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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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Illusions of a Night (1981, 44.58) ***½/TT |
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| Back on the Street The Gurus Mountaineer Farmers Battle Illusions of a Night Kaboom My Will Barbara |
Nickname Same Old Story Sutton |
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See You Again (1993, 74.37) ***/TT½ |
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| La Croze Robot Romance The Boatman The Gurus Lucia Meadow One for the Kingdom My Will |
Mountaineer The Ancient Mariner The Three Brothers Man in the Mirror Voodoo |
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Formed in 1976, it took Taurus until 1981 to release their first album, Illusions of a Night, although it was apparently fatally compromised by their record company, who demanded that they record several potential singles. However, the end result is far better than that sounds, with only a couple of more 'commercial' tracks (notably Nickname) amongst their late-'70s Genesis/Yes/Kayak-influenced prog. Martin Scheffer's Hackettesque guitar work and Theo de Jong (ex-Kayak)'s Taurus pedals add to the album's Wind & Wuthering feel, as do full-on symphonic tracks like The Gurus or Kaboom. Rob Spierenburg's Mellotron work, despite being heard on most tracks, is pretty restrained here, often with only a single choir swell towards the end of the song, although the odd bit of strings crops up here and there, too. Sadly, at no point does the instrument take centre-stage, and the album's overall poor production doesn't help, either; possibly the band wanted it higher in the mix?
Taurus released a live album, Tapes Live, in 1983, and a studio effort called Works 1976-1981 in '90 (new recordings, I believe), before a live CD in '93, See You Again. While there's no Mellotron visible in any of the booklet pics, it can be heard here and there, and is credited. Various factors lead me to believe it was recorded at a variety of locations, possibly over several years, not least the crudely overdubbed applause that actually intrudes into some of the quiet sections. There's a small overlap with Illusions of a Night, although most of the material was presumably written subsequently, and I'm afraid to say that most of it is rather dull, like Genesis after they'd had their brains sucked out (er, isn't that '80s Genesis?). Some nice moments here and there, but it's generally rather overlong and turgid, ending up doing the band few favours. Spierenburg uses the 'Tron for choir only (again), with rather murky and inessential parts on several tracks, although the particularly Banksian use on Mountaineer is worth hearing.
Illusions of a Night is actually very good; a bit of a hidden gem at a bad time for progressive rock. The Mellotron work isn't anything to write home about, but the album's worth picking up should you run into a copy. See You Again is just about worth hearing if you like their debut, but expect to be disappointed by much of it.
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Imaginate (1999, 42.45) ***/T |
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| Can You Feel Get Set Everywhere You Go 72 Hour Daze Rocketship Let Me Die Young Rachael Ice Cream |
Let's Spend the Night Nothing in This World Counting Down the Days Back Again Helplessly Hoping |
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Forming in Melbourne in 1996, Taxiride seem to be a slightly loose conglomeration of musicians, based around Tims Wild and Watson. Their debut, '99's Imaginate, is an album of breezy, summery pop which will probably either delight or infuriate you, or possibly both at different times. There's no denying they're very good at it, although I find it begins to pall as the album progresses; maybe there's only so much summery pop I can take at one hit. The vocal harmonies are absolutely sublime, by the way, reminding me (bizarrely) of Houston's Galactic Cowboys in places, although I suspect it's down to hearing the same bands rather than any direct influence.
It's difficult to pick out highlights (again...), although the first few tracks appeal more to me than the later ones, for the reason stated above. Can You Feel's lyrics give the album its strange title, and the sitars in Get Set and Rocketship are a nice touch, although I keep finding myself wishing for something a little more melancholic, which isn't to say they don't have their more 'down' moments, notably Let Me Die Young.
The ubiquitous Jon Brion guests on 'additional keyboards and Chamberlain [sic]', with producer Jack Joseph Puig adding Chamby strings to Nothing In This World, although I would probably have missed them had they not been credited. This leads to the usual problem of 'so what's Chamby and what isn't?' that I've run into so many times before, although the strings on Let Me Die Young are specifically credited, and there's very obvious real strings on Counting Down The Days. Little of their use is that heavy, with a brief burst of flutes on Everywhere You Go, and mild string use elsewhere, so this doesn't exactly get that coveted 'Chamberl(a)in Album of the Year' award, I'm afraid.
So, not a bad album of its type, but don't bother for the tape-replay.
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Lynn Teeter Flower (2007, 38.25) ***/T |
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| A Good Start Clean Getaway Smile and Wave No Stars Replay Small Part of Me Irish Goodbye My Own Fault |
The Ballad of Sean Foley Lost Time Lynn Teeter Flower |
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Maria Taylor is one half of Azure Ray, who have considerable connections with Bright Eyes. As such, it comes as no great surprise that Taylor's second solo album, Lynn Teeter Flower, is a mostly melancholy effort, although it has its (relatively) jauntier moments, notably Replay and the beatbox-driven Irish Goodbye. Best track? Possibly Smile And Wave, though I promise it's not for the reason stated in the next paragraph.
Mellotron on one track, from Andy LeMaster, who also plays it for Bright Eyes and Azure Ray, with (as every online review I've found says) 'Strawberry Fields'-esque flutes on Smile And Wave, probably because they do, indeed, sound like Strawberry bloody Fields. Nice to hear anyway, even if they are a little derivative. Overall, then, a laid-back effort that won't excite the Therion fans amongst you, but then, that's hardly the point, is it?
See: Azure Ray | Bright Eyes
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if it is to be as it is (2006, 37.19) ****/TTTTSurviving SundayYou Should Be Here Today Virgin Guitar Rhythm & Rhyme It Falls to Me In the Tall Grass Leaving This House Waited a Fortnight A Thousand Reasons Why |
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Evening of the Last Day (2008, 45.27) ****/TTT½ |
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| Their Song East End A Lesson Learned Jane If I Didn't Know England Again Broken Compass West End |
Adoration I've Found Someone Evening of the Last Day |
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Shannon Taylor is one of those musicians who have had a lengthy career without ever recording very much, although it seems his intention is to change this state of affairs for the better. if it is to be as it is [sic.] is the first fruit of his labours, and exceedingly good it is, too. I expected an album of introverted singer-songwriter fare (not that there's anything wrong with that), so I was taken aback by the slightly new-waveish pop of opener Surviving Sunday, although most of the rest of the album does fit the expected pigeonhole. Actually, that's not entirely true, as three of the nine tracks here are instrumentals (Virgin Guitar, In The Tall Grass and Waited A Fortnight), breaking the more song-based material up nicely, in a way very few artists would even think to do these days.
Taylor's website actually has a 'Mellotron' page, where he details his 'Tron ownership (new in '73, one careful owner), mentioning the three tape frames in his possession and with a beautiful pro-quality pic of the machine. The album credits also list Chamberlin on most tracks, although it seems they're samples. As in so many cases where Mellotron and Chamby are both utilised, it's frequently far from easy to tell what's doing what, so Surviving Sunday features strings and cellos (?), with the latter sounding less 'Tron-like, which probably means that's what they are. Again, both instruments are involved on You Should Be Here Today, but all I can hear is regulation strings. However, Virgin Guitar is beautiful, featuring nothing but classical guitar, bass and massed 'Tron and Chamby (Marina Tishkova plays 'Tron, too), with what sounds like standard 'Tron strings, Chamby solo violin (??) and vibes from something or other. Gorgeous. Flutes on the album's second instrumental, In The Tall Grass, on top of the ubiquitous strings, and the third and last, Waited A Fortnight is to die for, despite the slightly out of tune bass. Incidentally, both It Falls To Me and A Thousand Reasons Why have no 'Mellotron' credit, although both contain Chamby samples.
Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, Shannon has repeated his feat four years later, on Evening of the Last Day. More excellent songs, in a similar vein to those on his debut, although slightly less Mellotron this time round. Best tracks are probably opener Their Song and one of the album's two instrumentals, West End, and while the songwriting might fall just a tad short of the standard on Taylor's debut, it's not by enough to affect its star rating. Plenty of Shannon's M400 again, of course: Their Song opens with very full-on 'Tron strings, reiterated throughout the track, with more of the same in East End, while Jane starts with unaccompanied flutes, adding strings later on. West End has nice flute and strings parts, with strings again in the closing instrumental title track (out-of-tune 'Tron alert!) to finish things off nicely. In addition, England Again features Chamby string samples, used with far more restraint than on if it is to be as it is.
All in all, in if it is to be as it is, we're talking one of the best new Mellotron albums I've heard in quite some time, and although Evening of the Last Day doesn't quite match it on the 'Tron front, it's still a damn' good album. These have no distribution as such, and only a handful of online reviews, so I sincerely hope some of you will go to Shannon's site and purchase these excellent records. Not only are the songs, vocals and musicianship excellent, but the tape-replay usage is more than worthy of your time, and all for a paltry $12.99 each including postage worldwide. Buy.
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Tea (1975, 36.54) ***½/TCool in the MorningGlorimont Hatred or Love Surfer Hazy Colours Lady |
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Tea were that always fairly unfashionable mixture, hard rock and prog, and Tea's a bit of a musical no-man's land, unlike albums by some of their contemporaries, who managed to get the combination right. Saying that, it's actually a fairly decent record, if a tad unexciting, with highlights including Surfer, Glorimont and Hazy Colours. If the band are remembered at all these days, it's for the presence of the Maltese Marc Storace on vocals, who went on to (relative) fame'n'fortune with the ridiculous Krokus at the end of the decade, although the rest of the band are probably more competent than him, to be honest.
Philippe Kienholz does a sterling job on keys, mostly Hammond, although he gets a few Mellotron string chords in on Cool In The Morning and Hazy Colours, though it's hardly what you'd call essential use. I've no idea whether or not he plays any on their other album that anyone's heard of, The Ship (which may possibly be their debut), but I wouldn't go out of your way to buy Tea for its 'Tron use, though it's not a bad album of its type.
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Festival (1975, 39.33) *½/T |
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| The Circus Show In the Summernight There Ain't No Time I'm Alone Let Me in It's a Beautiful Day Tennessee Town Ding-a-Dong |
Sing Your Song The Circus is Coming to Town Old Friend Goodbye Doll You and Me Fly Away |
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Oddly enough, I'd never (knowingly) heard of Teach in before I came across this album, although when track eight came on, it sounded horribly familiar. Turns out Ding-A-Dong won the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest (non-European readers can probably switch off right here) and was a hit throughout Europe, leading to my vestigial memory of it from over thirty years ago. And it sounds like...? A bloody Eurovision winner, that's what. Aside from Abba's fab Waterloo, which won the previous year, just about every Eurovision entry ever has been the schlockiest old pile of shite you can imagine, and Ding-A-bleeding-Dong is no exception. To no-one's surprise whatsoever, its parent album, Festival, is pretty much as bad throughout. Most of it's the same kind of cheery, cheesy nonsense as the hit, although Tennessee Town and You And Me are crummy sub-Abba glam-rock-lite, with a few ballads scattered across the album to show their 'versatility', no doubt.
Bassist John Gaasbeek doubles on keys, including credited Mellotron, which turns up on It's A Beautiful Day, with a remarkably good flute part that almost fools the ear into thinking it's real. All in all, then, an absolute horror, with a few unintentionally amusing moments, but seriously, nothing you can't live without. Believe me. To my great surprise, though, one reasonable 'Tron track, although the music's rubbish. Incidentally, a twelve-track version of the album was released the same year, retitled Ding-a-Dong, one of the two deleted tracks being It's A Beautiful Day. Genius. For what it's worth (which isn't a lot), there were at least two other Teach in albums, '77's See the Sun (Kayak reference? Seriously?) and '79's eponymous effort, almost unrecognisable as being by the same band. This lot followed trends; I suspect setting them was way beyond their capabilities.
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Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (2004, 54.42) ***½/TT½ |
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| Everybody Loves a Happy Ending Closest Thing to Heaven Call Me Mellow Size of Sorrow Who Killed Tangerine? Quiet Ones Who You Are Devil |
Secret World Killing With Kindness Ladybird Last Days on Earth |
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Tears for Fears' reformation album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, is vastly better than I'd expected, with little of their '80s pomp, despite being immaculately produced. Actually, what they've done is taken the late-'60s Beatles influence they displayed so proudly on Sowing the Seeds of Love (remember those horns? Allegedly sampled directly from the Beatles' multitrack, such as it is), and run with it, combining it with their already finely-honed pop sensibilities (that isn't meant to sound sarcastic, incidentally). Roland Orzabel's voice is as smooth as ever, love it or loathe it, and overall, I have to say they've produced a well-crafted, melodic pop album without straying into 'irritating' territory.
I have it on good authority that two M400s were used during the recording (though none were harmed), although it's not always so easy to spot where they were used, so the highlighting above is, er, 'far from definitive'. Sounds like heavily-processed strings on the opening title track, with more of the same and cellos on Closest Thing To Heaven. Flutes on Call Me Mellow, quite recognisable strings on Size Of Sorrow, and similarly overt flutes and strings on Who You Are. Raucous cellos, including those low double bass notes on Devil, and probably the most upfront part on the album on Killing With Kindness, with background strings overlaid with extremely in-yer-face flutes. All in all, 'Tron on most tracks, and I could easily have missed some in the dense mix; a (relative) triumph of 'Tronness, gentlemen.
Well, no point reiterating what I said in the first paragraph, but while I would urge caution for Mellotron fans, due to its largely background use, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending is a fine pop album, showing that it can be done without making one wish to commit murder/suicide/other. And it's on an independent? Shame on the majors.
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Wait for Me (2002, 44.36) ***/½ |
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| Alone Gonna Move Wrapped in the Arms of Another 'Til I Found You Wait for Me The Feeling Music Brings In the Garden Hampmotized |
Don't Think Twice, it's All Right I Fell in Love Blues on a Holiday |
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Susan Tedeschi (hard 'ch') plays a blues/soul mix that clearly appeals to many people, although this particular reviewer is, sadly, not among them. I have to say, she's extremely good at what she does, but you really have to be into the style... For those who aren't, the Americana-tinged In The Garden might be considered the best track, unless you're a Dylan fan, keen to hear another version of Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.
Noah Simon plays Mellotron strings on 'Til I Found You, but only just, with naught but a few chords that could probably have been produced by almost anything, frankly. OK, not a kazoo. So; you probably won't be interested in this if you're a regular reader of this site, but it does what it does perfectly well, albeit with next to no Mellotron.
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Poetry & Aeroplanes (2003, 38.10) ***/T½ |
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| Sleeping With The Lights on I Was Just Thinking You're the Ocean Poetry and Aeroplanes Josephine One and Only Rough Around the Edges Let's Go Dancing |
Amanda's Dream Shade of a Shadow To Meet You |
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Maybe surprisingly, Teitur Lassen isn't the only musician from the tiny Faroe Islands known to the outside world; Wikipedia lists a good dozen composers, bands and solo artists, which isn't bad for an isolated dot a long way from anywhere in the North Atlantic with a population slightly under fifty thousand. Well, now I've comprehensively patronised his home country, I can tell you that Teitur is a pretty ordinary modern singer-songwriter, whose style is universal enough to get his music used in several film soundtracks to date, which isn't necessarily a compliment, at least from me. 2003's Poetry & Aeroplanes is his first album and while perfectly acceptable, does little of any particular interest, unless you really have a yen to hear even more wishy-washy stuff from sensitive young men. Oh well, it's vastly better than James Blunt, anyway.
Patrick Warren does his usual Chamberlin thing (no, of course he didn't travel to the Faroes, the album was recorded in the States), with upfront flutes and strings on opener Sleeping With The Lights On and lesser string parts on Josephine and closer To Meet You, but as so often with this instrument, nothing that startling. Overall, yet another album that starts OK, then palls quickly, despite its sensibly short length. One decent Chamby track, but nowhere near enough to make this worth the effort on that account.
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Terpandre (1981, 36.44/49.51) ****/TTTT½Le TempsConte en Vert Anne-Michaële Histoire d'un Pêcheur Carrousel [CD adds: Conte en Vert (live) Musique Pour Clair Obscur (live)] |
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Terpandre coalesced from various other bands in the mid-'70s in Lyon, France, taking their name from ancient Greek mythology. So should it be pronounced in the French manner, or as it would be said in English? An instrumental five-piece, with a violinist added for the album, Terpandre's sound was lush symphonic progressive rock, with influences from the Romantic period and jazz, amongst others. Surprisingly, this combination works really well, although the album may be a touch too 'sweet' for some listeners' tastes. Think 'a French version of their UK contemporaries The Enid with some extra added jazz' and you won't fall too far short of the mark. Terpandre was recorded in 1978, but the band fell foul of the usual late-'70s punk/disco-related problems, splitting up the following year, belatedly releasing the album on a small local label, Dionysos, in 1981.
Although the CD sleeve notes only list Mellotron players for four of the disc's seven tracks, it's quite clearly all over the album, mostly strings and flutes, but with some nice cello on one song. Both keyboard players (Jacques Pina and Michel Tardieu) play it on different tracks, along with acoustic and electric pianos, and a little synth. Highlights are the reedy flutes on Conte En Vert, and Anne-Michaële is a particularly nice piece, as is the epic Carrousel. The live tracks added to the CD show how well the band used the instrument on stage; it's a pity more of this material hasn't subsequently surfaced. As the CD's only fifty minutes long, maybe the other tracks aren't of releasable quality. Shame.
So, another little-known classic of late-'70s French prog, along with Shylock and Asia Minor, as well as the better-known Pulsar. Much of the music is very laid-back and melodic, but I can recommend it highly to both prog fans and Mellotron nuts. Buy.
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Melody & Menace (1982, 35.31) ****/TT½Black TieCreature of Habit Passages Afterlife Threnody Noise and Haste Old Friends Dry Leaves in the Wind Coventry |
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Terraced Garden were unusual in being a non-Japanese symphonic progressive band in the '80s. Starting as guitarist/keyboard player/vocalist Carl Tafel's solo project, they morphed into a proper band after 1982's Melody & Menace, playing the album's songs live, plus others which, sadly, were never recorded. The band's style was an interesting mixture of gentle, pastoral material (Passages) and almost punky, complex stuff (Threnody), with Tafel's Fripp-like guitar work to the fore. Songs were generally quite compact (by prog standards; we're not talking two-minute efforts here), compressing plenty of ideas into fairly short spaces, though not in a contrived, pseudo-commercial kind of way. Hard to pick out highlights, although Afterlife managed to combine both the band's styles successfully, while Passages is probably the peak of the pastoral part of their style, although Coventry is the track that make me sit up and listen properly.
Tafel's Mellotron use isn't the most major you're ever going to hear (I have no idea if the machine was his; he never used it again), with rather unassuming strings on opener Black Tie, although his parts on Afterlife and Old Friends are more upfront. A faint choir part on Dry Leaves In The Wind paves the way for some great stuff on Coventry, finishing the album off nicely.
Terraced Garden carried on to release '84's Braille and '88's Within, by which time their star was on the wane, although it's still not a bad album. I'd have to play all three back to back to determine which is best, though it's quite possible it's Melody & Menace; it's certainly the only one with any Mellotron, not that that should influence my decision (yeah, right). You're not going to find this that easily, but it's worth tracking down. CD release, please.
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Full Moon in 3 (2006, 57.32) ****/TT |
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| Full Moon The America Song T.V Off Opening's Had Pomegranate Weed Tide Ohhh Eee Multi Orgasmic 3 |
Circle of Life A Big Brown Trout Lives There Three Legged Dog Little Rock |
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Jennifer Terran's fifth album, Full Moon in 3, is a rather beautiful, if mournful album, with the sparsest of backings for her haunted vocals, an approach almost guaranteed to get a thumbs-up from Planet Mellotron. Piano, bass and almost nonexistent drums accentuate her vocals, with occasional electronics and/or Mellotron (from Terran) to break what could become monotony in the hands of someone less talented. The occasional more rhythmic track (Multi Orgasmic 3, say) doesn't, at least to my ears, work as well as the subtler stuff, but I suppose they provide some variety on an album that would otherwise be relentlessly downbeat beginning to end.
Opener Full Moon has a distant string part, arranged pretty much as you would a string section, while The America Song has flutes, choir and strings jostling for position. Near-atonal strings on Pomegranate Weed, more conventionally melodic ones in Tide, and an orchestrated part in A Big Brown Trout Lives There that barely sounds like a 'Tron at all. This seems like a dismissively short review for a very good album; believe me, trying to describe this music has kept this in my review pile for several months, so I'm letting this go, however it looks. Publish and be damned. Buy this album, too.
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Tesseract (1997, 39.32) ****/T |
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| Entrance Heisenberg's Daughter Cast of Thousands Introduction The Cast The Vitamin Mine The Spinach Allegro Assai (Bach Violin Concerto in A Minor, 3rd Movement) |
Rice Cymbal Dance Vantage Point Instrumental |
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BayProg: Progressive Rock From the San Francisco Bay Area (2002, 5.29) ***½/TTT[Tesseract contribute]On the Edge of an Eclipse |
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Tesseract (a four-dimensional shape, in case you were wondering) appear to be run by Mellotronists Yahoo! Groups list moderator Don Tillman, who also plays guitar and other keyboards. Tesseract is a good, varied album, with a strong American feel about it, Karen Bentley's violin making for an inevitable Kansas comparison, although there are considerable differences between the two bands. It's hard to pick out highlights, although they tackle the Bach piece particularly well, given how difficult it can be to do classical music justice in a rock setting. Heisenberg's Daughter and Vantage Point Instrumental are particularly good on the melody front, but there isn't a bad track on the album.
Maybe surprisingly, the only obvious Mellotron on the album is a little strings and choir on Heisenberg's Daughter, to the extent that a whole 'T' might be overstating the case a bit, so although this isn't exactly what you'd call a 'Tron album, it's more than worthy of the progressive fan's time. What's more, if you're an American resident, you can get it from the band's website for a fantastically reasonable $12. Buy.
Incidentally, Tesseract got a 'tron track onto 2002's BayProg various artists CD, with cellos and strings on the Crimson-esque On The Edge Of An Eclipse.
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No More Rhymes But Mr. Brainstorm (1993, 59.11) **½/T½The LieTreacherous Money Shades Diddle Riddle Grannies Black Bride Little Princess Spleen La Maschera |
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Theatre were an early-'90s one-off Italian outfit whose sole album, the curiously-titled No More Rhymes But Mr. Brainstorm is, sadly, typical neo-prog fare, about as original as just about anything else flying that banner. In fact, the most obvious comparison is the dreaded Marillion, with Fish-like vocals and Rotheryesque guitar (when he isn't being Hackett, that is). The first few tracks are very Marillion, until Grannies, which is a grotesque Cinema Show rip-off (Little Princess is pretty close to Broadway Melody Of 1974, too), but at least ripping off Genesis is preferable to bloody Marillion. Unfortunately, that's what the rest of the album sounds like, which is no particular surprise given a) the country, b) the label and c) the year.
Silver Sancio plays mostly contemporary synths, though few really offensive sounds, and quite a bit of piano, plus credited Mellotron, with distant choirs on all highlighted tracks above. I'm not totally convinced all of them are 'Tron, with The Lie and Little Princess sounding rather synthetic, but the other three are all (seemingly) genuine; in fairness, 'Tron samples were hard to come by in the early '90s, unless you knew someone who had one, so chances are it's the real deal.
So; dodgy Italian neo-prog, anyone? Thought not. For some reason, I was quite looking forward to playing this one, but I should've known better, I suppose. Tedious, derivative and overlong, with what little Mellotron there is mixed too low. Avoid.
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Lemuria (2004, 42.14) ***/½ |
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| Typhoon Uthark Runa Three Ships of Berik (Part 1: Calling to Arms and Fighting the Battle) (Part 2: Victory!) Lemuria Quetzalcoatl The Dreams of Swedenborg An Arrow From the Sun |
Abraxas Feuer Overtüre/Prometheus Entfesselt |
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Prior to listening to Lemuria, all I knew about Therion was that they were a current Scandinavian metal band, sub-sub-sub-genre unknown. Well, now I know. Viking Metal, anyone? This is a truly ridiculous record, though sort of (but only sort of) wonderful at the same time, with its operatic female vocal contrasting with either a deep male counterpart (An Arrow From The Sun) or death grunts (Typhoon), all held together by completely generic metal riffs and occasional input from a full choir. Yep, a choir. And an orchestra. The band are revered by their fans for their ability to mix 'classical' and metal forms, but I think it's fair to say that the former are laid crudely over the latter, with little of the compositional complexity of actual 'classical' music.
Although several tracks feature some form of orchestral strings, Steen Rasmussen is only credited with Mellotron on the title track, one of the quieter pieces on offer here, where it can be heard backing the choir at one point. although the strings towards the end of the song appear to be generated by something else. Strings, maybe? The sleevenotes refer to 'the recordings of hammond organs [and] mellotrone' [sic] at a studio in Copenhagen, so I think it's safe to assume it's real, which makes a nice change these days.
I do know people who like this stuff, but in fairness, they love it while not taking it entirely seriously. Are there people out there that do? Sadly, probably. If über-pretentious pseudo-classical/operatic metal fills your heart with joy, you probably already own Therion's complete works, but if you've managed to miss them ,they will surely become your New Favourite Band. Unfortunately, I doubt if they'll become mine; this stuff is just too silly to listen to for any great amount of time (about five minutes seems to be my limit). Next to no Mellotron, either, for what it's worth, which probably isn't much.
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John Henry (1994, 57.18) ****/T |
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| Subliminal Snail Shell Sleeping in the Flowers Unrelated Thing AKA Driver I Should Be Allowed to Think Extra Savoir-Faire Why Must I Be Sad? |
Spy O, Do Not Forsake Me No One Knows My Plan Dirt Bike Destination Moon A Self Called Nowhere Meet James Ensor Thermostat |
Window Out of Jail Stomp Box The End of the Tour |
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Factory Showroom (1996, 42.33) ***½/T |
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| S-E-X-X-Y Till My Head Falls Off How Can I Sing Like a Girl? Exquisite Dead Guy Metal Detector New York City Your Own Worst Enemy XTC vs. Adam Ant |
Spiraling Shape James K. Polk Pet Name I Can Hear You The Bells Are Ringing |
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No! (2002, 33.44) ***½/½ |
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| Fibber Island Four of Two Robot Parade No! Where Do They Make Balloons? In the Middle, in the Middle, in the Middle Violin John Lee Supertaster The Edison Museum |
The House at the Top of the Tree Clap Your Hands I am Not Your Broom Wake Up Call I Am a Grocery Bag Lazyhead and Sleepybones Bed Bed Bed Sleepwalkers |
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They Might Be Giants certainly have a way with a tune; I hadn't played John Henry in several years when I played it for review, and many of the melodies have obviously stuck like glue. Their fifth release, it was the first to feature a 'proper' band playing alongside Johns Flansburgh and Linnell, and the difference is immediately apparent, with a cohesive 'band' sound, and little of the accordion that plagued their earlier records. The lyrics (and tunes, for that matter) are as quirky as ever, with highlights including Snail Shell, I Should Be Allowed To Think and Meet James Ensor, but there isn't actually a bad track on the record, which is an achievement in itself. Although it's not credited in the CD booklet, Linnell has admitted that he stuck some 'Tron onto a couple of tracks. Window has some flute chords, while The End Of The Tour features some lovely string chordal work, though neither track is exactly smothered in the thing.
The band followed up with a shorter effort, '96's Factory Showroom, featuring a similarly quirky combination of styles as on John Henry, including the 'typical' TMBG of Metal Detector, New York City and their ode to the 11th president of the US (apparently), James K. Polk, replete with Theremin. Battling it out with them are the cod-Philly soul of S-E-X-X-Y and the noo wave of Till My Head Falls Off, while the outrageously murky I Can Hear You was recorded on an Edison cylinder machine. Linnell on (real?) 'Tron again, with a 'stabby' choir part, complete with very real-sounding key-click on How Can I Sing Like A Girl? and flutes on the preposterous XTC Vs. Adam Ant (like, there's a contest?).
There's supposed to be some Mellotron on 2000's main theme for Malcolm In The Middle, but not to my ears. Two years later, TMBG released a kids' album, No! (a trick later used by Medeski Martin & Wood), sounding not that dissimilar to any other TMBG album, to be honest. It's good, but you've got to be in the mood for this stuff, especially when it's (admittedly highly skewed) kids' songs. Minimal 'Tron on one track, with pitchbent choirs and flutes at the end of opener Fibber Island.
Anyway, three reasonably satisfying albums of great, quirky (that word again) little songs, although none are really worth purchasing for their Mellotronic content. Buy anyway.
See: Mono Puff
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The Water Road (2008, 73.11) ****½/TTTT½The Long FianchettoReturglas Chameleon Om Tare Tacenda for You When the Moon is in the River of Heaven Plaint The Water Road |
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Thieves' Kitchen fell on their feet the day Thomas Johnson (a.k.a. Tomas Jonsson) joined. Those of you who've been watching/listening will have already made the connection; he was Änglagård's keyboard player for both their periods of activity, and recommendations don't come much higher than that. At the time of writing, he's living and studying in the UK, although I'm not entirely sure whether the band pursued him, or he answered a 'keyboard player wanted' ad; either way, his arrival is the musical step up they need to take them to the next level. Artistically speaking, of course, there's no money to be made in the wild'n'wacky world of prog, and everyone involved knows it, which hasn't stopped them from making an album as good as their fourth, The Water Road.
Thieves' Kitchen specialise in a slightly fusionesque form of prog, interestingly managing to sound like no-one else particularly in the process; Johnson's arrival (he writes or co-writes most of the album's material) shifts the balance towards the prog end of the spectrum, unsurprisingly, although some tracks retain a jazzy edge. By and large, though, we're talking symphonic prog as it was, is and ever shall be, with several guests to spice things up a little, not least Änglagård's erstwhile flautist, Anna Holmgren, as if the connection needed reinforcing. Vocals on most tracks from Amy Darby, so this isn't that much like Änglagård, although the band must realise comparisons are inevitable.
Thomas flew over to Mattias Olsson's Roth-Händle studio in Stockholm to overdub many of the album's keyboard parts; aside from the Mellotron, there are apparently various Optigan and Orchestron interjections, though they're not that easy to spot. As for the Mellotron, lengthy opener The Long Fianchetto has a few short string parts, plus what sounds like Mellotron vibes, but Thomas goes to town properly on his own Änglagårdesque composition, Returglas, with strings, cellos and brass all over. The strings crop up everywhere on the album, with other sounds dropping in and out as needed; choirs on Chameleon, church organ on Om Tare, flutes on the title track... A veritable 'Tron-fest, in fact.
So; do you like progressive rock? Do you like Mellotrons? Then buy this album, pronto. Thieves' Kitchen have come on leaps and bounds from their debut (reviewed here), and that wasn't bad... One criticism? It's too long, but that seems to be standard practice in the age of the 80-minute CD. Anyway, this really is one of the best new prog albums I've heard in a long time, and certainly one of the best from the UK. Buy. Now.
See: Sampledelica! | Änglagård
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I, Thighpaulsandra (2001, 136.15) ***/T |
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| Lycraland The Angelica Declaration Optical Black Abuse Foundation IV Michel Publicity Window Terrible We, the Descending |
Limping Across the Sky Home Butt Club Celine and Julie Go Boating Beneath the Frozen Lake of Stars |
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Tim "Thighpaulsandra" Lewis has worked with several main players in the '90s UK experimental scene, not least Spiritualized, Coil and Julian Cope. His first solo release was 2000's Some Head EP, followed up a year later by the portentously-titled sprawling double-disc set I, Thighpaulsandra. In the same ballpark as his Cope collaboration, Queen Elizabeth, its track lengths vary from three minutes to over half an hour, ranging stylistically from piano balladry to Copeian heavy psych to avant-noise, although its default setting is a kind of Spiritualized-esque krautrock that's likely to incite either jubilation or despair in the listener (or both?).
Yer man plays Mellotron, amongst other synthetic devices, with strings on The Angelica Declaration, Home Butt Club and the 32-minute Beneath The Frozen Lake Of Stars, all to passable, if not ecstatic effect. All in all, I, Thighpaulsandra is a massively ambitious album that probably achieves its objective, whatever that is. Whether it's particularly listenable, at least in one sitting, is another matter... It's not for everyone, but it's definitely for someone. Not much Mellotron, in the way of Cope's similar albums, but it's hardly the album's defining feature, anyway.
Incidentally, it seems Lewis and Cope have fallen out over the latter's adverse reaction to the homoerotic S&M imagery on the former's Double Vulgar. Also incidentally, while reviewing this album, I discovered another two Thighpaulsandra Mellotron releases, 2001's The Michel Publicity Window E.P. and 2003's aforementioned Double Vulgar, although I'm afraid I currently have access to neither. Reviews forthcoming when etc. etc.
See: Julian Cope | Coil | Queen Elizabeth
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Thin Lizzy (1971, 39.12/55.14) ***/T |
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| The Friendly Ranger at Clontarf Castle Honesty is No Excuse Diddy Levine Ray-Gun Look What the Wind Blew in Eire Return of the Farmer's Son Clifton Grange Hotel |
Saga of the Ageing Orphan Remembering [CD adds: Dublin Remembering Part 2 Old Moon Madness Things Ain't Working Out Down at the Farm] |
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Shades of a Blue Orphanage (1972) ***/TThe Rise and Dear Demise of the Funky Nomadic TribesBuffalo Gal I Don't Want to Forget How to Jive Sarah Brought Down Baby Face Chatting Today Call the Police Shades of a Blue Orphanage |
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Thin Lizzy's first two albums bear practically no relation to the Lizzy everyone knows from later in the decade, the material being bluesy, laid-back and extremely lyrical, although I believe they always rocked more on stage. After an initial (and fantastically rare) single, followed by the still very rare New Day EP, the band released their eponymous debut, with poignant numbers like Diddy Levine, Look What The Wind Blew In and Remembering, heavily influenced by Phil Lynott's Dublin upbringing. Honesty Is No Excuse is the sole Mellotron track here, with an orchestrated string part put down by Ivor Raymonde. The song isn't the best on the album, being a 3/4 acoustic strumalong, and the 'Tron part doesn't really enhance it much, I'm afraid to say.
Shades of a Blue Orphanage's title track, yet another Lynott homage to his hometown childhood, is another gentle acoustic number with Mellotron strings, this time played by rather excellent Irish folk-rockers' Mellow Candle's Clodagh Simonds, and rather less orchestrated than on their preceding album. Yet again, the 'Tron doesn't really add much to the track and you wonder whose decision it was to bring one in. Incidentally, rumour has it that the odd selection of song titles on display here are due to Lynott receiving a call from Decca asking for the new album's tracklisting. Having not actually written anything yet, Phil spouted the first things that came into his head, saddling the poor band with The Rise And Dear Demise Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes, I Don't Want To Forget How To Jive et al.
David 'Kid' Jensen, at that time a Radio Luxemburg DJ, was Lizzy's first real champion, and was invited to perform the rather silly narration on their third album, Vagabonds of the Western World (****½), a massive improvement over their first two. In an early book on the band, written in the mid-'70s, he remarks that when original guitarist Eric Bell left, they maybe should've replaced him with one guitarist 'and a Mellotron player', instead of the legendary twin-guitar lineup they embraced. Now, much as I'm one to champion Mellotron use almost anywhere, I have to say that I think they made the right decision. Sorry Kid, twin guitar lead cuts it rather better than the extremely average 'Tron on display here...
So; neither album's that great, and the Mellotron use is fairly dismal, so I'd say these are really for Lizzy completists only. Don't expect anything like their later sound, although they do have their moments, and it's interesting to hear where Phil's vocal style originated.
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In Extremis (1998, 52.33) ***½/TDead SilenceBehold the Man This Weird Wind Les Etudes d'Organism Maelstrom The Aesthete Kingdom Come |
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Thinking Plague fall defiantly into the 'weird' end of prog, sharing musicians with the likes of the 5uu's, and bearing strong comparison with the Art Bears and Henry Cow. Guitarist Bob Drake is a member, which, if you've heard any of his work, probably tells you all you need to know about them. They're actually a bit too left-field for my personal taste, but are obviously masters in their chosen field, with In Extremis apparently being fairly typical of their output. Oddly, the album becomes slightly more 'normal' as it goes along, or did I just start getting used to their style?
Keys man Shane Hotle plays on three tracks only, and Mellotron on just one, the lengthy closer Kingdom Come, with string and flute interjections at various points throughout the track. You can actually hear him doing the 'Mellotron crawl', shifting notes about within a chord to sustain it past the eight-second mark, proving either a) it's real, or b) he's fanatically 'authentic' with his samples. I choose a).
So; one for all you Univers Zero and Present fans, along with the others bands named above. In Extremis is good at what it does, but don't go too far out of your way for the 'Tron content.
See: Bob Drake
