As 1998 ended, I recall reading a review in Classic Rock magazine by co-founder of the mag and one of my favourite music writers, Dave Ling, who was/is pretty much essential reading for progressive rock and metal fans. Indeed, of all the journos I have enjoyed over the years, only the late, great, Pete Makowski came remotely close in the quality of his music writing and understanding of the peculiar geekiness of many of the people he wrote for. The review was for an album by that well-known ‘eadbanger, erm, Judie Tzuke, and the album was Secret Agent.
In common with many my age, I recalled the hit single, Stay with Me till Dawn, which was a huge seller in 1979 at a time when punk was supposed to have blown such music into kingdom come. I had, though, in all honesty, lost track of her.
At the time, I had to look twice – Ling reviewing Judie Tzuke? Either a mistake, or else she had taken up with Lemmy, and a special collaboration was on its way.
The free CD with the magazine contained a track from the album, Bully, and it was this which persuaded me to order the album from her Big Moon Records directly (I recall the initial cheque bounced. My apologies to Judie, I was a callow singleton at the time). This track and the outstanding Mother have remained to this day two of my all-time favourite pieces of music.
Before we discuss these two gems, let me say that the album is a very good one. From the opening bars of Tonight, a gorgeous seductive love song, I fell head over heels with one of the finest female voices on the planet, a voice which draws the listener into a sultry world. Her guests weren’t half bad, either – Pina Palladino with some magnificent bass grooves, David Goodes on guitars, Andy Newmark on drums amongst others.
Swallowing is a mysterious commentary on a lover featuring some very good percussion by Danny Cummings. I like the conversational style of Both Alone and the chorus when Tzuke sings “somehow it all goes so wrong” is one of those “close your eyes” moments at the sheer beauty of a unique voice. That’s Where My Heart Used to Be has a Cher-like synthesised voice and some very good keyboards and vocal harmonies.
The Girl I Want to Be is an interesting track lyrically, with Tzuke looking in admiration at a cool girl, a one in a million, and she wishes she was her, although my interpretation of this has always been of her in fact staring at herself in the mirror and reflecting on the different moods which take us as human beings. The music itself is bright and breezy and extremely catchy.
This is followed by the very strong title track. This is fantastic, with Tzuke going through the cheating man’s pockets, acting in a manner which is undignified and obscene. The music, an orchestral delight, is anything but and the fragility inherent in her voice comes very much to the fore here before she then treats us to the opposite belting out the words with venom as the chorus repeats to the close.
Little Cloud is simply classy pop music but infused with some very complex rhythms. Goodes, the co-writer, produces a fine guitar solo in this. Dancing on Charcoal could be renamed the introspective song’s introspective song talking as it does about children being loved, but bleeding the subject dry, a track rooted in real life and experience. Incidentally, the sleeve notes show Tzuke stating that the album was made under probably the most difficult circumstances of all her albums, so there is the context for much of what we hear. Musically, it is pretty progressive with a talking drum leading the rhythm line and some rather complex guitar work, again by Goodes. It has the first appearance on the album on backing vocals by daughter Bailey Tzuke, a mature artist in her own right, but then a mere eleven years old. Fuel Injection takes us back to a very introspective mood and I like the chorus on this. Jumping ahead, the penultimate track is Move On which features some pulsing bass, more very good jazz inflected drum & percussion and some very nice, if understated, synths underneath the lead vocal on the chorus.
I hope all the words above persuade the reader that this is an album well worth your time. The two tracks I introduced, though, raise it to another level altogether, to an essential purchase containing unforgettable music which rips at the core of your emotional being and refuses to let go.
I have embedded a link to Bully on Spotify above. Just turn everything off apart from your speakers or headphones. Dim the lights. Play it as loud as your family and neighbours will allow. Wonder at the sheer genius of a track which builds in intensity but gives no real clue as to the staggering denouement until you get there. Goodes guitar solo, riffing furiously, accompanies the Tzuke vocal “who’s going down with you” when the backing vocals start and accompany her, then build with a class rock vibe with such intensity before all goes quiet, and the children start their voices, fragile, full of fear, and then this is repeated in a loop, with each passing line building in emotion and noise, with Tzuke literally crying out her words above this, and then the male vocals come in as well, and it simply takes you to another place as it builds and builds to its finality. It blew me away at the time. It still does.
As I write these words in December 2023, the previous Sunday (Christmas Eve), I featured on my guest spot on Graham Harfleet’s “Progressive Rock Show” on Progzilla Radio the incredible “Soulprint (For Mother)” by Swedish band, Introitus, the story of Ana singing her mother to eternal rest in an incredible emotional rollercoaster of a song. It was the first song I played when returning home after my wife and I saw my mother to rest in Carmarthen hospital. The second was Tzuke’s Mother from this album, and there is no particular reason for the order in which I played them, because they are both models of intensity, stories of the deep love felt for those who birthed them. I can’t see an official video for this, but I have embedded a fan video for this on the premise that my readers always support the artist by buying original product. Tzuke talks about being frightened, not just of losing her mother, but not being everything her parent wanted her to be, and the cries of mother in various languages are achingly sad and heartfelt. Tzuke is still the child, even though a child is growing within her. Richard Cardwell, who co-wrote this thing of beauty, plays a delicate piano and the orchestration is perfect. This is a song which brings both a smile to my face and a tear or three to my eyes every time I listen to it. It is simply about as good as it gets.
What an album.
ARENA - THE VISITOR
An album which I think of even more highly in 2022 than I did when I wrote this review in 2011. A classic which demonstrated that the new boys of prog were every bit as talented as the classic acts we loved. At the time of writing, I am looking forward to the 2022 new album release with Damian Wilson as new vocalist.
A superb slab of prog, and one of the genre's highlights of the 1990's. This is a concept album, apparently built around an incident on a trip to foreign parts witnessed by Clive Nolan, and, as with the best of such albums, the tracks move seamlessly into one whole part.
Musically, it is a triumph, and I should state that I regard Paul Wrightson as being a superb vocalist. Yes, very reminiscent of a certain Mr Dick from Marillion's early days, none more so on (Don't Forget To) Breathe and the title track, but, hey, I loved him as well! However, he is not a one trick pony, and on Tears In The Rain, especially, his melodic, feeling, and sympathetic vocals enhance a haunting lyric and musical piece.
Nolan's keyboard work is essential in creating the predominantly dark mood at play here, whilst the guitar work by John Mitchell, at times, is inspirational and moving, and added a new dimension to the band. Both of them shine on the introduction to In The Blink of An Eye, and after the vocals start, Nolan's piano work is very deftly performed. The end of this track, by the way, turns into one of the best rockers around. Mitchell plays very moving acoustic guitar on the album's opener, A Crack In The Ice.
The two instrumentals, Elea and Serenity, are examples of just how good Mitchell is electrically, and the band as a whole absolutely shine on the highlight of the album, the seven minutes plus epic The Hanging Tree. Haunting and dark, this is a great piece of music, and is a treat from start to finish.
However, to pick out individual tracks is perhaps a little unfair, as this is an album that you should not be selective about in listening to individual tracks but listen to the work as a whole. It all builds up to quite a huge and moving climax in the closing three tracks. They are all stunning and epic in scope, and special mention should be made for John Jowitt's thunderous bass line on Running From Damascus and the title track closer.
This is prog at perhaps its finest in terms of knowing nods to the past, symphonic epic and conceptual rock, and, as such, is very highly recommended.
It is difficult to describe in 2022 just how exciting this archival release from Genesis was, and my review below written in 2011 gives it a fair old stab.
Genesis were groundbreaking and are rightly revered by all serious rock music fans. This collection shows us why.
I grabbed hold of this as soon as it was released (hard to believe it was thirteen years ago now), all a quiver with excitement. As much as I enjoyed Collins era Genesis, the opportunity to pass up on a compilation like this was too much to refuse.
Was it worth it? Well, emphatically yes. This is a very clever release, and for that we have Tony Banks to thank. Rather than taking the easy option of pulling together a lazy compilation of previously available sets, Banks pulled off a coup by bringing us a live set of The Lamb which had passed into legend, with the bonus of getting the band together in the studio for the first time since 1975 to "finish off" It, the final track which had disappeared from the master.
Not only that, on CD3, we had a good proportion (more was to follow in a later release) of a legendary set from The Rainbow of the Selling England tour.
Listening to both, you wonder just why the "official" live releases were so silent in terms of interaction between singer and audience (I include Collins as well as Gabriel here). The stories and dialogue were such an important part of the live experience, it is a wonder we had to wait so long to hear it on an official release (The Lamb set was widely available as a bootleg for many years prior to this).
CD4 is the one that is for pure completionists only but contains some interesting curios and demos from the band's earliest formative stages as spotty public-school kids at Charterhouse. If you can put aside the obvious production shortcomings, and naivety of the band, tracks such as In The Wilderness and Shepherd give a hint of the greatness to follow.
The Lamb live is nothing short of a revelation. Extremely well performed, and, given that they were playing a huge chunk of music live to many hearing it for the first time, extremely well received. Whilst tracks such as In The Cage sound better re production values on Seconds Out, the whole set has a rawness in its feel that completely matches the theme it deals with in the story.
The Rainbow set on CD3 is exceptional. Suppers Ready as it was meant to be heard, full of emotion and prog greatness. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight is wonderfully bought to life, and, also, for the Collins doubters, witness the difference in the audience reaction prior to More Fool Me (utter silence) and that when this great track dies to a close. They go bonkers, and rightly so. The fun doesn't end there, either. Old BBC archive material of Stagnation and Twilight Alehouse (both superb tracks) and an early attempt at hit single status in Happy The Man are all fantastic.
Lastly, this boxset is also worth getting and splashing a great deal of money on for the content of the booklet that accompanies it. Full of fascinating interviews, a history by the great journalist Chris Welch (who was there from the start), memories of a unique time in rock music history, and curiosities, you will visit this time and time again.
As for rating, CD4, whilst interesting and important in understanding the band's early development, renders it just short of a masterpiece. The remainder though, every single bar of music and dialogue, is nothing short of prog heaven.
An excellent addition to any prog rock collection.
TUBULAR BELLS III
It really shouldn’t have worked, at least not without a large infusion of hallucinogenic drugs. But, strangely, it did, even live. Cynics said that Oldfield by this stage only made money from albums with metal bells in them, hence why he kept releasing them. This is, however, a very good album and original enough to retain dignity on his part.
At the weekend, I played an Oldfield compilation DVD, the first time I have played him in ages. The DVD was compiled prior to this incredible work, but it has prompted me to start listening to this eccentric, misunderstood, and vastly talented individual's work again.
It is somewhat hard to believe that this album, the third of the TB "franchise", is now 12 years old, but I believe it would, under normal circumstances, rank as the finest, if not for the fact that the first was such a ground-breaking and massive work of importance to the genre.
This was recorded following Oldfield's residence in Ibiza, at a time when the island was gaining its reputation as THE clubbing and trance capital of the world. The influence of that brand of club music is wrought all over this album but imprinted with the trademark attention to detail and song writing that make Oldfield so unique and loved, certainly by this reviewer.
There are some quite exquisite moments on this album. The chanting on The Inner Child is a sheer delight, and I love the pop simplicity and mood created in Man in the Rain. Elsewhere, as in Outcast, Oldfield reminds me of just what an incredible electric guitarist he is, the bursts are simply stunning. This contrasts nicely with acoustic work on Serpent Dream, very much in a flamenco vein backed by a relentless percussion and bass line before the trademark electric burst forces itself upon you.
However, overall, this album is one of mood, and the trance mixes with more traditional prog create a unique piece of work which is right up there with his best.
Whether you are a fan of Tubular Bells or not, don't confuse this album with the more "traditional" TB albums. It more than stands up in its own right and is an excellent addition to any collection.
The sequel to Sometimes God Hides, this, again, features a hugely eclectic array of artists who have appeared on Fripp's Discipline label.
King Crimson are, again, very well represented, with highlights for me being live versions of Dinosaur and Easy Money.
There are a fair few more jazzy pieces than the first compilation, and the Bruford Levin collaborations, especially, do take a bit of listening to.
Peter Hammill's work, again, proves just what an exceptional vocal artist he is, and I must mention here the exceptional Native of the Rain by Tony Geballe, a great track.
Those who enjoyed Belew's solo stuff on the first album will find more of the same here, and I really enjoy it.
Fripp's solo stuff also must be mentioned, especially the haunting Pie Jesu and On My Mother's Birthday.
A simple review can never really hope to convey the magic of this and its predecessor. They are, in my opinion, essential purchases for those who wish to move beyond early Crimson such as Epitaph & etc. and explore the sometimes weird, very diverse, but ultimately deeply satisfying world of Fripp, Crimson, and Discipline as one of the essential eclectic labels of our time.
MARILLION - RADIATION
An album which, in retrospect, seems to cause a bit of embarrassment for the band, and a lot of disdain amongst many fans. I still enjoy it a great deal. It was recorded in my old home town of Oswestry, and I was treated by Phil Beaumont, a very decent bloke, to an advance listen at the studio. The album was, I thought, well produced and contains a couple of belters. It was, though, remastered in 2013, as you can see from the video below.
I cannot understand for the life of me why the ratings are so low for this LP. Recorded in my old hometown of Oswestry, I think this is a very underrated piece of work.
Costa Del Slough is a rather amusing opener, followed by a rocking rant against global warming in Under The Sun, featuring some fine Mark Kelly keyboard work.
The Answering Machine is a very good single which gallops along at a fair old pace.
Now She'll never Know & These Chains are the tracks which link this LP together - they are fine, moving ballads with Hogarth particularly plaintive in his vocal treatment - again, Kelly is on fine form. I find the These Chains ghostly chant to be particularly effective and moving.
Born To Run is a rather throwaway track, but the LP comes to a forceful conclusion with Cathedral Wall & A Few Words for the Dead. Again, Kelly's keyboards are very much to the fore, and Hogarth is in fine vocal form as he belts out the conclusion. The end track sees the band complement Kelly & Hogarth in some beautiful chord and drum work. This really is Mark Kelly's finest moment as the band's keyboardist.
This is not an album you will give anything over “good” as a rating on the first few listens. It is a definite grower, but if you give it a chance, you will be amply rewarded. As for the Radiohead comparisons, Hogarth himself did not help matters much when he compared the band to Yorke et al. I think that he meant that the music they were producing was no longer traditional prog rock and had more in common with Radiohead - I agree. It is truly progressive and not stuck in the past - no bad thing. Having said that, if you like Radiohead, you will like this. Also, if, as I do, you love Yes, Genesis, Fish era & etc., then you will still find a lot to like in this LP.
Recommended.
Having spent the best part of the last couple of weeks converting a pile of old vinyl into digital and going on a ridiculous spending spree for new stuff, I dug out this old curiosity this evening.
This is the second of a compilation of tracks from the project started by Alan Parsons, of Pink Floyd engineering fame, and the late, great Eric Woolfson, and if the purpose of such compilations is to goad the listener into exploring more fully the deeper annals of such bands, then I think that this one succeeds admirably.
A variety of artists were used on the project, and Chris Rainbow's vocals are standout on a couple of tracks here, most especially Since The Last Goodbye, although, to these ears, the emotional intensity of Woolfson's vocals are the true hallmark.
The title track, Limelight, is a standout ballad, with vocals dripping with intensity by the great Gary Brooker.
Another standout for me is Ammonia Avenue, with exceptional Woolfson vocals, this is the title track from the album of the same name which generated good commercial success. It is reminiscent of what many would call American AOR but is no worse for that.
The instrumentals show the proggier side of the band. Mammagamma and I Robot are especially enjoyable, the latter basically a simple keyboard riff overlaid with an almost disco type of rhythm.
There are a couple of tracks here which I would describe as throwaway, and certainly make this good, but non-essential. Hawkeye is one such track. Pleasant enough as an instrumental, with saxophone and light keyboards dominating, but it never really grabs enough. Light fare, basically, which I believe is the main criticism of many critics to the Project as a whole.
This is a good selection of tracks, and if you enjoy, as I do, the simpler side of prog in terms of composition and instrumentation, melded with some quite exquisite vocal performances, then you could do a lot worse than to check this out.
I got this recently on a bit of a whim, never having gotten the original when released, I saw the remastered version, and thought, why not?
It is a purchase I do not regret. The album is from a one-night show in Tokyo performed by Hackett and a collection of his friends from the great and good of classic prog and came off the back of the first Genesis Revisited album, which, to these ears, is the best of the two editions, simply because Hackett, in my opinion, displayed more originality on the classic Genesis song interpretations.
As might be expected from a line-up of Hackett, John Wetton, Julian Colbeck, Ian McDonald, and Chester Thompson, the playing is never anything less than exceptional. There are also some surprising pleasantries for me. The wonderful way the bass playing of Wetton comes out in the mix, with his wonderfully inventive licks at the end of Firth of Fifth and In That Quiet Earth. Rutherford never sounded that forceful or good, that's for sure! Colbeck is no Tony Banks, but is very quietly efficient, whilst McDonald's flute playing is a delight, and Thompson shows on skins just why he is still the world's most in demand Genesis drummer behind a certain Mr Collins.
Hackett is very careful on this to ensure that the show is more than a Genesis revival, or Hackett number's show, and the inclusion of guest songs is extremely welcome. Of these, the two Crimson songs come out very well, with In The Court especially warm (Colbeck is wonderful on this), but, perhaps the biggest surprises are the Wetton contributions. Battlelines is a wonderful song, beautifully performed, and the version of Heat of the Moment which appears here is the finest ever recorded, understated, sung and played with extreme feeling.
Of course, we love the Genesis songs, but the Hackett solo tracks also serve to remind us just what an important songwriter Hackett has been since he left the band all those years ago.
This is a wonderfully enjoyable wallow in nostalgia and great live playing and is heartily recommended to all.
MR SO & SO - THE OVERLAP
An album I enjoyed at the time of review and think more of in 2022.
This is a band who I saw supporting Marillion some years ago, during the This Strange Engine tour. At the time I thought they were, well, "so so", if you will pardon the pun, and I lost track of them really, although that was not difficult as it was to be over a decade between this release and the follow up. With new work in preparation, the band have re- released this album as a free download to try to generate some enthusiasm.
There are some good moments on this album, and when they are good, they are very good. There are also, unfortunately, some throwaway moments, and the decision really is whether these are enough to put off the potential buyer's interest in exploring them further.
Mr So & So, on this evidence, are a good mellow rock band with prog tendencies. Sure, there are sections where prog influences are heard, Marillion being the obvious one, certainly as far as David Foster's guitar work and Kieran Twist's keyboards are concerned, which have Rothery, and Kelly admiration stamped all over them. Regrettably, they are not as good as the masters, but that would, in this listener's eyes, be next to impossible anyway.
The album opener is truly shocking. Metaphor is a mess of a post indie track, meandering into a welcome conclusion, and this is dangerous as it might put off many from exploring further.
Thankfully, the band redeem themselves in the wonderful, gentle, prog layered Spacewalk, where Foster especially is on very good form.
The throwaway label reasserts itself with Drowners, another meandering track featuring at its heart Kieran Twist's early Mark Kelly impersonation on keyboards, whilst Shaun McGowan reminds me very much of a New Romantic singer whose name is infuriatingly beyond me. Far too light to be anything other than an interesting diversion, it is pleasant, certainly, but instantly forgettable.
Isn't It Amazing is basically a pop rock single that is fun, but, again, throwaway.
The opening riff to Subterfuge offers a very welcome change of pace and direction. McGowan, at last, provides us with evidence that he is a rock singer, and the band sound far more convincing as a unit on a track which reminds me of a couple of the more thoughtful tracks from Holidays In Eden with the contrasts between rock, pop, and prog inside the eight minutes available, with all the time signature changes that description suggests. There are also some nice cello effects (unless there was an uncredited real thing at work!). All in all, a good rock track with rich prog undertones.
This welcome tone continues in the shorter Salamander, featuring some excellent vocal interplay between McGowan and the backing vocalist, Charlotte Evans, on the chorus. The latter also, for the first time on the album, comes into her own with a lush vocal solo, but the track is especially memorable because of Twist's rich keyboard layers both overlaying and leading the riffs. On the first few listens, this is very misleading in its apparent simplicity, because it is a very clever and well performed rock song.
The title track has God himself guest performing. Naturally, Rothery is instantly recognisable, and this is a piece of music as good as the opener is bad. Whilst it is clearly written at the same juncture in the band's development, The Overlap has an urgency and emotion palpably missing from Metaphor, and for the first time you hear Leon Parr's drums and McGowan's bass leading rather than following the action.
The best is saved until last. Coup De Grace is precisely that, an epic eight minute plus track which commences with some extremely dark, and extremely good, vocal effects and harmonies, backed by a heavy, lingering synth. The changes of mood in this piece of music are exceptional, it is extremely well performed, and is a joy to listen to. Twist excels on piano and keys, and we hear far more of Evans, and she adds so much to McGowan's feeling, melancholic vocals. The symphonic passages on the chorus are brilliantly performed. In conclusion, this is a glorious prog rock track which manages that difficult trick of pulling you in and back out emotionally.
This is a good album overall. Criticisms are that Evans is criminally underused, because when she is allowed to express herself, she shines. More of her, please. When the album plods, it plods badly. However, what we used to call side two reasserts this album in a very strong fashion, almost an act of redemption, and to return to my earlier query about wishing to explore further, then the answer is a clear yes. The concluding track and Spacewalk, especially, are amongst the best I have from this period.
A good album that I would heartily recommend