Discography

The Electric Lucifer (70) Hush Little Robot (98, CD Compilation) The Electric Lucifer Book 2 (01, Recorded 1979)

Reviews

[The Electric Lucifer is a] strange-looking early 70's electronic concept album.

Bruce Haack also recorded as Dimension 5. Several of the songs on Hush Little Robot are from the Dimension 5 albums This Old Man and The Way-Out Record for Children, other cuts are from The Electric Lucifer. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for an Electric Lucifer/Bruce Haack web site. Hush Little Robot and The Electric Lucifer Book 2 available (maybe) from QDK page of Psychedelic-music.com web site.

Soleil Noir (84)

This album is said be excellent and reminiscent of Catharsis or Führs and Fröhling. Hasselmann has three other LPs.

Haas was the bassist in Ange.

[See Ange]

If A Man But Knew (72)

Prog rock, with Mighty Baby members.

[See Mighty Baby]

Discography

Haboob (71)

Reviews

Prog, perhaps comparable to Amon Düül II?

Interesting one-off project co-led by 3 US expatriots living in Germany: keyboardist Jimmy Johnson, drummer George Green and guitarist William Powell. The major point of interest for most progressive fans is Haboob's very significant connections with Amon Düül 2. The LP features psychedelic cover art by Amon Düül 2 keyboardist Falk U. Rogner, and it was produced by Amon Düül 2 saxophonist / producer Olaf Kubler. Jimmy Johnson has numerous studio credits, but is perhaps best known in prog-rock circles for his collaboration with Amon Düül 2 on Wolf City and Dance of the Lemmings (along with Phallus Dei, the band's best work, in my opinion). As you'd expect, Johnson's effects-laden organ and Mellotron (here called "choir-organ") are quite prominent. Unfortunately, Johnson's compositions aren't nearly as distinguished - the LP is comprised of a free improvisation (during which Green cuts loose to display some considerable jazz chops), a very Hendrix-inspired blues, and some pretty straightforward psychedelic soul - funk - rock pieces. The end result is sort of like a collaboration between Amon Düül 2 and early Funkadelic, or the Chambers Brothers (or perhaps even Sly Stone), minus the extended guitar explorations. The vocals, guitars and keyboards are heavily processed throughout - in fact the singing is pretty much buried beneath multiple layers of effects and electronic weirdness. The lyrics are only occasionally understandable. Despite the relative simplicity of the music, it has a lot of appeal - and I would urge those of you who are interested in a fusion of Euro-psychedelia with US soul and funk to seek this one out. Green's hard-driving rhythms give the music a real funky edge, and Johnson does some interesting stuff. -- Dave Wayne

Links

[See Amon Düül II]

Discography

Voyage Of The Acolyte (75) Please Don't Touch (78) Spectral Mornings (79) Defector (80) Cured (81) Highly Strung (83) Cell 151 (83) (EP + Bonus EP) Bay Of Kings (83) Till We Have Faces (84) A Doll That's Made In Japan (84, EP) GTR (85, w/ Steve Howe) Momentum (88) Time Lapse (92, Live) The Unauthorized Biography (92) Guitar Noir (93) Blues With A Feeling (94) There Are Many Sides To The Night (94) A Midsummer Night's Dream (97) Genesis Revisited (97, a.k.a. Watcher of the Skies) The Tokyo Tapes (98, Live) Darktown (99) Sketches of Satie (00) Feedback '86 (00, Recorded in '86)

Reviews

Steve Hackett Steve Hackett: What can I say? He started out in a little band called Quiet World, joined this small art rock band, eventually left, and now has a great solo career! Of course, the "small art rock band" was none other than Genesis, and the music he helped produce was incredible, but that's when working with others. On his own, he's equally incredible, if not more so! Steve is best known for his instrumental work, his acoustic playing style, the "tapping on the fretboard" style that Van Halen popularized, and much more. His music has evolved over the years, and while some of it was not up to the standards that he set with other albums, they are still excellent: Voyage Of The Acolyte: This is a tie for his best album. I personally consider it to be the "missing" Genesis album from this period. It features Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, and is an incredible album. From the slightly bizarre "Ace of Wands" to the enchanting "Shadow Of The Hierophant," it shows what Steve is capable of. Please Don't Touch: This is a decent album, showing his different musical sides. He goes from a Kansas-ish "Narnia" to an acoustic "Kim," to the powerful "Please Don't Touch." This album has different feels from song to song. Vocals are done by Richie Havens (folk singer) and Walsh (Kansas), among others. Spectral Mornings: This is probably the #2 album to get. From beginning to end, pure magic. If you enjoy instrumentals, this album is great, and if you enjoy Steve's style, this is a must-buy. Defector: Another amazing album by Steve. Has some really good songs ("Two Vamps as Guests," "Hammer in the Sand"), the song with the "tapping" ("Slogans"), and others. There are a couple songs which aren't up to par, but still quite listenable to. Cured: Umm... unfortunately, Steve lapsed on this one. There is only one really good song on this album, "The A-C Nightmare." Rocking instrumental, especially if done live. However, the rest of the album doesn't quite reach the heights of the others. Probably above what most others do. Highly Strung: A good Jazz-Rock album. If you liked his album with Steve Howe (GTR), you'll probably enjoy this. A lot more rock in this album, and still very good. I recommend it if you don't mind missing the "mellow" tracks off his other albums. This one just cooks! Cell 151 EP + Bonus EP: An EP that is very good. 4 Live songs, and an alternate "Clocks." Well worth getting if you can find it. Bay Of Kings: Steve was classically trained on the guitar. What does that mean? It means that he was trained by playing classical music, rather than rock. This is one of his two all-acoustic albums. If you enjoy instrumentals then get it. It's amazing what he can do with a guitar. Till We Have Faces: er ... this is an okay album. Not his best, but not his worst. It's merely an average album, unfortunately, but it has its moments. A Doll That's Made In Japan EP: Has the LONG "Doll That's Made In Japan," and an unreleased song, "Just the Bones." Very good, albeit short and hard to find. Momentum: If I remember right, Steve took the proceeds from GTR and used it to go on tour for this album. This his other acoustic instrumental album, and if you like Bay of Kings, you'll love this. If you are looking for rock'n'roll, this is NOT for you. A VERY mellow album, but if you like classical guitar, this is one of the best! Time Lapse: Steve took 2 recordings, one from 1981, the other from 1989. This is a good introduction to his music, and he proves that live albums can be better than studio albums. One new song on this one, Depth Charge (still unreleased except on this album). This, along with Guitar Noir and Unauthorized Biography, are the best albums for people curious about the Hackett "feel." The Unauthorized Biography: If only they would release this in the USA! This is a bunch of studio songs (a good selection), and two new songs. "Don't Fall Away From Me" was done with Brian May (they started it, Steve finished it). "Prayers and Dreams" is another acoustic instrumental. One of his best, IMHO. If you are looking for an album to "check out" Steve, this is a good sampler (Time Lapse and Guitar Noir are the others). GTR: Sell out? Did I hear someone mention selling out? Of course you did. This was a group that was designed to sell records, and show how effective two great guitarists could be. The music is decent, but not what you'd expect from two of the best guitarists, Steve Howe and Steve Hackett. If you don't mind pop-rock and cheesy lyrics, you'll like this. Has some GOOD songs ("Imagining"), but overall just another pop album. Cell 151/ Time Lapse In Milton Keynes: Has those 2, plus "The A-C nightmare" live. Guitar Noir: Last year, Steve went on tour with a BUNCH of new material. Some of it evolved during the long road trip across the United States, and some of it was created during it! A definite tie for his #1 album! Blues in one part, rock in another, jazz and acoustics all in one album! It should be released in the USA in September, and is already out in the UK. GET IT! There you have it. If I were to rank them by quality, I'd say: VotA/GN, TL/SM/HS, most of the others, then lastly Cured/Till We Have Faces. If I were to recommend AN album for people curious about Steve's work, I'd recommend Guitar Noir. This way, once they become addicted, they won't have two copies of all the songs! :) Time Lapse rocks as well, and if you like live music, you'll love this one. Overall, one INCREDIBLE guitarist!

Links

[See Genesis] Click here for Steve Hackett's web site

Discography

Hades (92, Recorded 1974)

Reviews

Scandinavian band on Änglagård's LP label (Colours).

Discography

Haikara (72) Geafar (73) Iso Lintu (75) Haikara IV: Domino (98) Tuhkamaa (01)

Reviews

In the 1970s Haikara ("The Stork") were considered one of the leading Finnish prog bands, along with the likes of Wigwam and Tasavallan Presidentti, but unlike those groups, Haikara was somewhat forgotten in the 80's and 90's. Considering the quality of their eponymous first album, this is a real shame. Released in 1972, Haikara is, IMHO, one of the masterpieces of Finnish prog. Long out of print, the original LP is a pricey collector's item, so it was commendable of Warner Music Finland to finally re-release the album on CD in 1998. The band's line up is vox/perc, guitar/keys/bass, flute/sax, bass, drums/perc; there is also a fair amount of guest strings and brass. Guitar and sax form the heart of the band's sound, but keyboards (piano and organ) and orchestral sounds are used quite imaginatively to a full-sounding end. The album contains five tracks (one five and a half minute long cut and four in the 7-11 minutes class). All tracks have vocals, with lyrics in Finnish, but those of you unfamiliar with the language are not missing anything vital: most of the lyrics are the kind of quasi-socialist, "let's call for universal peace and bash the bourgeois bastards" type of ranting which I guess was zeitgeist at the time the album was recorded. As for musical influences, the most obvious is King Crimson, especially in the last song "Manala" ("Hades"), which opens with a bittersweet acoustic guitar/flute section and then builds into a hardedged, gothic rocker with blaring saxophone and guitar. Likewise, the ghost of Van Der Graaf Generator haunts some of the sax solos and riffs. However, for most part I wouldn't say the music is all that derivative. "Yksi maa - yksi kansa" ("One Country - One People") alternates between melodic verses adorned with warm orchestral sounds, and some inspired instrumental parts, where various instruments solo and trade riffs over an active rhythm section negotiating odd time signatures. The tongue-in-the-cheek opener "Köyhän pojan kerjäys" (A Poor Boy Begging) even incorporates some ideas from Finnish folk and military marching music. Geafar followed in 1973 and is more of a mixed-bag, though still a strong album. The 14-minute title track builds on and develops the first-album style: dark, doomy and driving with clear female vocals, bouncy, odd-time vocal sections, screaming sax and guitar solos, sparingly-used strings and a few subdued piano sections, it is definitely one of the highlights of Finnish prog in the 1970's. However, elsewhere their sound is more stripped down and streamlined. The album's only English song "Change" is just a straight-ahead, somewhat banal rocker with wah-wah guitar, sax, drums and a monstrously overdriven bass (which is even used as a solo instrument), padded out with jamming and extended solos. The two short songs "Kantaatti" (Cantata) and "Laulu surullisesta pilvestä" ("The Song about a Sad Cloud"), on the other hand, use piano, wordless female vocals, flute and subtle string arrangements to a very classically-elegant effect. Finally, "Kun menet tarpeeksi kauas tulevaisuuteen, huomaat olevasi menneisyydessä" ("When You Go Far Enough into the Future, You'll Find Yourself in the Past") in effect combines elements of all these styles and features a really weird-sounding guitar solo. The Ektro Records CD version includes four short bonus tracks recorded in 1976 and 1979. They range from funky, horn-driven fusion to catchy pop with nimble flute and synth leads. Progressively less progressive, Iso Lintu ("A Big Bird") contains only songs of under five-minute duration, a result of executive rather than artistic considerations. "Kuinka ollakaan" ("What a Surprise") lampoons the situation with its clever juxtapositions of scruffy flute riffs, dance beats, quasi-classical orchestration and a spacey synth solo. In fact, about half of the tracks on this eclectic album seem to have been made with the tongue slithering towards the cheek. For example, "Hotellinainen" ("Hotel Woman") has a sub-Black Sabbath guitar riff, a lyric that reads like a Sunday Schooler's idea of cock-rock, and a few overwrought vocal effects that could best be described as pornographic. "Leppäkerttu" ("Ladybug") and "2 + 2 = 5" are lightweight pop with sprightly orchestrations, not too far from Kayak at their silliest. However, the album also features several stately symphonic numbers that are quite serious and progressive. "Aamu" ("Morning") and "Romanssi" ("Romance") are particularly beautiful with their melancholy, descending melodies and quasi-classical arrangements, at times resembling more inspired versions of Alan Parsons' orchestral ballads. "Romanssi" was part of a five-part symphonic composition called "Kuutamo" ("Moonlight"), which was performed live and recorded for the Finnish radio, but all recordings seem to have been lost. Iso Lintu is not lost but remains unavailable on CD. The band's guitarist and musical prime mover Vesa Lattunen reformed the band in the 90's with three younger musicians. Their sole release during the decade was called Haikara IV: Domino. The album contains six tracks and is generally more low-key. There are long, medium-tempo instrumental sections with alternating sax and guitar solos, all very nice and melodic, and occasional vocal sections. The compositions are well-crafted, though not particularly complex or developed, with some subtle Eastern influences; there is even some Gregorian chanting at the beginning of "Gloria Deo". The production is very understated, perhaps aiming for the 70's sound, but you occasionally get the feeling that there could have been more variation in instrumentation (e.g. the nearly inaudible keyboards could have been brought up to augment the guitar, which is now the sole polyphonic instrument). Overall, a very warm-sounding album. Actually, with all the unhurried tempos, clean-but-crispy guitar sounds and cymbal-heavy drumming, I am reminded of mid-70s Popol Vuh. Not as strong an album as the first one but still very worthwhile. In 2001 Haikara first contributed a new version of "Yksi maa - yksi kansa" for Tuonen tytär ("Death's Daughter"), a tribute album to the Finnish progressive rock bands of the 1970s, and then followed it with a full album of their own, Tuhkamaa (Ashland). Here the band's sound has moved from the sylvan warmth of Domino to a steelier, more up-to-date sound, and their approach grown darker and more focused in a way that recalls Geafar particularly. You can hear the influence clearest in the instrumental "Kosovo", in its martial beats, rumbling cello and bass pulses, and saxophone lines uneasily probing the perimeter of dissonance (given the title and the time the song was written in, its harshness is hardly surprising). Yet despite all the new-found dramatics, the relative sparseness of Domino lingers on the angry instrumental "Hymni" ("Anthem"), where too much time is spent on sax wailing over a single, unadorned power-chord riff and punchy rhythm. There are also a couple of very straight-forward tunes, the urgent "Valtakunta" ("Kingdom") and the hymnal ballad "Oodi" ("Ode"), whose limpid female vocals and heartfelt sentiment bring the otherwise bleak album to a hopeful, even joyous closure. But three consecutive tracks - "Harlekiini" ("Harlequin"), "Klovni" ("Clown") and the title track - are fully cut from the classic Haikara wood, with Lattunen's unaffected vocals, discreet guitar picking and bittersweet melodies stylishly counter-pointed with cello, passionate sax and some keyboards. Despite this diversity, Tuhkamaa is a clearly an album-length work, as there are several distinct musical themes that run through the album. Not as accessible as its predecessor, it will reveal its beauty on subsequent listens. Haikara were also involved in two further projects by the Finnish progressive music association Colossus, Kalevala: A Finnish Progressive Rock Epic and The Spaghetti Epic. The two lengthy songs they contributed to these sprawling concept works are developments of the Tuhkamaa sound, employing female vocals and more extensive arrangements with the same brooding marches, dissonant riffs and acoustic dirges that featured prominently on that album. Kalevala's track particularly achieves a good balance of rather heavy, King Crimson-influenced guitar riffs and a Karelian-flavoured vocal melody seemingly fashioned out of ice-cold ether and supported only by a sepulchral cello. Similarly, while "The West" on The Spaghetti Epic is a less cohesive work, it nicely achieves a similar feel of mythical, melancholy grandeur as Ennio Morricone's original score for Once Upon a Time in the West without actually nicking anything from it. Haikara were also slated to appear on the second Spaghetti Epic, but these plans came to a stark end with the sudden death of Vesa Lattunen in March 2005. He was mourned by many in the progressive community both inside and outside Finland. With the exception of some previously unpublished material perhaps seeing release, it seems that Haikara has flown its final flight. [Regarding an album formerly in discography, Rakkat Kuunteligat (7?)]: I have never heard of this album, and no Finnish discography I have consulted mentions it. The title is a misspelling of "rakkaat kuuntelijat" ("dear listeners"), which is the title of the liner notes of the first album. So I believe that if this really exists, it is an obscure foreign bootleg or a pirate edition of the first album. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Links

Click here for Tuchol's Progressive Rock page which contains info on Danish prog and has an unofficial Haikara section Click here for more information on the Kalevala project

Discography

Haizea (75) Hontz gaua (76)

Reviews

Hontz gaua (Elkar KD-10105/ Lost Vinyl L.V. 006) is a psychedelic and occasionally even progressive take on Basque folk tunes and similar-minded original compositions, performed predominantly on acoustic instruments and largely without kit drums. Indeed, the bright opener "Anderea" is a straight-forward folk rendition, ringing acoustic guitars and double bass escorting a dark but melodious female voice through a compelling traditional melody like countless others must have done before. But the dusky melody of "Egunarn hastapena" surfaces from an uncertain sea of dark flute, violin and percussion tones, before racing to a sprightly accelerando conclusion with brief but busy drum support. This version of "Argizagi ederra", a traditional Basque ode to the moon, has a dreamy vocal line over a sparse, undulating cello background and stabs of electric guitar cries, all of which could be compared to Dead Can Dance or even a low-tech version of Clannad. The 14-minute title track is the most obviously progressive offering here: a solemn Latin chant by male voices leads to a pretty, meditative guitar ambulation, flute melodies and female vocalise. A storm then gathers in the form of spattering electric guitar ostinati, tolling and tempestuous cymbal work and whirlwind vocal wails, before the dark cello returns the song to a calmer tonality for a soft vocal and flute reprise. It is rudimentary experimentalism, but occasional it hits the spot brilliantly. While this rather short album is no classic, its low-key mesmerism could still inveigle those who like early Catharsis or Hosianna Mantra-era Popol Vuh with a distinct Basque cultural influence. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Hallelujah Babe (71)

With Amon Düül II and Niagara members

Discography

Part One (88) Laz (90) (ProgressoR review) Merlin (94) Silence (98) Le Festin (01)

Reviews

One of the very best new French bands. While Laz their second has been hailed as a classic by some, I wouldn't go this far. It is excellent, but has some rather dull moments that leave this one hanging a bit short. If you didn't like it, than don't bother with their first either!

Crimson influenced french band that has a penchant for creating eerie tunes, sometimes with frightening-sounding vocals. The first album was merely OK, but the second one Laz really rips: Check out the track "Iron Mickey" on side two for proof true. One of the better current french bands.

Halloween is one of the newer French progressives, contemporaries of bands like Minimum Vital and Tiemko. I have their 1990 release titled Laz. Their influences are varied, but I do hear some Pulsar. Perhaps the band took their name from Pulsar's classic album, Halloween. There is some excellent, contemporary guitar playing, as well as excellent keyboard work, vociferous violin, and tasteful bass. In addition to the Pulsar, there is, at least superficially, some similaries to Minimum Vital and especially Tiemko's excellent release, Ocean. For the most part, however, the music sounds pretty original to my ears, often being very atmospheric in nature rather than solos against a backdrop of instrumentation. I believe the vocals are in English but they aren't found very often. Very well done and highly recommended.

Merlin is a superb third production from this French band. Hear four excellent musicians share violin, guitars, basses, keyboards, lute, drums, percussions, vocals. Also add participation by two string quartets (strings and winds) as well as guests on voice and flute. This impressive production offers inventive music and a variety of arrangements that range from chamber music to heavy symphonic, to jazz-rock fusion. Medieval themes are developed in music, song and words (in French) in the format of a captivating suite. The richness of this music dictates sustained attention by the listener. -- Paul Charbonneau

Links

Click here to order Halloween's CD's from Musea Records

Discography

Conservation of Mass (01)

Reviews

Hamadryad - Jean-François Désilets (Bass), Jocelyn Beaulieu (Lead Vocals & Guitars), Denis Jalbert (Guitars, Vocals), Yves Jalbert (Drums, Percussion, Vocals) and Francis Douchet (Keyboards) The Canadian band Hamadryad has released what may be the best prog album of 2001 (the copyright date is 2000, but it was actually released in March of 2001) for their debut. This album has everything you could ask for in a prog album, and if you are listening to something that you aren't thrilled about, just wait a moment and the music will change to something new that you are thrilled about. The diversity of music on this CD is tremendous, while some underlying style still keeps it cohesive as an album. Take for example the opening song ... well, after a 49-second tape loop noise intro ... "Amora Demonis" is a progressive metal song, though a section with psychedelic sitars gives some indication of what lies ahead. But if you stopped listening after the first song, you would have entirely the wrong impression of this band. The next four cuts really flow together to form a suite, beginning with the 23-second "Carved in Rust", an a capella piece reminiscent of Gentle Giant or Echolyn. This fades into part 1 of "Still They Laugh", which I can only describe as psychedelic, perhaps a bit reminiscent of The Flower Kings. The next part, "The Second Round" starts off with some cool leslied Hammond organ, then gets into a section which alternates between metallic crunching guitars and more Echolyn madrigal vocals. The last part, "Still They Laugh Part 2" gets extremely psychedelic, with a hypnotic super-flanged ending that makes you say "wow, man, is the CD doing that or am I just really stoned?" Know what I mean? Well, I could go on describing and raving about every piece on this CD. There are Canterburyish parts, great fretless bass playing, lots of spacey chorale Mellotron, and guitar solos that sound like Allan Holdsworth playing speed metal. There's even a cut "The Second Coming" which could be off of a decent Jon Anderson album with its folky guitar picking and vocal styling. Well, enough of descriptions and comparisons. This is a great album, and I recommend it highly. I've enjoyed the other releases of Unicorn Records also (Spaced Out and Mystery), but this one is by far my favorite. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Hamadryad's web site Click here to order Conservation of Mass from Unicorn Records

Discography

Hamel (72) The Voice of Silence (72) Buddhist Meditation (75) Nada (77) Organum (86) Let It Play (87)

Reviews

Ex-Between leader, minimalist keyboard works a la Terry Riley.

Links

[See Between]

Discography

Maliny Maliny (68, as Jan Hammer Trio, aka Make Love) Like Children (74, w/ Jerry Goodman) The First Seven Days (75) Oh Yeah (76) Jeff Beck w/ Jan Hammer Group Live (77) Melodies (77) Live (77, DJ promo release only) Black Sheep (78) Hammer (79) Untold Passion (81, w/ Neal Schon) Here To Stay (83, w/ Neal Schon) Miami Vice (85) The Early Years (86) Escape From Television (87) Snapshots (89) Beyond The Mind's Eye (92) Drive (94) Snaphots 1.2 (00)

Reviews

Jan Hammer during the "Miami Vice" days Groundbreaking jazz-rock keyboardist (and drummer) whose distinctive sound and style on the Mini-Moog and Fender Rhodes electric piano was widely imitated, especially by European fusion keyboardists. A Czech expatriate, Hammer first came to prominence in his native land, where he played in a trio which included brothers Miroslav Vitous on bass (who later joined Weather Report) and Alan Vitous (who has recorded with Lobos Andrst, among others) on drums. After emigrating to the US in the late 60s, Hammer gigged and recorded with jazz artists Sarah Vaughan, Elvin Jones, and Jeremy Steig. Hammer achieved wider recognition as the keyboardist in the Mahavishnu Orchestra with whom he recorded 3 fantastic albums. He left the Mahavishnu Orchestra under less-than-friendly circumstances, recorded a duet album [Like Children] with fellow ex-Mahavishnu violinist Jerry Goodman, and appeared on Billy Cobham's Spectrum, Stanley Clarke's eponymous second solo album, and a number of other excellent fusion recordings (Horacee Arnold's Tales of the Exonerated Flea, and John Abercrombie's Timeless leap to mind). For his first domestically-released solo album, The First Seven Days, Hammer utilized all manner of electronic keyboards (Moog and Oberheim synths, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, Moog bass, etc.), acoustic piano, and drums (plus hand percussion on a few tracks by David Earle Johnson) to provide a musical depiction of the beginning of the Earth (without any religous overtones). The music on The First Seven Days is a well-balanced and highly appealing fusion of jazz, progressive rock, folk, and classical elements. The followup to The First Seven Days, Oh Yeah?, is actually by the Jan Hammer Group, which included Steve Kindler on violin and guitar, Fernando Saunders on bass and Tony Smith on drums. Oh Yeah? is an essential jazz-fusion recording: bright, effervescent compositions full of odd time signatures and strange twists, Hammer's signature synth excursions, and fine playing by the rest of the band. A couple of decent vocal tracks slow the pace somewhat. Around this time MPS-BASF released Make Love, which was recorded several years earlier. Basically, Make Love is a modern jazz organ-bass-drums trio LP which will interest few progressive fans, its other merits aside. Melodies, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment as the creative instrumental fusion-jazz element of Hammer's music was de-emphasized in favor of rather nondescript poppish rock with funk and prog overtones. Live is a DJ-only promo released shortly after Melodies, perhaps in an attempt to recapture some of the band's credibility. Live is a decent record, but nowhere near as good as Oh Yeah?. Hammer appeared on Jeff Beck's great Wired LP, and a subsequent tour with the legendary guitar innovator resulted in another fine fusion record: the creatively-titled Jeff Beck Live With the Jan Hammer Band, which featured material from the Goodman-Hammer LP, Like Children, and The First Seven Days. Soon after the Beck tour and LP, Saunders and Smith left, ironically, to join John McLaughlin's One Truth Band. Hammer's subsequent solo records were highly commercial. In the 80s, he formed a band with Journey (and ex-Santana) guitarist Neal Schon, and appeared on a few jazz recordings such as John Abercrombie's excellent Night. Hammer also appeared on several fine fusion records by percussionist David Earle Johnson, as well as The Joy of Flying by drummer Tony Williams (the Hammer-Williams duet track "Eris" is particularly stunning). In the late 80s, Jan Hammer acheived fame as the creator of the soundtrack for the very popular television program, "Miami Vice". Fernando Saunders is now a sought-after NY session musician, and Steve Kindler has recorded several records in the New Age / "World Music" vein. -- Dave Wayne

Links

[See Goodman, Jerry | Mahavishnu Orchestra] Click here for the Official Jan Hammer web site

Discography

Fools Mate (71) Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night (73) The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage (74) In Camera (74) Nadir's Big Chance (75) Over (77) Nada (77) The Future Now (78) Vision (78) pH7 (79) A Black Box (80) Sitting Targets (81) Enter K (82) Patience (83) Loops and Reels (83) The Love Songs (84) The Margin (85) Skin (86) And Close as This (86) Spur of the Moment (88) In a Foriegn Town (88) Out of Water (90) RoomTemperatureLive (90, Live) Fall of the House of Usher (91, revised & re-issued in '99) Fireships (92) The Noise (93) There Goes the Daylight (93) Roaring Fourties (94) The Peel Sessions (95) X my Heart (96) tides (96, Live) Sonix (96) Everyone You Hold (97) This (98) Typical (99, Live) The Appointed Hour (99) None of the Above (00) What, Now? (01) Clutch (02) Incoherence (04)

Reviews

Peter Hammill Ex-Van der Graaf Generator with lots of solo albums. I have Over and And Close as This. Over is very good, very "personal." All the songs on ACaT are just Peter's voice and his keyboard, so they tend to be pretty mellow. Still good, though.

Enter K, Fireships, Patience are three releases by Van Der Graaf Generator's lead-man. All three releases feature Peter Hammill's intense vocals and very "literate" lyrics. All of these are from the eighties onward and tend to be a trifle less spare than his earlier material, musically. Enter K was released in 1982, and the CD features a bonus track, "Seven Wonders." Patience is from 1983, and follows in the same style. Both these recordings feature the classic line-up of Hammill/Potter/ Guy Evans/Ellis, augmented by the sax-work of David Jackson. Fireships features the other members on a few of the tracks, but Hammill's main compatriot is keyboardist/producer David Lord. The music on this work is more lush due to a more prominent keyboard presence, and Hammill's vocals seem to have mellowed a good deal, but the well arranged music and profound lyrical style remain. In fact, on some of the more sombre passages, the music is quite similar in style to David Sylvian, with an Eno-esque ambience. He returns with his latest release, The Nosie teaming up with old friends Dave Jackson and Nic Potter. His producer on recent releases, David Lord, is not in evidence, which is probably why the sound on this release is not as smooth as it was with Fireships and ...Usher. Hammill's guitars are more prominent in the mix, but his voice seems to have mellowed somewhat from the overwrought intensity of efforts from a few years ago. As always, though, the lyrics are "profound," with critical commentary on capitalism, white-collar crime and other social ills.

Just an incredible musician. His lyrics are unmatched by any others I've ever heard. His vocals stress the emotion of his lyrics. You can feel the pain, anger, emptiness, etc when he sings it. His vocals also annoy a lot of people. Too harsh for some. Peter plays mostly accoustic guitar and keyboards. There's a lot of mix between band structured stuff and completely solo work on his "solo" albums. The musical style of his solo stuff changed a lot over the years. Started out with a much richer sound at the start. The middle era stuff was somewhat experimental. The later stuff pushes toward accessibility a little more. The newest phase is pretty tame. I like his earlier stuff much better. Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night is great. "German Overalls," "In the End," and "(In the) Black Room" are great tracks. The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage is probably the most Van der Graaf Generator like album. "A Louse Is Not a Home" is one of Hammill's best. Nadir's Big Chance is probably a good place to start for the uninitiated. "Open Your Eyes" and "Two or Three Spectres" are classic tracks. Fools Mate has Fripp on it. In a Foreign Town and Skin are the best of his later albums. More accessible, but still interesting. Most of the middle albums are very patchy. Some good songs and mediocre songs on all of the albums.

Hammill founded Van der Graaf Generator in 1967. His solo work ranges over lots of styles and sounds. His first albums may fit any VdGG lover without much difficulty. His lyrics are always the best part. At the beginning they were more straight-forward, and very personal. I have separated his records in list in order to refer to them with respect of their different styles. 1971 - 1977: More Van der Graafian style. All of them are highly recommended. Fools Mate and Nadir's Big Chance are the less "serious" records, where Hammill finds time to express his foolish-self in his shorter song. Many members of VdGG and other friends (Fripp) are with him here. Chameleon... and Over are really depressing, as they are VERY personal records with lots of strong and sad songs. The first may be his most moving one, the second is more accessible to a larger audience, and it became his most succesful record. Both feature members of VdGG in several songs. Some songs are really rocking. The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage is the more Van-der-Graffian of them all, with "A Louse is not a Home." This one is the best artistically (IMHO). 1978 - 1980: Hammill experience period (rather long!). He plays lots of instruments here and even tries to play drums (and fails), but the outcome may be enjoying for some people. The Future Now and PH7 are both strange, PH7 is much easier to get into. Both have shorter songs with great lyrics. Hammill is alone except for Graham Smith (violin) and David Jackson (Sax) on few songs. Both have very similar sound. A Black Box is very hard to get into, but it has some great songs, with the very good "Flight" which is 20 min. long. If you're finding this one hard to understand, I recommend you to get to know the songs from the live performances... some help from friends on few instruments. Sitting Targets may be the begining of the formation of Hammill's new group. This one has a harder sound, but it isn't a band's album as the other players are only guests, and there are some Hammill solo songs. 1981 - 1985: Hammill forms another band, the short-lived K Group. Enter K, Patience are the K Group only original releases. All members have "band" names: K is Hammill, Fury is John Ellis, Mozart is Nic Potter and Brain is Guy Evans. Some guest appearance by David Jackson, David Lord and Stuart Gordon (Violin). These two are considered by some Hammill fans as the last two worth the hearing. The music is mainly rock, and the last track on both records is a nice progressive rock. The singing is as always very strong, and some songs really make these records very good. The lyrics begin to get obscure. The Margin is the K Group Live recording. Very strange to listen to at the start (the applause were cut out!), but it is a nice live double album. The K Group versions of Hammill's previous solo songs are very good, especially Flight. The Love Songs features beautiful songs from all of Hammill's fruitful career. "Just Good Friends" was totally re-done and it is great. Other songs were added some effects or some vocal/instrumental parts. Some were re-recorded with members of the K Group or with Stuart Gordon. "Been Alone So Long" remained without any change. Skin was Hammill's big return after 3 years of no original release. Although it is not a K Group album, he has a band behind him, with Evans, Jackson, David Coulter (playing Didjeridu, an oriental instrument you can hear on the start and the end of "Now Lover"), Gordon, Banton and David Luckhurst. It is a rather interesting album but the music tends to pop. 1986 - 1993 Hammill goes soloing again, and every record is different. And Close As This is a VERY solo album as Hammill only plays one keyboard and sings and that's all! Some midi work was done later but, as Hammill notes, this album was made with only one pass of the hand over the keyboard. A very interesting achieve, which some may really love (I know some!) In a Foreign Town - again a popier album, with lots of electric rhythm section (heavy synth bass and electric drums) This was trying to be accessible, but didn't really do the trick. Out of Water is a very sad and slow album which has an enjoyable sound and production. Some songs are very long, most are strong. Hammill got a help here from Gordon and Ellis. Hammill's voice here is a bit strange, and not as good as usual. In 1990 he founded his own record company named FIE!, and released Patience and Enter K on CD. The Fall of the House of Usher is an Opera Hammill has been writing for 20 years. The music was recorded with synths, with a sound which has a bit to do with strings sound but not really. Very few elec. drums on little short times around the record, bits of elec. guitars can faintly be heard somewhere - and that's it! The singers are Andy Bell from Erasure, Sarah-Jane Morris, Lene Lovich, Herbert Gronemeyer and Hammill himself. Even though this is the least you could expect from an opera it is getting better after coming out of the shock... After hearing it for many times this may become one of your favorite, as it is a very strong piece of music, and it is VERY strange. Hammill's voice is not that good, like in the previous release. Fireships and The Noise are the two ends of the spectrum that Hammill aims to reach in his new music period. Fireships is the first in his be-calm series, in which he wants to put out quiet and relaxed records. This one is beautifully produced by David Lord and has great sound, but lacks some strength. The Noise is the first one in the a-loud series, and it has a band playing with hammill. Room Temperature Live is rather unique. On the stage are Hammill, Gordon and Potter. Without drums these songs get really carried away and you may find it very hard to find what the rhythm is at all... You may like it for the very special sound the elec. violin has on this double CD. Hammill gives out good singing and sometimes lousy keyboard playing. Don't forget he is still putting out CDs and sends newsletters to fans, and he could use your effort in buying his new CDs. Do it for him now because you may find yourself in times when you'd wish you could help him go on when you still could ... This guy made really great and moving music and you may find it touching the right places, at times ...

One the the greatest musical geniuses on the planet. Everything he has done, with the possible exception of a few tracks on Nadir's Big Chance, Skin and The Noise is incredible. An incredibly emotional vocalist. Can't recommend him enough. This is the address of his mail-order and "fan" club which distributes a rather irregular newsletter: Sofa Sound P.O. Box 66 Freshford, Bath, UK

Links

[See Van der Graaf Generator] Click here for Peter Hammill's Official web site Click here for another "Official" site ... wait awhile for the black page to go away Click here for an excellent fan site

Discography

Music To Eat (70)

Reviews

A really interesting group who recorded one rather remarkable album (a 2-record set, no less) for Columbia, and then split up a few years later. Most often, their music is compared to that of Captain Beefheart. There are some superficial similarities: Bruce Hampton's exceptionally gravelly vocals and inscrutable lyrics, the twangy twin lead guitars of Glenn Phillips and Harold Kelling, and the asymmetrical and unpredictable compositions. But while there is little (if any) improvisation in Beefheart's music, the Grease Band's strength is extended jamming. Most of the songs on Music to Eat clock in at over 15 minutes. However, the improvisations do not meander or dissolve into aimless hippie noodling. Instead, they are punctuated by radical shifts in time signature, rhythmic feel, tonality, tempo, you-name-it, which keep the listener on his/her toes. Really excellent stuff. To me the closest comparison would be Hot Rats- or Chunga's Revenge-era Zappa, but these guys are far too original to be labelled as Zappa imitators. Glenn Phillips went on to record a string of interesting instrumental rock (not fusion) albums, the first of which included most of the Grease Band. Bruce Hampton also went on to record a number of solo records, and later formed two groups which acheived some notoriety: The Late Bronze Age and The Aquarium Rescue Unit. As I understand it, Music to Eat became something of a collector's item, but the recent CD reissue should remedy that situation. One of America's great lost bands. -- Dave Wayne

Discography

Songs From The Hamster Theater (95) Siege on Hamburger City (98, Live) Carnival Detournement (01) The Public Execution of Mr. Personality / Quasi Day Room: Live at The Moore Theatre (06, 2CD, 1 studio, 1 live)

Reviews

Hamster Theater's Jon Stubbs and Dave Willey Members from Thinking Plague are included on this album [Siege on Hamburger City], playing what would probably best be described as accordion based progressive carnival music. The drum and bass department are not unlike something you'd hear on a Tom Waits record, but the central thing are the sudden bursts of highly arranged parts where they all play in unison. Sometimes very complex, and sometimes much like Thinking Plague, but this is all instrumental and not quite as involving as other "commercial" RIO bands. Interesting and entertaining, yes, but a little too awkward and goofy to be great. Most of it was recorded live. -- Daniel While I have to take some issue with the above assessment, I must say that the description of Hamster Theater as "accordion based progressive carnival music" did somewhat prepare me for what I heard on their new album, The Public Execution of Mr. Personality / Quasi Day Room: Live at The Moore Theatre. Though not "carnival music" as much as "warped French cabaret music". This release is really two separate albums bundled together in a single package. The Public Execution of Mr. Personality is a studio album while Quasi Day Room: Live at The Moore Theatre is (obviously) a live album. Both are so well recorded it's sometimes difficult to tell which disc you have in the CD player, except for the applause at the end of each cut on the live album. Since I haven't heard the album mentioned above (Siege on Hamburger City), I can't really argue about the author's assessment. However, I detect nothing of Tom Waits in the intricate rhythm section on either The Public Execution of Mr. Personality or Quasi Day Room: Live at The Moore Theatre. There's also nothing I would call "awkward" or "goofy", except to the extent that all RIO-styled music is sometimes angular, dissonant and arhythmic, and therefore, to some ears, awkward. Like that last sentence. And for some people, an accordion is always going to sound goofy. Can you blame them, with the poor instrument getting most of its fame from Lawrence Welk, Zydeco music and German beer-drinking songs? But the way Hamster Theater's Dave Willey plays it, it's hard to even think of it as the same instrument as what those guys play. And why should it? Have you never heard anyone playing schlock Muzak on a Hammond? What Keith Emerson did for that instrument Dave Willey does for the accordion. About time, too. Willey also plays in Thinking Plague, and TP leader Mike Johnson plays guitar for Hamster Theater. So there's more than just a passing acquaintence between the two bands. Of the assertion that this is somehow "commercial", pay that statement no mind. This is a Cuneiform release, after all! I'm sure these guys are all starving. Great for those of us that like strange, challenging music. Not so great if you're trying to earn a living at it. Lucky for us there are still people around with such a need to create music like this that they're willing to work day jobs to support themselves while pop divas drench us with dreck and take home huge cash rewards. It's downright unfair. But enough (getting off my soapbox now). These albums are about as pure-blooded as RIO-styled music gets, both because they remind me of nothing as much as Henry Cow and because of the ties to Thinking Plague in both personnel and musical style. I'm a big fan of Thinking Plague, so don't be surprised that I really like this too. For all fans of RIO-styled Cuneiform weirdness! This is as good as it gets. -- Fred Trafton

Links

[See Thinking Plague] Click here for Hamster Theater's web site Click here to order Carnival Detournement or The Public Execution of Mr. Personality / Quasi Day Room: Live at The Moore Theatre from Cuneiform Records

Han L Pada (??)

Discography

Takin' Off (62) My Point Of View (63) Inventions and Dimensions (63) Empyrean Isles (64) Maiden Voyage (65) Blow Up (66, Soundtrack) Speak Like A Child (68) The Prisoner (69) Fat Albert Rotunda (70, for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert show) Mwandishi (71, Live) Crossings (72) Sextant (73) Head Hunters (73) Thrust (74) Death Wish (74, Soundtrack) Dedication (??) Man-Child (75) Flood (75, Live) Secrets (76) V.S.O.P. (77, 2LP) The Herbie Hancock Trio (77) An Evening With Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea In Concert (78, Live) Sunlight (78) Feets Don't Fail Me Now (79) Direct Step (79, Japan-only release) Monster (80) Mr. Hands (81) Herbie Hancock Trio with Ron Carter + Tony Williams (81, Japan-only release) Magic Windows (81) Quartet (82) Lite Me Up! (82) Future Shock (83) Sound System (84) Village Life (85) 'Round Midnight (87) Perfect Machine (88) Dis Is Da Drum (94) The New Standard (96) 1+1 (97, w/ Wayne Shorter) Gershwin's World (98)

Reviews

One of the greats! Herbie Hancock is one of the finest keyboardists and composers around, and a tireless experimenter who is always trying something new. His recordings over the last 30+ years cut a stylistic swath from modern jazz through fusion, funk and disco. Many of Hancock's fusion recordings are first-rate, and I consider them essential listening for fans of the genre. These are detailed below. Those among you who are looking for a few recordings of tasteful, tuneful, classy modern jazz would do well to check out Hancock's earliest recordings as a leader for the Blue Note label (Maiden Voyage and Inventions and Dimensions leap to mind). Hancock has also done several notable film scores, and today he fills in for Paul Schaffer on the Letterman show every now and then. After spending 6 or 7 years in Miles Davis' band, Hancock embarked on a solo career in the late '60s. By the early '70s, he had assembled a tremendously talented band which included Benny Maupin (reeds), Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), Buster Williams (bass) and Billy Hart (drums). This unit, plus guitarist Ronnie Montrose (yes, "that" Ronnie Montrose), second drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (who later joined Santana), and percussionist Chepito Areas (who was in Santana at the time), recorded Mwandishi which was that sort of jammin', spacy jazz (lots of Fender Rhodes, tons of reverb on the horns, very long tunes) that has once again become popular. Basically, the music is sort of an edgier take on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. The followup to Mwandishi, Crossings, is a truly phenomenal recording. The basic premise of Mwandishi remains, but on Crossings the intensity level is cranked up about 10 times. Recording engineer Patrick Gleeson adds some very extravagent synthesizer sounds as an added bonus. Hancock's first recording for CBS, Sextant, was so revolutionary and so far ahead of its time, I'm surprised that it ever saw the light of day. On Sextant, dissonant jazz improvisations rub elbows with analog synths, Mellotron, and african percussion. Here, Hancock's compositional ideas can be traced to avant-garde 'classical' music (Stockhausen, Ligeti, etc.). After Sextant, Hancock hired a new band (saxophonist Benny Maupin was the only holdover) and recorded the million-selling Headhunters, which is actually quite a fine record once you get beyond "Chameleon", which became a bona-fide hit single. The followup, Thrust, is even better, and features Mike Clark (who later replaced Phil Collins in Brand X) who does some truly amazing things on the drum kit. Both Headhunters and Thrust are essential listening for fans of funky fusion. After Thrust, Hancock's recordings became progressively more commercial, but many had at least one cut with some merit (check out "Good Question" on Sunlight). Some of the pop stuff is really dreadful. Mr. Hands is the least commercial and the most jazzy of Hancock's later electronic keyboard-dominated recordings. In the late '70s, Hancock recorded some pure disco music (lots of Vocoder!), but also moved back towards the thoughtful acoustic jazz sound of his Blue Note years. In the '80s, Hancock had another pop instrumental hit; the Bill Laswell-produced "Rockit", which was an early MTV staple. Village Life is an interesting recording which features Hancock's keyboards in a series of improvised duets with Foday Musa Suso, who plays a 21-stringed instrument called the kora. Herbie Hancock is still going strong as of this writing (October 2000), and I have only mentioned a handful of his most worthwhile recordings. The sidemen from the Mwandishi/Crossings/Sextant band, Eddie Henderson, Benny Maupin, and Julian Priester, have done some fine recordings as leaders in their own right. -- Dave Wayne

Discography

Hands (96, Recorded in 1977) Prism Live (97, Recorded ??, Prism was Hands' previous band name) Palm Mystery (99, Recorded 1977, 78 & 80) The Early Years (00, Recorded in 1974-76, Limited edition of 400 copies) Twenty Five Winters (02)

Reviews

Hands 2002 - Ernie Myers (guitar, vocals), Rex Bozarth (bass, stick, cello, vocals), Martin McCall (drums), Michael Clay (keyboards, guitar, vocals) - Photos & collage by Fred Trafton In 1996, original Hands musicians Michael Clay (keyboards) and Ernie Myers (guitar) got together again due to the positive response to their long delayed '70's music releases on CD. They began writing new songs, and spent the next few years writing and recording a new Hands CD Twenty Five Winters, which was released in 2002. The Hands line-up for Twenty Five Winters included four original members and a new bassist. In 2002, they finally released Twenty Five Winters, and was well worth the wait. At the time, I hadn't heard their earlier music, but I did say back then that I thought the album was a must-buy for any symphonic prog enthusiast. Since then, I've also heard their delayed-release 1996 album Hands (recorded in 1977), and it's just as good. I really like these guys, though you should know I'm prejudiced since I know them. Still, I'm pretty sure I would like them even if I'd never met them. Regarding Twenty Five Winters, all the band members get to show off their chops in different places, but this album is more about great compositions than fast note runs. My favorite cuts on the album include the opener, "Knock/Enter" which flirts with a "southern sound" with its acoustic guitar picking and violin melody, reminding me somewhat of The Dixie Dregs, though less fusiony. This continues with a spacey multitracked vocal section, and finally a more intense restatement of the theme on electric guitars this time, with some nice violin soloing on top. All the cuts are good, but several others deserve special mention; I really enjoyed "Light and Darkness" for its swinging between light and heavy sections, and for the Echolynish vocal overdubs, or maybe like Gentle Giant without the medieval madrigal feel. "I Laughed Aloud" is also very nice, an instrumental almost classical-sounding piano piece punctuated by violin over the top. Something about this makes me think I'm going to start hearing a story about the hare who lost his spectacles, but this never happens. Finally, there's a totally electrifying section in the otherwise laid-back vocal-oriented composition, "Leaving". The third part of this cut is entitled "Traveler's Lament", an instrumental section that wouldn't be at all out of place on a Starless and Bible Black era King Crimson album. OK, it may be a little too nice sounding relative to that, but it still kicks butt in a Frippian sort of way. If I had to make a complaint about this album it's that it's too short! I think they would have had room on the CD for another cut or two. Or perhaps a live "bonus track". But that's about the worst thing I can say about this CD. Hands is a Dallas, Texas area band, which is where I live, so I had the pleasure of seeing them playing in concert several times here. One of those times was the prog fest the GEPR co-sponsored with them on December 7, 2002, the infamous Cattle Prog. But after their excellent Cattle Prog performance, Hands more or less vanished from the Dallas music scene. I kept in occasional contact with keyboardist Michael Clay via e-mail, but he said that other commitments were keeping Hands from getting together again as a group, though he hinted that this may not last forever. In the meantime, he and guitarist Ernie Myers worked on their own projects, and they also recorded an album with several King Crimson alumni under the project name Fission Trip. Now, in April of 2006, I've heard that they are in the process of finishing another new Hands album. The line-up has changed quite a bit since Twenty Five Winters, now including Mark Cook (99 Names of God, The Minefield) and two of Ernie Myers' bandmates from his other band All the Tea in China, namely Steve Powell and John Fiveash in addition to Hands stalwarts Michael Clay, Ernie Myers and Martin McCall. I'm looking forward to hearing the new album with bated breath, and I hope they'll start performing around Dallas again with their new material, and maybe some of the Fission Trip material as well, which was penned largely by Clay and Myers. -- Fred Trafton

Like many American prog bands in the seventies, Hands went from obscurity to oblivion without a single album release. And like with so many other bands, it took nearly two decades before their music finally got a proper release. Hands is a Shroom Productions compilation containing 14 songs the band recorded between 1977 and 1980, as well as an extensive band biography full of amusing anecdotes. Unlike bands like Starcastle and Cathedral whose music was skillfully-played but highly derivative of one or two British prog bands, Hands took their influences from a variety of bands and used them in a way that was often quite original. Almost all of the band's six core members were multi-instrumentalists and a large cast of guest contributors appears as well, so in addition to the usual drums/bass/electric&acoustic guitars&keyboards there is also a lot of violin and woodwinds on the album. Vocals of inconsistent quality appear on about half of the tracks. There is quite a bit of variation within this collection, and naturally some lack of cohesion, but almost all the tracks work very well taken individually. "Left Behind" starts as a folky acoustic ballad, but then the instrumental middle section cuts in with sharp electric guitar riffs and a synth solo, just like Kansas; the delicate symphonic atmosphere of "Mutineer's Panorama", dominated by Mellotron and flute, reminds of PFM's softer moments, and Gentle Giant rears its head on "Triangle of New Flight" which is brimming over with tempo, rhythm and mood changes. A couple of the shorter tracks highlight nimble acoustic guitar playing and beautiful violin and synth work. Interesting is also the 10-minute "Antarctica" with its chilly synths and sound effects and one great instrumental section where flute and overdriven bass play solo lines around a repeating acoustic guitar riff; less so the rather straight-forward rockers "Castle Keep" and "Hands in the Fire", latter of which has quite a lot of Tullish flute work. The band have the knack of writing and performing complex material without sounding too cumbersome or self-indulgent. There are only a few moments where I feel they are trying too hard, otherwise they keep the music flowing on nicely and seemingly effortlessly. The sound quality is good throughout, apart from one live recording, even if you can hear an occasional "seam" where the sound of two spliced-together sections doesn't match. These recordings certainly deserved to be pulled out of the archives and released officially (better late than never). Though not a classic, Hands is still a small gem, a testament to what might have been. Shroom Productions has also put out a second disc of Hands material, called Palm Mystery. -- Kai Karmanheimo

I was not acquainted with the music of Hands until now. However, I know that they are the veterans of American Progressive, and the band's eponymous debut album was released in the end of the 1970s. [Twenty-Five Winters is a] masterpiece! The music that is presented on this album is very fresh and original. It is woven from the mixed stylistic textures that, in particular, are typical for Classic Symphonic Progressive, Classical Academic Music, and Modern Art-Rock as well. Also, there are many of the purely acoustic episodes on the album. Furthermore, a few pieces are here completely acoustic. All three of the first songs on the album, namely "Knock & Enter", "Walls", and "Dance of Light & Darkness" (1, 2, & 4), are about Classic Symphonic Progressive with elements of Modern Art-Rock and shades of Prog-Metal. These songs contain the complete set of the progressive ingredients that are typical for this genre. The masterful solos and passages of violin and cello that are present on them (as well as on most of the tracks on the album, though) make their sound very symphonic. What's interesting is that each of the songs on the album, including two out of the four parts of "Leaving", apart from the lead vocals, features also a wonderful male choir. When all three of the band's vocalists sing only to the accompaniment of hand percussion, which, though, happened only once (on 4), their choir a bit reminds me of that which was invented and regularly used by Gentle Giant. Stylistically, the first of the three instrumental pieces that are featured on the album, "Green Room" (3), is much in the vein of the songs that I've just described. In other words, the first half of the album is completely of a unified stylistic concept. Various interplay between solos of electric and bass guitars, violins, and organ and passages of acoustic guitar, piano, and synthesizers, frequent changes of tempo and mood, complex time signatures, etc, are typical for all four of the first tracks on Twenty Five Winters. Among them, only "Dance of Light & Darkness" (4) features the parts of hand percussion, apart from those of drums, and, in addition, contains two short episodes of the industrial-like character. Stylistically, the second half of the album is quite motley. "I Laughed Aloud" (5), entirely consisting of continuously developing interplay between very beautiful passages of piano and violin, is, of course, the instrumental piece of a pure Classical Music. The contents of the following instrumental, "Zombeiroch-III" (6), represent a blend of Classical Academic Music and Classic Prog-Metal (yes, yes) with elements of both of Classic Symphonic and Modern Art-Rock. To be more precise, this unique composition features the alternation of the arrangements that are clearly about Classical Music and those in the vein of a heavy Symphonic Progressive. This is the only track on the album that contains the parts of clavier and electric woodwinds. To be frank, I for the first time hear of electric woodwinds, though "these ears" find that they sound here too realistic to be synthetic. Although there are no any pauses between the parts of the last and the longest track on the album, "Leaving", all four of them can be differentiated easily, even though almost all of them flow slowly. The instrumental parts of the first of them represent Classical Music, while the vocally instrumental parts of it are definitely about Classic Symphonic Progressive with elements of Modern Art-Rock. A pure Classic Symphonic Art-Rock is present on the second part of "Leaving". Quite a fast, aggressive and dark Prog-Metal dominates throughout the third part of it, which is entirely instrumental. Finally, the fourth part of this epic composition is a Classic Art-Rock ballad. All the songs and instrumental pieces on the Hands jubilee album Twenty Five Winters (the band was formed in 1977) are amazing, so I can't select the best track among them, which is quite a rare case in my practice. However, this unique and, overall, very contrasting album, full of unexpected changes of styles, all of which are distinctly original, is also a rare case on a contemporary progressive scene. Highly recommended! -- Vitaly Menshikov

Links

[See Fission Trip | The Minefield | 99 Names of God] Click here for Hands web site Click here for Shroom Records, where you can order these CDs

Discography

Hannibal (70)

Reviews

The friend of mine told me once it is one of the best British album ever recorded. For a long time I was looking for it. I succeeded and the result is ... really disappointed. To me it is nothing special. I heard a hell of better albums in my life. I can't say it is bad, but in my opinion it's too less expressive. Album contains jazz/prog style tracks with nice guitar, some sax and flute. The best are "Bent For A Friend" and "Winter" (a lot of jazzy guitar). Personally I really don't like vocals without any expression. Hannibal don't fascinate and I expected much more because of their history. Looking back the result should be better. The story of the band begun in '69 when Clem Clempson left Bakerloo to join Colosseum. Their manager Jim Simpson (who also looked after Black Sabbath) had major problems. Bakerloo booked German tour and he decided to put new version of Bakerloo. The idea was to include Cozy Powell - drums, vocalist Dave Pegg and guitarist Adrian Ingram. Pegg and Powell couldn't join the band because of other projects (Pegg teamed up with Fairport Convention) so Ingram recruited Alex Boyce - vocals, Jack Griffiths - bass, Bill Hunt - keyboards and John Parkes on drums. This line-up toured Germany as Bakerloo Blues Line. After the tour Simpson decided the band should be kept together and they changed name to Hannibal. Then they secured a deal with B&C Records. On B&C they released their self-titled album and also their one and only single "Winds Of Change"/"Winter". They toured the UK with Free and Black Sabbath. As Ingram recalls they were a band playing for other musicians. Later on Bill Hunt went to form E.L.O. with Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne and then teamed up with Wood in Wizard. Boyce attempted a solo career and Griffiths took up teaching in Cornwall. -- Ryszard Ryzlak

Discography

Lord Of The Rings (71) Magician's Hat (73) Attic Thoughts (75) Watership Down (77) El-ahrairah (78 ) Best Of (83) Mitt I Livet (85)

Reviews

Bo Hansson Swedish keyboardist who released several solo albums, the best known is undoubtedly his early 70's Lord Of The Rings based on the Tolkien thing. At that point his keyboard arsenal was basically made up of organs (no synth) plus supporting musicians are used sparingly, but it's a bit stark and sounds a tad primitive technically by today's standards, but it's still quite nice. Later albums like Attic Thoughts and Watership Down are more technically sophisticated. Hansson is a Swedish keyboardist. I know him only through his solo work though I think (but am not positive) he has done a group-related project. The only album I have is early '70s release Lord Of The Rings. While a bit dated, it's generally pretty decent. The music consists mostly of organ and just a touch of some early synthesizer. This is occasionally aided by guitar and percussion, hence the music is generally sparse or "stripped down," as it were. This sparseness lends the music a kind of dark, haunting aura. His music doesn't really remind me of anyone, except some of the guitar sections remind me vaguely of Mike Oldfield. Not bad if you find it cheap but probably not worth big bucks to most people. I own his Lord of the Rings album from 1970 reissued on One Way but would love to hear the others. This is a surprisingly good early progressive record featuring all the important components of the still sprouting musical format; a rich sounding organ, a bit of the then new synthesizer sounds, heavy bass & drums and some warm psych guitar on top. Hansson was masterfully doing his lush funeralistic sound when other Europeans like Arkham were just getting started, even weaving Latin jazz rhythms into the mix that echo what Santana's boys were doing an ocean away. If early Pink Floyd had been less spacey and more jazzical, you'd have something like Bo Hansson. Very highly recommended for lovers of early fugue-rock landscapes. -- David Marshall

Links

Click here for Bo Hansson's web site

Hanuman (72)

[See Lied Des Teufels]

Discography

Happy Family (90, Demo Tape) Live at Kichizyouji (92) Flying Spirit Dance Live (94) Happy Family (95) Toscco (97)

Reviews

Happy Family - Keiichi Nagase (drums), Tatsuya Miyano (fretless bass), Kenichi Morimoto (keyboards) and Takahiro Izutani (guitar) Let me give you the Reader's Digest Condensed version first, because it's the most essential part of this entry. Happy Family are one of the best bands currently happening in Japan right now. In fact, along with Il Berlione, Happy Family are one of the best Japanese bands to have played in the past decade. Flying Spirit Dance Live was one of my top releases for 1994 and their CD debut, Happy Family, one of my best for 1995!. OK, so you want to know why? I'll tell you but let's get some of the details out of the way first. Happy Family are a quartet, namely Keiichi Nagase (drums), Shige Makino (guitar), Tatsuya Miyano (fretless bass) and Kenichi Morimoto (keyboards). The first three releases listed above in the discography are all cassette-only and long out of print. The titles I use below are rough English translations provided to me by Takayuki Tomi of Rotters' Paper, the label that released the Flying Spirit Dance Live cassette. All three tapes are similar in style, though, and broadly defined by three bands; King Crimson, Univers Zero and Magma. That should be enough to make you sit up and pay attention. Specifically, the guitar work is in the vein of Robert Fripp (circa '73), the keyboards recall either Univers Zero or Magma, depending on what is happening at the moment. The fretless bass work instantly reminds of the trademark Magma/zeuhl fusion sound, and sometimes the heavy Wetton bass sound. And the drums remind me of Daniel Denis of Univers Zero and Bill Bruford. I can't even guess why this band remained unsigned after sending around their demo tape. These guys would be right at home next to Il Berlione on the Japanese Belle Antique label. In fact, with the studio atmosphere, the 18 minute demo tape is the most like Il Berlione. "Dog String," one of the four tracks on the demo, builds a strong, swirling atmosphere off of short, repeated riffs. While that may sound simple, believe me, it isn't. The group interaction is incredible. Nowhere is this more evident than on the two live tapes. Here, raw and unpolished, you will hear some of the most incredibly dynamic and inventive playing to be unleashed from the Japanese Islands. For example, most of the songs feature Fripp-like guitar solos that suddenly break into keys, percussion and guitar ostinati a la Univers Zero and Present. All this is darting around the incredible zeuhl fretless bass playing that is as much a lead voice as any of the other instruments. One fine example (of many) is the furious "Rock and Young" which appears on both live tapes. The version on Flying Spirit Dance Live *blazes* with an intensity that defies words. Like Richard Pinhas, Happy Family are not ashamed of their King Crimson influence. In tribute, they perform "Nakid King" on Live at Kichizyouji. The 15 minute tune opens with a verbatim statement of "Red," their tribute to Crimson. This quickly breaks into the jagged rhythms that highlight Univers Zero's work. After exploring a variety of rhythms and syncopations, the band moves into a tension-building section that again recalls the Crimson King. Like "Starless," Happy Family build a tense atmosphere though use of a repeated riff. Beneath, drummer Nagase pounds out various patterns, each building on the other. The band steadily quickens the pace, building a climactic atmosphere, before finally breaking back into the "Red" theme to end the song. It's quite a breath-taking experience. A lesser tribute, "Kaiten," on Flying Spirit Dance Live, is based on a variation of the "Red" theme. And, astute readers will realize that "Bulgarian Flying Spirit Dance" is a cover of the Daniel Denis tune from his second solo album. Personally, I think the intensity of Happy Family covers excels over Denis' original. I can't begin to describe the experience that it is, listening to Happy Family. To see this band live has to be an incredible phenomenon. Finally, in 1995, Cuneiform signed Happy Family and released their first CD, called simply Happy Family. Happy Family consists of seven songs, five of which appeared somewhere on their three cassettes. Four songs "Rock & Young," "Shige et Osanna," "Kaiten (Ningen Gyorai)" and a shorter version of the 19 minute "Naked King") were on the two live cassettes but are now given studio treatment, while "Partei" is a re-recorded version of a song on their demo cassette. For the majority of you, this doesn't matter because it will all be new. And fresh. And exciting! Though recorded in a studio, this disc successfully captures almost all of the intensity of their live performance. The only real difference is the slightly slower pace of these studio versions. The first new song is "Rolling the Law Court," which opens with an upbeat sax/drum groove that is reminiscent of Happy the Man. This soon moves into patented Happy Family territory, with metalish guitar licks, throbbing bass and powerful drumming. Tatsuya Miyano's sax trades licks with Shigeru Makino's guitar, adding depth and further intensity. The final piece is the other new cut, a 1.5 minute track wistfully entitled "Drums Whisper Spacey." The piano and "sqeuaking mouse" (I don't know how else to describe it) provides a peaceful epilog to the otherwise high-octane energy that is the rest of the album. Happy Family is one of the best current prog bands from ANY country and deserve your attention and support. They're mind-blowing and I will never be the same for it. Needless to say but I'll say it with gusto: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! -- Mike Taylor

Warning: There is another band named "Happy Family" which is not this band! The known releases from this band are Puritans, The Man On Your Street and The Business of Living. I bought The Man On Your Street and it's interesting, though not progresive. It's actually somewhat reminiscent of the sillier bits of Gong, though not as musically complex. Beware! -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here to order CD's from Cuniform Records

Discography

Happy The Man (77) Crafty Hands (78) (ProgressoR review) Third: Better Late (79) Retrospective (89) Beginnings (90) Live (94, recorded 1978) Death's Crown (99, recorded 1974) The Muse Awakens (04)

Reviews

Happy the Man - Rick Kennell, Kit Watkins, Coco Roussel, Frank Wyatt, Stanley Whitaker HTM produced some of the most stirring, complex, melodic, and MUSICAL works I have ever heard, and although they are rather rare, they are certainly very accessible and you should be able to find their stuff on domestic cd without having to plop down $35+ for it. Throughout their existance as a functioning band (from 1974-1978) they recorded three marvelous LP's. The following musicians appear on each one of these: 1. Frank Wyatt - piano, el. piano, organ, flute, sax 2. Stanley Whitaker - guitars 3. Rick Kennell - bass 4. Kit Watkins - synths, piano, el. piano, organ, flute. Each album had a different drummer (seems the money-grubbing scum at Arista scared them away with their threats of having no commercial appeal as a band, or something like that....). The discography below shows the albums and who played drums on them: 1. Happy The Man - drums: Mike Beck 2. Crafty Hands - drums: Ron Riddle 3. Third: Better Late - drums: Coco Roussel. The first one is arguably the best of the three, although not by much as they are all truly spectacular. It was produced by Ken Scott, of David Bowie and Supertramp fame. This album defines the band's sound very well, one that endured throughout their career. For those of you who have never heard the HTM sound are missing something very special. The band claims to be influenced by Genesis, Yes, and Gentle Giant although they really do not sound anything like any of those bands. They were a band so far ahead of their time that, to this day, they still sound totally revolutionary. The compositions tend to be rather complex and challenging, but they cleverly avoid falling into that dissonant trap that so many bands fall in to when they try to write something complex (e.g. the mid-section of Yes' "Ritual"). HTM maintains a melodic approach to everything they write. On this album you will find: (I quote a suitably impressed music critic) "dazzling artistic vision, instrumental virtuosity, and imagination," "fresh, exhilarating and impossible to categorize (this means please do not try to put a label on this band like "progressive" - it will make a lot of us very mad)," "witness HTM's masterful use of dynamics, tonal colors, and counterpoint; their ability to execute finger-breaking time signatures with deft ease; the lattice-like melodies and ingenious thematic variations that surge and recede with unusual grace and power; and the fact that no matter how complex or demanding their music became, the band always sounded uncluttered and in total control." There. Couldn't have said it better myself. Each member of the band is exceptionally gifted...there is no one single dominant member. The writing is carried out by Watkins, Wyatt, and Whitaker. Watkins tends to write pieces with a lot of symphonic flourish, and you can bet your life there will be some awesome lead synth playing (usually done on a MiniMoog). I once thought Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, and Tony Banks were the best around....then I heard HTM. Kit Watkins can bury those guys with his right hand alone. You have to hear him to believe it. His Minimoog settings have an unsurpassed clarity to them, and he knows exactly how to use the pitch-bending feature of the instrument at the right time. I have an old article from Keyboard magazine, around 1982, that shows the settings he used on the MiniMoog to obtain this remarkable, unique sound. Words cannot describe his technical prowess, honest.... Whitaker writes more upbeat, punchy songs, like "Stumpy Meets the Firecracker in Stencil Forest" from the first LP. Wyatt tends to write the songs with the lyrics, which were sung by Stan Whitaker. Here's what is available on CD to date: 1. Retrospective - a compilation of most of first and second lp, with some stuff from 3rd. Great place to start. 2. HTM 3rd: Better Late 3. Beginnings - features material recorded live in 2-track studio in 1974-75. Features a singer called Cliff Fortney who left the band before being signed to Arista. Very rough recording, but some really great songs. Some are not up to their usual standard of excel- lence, however. Recommended only for die-hards. Do not start with this one. 4. HTM and Crafty Hands were released on Japanese CD, but only 500 copies of each....I have never seen one myself, but I understand they sell for nearly $250 each at shows

THE best U.S. progressive, hands down! Beginnings collects from the earliest years of the band, and is supposed to be exclusively for established fans. (Can you tell I haven't heard it?) The first actual release was the self-titled LP from 1976. Showing influence from Gentle Giant, King Crimson, yet retaining an original identity, they weave an intricate, mostly instrumental tapestry with flutes, saxes, guitar and multiple keyboards. A very impressive debut. Crafty Hands is their classic LP, almost entirely instrumental, with moments of striking beauty ("Morning Sun", "Open Book") and others of hair-raising energetic prog jamming ("Ibby It Is", "Steaming Pipes"). The unbelievable "Service With A Smile" proves that great prog numbers need not be long, it's under three minutes! And "Wind Up Doll Day Wind" is their finest vocal number, with lyrics that give Peter Sinfield a run for his money. If you can find it, don't hesitate to get it! These two albums were anthologized on the CD Retrospective. The third album, recorded sometime around 1979 but not released till the mid-eighties, is the weakest of the original three, but has enough good music to make it worth completing your collection for. "Labyrinth" is as good a song as they've ever recorded, worthy of the best of Crafty Hands. "Eye of the Storm", "Run Into The Ground" and "While Crome Yellow Shine" (huh?) are other good ones. They include a couple of weak vocal tunes ("The Falcon", "Shadow Shaping") that make this one not as desirable to own, but it's not bad. -- Mike Ohman

I've have two albums by them. Beginnings and Crafty Hands. Beginnings is good, but nothing to get excited about. Crafty Hands is much better. I especially like the song "Wind Up Day Doll Wind." I kind of think of it as a cross between Genesis and Yes' "Heart of the Sunrise."

A great band that didn't make it because generally people are musically stupid. Kit Watkins, the keyboardist star of the band, went on to play on a couple of Camel albums but then drifted off into obscurity. He's still making interesting albums though. Because they got signed and apparently fronted enough money, the production on their albums is phenomenal - it holds up well today. Gentle Giant-like in complexity, the musicianship is somewhat better. Kit is an amazing keyboard soloist - a speed demon with an uncanny sense of melody. They never did get a good singer so their best stuff is generally instrumental. A lot of weird and shifting time signatures. "Cosmic" sounding.

This group has a very interesting and well developed sound, their first two albums which were recorded in the late 70s sound like they were recorded just yesterday, they were quite ahead of their time. I got Retrospective and liked the CD 10 times more the second time I heard it than the first time. Definately a grow-on-you group. Seems influenced by Gentle Giant sometimes, gets kind of new-age towards the end of the CD.

One of the best american progressive bands, years ahead of their time - the first two albums sound as fresh and innovative today as they did fifteen years ago. The music is about 90% instrumental, with strong leanings in a jazzy direction, their music is dramatic, complex and sometimes humorously quirky, with bursts of melodic color and odd-time signature explorations throughout. Retrospective is a collection of tracks from their two albums HTM and Crafty Hands (plus a few from their posthumous 3rd), and even though a few excellent tracks from those two are left off, it is still fairly representative of their best period, and a good place to start for the uninitiated. Their 3rd album wasn't released until around 83, and is overall more low-key than the first two, and far too serious - much of the humor in their music (as evidenced so well by early tracks like "Knee Bitten Nymphs In Limbo," "Stumpy Meets The Firecracker" and "Mr Mirror") had disappeared by the third album, and in comparison it pales, although its vocal tracks are far more cohesive than most they had done before. Beginnings is a collection of early recordings from the 75-76 period, prior to their first album. The material ranges from excellent to so-so, as does the recording quality, but may show some convincing evidence of Canterbury influences in their roots. For serious collectors only.

Excellent band from the USA, featuring Kit Watkins of Camel fame and Coco Roussell of Heldon fame. The music is strongly keyboard oriented and they had two keyboard players. There is also sax, flute, and guitar to round out the mix. The music ranges from dramatic to the sublime, always powerful. There is complex interplay between all the musicians such that it takes several listens to fully comprehend how intertwined the instruments are. The interplay will remind you of Gentle Giant. The melodic lines might remind you of Yes. The music will remind you of how wonderful truly innovative music is. I finally found Retrospective in a cut-out bin and thought I would have to be satisfied. Recently, however, they repressed Crafty Hands for either the third or fourth time. That should give you an indication of how popular it is. The album is everything everyone says it is and more. Snatch it up if you have the chance like I did. You will not be disappointed.

The edition of these 1979 recordings (3rd, Better Late...) remind us of just how regrettable the disappearance of this excellent group is. A music that defies description and a sound that isn't the least bit outdated. Always very melodic, this unique blend of symphonic rock and jazz relies on rich arrangements of keyboards, guitars, bass, vocals, drums, percussions, flute and saxophone. The sustained use of these instruments provide much richness to the sound while solid performances provide dynamic energy. Five excellent musicians that played, we now realize, ahead of their time. -- Paul Charbonneau

Arguably America's greatest progressive rock group played 4 dates in year-2000 and is on the verge of releasing a new CD. New tunes: "Barking Spiders," "A Dream of Amsterdam," "Maui Sunset". New keyboardist has replaced Kit Watkins. And a Web site, too. (see Links). -- Todd Brendan Fahey

Happy The Man 2004 - Joe Bergamini, Stan Whitaker, Frank Wyatt, Rick Kenell, Dave Rosenthal In February of 2004, Joe Bergamini of 4Front joined HTM as their new drummer. They have released an album on the Inside Out label entitled The Muse Awakens. The current HTM line-up is Frank Wyatt (keyboards, original member), Stan Whitaker (guitars, original member), Rick Kennell (bass, original member), David Rosenthal (keyboards, replacing Kit Watkins, who did not want to play live) and now Joe Bergamini. -- Fred Trafton

I'm not ashamed to admit that my first hearing of this stellar band (named for the Genesis single?) was when I ordered Cuneiform's Live (1997, from a D.C. show in '78) and Death's Crown (1999, recorded in 1974) from my local record shop just a few years ago. I was excited to hear one of a tiny number of American groups who were, in their time, doing top-notch instrumental rock and whose lack of notoriety was apparently because (as one GEPR contributor put it) "generally people are musically stupid." I'm not sure of that. If true, artists like Hendrix, Mahavishnu Orchestra, King Crimson and ELP would not have sold in the numbers they did, but it is true that HTM don't reach out and seize you the way those acts tend to. It may take you a few listenings to appreciate the brilliant arrangements, incredibly tight group playing and tremendous facility of the members. Live is an excellent intro and has many of their best cuts from earlier albums but Death's Crown is a true lost treasure of early American syn-phonics. What a treat to hear a native band do a real rock opus very early in their career, namely the epic eleven-part title track clocking in at an astounding 38 minutes. Some of the best unknown music you'll ever hear. -- David Marshall

Links

[See 4Front | Oblivion Sun | Roussel, Coco | Watkins, Kit] Click here for the Happy The Man web site Click here for the Happy the Man page on Cuneiform Records web site Click here to order The Muse Awakens from Inside Out Music

Discography

Hardcake Special (74)

Reviews

Brain-label band, but buyer beware. Considered to be THE WORST band on the label. Music is vocal-oriented soft rock.

Discography

Methane (99) Surf, Wind and Desire (01)

Reviews

Formed by classical composer Frank Nuyts, this Belgian band specializes in intricate, complex compositions. Nuyts states that Frank Zappa is an influence, and its easy to hear the resemblance with his use of tuned percussion and saxes. This is adventurous, challenging chamber music in the RIO tradition, played with humor by expert musicians. Well worth checking out. -- Doug Hebbard

Links

Click here for Hardscore's web site

Discography

Harlequin Mass (78)

Reviews

Harlequin Mass (Mellow Records MMP 236) is another obscure American progressive rock album quietly buried in the 1970s and resurrected through the miracle of the compact disc in the 1990s. After the droning but stately synthesizer and flute piece "Introit (A Mass for the Harlequin)", the album erupts into the up-tempo "Love & Death", which is very much like Yes circa 1971 in its use of bass, upbeat melodies and chiming, bright guitar and synthesizer sounds. It's only lead vocalist Nancy Kaye's pedestrian voice that distracts from what is otherwise a bouncy little prog track and gives the music a 70's bubble gum Americana feel. But under the bulky layers of synthesizers, guitar and cello "One Step Home" is essentially an overgrown boy-and-his-acoustic-guitar piece in the singer-songwriter tradition, comparable to some of Renaissance's simpler songs. The melodies are good and arrangements grandiloquent, but the material can't quite sustain the whole seven and a half minute duration, and the wistful-voiced strummer boy Lyle Holdahl (Harlequin Mass' main creative force) is no more Annie Haslam, or even Jon Camp, than Kaye is. If it wasn't for the arrangements songs like "Loss of a Friend" would barely qualify as prog. However, even they can't compensate for the irritatingly banal pop chorus of "A New Song", and "Space Cats" is nothing more than a one-minute union of bad puns and noodling music. The 10-minute closer "Sky Caller" does improve the overall tally, as it draws on the strengths of the first three tracks without too many concessions to their weaknesses. Yet for all its gloss and inspired moments Harlequin Mass is too light to be a lost classic. While less derivative than the albums of bands like Babylon or Cathedral, it is also far less engaging. The CD also includes four demo tracks recorded in 1982 by Stubborn Puppet, the band that Harlequin Mass evolved into (only Holdahl and Kaye remain from the original line-up). In keeping with the new wave sensibilities of the time, the music is more compact and urgent, the melodies bluesier, the instrumentation harsher, with electric guitar brought to fore, and lyrical emphasis has shifted from world-hugging spiritual meditations to bursts of embarrassingly clumsy social commentary and individual angst. Still "Meantime" has a good, furious instrumental break and "Fabulous Angel", far the best song of the quartet, mixes pretty haunting melodies with ringing guitars and more substantial keyboard layers to come up with a nice prog-pop tune that has a hint of contemporaneous Rush. Nice enough addition to the package, but doesn't change the overall impression of this CD. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Harlis (75), Night Meets The Day (76)

Composed of ex-Jane members. Debut was first Sky-label release.

[See Jane]

Discography

Musik Von Harmonia (74) Deluxe (75)

Reviews

Rather boring ambient/electronic band which was basically a cross between Neu! and Cluster. Although I like most progressive genres, the minimalist attitute of bands like this don't attract me whatsoever.

Excellent krautrock from a kraut-supergroup. Cluster and Rother (from Neu!) joined forces to make two classic, influential, and highly enjoyable albums. The music is generally performed with experimental electronics, analogue synths, early drum machines, and Rother's guitar; I largely associate it with Eno (indeed, Cluster and Eno collaborated several times) in that it's quite experimental and yet also highly melodic and well-crafted. The first album is instrumental, and the songs consist of layers of melodic electronic/synth sequences played over gentle electronic rhythms, with extra rhythm and depth provided by Rother's guitar; the album also contains the track, "Cosmische: - a very blissful piece of spacey loveliness. The second album, Deluxe, is similar, but includes enthusiastic singing and some live drums; a stronger Neu! / Rother influence can be heard on a couple of the more driving tracks. This album is definately more "rocky" than the first, but still has much of the soundscapiness and melodic tastefulness of the first. Don't expect jazzy time signatures and pyrotechnic solos - this is far more kraut than prog, but nonetheless highly progressive in the truest sense. Both albums are a lesson in the seamless blending of experiment and melody. -- Darren Simpson

Links

[See Cluster | Neu! ]

Discography

Harmonium (74) Si On Avait Besoin d'une Cinquième Saison (75) L'Heptade (76) En Tournee (80)

Reviews