other relevant Spirits Burning records, 2001's Reflections in a Radio Shower and their collaboration with sometime Hawkwind member Bridget Wishart, Earth Born, also from 2008, which I'll review when I get to hear copies.
See: Michael Moorcock | Daevid Allen | Hawkwind
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Vltra (2008, 54.42) ***/T |
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| I II III VI V VI VII VIII |
IX X |
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I don't think it takes too great an intellect to work out what general form of music Spite Extreme Wing play. Clue: it ain't sunshine pop. They are (or rather, were) actually an Italian black metal troupe, whose fourth and last album, Vltra (I presume that's the Roman 'V'; they didn't have a 'U'), is a surprisingly tuneful album, relatively speaking, using acoustic guitars and keyboards, although the traditional ridiculous-speed drumming and grunting 'vocals' are ever-present and correct. Track lengths vary from very brief to several near ten minutes, making this something of a black metal/prog crossover record. Black prog? There's a couple of covers here, although they're not actually listed: IV is better-known as The Misfits' Devilock, although I believe the lyrics have been changed, while X is their take on The Beatles' Helter Skelter, as revered by Charlie-boy Manson.
'Azoth' plays Mellotron, apparently a 1971 M400, if the hype's to be believed. There's also a vintage Orange amp and a Roland Space Echo on board, though rather less obviously. Given the layers of reverb (quote possibly from the space echo) under which everything's buried, it's rather hard to tell exactly where said Mellotron's to be found. V? Dunno; there's something there, but there's 'something' on several tracks. Near-definite choirs on VII and even more definite strings on VIII, plus distant choirs on X/Helter Skelter are the ones I'm highlighting, but any/all could be wrong.
Anyway, one for the metal fraternity (NEVER a sorority...) members who want something both brutal and vaguely tuneful and complex. Don't bother for the 'Tron though.
![Split Enz, 'Mental Notes [Aussie version]'](images/splitenz-mentalaus.jpg) |
Mental Notes [Aussie version] (1975, 44.23) ****½/TTT |
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| Walking Down a Road Under the Wheel Amy (Darling) So Long for Now Stranger Than Fiction Time for a Change Maybe Titus |
Spellbound Mental Notes |
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![Split Enz, 'Mental Notes [UK version]'](images/splitenz-mentaluk.jpg) |
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Mental Notes [UK version, a.k.a. Second Thoughts] (1976, 42.13) ****/TT½ |
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| Late Last Night Walking Down a Road Titus Lovey Dovey Sweet Dreams Stranger Than Fiction Time for a Change Matinee Idyll (129) |
The Woman Who Loves You [UK vinyl adds: Mental Notes] |
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Dizrythmia (1977, 40.23) ****/½Bold as BrassMy Mistake Parrot Fashion Love Sugar and Spice Without a Doubt Crosswords Charley Nice to Know Jamboree |
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Frenzy (1979, 45.32) ***/T |
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| I See Red Give it a Whirl Master Plan Famous People Hermit McDermitt Stuff and Nonsense Marooned Frenzy |
The Roughest Toughest Game in the World She Got Body, She Got Soul Betty Abu Dhabi Mind Over Matter |
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Beginning of the Enz (1979, recorded 1972-75?, 29.56) ***½/TSplit EndsFor You 129 Home Sweet Home Sweet Talking Spoon Song No Bother to Me Malmsbury Villa Lovey Dovey Spellbound |
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A-Reefer-Derci!: Recorded Live at the Reefer Cabaret, Melbourne (1976, 12.07) ****/½[Split Enz contribute]Amy (Darling) Lovey Dovey Time for a Change |
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Split Enz are by far and away the best-known band to have come out of New Zealand. Oh, except for Crowded House, of course, who rose, phoenix-like, from the ashes of the Enz in the mid-'80s. I don't know what the Enz's image was like early on; they released several local singles, collected on Beginning of the Enz in 1979, but by the time of their debut, Mental Notes, they had concocted a bizarre visual mixture of, well, make your own mind up. Probably the most disturbing looking band ever (Slipknot? I think not...), the Enz made music to match, with a sound redolent of Zappa, Genesis, pre-war music hall and many other diverse influences. Live shows from the time apparently started with a surreal intro tape, as the band acted out a 'toyshop coming to life' scenario, slowly jerking into position behind their instruments before launching into the first offbeat piece of weirdness of many. God, I wish I'd seen 'em...
Mental Notes lives up to the promise of their image, although it isn't exactly instant; this is music that requires a bit of work, but rewards the persistent listener manyfold. Under The Wheel is a lengthy, complex piece that throws all the band's disparate influences into the melting-pot, complete with a largish helping of Eddie Rayner's 'Tron strings. In fact, there isn't a bad track to be heard on the album, with Stranger Than Fiction being the jewel in the crown, with its insistent string-synth melody lodging in your brain, along with a brief Mellotron flute part. Time For A Change is also recommended on both musical and Mellotronic grounds, and... Look, just buy this album, OK?
The following year, the Enz decamped en masse to the UK, recording their first international release with Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera producing. Now, despite Roxy using a fair bit of Mellotron over the years, not to mention Manzanera himself on his first solo album, there's rather less to be heard here than you might expect. I've actually played the ex-Enz 'Tron, although I don't know whether they bought the machine in NZ (or Australia), or purchased a new one when they came to Britain. It has the most peculiar tape frame, with one of the best attempts I've seen at maximising the number of sounds; each tape set is split at key 22, with violins/flutes/cellos on the lower sections, and brass/boys' choir/mandolins on top. They also used real mandolin, so I suspect the Mellotron version was only used live, but as with so many of the 'lesser-known' sounds, it's often difficult to tell.
Anyway, as you can see, the album was titled Mental Notes in Europe (and presumably, if it was released there, America), but to avoid confusion at home, the Antipodean version was called Second Thoughts, although with Mental Notes itself removed from that version, the two albums only have four tracks in common, all of which were re-recorded. For anyone interested in the band, this album should probably be regarded as a companion to their debut, rather than as a totally different release. There are differences in the re-recorded tracks, but all five songs not on their debut are well worth hearing, with some excellent 'Tron strings and choir on opener Late Last Night.
Listening to these albums again, I'm struck by just how much Split Enz inhabited a sort of twilight world where Noël Coward and Genesis tried their damndest to write hit singles together; even the lyrics have a certain 'tea dance' quality to them, and Rayner's piano work sometimes sounds like he paid his dues playing for elderly ladies amongst the faded splendour of a genteely decaying pre-war Palm Court somewhere. Er, I'm rambling, aren't I? Anyway, I mean that as a compliment; listen to The Woman Who Loves You to see what I mean. Incidentally, if you listen (not too) closely, you'll hear a distinct influence on UK mavericks Cardiacs and yes, I have confirmed that one...
A curio from this era is the A-Reefer-Derci!: Recorded Live at the Reefer Cabaret, Melbourne various artists effort, with three live tracks from the tail end of '75, the non-'Tron two of which are also available on the impossible-to-find Oddz and Enz compilation, with another non-'Tron track. Not that you'll find a copy of either album that easily... All worth hearing, of course, although the only 'Tron in sight is a few string notes under Rayner's string synth on Time For A Change.
By Dizrythmia (a succinct description of their music's effect on the human body?), Split Enz weren't becoming more mainstream, exactly, but had begun to move away from their overtly progressive influences, correctly sensing that they weren't the route to fame and fortune in the late '70s. It's still a great album, and extremely quirky, but the songs are shorter and the arrangements tighter; the seeds of their subsequent pop career had been sown, and the days of their unique image were sadly numbered. Standout tracks include My Mistake and Crosswords, ranking among the band's best, though be warned; if you can get the chorus of Crosswords out of your head after one hearing, good luck! When I first heard this album, I recognised My Mistake, presumably from hearing it something like twenty years earlier... Anyway, it's extremely hard to tell, but I can only positively identify Mellotron on one track here; album closer Jamboree has a tiny burst of strings, so you won't be buying this one for its 'Tron content...
I didn't think there would be any progressive influences left by Frenzy, and I was pretty much right. The picture on the front of the band in normal garb is no surprise at all; they couldn't keep their image up forever, and mainstream appeal beckoned. However, the album's perfectly good, with the Enz having shifted into 'intelligent pop' mode, especially Mind Over Matter and the Farfisa-driven I See Red, which only appears to be on later copies of the album. The only obvious 'Tron track here is The Roughest Toughest Game In The World, with some fairly upfront choir, but most of the keyboard work is on polysynth by this time, like most of their contemporaries. I presume the band's work shifted into straight pop territory after Frenzy, and I rather doubt if they used their 'Tron again, but I've been proved wrong before...
As previously mentioned, Beginning of the Enz (not to be confused with The Beginning of the Enz, a later compilation) came out in '79, gathering up pretty much all of the band's early singles from '73/'74, although the sleevenotes on my CD give no indication as to the origin of the other tracks. Demos? Anyway, the early band had a more acoustic sound than their later incarnations, but the songs are instantly recognisable as the Enz, when they were still known as Split Ends. Three of these tracks were reworked on their first two albums; Spellbound, Lovey Dovey and 129, re-titled as Matinee Idyll. Spellbound is the album's sole 'Tron track, with a different arrangement to its later version, including not only more Mellotron, but a more interesting part. It's difficult to recommend this as a 'Mellotron Album' for one track, but pick it up if you see it at a reasonable price.
Split Enz headed quite determinedly for the mainstream in the early '80s; their later albums are worth hearing if you like intelligent, well-played pop. After they split, later member Neil Finn (younger brother of original member Tim) formed the phenomenally successful Crowded House, noted Chamberlin users themselves. Anyway, buy Mental Notes, Second Thoughts (a.k.a. the UK Mental Notes, of course) and Dizrythmia for some superbly odd sort-of progressive rock, but only the first two for their Mellotron content. Approach later albums with caution if you're a dyed-in-the-wool proghead, but fans of great songwriting apply here. By the way, some of the Australian Mushroom CDs are appallingly packaged, with mis-spelt song titles and little information of any kind, but they're probably your best bet, and seem to've been widely exported. There's an expensive '1970s Box' floating around, including Oddz and Enz, but it's determinedly 'Tron-free.
See: Crowded House
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The Complete Pet Soul (2001, 33.21) ****/T |
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| Overture Forever Aliceanna Pretty People Caroline Knows Sunshiny Daydream Tuesday Through Saturday You Ought to Know |
Popular Love Songs of B. Douglas Wilson I'll Never Fall in Love Again |
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Splitsville began as a jokey side project from Baltimore's Greenberry Woods that took on a life of its own and outlasted its mothership. They released an EP, Pet Soul (very good, chaps...), in 1998, expanding it considerably three years later as their fourth full-length release, The Complete Pet Soul. As you might've guessed by now, it's essentially a Dukes of Stratosphear-style homage to The Beatles, The Beach Boys and anyone else they could think of who wrote great pop in the '60s and began with 'B', and while it frequently tips over into pastiche, it's slightly less obvious than the Dukes, and at least all concerned use their real names. Not a bad track to be heard on the album, although their cover of Burt Bacharach's I'll Never Fall In Love Again, bizarrely incorporating a snatch of Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star, is probably less than wholly essential.
Mellotron, from guitarist Matt Huseman, on (at most) two tracks, with a repeated string part actually opening the album in the brief Overture, which sort-of does what it says on the tin, with probable background strings on Popular, though I wouldn't swear to the latter. For that matter, I wouldn't swear that Overture's part is genuine, but it sounds pretty good, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.
If you like your pop powerful and worship at the altar of the 'B' bands, you will almost certainly love The Complete Pet Soul. Like so many other almost-forgotten musical forms (prog, AOR for Chrissakes), powerpop has moved into a ghetto all its own, where loads of obscure bands produce relatively identikit albums in their chosen style, with an absolute gem popping up every now and again. I'm not sure if this is that gem, but it's damn' good at what it does, although its Mellotron input leaves a little to be desired. Buy anyway.
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7" (1973) ***/T½ Sabre Dance And Now for Something Completely Different! - Sabre Dance |
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Spontaneous Combustion were one of the many one-or-two-off progressive-ish bands from the early '70s, on Harvest, although to my ears they could just as easily have been on Charisma, Neon et al. I haven't heard either of their albums, so I've no idea if this b-side (I haven't heard the flip) is at all representative of their sound; it's actually a rather so-so cover of the well-known Khachaturian piece delivered with such (speeded-up) aplomb by Dave Edmunds' Love Sculpture a few years earlier. This version slows it down and adds a bit of 'Tron strings (player unknown, I'm afraid) in the middle, then a really nice coda.
You're unlikely to find the original single at an affordable price, and I can't wholeheartedly recommend it anyway, but it's recently crept out on the Art School Dancing Harvest label compilation, and is worth hearing if you're going to buy the CD anyway.
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It's All About (1968, 37.48) ***½/T |
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| Society's Child Love Really Changed Me Here I Lived So Well Too Much of Nothing Sunshine Help Me It's All About a Roundabout Tobacco Road It Hurts You So |
Forget it, I Got it Bubbles |
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Spooky Tooth are one of the many psych-ish outfits who sprang up in the UK in the late '60s, although they achieved somewhat more longevity than many, although as far as I can work out, keyboardist/singer Mike Harrison was the only member to last the course. In many ways, It's All About is very much of its time, with the whimsical Love Really Changed Me sounding like it fell out of the previous year, complete with strange 'bubbling water' effects; think 'a rockier Traffic', and you won't go too far wrong.
Uncredited Mellotron on one track only, with some nice strings work on It Hurts You So, presumably from Harrison, though it could be the band's token American, Gary Wright, who went on to a reasonably successful solo career in the '70s. The band went on to release several more albums including a collaboration with Pierre Henry, split up and reform at least once, and write a song that would get Judas Priest into very hot water in a US court in the '80s. Backwards masking; yeah, right. Anyway, not bad album, one good 'Tron track.
See: Art
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Girls Can Tell (2001, 36.03) **½/T |
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| Everything Hits at Once Believing is Art Me and the Bean Lines in the Suit The Fitted Shirt Anything You Want Take a Walk 1020 AM |
Take the Fifth This Book is a Movie Chicago at Night |
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Kill the Moonlight (2002, 34.52) **½/T |
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| Small Stakes The Way We Get By Something to Look Forward to Stay Don’t Go Jonathan Fisk Paper Tiger Someone Something Don’t Let it Get You Down |
All the Pretty Girls Go to the City You Gotta Feel it Back to the Life Vittorio E. |
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Gimme Fiction (2005, 43.48/56.15) **½/½ |
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| The Beast and Dragon, Adored Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine I Turn My Camera on My Mathematical Mind The Delicate Place Sister Jack I Summon You The Infinite Pet |
Was it You? They Never Got You Merchants of Soul [limited ed. 2-disc set adds: Carryout Kids You Was it I Summon You (demo) Sister Jack (piano demo)] |
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Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007, 36.26) **½/T½ |
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| Don't Make Me a Target The Ghost of You Lingers You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb Don't You Evah Rhthm & Soul Eddie's Ragga The Underdog My Little Japanese Cigarette Case |
Finer Feelings Black Like Me |
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Spoon apparently named themselves after the Can song, although they're hardly what you'd call an influence; Spoon play a really average kind of indie, Texan style, of the variety that makes me wonder just what, exactly, people see in them? I suppose 'indie' as a genre relies too heavily on the 'pop' end of things for me, while missing out on joyous melodies, excitement and all the other things that make great pop. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Actually, I dreamed about telling people I was getting old last night; what the hell does that say? I'm getting old, I suppose.
Spoon's third album, Girls Can Tell, is, to my ears, indie-by-numbers, sounding like a muted version of several better things with all the life taken out. Why? Why can't they inject a bit more (any?) passion? Maybe they think they have. Maybe they actually have and it's my skewed perception that's at fault. Anyway, the album bores me greatly, but at least has the good grace to be short by modern standards. The Mellotron's played by band leader Britt Daniel and Conrad Keely, with a flute melody and string chords on opener Everything Hits At Once and some admittedly very nice flutes on the grammatically nonsensically-titled 1020 AM (is that grammatically nonsensical, too?).
Reviewers seem not to rate their follow-up, the following year's Kill the Moonlight, but it sounds like more of the same to me. One song actually stands out from the morass of boredom; Someone Something sounds slightly like an Aladdin Sane outtake, admittedly without most of what made that record so good, but at least it didn't send me to sleep. Mellotron from an unknown player, possibly Eggo Johanson, on Back To The Life, with what sounds like reversed, pitchbent strings, although that pitchbend may be giving away the potentially not-entirely-authentic origins of the sound... Or not? 2005's Gimme Fiction sounds just like Spoon, which is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your point of view. I think it's bad. Anyway, usual old stuff, one sort-of 'Tron track, although I would be less than wholly surprised to find out it's sampled. A building string part in They Never Got You from Britt Daniel, not even credited as 'Tron, so veracity unlikely.
2007 brought Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga to Spoon fans. A good way of assessing this album is to look at the track lengths, funnily enough; six of the ten are within seventeen seconds of each other, and only one of the other four is more than twenty seconds outside this range. Formulaic is the word we're looking for, I think. To be honest, after playing three Spoon albums back-to-back, I'll be more than happy if I never have to hear them again. Dull, dull indie by-numbers. The ubiquitous Jon Brion plays Chamberlin on the album, with a bonkers flute part on the oddly-titled Rhthm & Soul, with a mere few seconds of the same at the end of My Little Japanese Cigarette Case and dotted throughout closer Black Like Me, although I think the strings are real.
Boring indie. You'll either like it or you won't. I didn't. Very ordinary 'Tron/Chamby work, and I suspect the former's sampled on at least one of these.
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The Wind & the Wave (1993, 41.21) **/½ |
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| Press on Whatever Happened to Love A Way Back Mona Lisa Said The Blessing (of the Fleet) The Sacred Journey When Nothing's Sacred I Saw a Blind Man |
Kumquat May Mona Lisa's Encore |
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Billy Sprague is a fairly typical CCM artist, although he relents on 1993's The Wind & the Wave, with some tracks not being immediately identifiable as Christian. Musically, it's all pretty anodyne stuff, as you might expect, the worst moment being on Kumquat May, which opens with a little girl talking to her dad. She's saying what she'd like to do and when he says, "And where would you go?", her reply is, "To see God". BLEURGH! Did I hear someone say 'brainwashing'? And to think I've been berated for slagging god-botherers...
John Mark Painter plays Mellotron on I Saw A Blind Man, with string chords opening the track, then reprising occasionally throughout the track. Despite its irritating jaunty feel, it's about the best of a bad bunch here, but far, far from essential.
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Pony (1999, 50.06) ****/TT½ |
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| Burnt Vessel Fanny Pony Sparrows Vine Oh Fear |
Cabinet Pond Don't You Ail, Flash the Sea to Steam |
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Well, Spratleys Japs are the nearest I've yet come to finding my way onto my own reviews pages (until Litmus, of course), and it's not that close... The story: summer 1998, and Tim Smith from the rather wonderful Cardiacs asks me if he can borrow my Mellotron. It had just been on loan to ex-Cardiacs keyboardist Bill Drake, and had started showing signs of incipient breakdown, but I drove it down to Tim's studio anyway. Within days it started playing up very badly indeed, eventually needing a complete motor board upgrade, but Tim loved the inherent wobbliness of the sound, and while playing around with it became inspired to write an album's worth of new material. The end result was Pony, featuring Tim's girlfriend Joanne Spratley and various other luminaries of Tim's acquaintance.
Like everything he's involved with, Pony has that unmistakeable 'Tim sound', with those strange Cardiacs scales, melodies and chord sequences. This is probably nearer to earlier offshoot The Sea Nymphs than Cardiacs themselves, with less of the mother outfit's manic energy, and more female vocal, although it's instantly recognisable as being from the same 'family'. Aside from my ailing 'Tron, there's lots of piano and fucked-up synth/sampler work to be heard, with less guitar than Cardiacs usually employ. Most of the 'Tron work is high strings in the background, until you get five minutes into Vine, when the whole band takes off, and the 'Tron's pushed to the front of the mix, duetting with what sounds like slide guitar, but could be almost anything. All four 'Tron tracks are good, though one of the album's highlights is the eleven-minute Cabinet, which would definitely have benefitted from some strings. Maybe it had broken down completely by that time...
They concurrently released an EP, Hazel, the title track of which, quite bizarrely, is none other than Fear from the album, re-titled. No, I don't know why, either. Anyway, both the album and the EP are available from All My Eye and Betty Martin Music, and are fairly essential for Cardiacs fans unaware of their existence. There's enough wobbly Mellotron to keep aficionados happy, too. Buy.
See: Cardiacs
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Spring (1971, 40.16/57.56) ****/TTTTT |
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| The Prisoner (Eight By Ten) Grail Boats Shipwrecked Soldier Golden Fleece Inside Out Song to Absent Friends (the Island) Gazing |
[CD adds: Fool's Gold Hendre Mews A Word Full of Whispers] |
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Mellotron used:
Ah - proto-prog territory again. Spring's sole LP has assumed significance beyond its actual content as a 'Mellotron album' among fans of early progressive rock; it certainly is stuffed with Mark II; not just most tracks, but most of most tracks! Three band members are credited with playing it; vocalist Pat Moran, guitarist Ray Martinez (who went on to better-known things, I believe) and keyboard man Kips Brown, although with a single machine (even a regular dual-manual one), they can surely only have played it one at a time. This also doesn't account for how they might've played this material live; most of the way through opener The Prisoner, for example, the 'Tron strings are overdubbed with either flute or very clicky brass. Unless, of course, they'd had the left-hand tapes replaced with another set of right-hand ones, à la the Moody Blues; producer Gus Dudgeon's sleevenotes state "Everything on the album is exactly as it is on stage - with the exception of some over-dubbed acoustic guitar". Curiouser and curiouser...
Spring certainly gets some 'Tron in; apart from the two tracks where they managed to resist the temptation, the band slather it all over everything, mostly to good effect, it has to be said. The music is probably less interesting than I'd been led to believe, sadly; typical early progressive, just with Mellotron instead of organ, or indeed, anything much else, although Brown also sticks in the odd bit of organ and piano. So, to be brutally honest, a rather ordinary proto-prog album, but packed to the gills with 'Tron, justifying its 'Mellotron classic' tag. The original triple fold-out sleeve is gorgeous, but you're unlikely to find one, so I'd settle for the CD, although the bonus tracks are a bit unexciting. So-so album, 'Tron classic.
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Karma (1999, 49.30) **½/½ |
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| His Last Words It's Always Something Religion of the Heart Beautiful Prize Karma Shock to My System Free Prayer |
White Room In Veronica's Head Ordinary Girl Act of Faith Untitled ('Hey Maria') |
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Mellotron used:
These days, Rick Springfield is apparently considered the 'thinking man's AOR artist', though I'm not sure if that's a particularly enviable area to inhabit. Karma opens with an odd little piece devoted to his father, His Last Words, with various voices speaking about parental death over a muted backing, but after that, it's straight into what Mr.Springfield does best, i.e. extremely mainstream AOR for people who find Journey and Foreigner too heavy. This kind of music is loved by millions, but not me, I'm afraid. It's all done with impeccable 'taste', but its lame pop/rock glossiness is the sort of thing that makes me want to play Black Sabbath, VERY LOUD. I can't really pick out the tracks I particularly disliked, but I can say that His Last Words makes for an interesting diversion, and the untitled hidden track, usually known as Hey Maria, is slightly more interesting than the rest of the album, and also gets in a subtle reference to female masturbation.
As for the Mellotron, played by either Richard Shindell or Springfield himself (I'm not sure which), well, I can only hear it on one track, Prayer, with a brief flute part. As far as I can tell, all the rest of the strings are generic samples, although there may be more 'Tron hidden in the mix here and there. So; if you like AOR, you'll like Karma, and if you don't, you won't. That's it. Oh, and don't bother for the 'Tron, but I expect you'd already worked that out for yourself.
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The Rising (2002, 72.51) ***/0 |
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| Lonesome Day Into the Fire Waitin' on a Sunny Day Nothing Man Countin' on a Miracle Empty Sky Worlds Apart Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin) |
Further on (Up the Road) The Fuse Mary's Place You're Missing The Rising Paradise My City of Ruins |
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Magic (2007, 47.43) ***/T |
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| Radio Nowhere You'll Be Comin' Down Livin' in the Future Your Own Worst Enemy Gypsy Biker Girls in Their Summer Clothes I'll Work for Your Love Magic |
Last to Die Long Walk Home Devil's Arcade Terry's Song |
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Mellotron/Chamberlin used:
The Rising was Bruce Springsteen's first album to feature the full E-Street Band since the huge-selling Born in the USA, nearly 20 years earlier, and I'm glad to say, it's far more down to earth, with a noticeable lack of the cheesy synths that made Born... so painful. The Rising relies far more on good 'ol Hammond and piano, with orchestral backing on some tracks, and sounds like... a Bruce Springsteen album. I'm not quite sure what else I can say about it, really; if it's by Bruce Springsteen and it sounds like Bruce Springsteen, I suppose it has to be Bruce Springsteen, really. Songs about injustice, songs about ordinary, hard-working people - business as usual, then. That isn't meant to sound negative, either - Bruce is exceptionally good at what he does; it just doesn't grab me.
Roy Bittan is, oddly, credited with playing Mellotron, although Springsteen's never been known to use one before. Well, he doesn't appear to've used one again, going by the audio evidence; I've heard rumours of distant strings on Countin' On A Miracle, but I'll be buggered if I can hear them, just a regular string section. So; Springsteen fans need apply, the rest of us probably don't, especially if you were hoping to hear any Mellotron. Also, the album's hideously overlong; STOP filling CDs to near-capacity, please!
Five years on and Broooce summons the E Street Band again for 2007's Magic. Yup, it's a Bruce album... For us, the non-faithful, they all sound pretty much the same, I have to say, but I'm sure his hardcore fans love it. Patrick Warren is credited with 'tack piano and Chamberlin' on several tracks, but I suspect that's 'either/or', as against 'both'. In fact, all I can hear is faint background strings on Long Walk Home and a more upfront part on Devil's Arcade, although the cello on the latter is real.
So; two Bruce Springsteen albums, very little tape-replay. You're probably better off with his '70s efforts if you want to hear The Boss at his best (note: NOT his '80s full band albums...), and you really aren't going to come to these expecting to hear any decent 'Tron or Chamby work.
See: Patti Scialfa
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Squeeze (1978, 41.39) ***/T |
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| Sex Master Bang Bang Strong in Reason Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil Out of Control Take Me, I'm Yours The Call Model |
Remember What First Thing Wrong Hesitation (Rool Britannia) Get Smart |
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7" ( 1979) ***/T Christmas Day Going Crazy |
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Play (1991, 52.27) ***/T |
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| Satisfied Crying in My Sleep Letting Go The Day I Get Home The Truth House of Love Cupid's Toy Gone to the Dogs |
Walk a Straight Line Sunday Street Wicked and Cruel There is a Voice |
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Excess Moderation (1996, recorded 1978-93, 156.21) ****/T½ |
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| Take Me I'm Yours Model Revue Christmas Day Blood and Guts Going Crazy The Knack If I Didn't Love You Separate Beds I Think I'll Go Go |
What the Butler Saw Piccadilly Trust Tempted Woman's World Squabs on Forty Fab The Elephant Ride Tongue Like a Knife His House Her Home When the Hangover Strikes |
The Apple Tree Within These Walls of Without You On My Mind Tonight Hope Fell Down No Place Like Home What Have They Done? Tough Love Striking Matches Peyton Place Dr. Jazz |
Melody Motel Slaughtered Gutted and Heartbroken Maidstone The House of Love The Truth Letting Go It's Over Loving You Tonight Cold Shoulder Some Fantastic Place |
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Mellotrons/Chamberlin? used:
I've been waiting to review Squeeze properly ever since I realised that was a Mellotron on their first hit, the sublime Take Me, I'm Yours. The band had been together for a while by the time their first, eponymous album appeared in 1978; not only had they previously been signed to (and dropped by) RCA, but they had self-released their first EP, the sniggeringly-titled Packet of Three in '77, at the height of punk, with which they were briefly and bafflingly associated. What's more, after their rise to prominence at the end of the '70s, the music press (Sounds? NME?) dug out a picture and article from some years earlier, portraying not only a long-haired and hippyfied Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook playing low down on some (free?) festival bill, but also quoting some horrible Hare Krishna-type lyrics, doubtless to the pair's embarrassment. None of which stopped them becoming one of the UK's best-loved, and what's more, best purveyors of Intelligent Pop, if you will, churning out deathless classics such as Cool For Cats, Up The Junction and Is This Love? seemingly at the drop of a hat. Any hits compilation immediately garners the full *****, and telling me you don't like them is tantamount to looking for a fight. I've no idea with whom, mind, but I'm sure I'll find someone.
1978's Squeeze is more rock'n'roll than you might expect, if you'd only heard their hits, although when put into context, it makes more sense; this is only eight months after the Packet of Three EP, which did its best to try to compete with the punk (alternative) mainstream on its own terms. Never really an albums band, this one contains its fair share of filler, including second single (and first flop) Bang Bang, although Out Of Control's rampant lasciviousness amuses, while the instrumental Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil and the bone-dry Hesitation (Rool Britannia) impress. The album's best track by a country mile is, of course, Take Me, I'm Yours, which still sounds like nothing else before or since; synth-heavy psychedelic pub-rock, the leader in a genre of one. Mr. Tilbrook says, "This song is conclusive proof that we were at the forefront of second wave use of the Mellotron", just in case there was any doubt regarding the matter. It was apparently a last-minute add-on, as A&M 'couldn't hear a single', so they 'hired lots of synths and a bloke who knew how to work them and pretended to be Kraftwerk'. Can't say it worked on that front, but it's a fantastic record, and on top of said synths, features plenty of pitch-bent Mellotron choir, doubtless from 'just a keyboard player back then' Jools Holland.
The second Squeeze 'Tron entry is an obscure b-side, Going Crazy, the b-side to non-album non-hit Christmas Day, although its choir contributions are hardly the most major use you're ever going to hear. The only other Squeeze album (to my knowledge) that contains any form of tape-replay is 1991's Play, a fairly ordinary effort, with too many overlong songs (don't have to edit now we've got CD, eh?). It certainly isn't a bad album, but it struggles to reach beyond 'average', at least to my ears. Mellotron (or Chamberlin?), possibly from Elvis Costello's on-off keys man Steve Nieve, with strings and flutes on Letting Go and flutes on The Day I Get Home, though nothing you can't live without.
Excess Moderation is a rarity on this site, being a compilation of mostly previously-available material; amongst the 40 tracks on display here are several single-only efforts, one from a soundtrack and a handful of outtakes, including a different (and slightly inferior) take on mega-hit Tempted. Basically, it's a trawl through their catalogue, avoiding most of the obvious ports of call; think of it as a companion piece to their original definitive greatest hits, 45's and Under, and you won't go too far wrong. The booklet gives a track-by-track commentary by Difford and Tilbrook, shedding light onto the writing and recording process for those who care about such things.
So; given that all three 'Tron tracks here are available elsewhere (admittedly, in the case of Going Crazy, on the flip of, er, a flop), there are ground for eventually removing this album from here entirely, though given that one track's relative rarity, I shan't. Is it worth it for the music? Yes; it gives considerable insight into the band's career for those who've only really heard the hits. Is it worth it for the 'Tron? Probably not; if you have a hits compilation, you have the best of the three relevant tracks anyway, although the other two are worth hearing. I think this is still in print; I found a second-hand copy, and it is now twelve years old, but worth picking up if you see it at a decent price. And I didn't mention kitchen sinks once. Squeeze and Play are both decent enough, if totally different albums, but I'd have to recommend the two compilations above in preference.
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Time Changes Everything (2002, 46.52) ***½/TT½ |
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| Joe Louis I Miss You Shine a Little Light Time Changes Everything Welcome to the Valley 15 Days Transatlantic Near Death Experience All I Really Want |
Strange Feeling Sophia |
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Mellotron used:
Ex-Stone Rose John Squire loses no time on his solo debut, Time Changes Everything, in reaffirming his love of the '60s, although this isn't actually meant as a criticism (whaddaya mean, 'for once?'). His previous band, the Seahorses, put out one album, Do it Yourself (two 'Tron tracks) as long ago as 1997, so he's obviously opted to take a little time over this one, probably helped by releasing it on what appears to be his own label. If I'm going to be honest (I try, I try), I don't like Squire's rasp of a voice at all, but his songs are OK, if not exactly classic, and the sound of the album makes up for some of its musical failings. He's also resisted the temptation to stuff his new album full of songs fit only for b-sides or future 'rarities' compilations that everyone will buy and no-one will play, and has stuck to sensible 'vinyl' length.
John Ellis plays decidedly analogue, in fact, pre-synth keys throughout, and puts down some decent Mellotron work on several tracks. Opener (single, and probably best track) Joe Louis is smothered in strings, while Shine A Little Light features a semi-obscured flute melody, and Welcome To The Valley and Strange Feeling have polyphonic cello parts that sound highly Mellotronic. In case there's any doubt as to the veracity of the 'Tron, both Joe Louis and Sophia have pitchbent string parts, particularly the intro to the latter.
So; considerably better than expected, to the point where I found that three stars didn't quite suffice. Don't go expecting a full-on '60s recreation, but Time Changes Everything is a pleasant enough listen, if a little unengaging in places. The Mellotron work isn't bad, so if you see it cheap (as I did), it may just be worth picking up.
See: Seahorses
