Style: prog
Country: uk
Audio: lossless (ape 822k)
Size: 263mb
Issue: 1993 One Way MCAD 22081
from Gibraltar:After the departure of David Greenslade from Colosseum in his quest for a solo career, drummer Jon Hiseman teamed up with a very talented bunch of musicians to form Colosseum II. Powered by the guitars of Gary Moore and the keyboards of Don Airey, they released a trio of albums, of which these are the best two. Musically, they straddle the boundary between jazz fusion and rock in very much the same style as Brand X, Arti+Mestieri, etc., with an increased keyboard presence. With the exception of a couple of tracks, most of their work is all-instrumental. Jon Hiseman's drum and percussion work also contributes greatly to the intensity of the music, all of which is anchored by John Mole's bass. Electric Savage was released at the end of 1976. As noted in the sleeve, "Just hours before Christmas 1976 and a few hours after our return from a European tour, our exhausted crew set up the gear ... for seven days we continued playing the music live ...." The recording captures the musical virtuosity of the band members, and their ability to present a powerful live performance. Wardance was released in 1977, and was a more mature work with tightly executed compositions written around the dueling guitar and keyboard leads of Moore and Airey. In terms of overall effect this might have the edge over Electric Savage, but only slightly. Additionally, Don Airey's keyboard work is on equal footing with Gary Moore's guitars, unlike Electric Savage in which Moore's guitar was more prominent in the mix. Jon Hiseman tries it for a third time this time enlisting newcomers Gary Moore (guitar), Don Airey (keyboards), and Mike Starrs (vocals). Starrs lasted for only one album as the band made a change to a more instrumental approach. Strange New Flesh is an interesting first release by the new lineup. The opening track, "Dark Side of the Moog" - a humerous tribute to Pink Floyd, shows a band primed and ready for an instrumental performance. The second track, a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Down to You" is a bit of a letdown after the solid opener, but does redeem itself by Don Airey's extended keyboard improvisation in the middle. The remainder of the album much the same, great instrumental passages surrounded by vocal pieces that seem out of place. All in all a nice album, but nothing to rush out and buy. Electric Savage was recorded just before Christmas in 1976 and shows a Colosseum II that has corrected all the shortcomings from the first album. Gone are the laborous vocal tracks with Gary Moore handling the lone brief vocal track. Instead you will find relentless interplay between Moore and Airey with the listener left trying to decide who really won. This is high enery progressive fusion in the same vein as Return to Forever or Mahavishnu Orchestra sans violin. You have not heard the best of Gary Moore unless you have heard this album. Very highly recommended. Wardance features the same lineup as Electric Savage and is really more of the same brand of fierce fusion. All three releases are available as Japanese or US domestic CD reissues. Variations is an Andrew Lloyd Webber album of arrangements of a theme written by classical composer Nicolò Paganini. He enlisted all of the members of Colosseum II (Hiseman, Moore, Airey & Mole) as well as Rod Argent, Phil Collins, and Herbie Flowers. The 2nd track, "Theme (Paganini Caprice in A Minor No. 24) and Variations 1-4" was used as the theme music to ITV's "South Bank Show". -- Dave Lane
This delightful Dutch band had its roots in 1965, when Rob van Wageningen (flute, saxophone) and Peter (bass) and Winky Abbink (drums) brothers played together in a band called Free Art Group, along with other musicians. This band played music, mostly inspired by classic and avant-garde jazz musicians, namely, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra and John Coltrane.
In 1968, they were joined by Tony Schreuder in bass, renaming themselves Group 67/68, and Peter Abbink switching to guitar. During concerts in Felix Meritis they met Ruud Tegelaar, manager of center Fantasio, who offered them to become the house band in Fantasio. They also changed their name once again to Ahora Mazda, a corrupt version of the chief deity of Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda. (Zarathustra religion is also called "Mazdaizm.) The name was suggested by Tegelaar.
The band was known for their long jam sessions, but they recorded shorter and more arranged songs for their self-titled debut (and only) album. The album was recorded in three days and released on May 31, 1970.
During the next year, Tony Schreuder and Winky Abbink had some problems playing and rehearsing. At concerts they needed the help of substitute musicians, like guitarist Jan Landkroon and Michiel Krijnen. Abbink was replaced by Paul van Wageningen, who played drums in Groep 1850. Because of these difficulties and the lack of atmosphere that came with the substitutes the band ceased to exist.
Their music is a reflection of the "spacy" music (as implied by the name of the first track in the album) in Netherlands, yet, they owe more to the Kosmische Music scene of Germany than the symphonic approach of their fellow countrymen such as Focus, and of those which were yet to come, like Kayak and Finch. Though the tracks are relatively short (the longest clocking shortly over 9 minutes), they still retain the "jamming" and "experimental" features, which are landmarks of the kosmische Krautrock sound. The CD reissue adds 5 shorter bonus tracks, which still have the same characteristics.
01. Jungle drums 6:22
02. Inconstant wisdom 2:49
03. Water 6:04
04. The finger 6:26
05. Early morning 4:49
06. Waterfall 4:02
07. Beholdin' 9:02
08. Water is my friend 2:32
09. Elementallity 3:11
- Arthur Brown / vocals, recorder
- Rob Tait / drums
- "Goodge" Harris and Mystery Man / keyboards
- Bob Ellwood and Mystery Man / guitars
- Dave Ambrose / bass
- Pete Bailey / percussion
From ProgressiveRock : The second self-titled album from Arthur Brown and company followed in similarly bizarre tradition as the debut, but offered a more concise journey than its predecessor. The band had paired down to guitarist Andy Dalby, organist Mike "Goodge" Harris and drummer Slim Steer, all being retained from the first album. Bassist Phil Shutt however was new. The album kicks off with the slow building atmosphere of "Water" before arriving at one of Brown’s most enduring compositions, the soulful "Love Is the Spirit". From there "City Medley" offers some good progressive jamming from the band, ending in a wild frenzy of synthesizer and weirdness. The second side begins with the Vincent Crane-penned "Teacher". The altogether earthy "Experiment" (complete with farting) was a mini-epic in itself, racing through several themes over the course of its eight-minute length. "Whirlpool" is self-explanatory, though it does feature some plaintive guitar lines from Dalby. The album ended with another crooner from Brown, the uplifting and soulful "Hymn". Kingdom Come’s hybrid was definitely unique among British progressives, though the understated musicianship was more than likely lost in the implausible weirdness! From all accounts, there are little words to describe the Kingdom Come live experience. However, chart success would again prove elusive.
Galactic Zoo is an album of chaos and mayhem, with church - like mantras along the way. Kingdom Come is similarly demented. Journey is more song-based and there are some great guitar riffs on the closing track Come Alive. Many regard it as one of the best 'space-rock' albums of all time. The recently-released Jam however, is a spontaneous, rambling set, which veers between jazz and hippie rock and is only for diehard fans.
The Kingdom Come live performance was as entertaining as that of Brown's 'Crazy World' band. Arthur would come on resplendent in a set of traffic lights or would climb into a giant syringe on stage. For the band's Journey album they all wore gold paint and used a Bentley drum machine rather than a conventional drummer. Andy Dalby was only sixteen when he joined the band having already had a stint with the Spirit Of John Morgan. He later played for Kiki Dee, Vapour Trails and went on to production work. Arthur Brown at his best possessed one of the great voices of rock music and his stage shows were never dull. ~ (Bill Stow/Vernon Joynson)
A blues-rock outfit whose albums are now rare. Their power blues-rock was clearly influenced by Cream and certainly the CD reissues are worth a spin. The flip side to their sole 45 is quite good boogie-orientated music with some punk leanings (years before punk), and has subsequently resurfaced on Syde Trips, Vol. 5 along with Soon There Will Be Everything and Lost Alone.
In 1969 they supported Yes at the Marquee, backed Freddie King and toured Europe. Lou Martin left after the first album and a handful of BBC Radio sessions (including a John Peel session) and later played with Rory Galagher. They became Salt in 1974. ~ (VJ/CA/JN).
2. Frestelser I stan (4:47)
3. Orientens express (2:06)
4. Resa mot okänt mål (7:14)
5. Jag älskar sommaren - solen och varma vindar (10:47)
6. Förberedelser till fest (3:33)
7. Kommunisera! (5:12)
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Oldish Psych & Prog offers progressive psychedelic rock music mp3 lossless downloads
