Walpurgis QUEEN OF SABA An Idyllic Little Dream From Germany That Takes You To A Strange Land

Most German "Underground" or "Progressive" labels in the early to mid 70s put out an alarming amount of high quality music and the scene was overflowing with great bands from all over that country who all had something a little different from each other to say. Brain had some real winners and some dreadful artists signed to their label whilst the parent distributor Metronome mainly had quality acts whose albums are so impossible to find that most of them are in the "Prove To Me They Really Exist" category. One label with a dismal track record however is Ohr- that's German for
"Ear" of the little German I know and I don't want Mythos, Limbus, most of their other rubbish in my ear and WON'T have it in my ear. With a whole lot of mediocre to bad releases Ohr is a label that most will argue with me about and call Walpurgis second division or something like that, but the last act ever signed to the label before it went under are actually from what I've heard the only essential band on the label. For ages I didn't even know that QUEEN OF SABA was on Ohr and assumed it was on the much better Ohr offshoot Pilz. but it actually is on Ohr and was the last record ever released by the label.
                   -The Prejudice Of American Labels Towards Foreign Acts-
 There were a lot of brilliant bands and artists from across the Atlantic who never got a chance at American success because hardly any European records were put out and properly distributed in America and most British bands that came out in the States were a low quality job done by a supposed major label most of the time that remixed and destroyed the music. There were a few exceptions, however, and I'd say Walpurgis could have been one of them, but they only could have made it on an underground level because of the thickly accented vocals. American labels feared bands from other countries since the days of The British Invasion and the fact that The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Zombies et all were foreign groups making a huge splash in the States freaked the major labels and the radio stations because not only was the radio filling up with music from British bands, but American bands were adopting the look and sound of their British counterparts. At some point the patriotism turned Nationalistic in our country and then in England they turned Nationalistic during the heavy metal era and tried so hard to have no American influences that bands who had American influences were often tarred and feathered by the press. The rivalry between here (America) and Europe/England grew worse over the years, but certainly didn't start too friendly when bands such as The Zombies or more later on more appropriately The Move either were banned in the case of the former or ignored/kept-underground in the case of the latter. What would later happen was that most of the best American bands wouldn't get heard by any country outside America and the more I look at it they didn't go anywhere even in the US. This was bad enough. Then British and European acts were taken as a joke by American labels or a threat and went nowhere. A few bands broke through, but you can know for sure that by "a few bands" I mean a few bands. I still don't know how Abba managed it- to conquer America, England, everywhere out of Sweden, but they did thankfully.
                 -Walpurgis And Their QUEEN OF SABA One That Should Be Heard By All-
    Most of what happened with British/European bands was that they focused on their own countries and developed a unique sound. Walpurgis you'd expect to be a dark early metal band from their name probably and you'd think of Walpurgis Night- the German equivalent of Halloween. No. Walpurgis miraculously were a part German part Polish band who played very melodic guitar psych with beautiful leads and lots of chiming acoustic 12 strings. Think about the part German part Polish part. This was a "Forgive And Forget" scenario of the best kind between a country that decimated another country and some people from that other country. In World War 2 I have nothing but sympathy for all countries involved except Japan, but definitely a lot of love and sympathy for Germany. Having said that one of the worst atrocities of that war was what the Nazi regime did to the middle and upper class of Poland by killing off all of them. It was dreadful. When the war ended Germany and Poland began repairing their relationship with each other and from what I've experienced you won't find lovelier people than Germans AND Polish. When Poland was taken over by the Soviets some managed to escape to Germany and it is my guess that this is how leader/main guitarist/writer Ryszard Kalemba and 2nd guitarist/vocalist Jerzy Sokolowksi from Poland teamed up with Germans George Fruchenicht (bass), Jan Sundermayer (congas, flute), and drummer/vocalist Manfred Stadelmann to form the short lived Walpurgis.
    The melodically oriented band lasted just long enough for one brilliant one off called QUEEN OF SABA which should be filed under psych, but not heavy psych. It's pretty heavy in places and the dramatic thickly accented vocals are very emotional recalling Aphrodite's Child from Greece or a few other German groups, but Walpurgis have a light and peaceful way of playing their music that invites you in to enjoy it rather than creating a barrage of noise. QUEEN OF SABA is a very rare record and I am very lucky to have it, but I can honestly say that this is also one of the most enjoyable and beautiful records I've heard from Germany. I tend to prefer really heavy German rock, but this kind of easy going acid laced melodic guitar psych is also a favorite music form and there's a little of the heavy Teutonic vibe here and there just to spice things up a bit.
        The first track "Disappointment" oftentimes gets slammed for not sounding anything like the rest of the album, but I love it. Who ever said there was anything wrong with variety!!! "Disappointment" is a beautiful commercial ballad in the vein of Aphrodite's Child and Procol Harum with sad lyrics about a bitter ending to a relationship and emotionally wailing vocals. Jurgen Dollasse from Wallenstein guests on keyboards and Kalemba plays some lovely ultra tasteful guitar. Take Adrian Vandenberg (he's one of THE BEST GUITAR PLAYERS IN THE WORLD) from The Netherlands and slow him down a bit in an earlier era and that's how tasty the guitar is on QUEEN OF SABA. Instead of a self indulgent approach to their music there is so much freedom in Walpurgis's music, so much hope and joy in their steadily jamming flowing music that I have a sense of fulfillment seldom equaled when I listen to their album. There are even a few moments where the guitar is so close to Boston that it's been said by more than just me that Tom Scholz must have heard these guys and ripped them off!
    Walpurgis do something important for the rest of the album. They play laid back melodic guitar based psychedelic/progressive rock without it ever sounding lazy. At times the jams are Kak level and there is a nice balance between peaceful dreaminess and over the top melodramatic vocals. The vocals won't be for everyone as they are thickly accented and very extreme, but I like that. "Hey You Over There" is a mellow rock number with an unexpected nod to hard rock in the middle which is more characteristic of the rest of QUEEN OF SABA than "Disappointment" is and the interplay between the two guitars, flute, and rhythm section is remarkable. There's a lot of beauty in Walpurgis and it makes me really want to hear this record when Spring comes and the weather perks up a lot. Enough of winter! Most German music makes me either think of keeping warm during winter or makes me think of an idyllic country scene from a long distant place and this album is much more of the latter.
     Recently I've been listening a bit to what was my #1 most wanted record Dog That Bit People on vinyl reissue and I honestly have to say that many other British and European bands outshine that album. I love eclecticism in music, but Dog That Bit People despite their high quality are a bit directionless. After the huge change from romantic ballad to a more friendly commercial rock sound there isn't any feeling of a loss of direction rather there is a progress to this music. "Queen Of Saba" the title track is the heaviest track on the record with driving rhythms, wailing fuzz/wah-wah guitars, and exotic lyrics. If you like German rock more than the kind of cosmic rambling stuff and are like me then you'll rate this one higher than most people who like the crap records on the Ohr label which pass for "classic." Forget about Ash Ra Tempel, this is real music. I've never got into that kind of German music or the counterpart from Britain or America which would be The Grateful Dead or something like that, but when this band jam they get out there!
       The guitar work is stellar, virtuosic. The playing is crisp and lively, the production is sympathetic to the music, and the songs are great songs. The only problem is that when Walpurgis sing they do it in what sounds like the more overemotional British style although the vocals never bother me on QUEEN OF SABA. It does have to be mentioned, though. If you love melodrama Spooky Tooth style or more accurately the previously mentioned Aphrodite's Child it won't effect your love of this album and certainly it doesn't detract from my love of it. What may be the problem is soft music with heavy vocals and how that is such a contrasting sound. Personally, though, I'd say the singing is pretty good on the record and on tracks like "Queen Of Saba" it works wonders. Better to be really emotional than sound like a robot.
   "Daily" is a song about the boredom of every day life and for a topic that has been covered a million times there is a beauty to the song which makes it more poignant than a lot of other tracks written on the same subject matter. The song, as most songs about life do, begins with the day and ends with the night, but the vocals are much mellower and this would be the 2nd softest track on the record. "Daily" has some nice acoustic guitar and features another great contribution from Jurgen Dollasse.
       Side Two contains just two songs "What Can I Do (To Find Myself?)" and "My Last Illusion" which feature the longest instrumental passages of any songs on the album without going into pseudo cosmic rubbish. "What Can I Do (To Find Myself?)" is based around soaring guitars and melodramatic vocals and sounds like it is about the problem of not knowing where you really belong or even who you are. Back when I was a teenager there was the true side of me that I showed every day and there was also the true side of me that was kept hidden and an at-that-time frightening to me secret. I couldn't admit my homosexuality or a few other things that were key components to myself. When I hear this song it sounds very close to how I felt then. Walpurgis are sympathetic band. They aren't pompous or bloated or arrogant. The vocals, as dramatic as they may be, are suitable to the level of emotion in the music. "My Last Illusion" is a beautiful song with very sophisticated instrumental passages and great jams that take up most of the song and will take you to a beautiful place. Think about the world. Think about other people. Think about yourself. Be your own true person, but don't be selfish and snub potential friends. I had some of my best friends become best friends just through my generosity towards them and the huge amount of that which they gave me in return. Walpurgis make me happy and I know that may not be what you expect from a band called Walpurgis, but life is full of surprises. This is one of the best German records and since a M- copy is around $700 I got a VG to VG+ one for way less and it sounds great. That would be the best way to hear Walpurgis as the reissues typically don't get the job done properly. Turn this one up and you can lay back and relax without going to sleep. Walpurgis made a great melodic album that needs to be heard by everyone.

    

Chet Nichols Is On The Time Loop Of Your MInd- Here's One For You Freaky Folk Prog Fans!

In America and really worldwide in the early to late 70s the solo artist or if you like "Singer Songwriter" came into his or her own with classic releases by the likes of Emmit Rhodes, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, and lesser known masterful artists like Pete Dello and Clifford T. Ward who himself is only lesser known a bit in America. Now there didn't have to be a whole band it could be one person with a whole lot to say and a great melodic sense. If you take away the valuable content and the great melodic or creative sense you end up with some of the worst rubbish ever, but in my mind at least the vast array of early 70s solo artists could come up with some really brilliant and interesting results.
                - Chet Nichols Gets Deserved Respect From Paul Major And From Me-
     Chet Nichols probably got signed to Kama Sutra not because he was a later westcoast San Francisco progressive folk psych mastermind who came up by himself with a full band sound on his one album TIME LOOP, but probably because Kama Sutra thought his eccentricities would be overlooked for the very pleasant and inventive voice he has. Far removed from James Taylor, Jim Croce, Leonard Cohen and the like Chet's music is more comparable to British pastoral on-the-edge folk psych progressive acts like Northwind and their lead vocalist Brian Young and Dog That Bit People's John Caswell. Back in the beginning with Paul Major we didn't agree on everything and certainly he always had a weakness for the inept, but he loved and hopefully still loves great British records and that may be just one reason why he raved about Chet Nichols ages later championing his album TIME LOOP as a work of stunning somewhat strange folk psych.
    When I first heard Nichols in 2002 I was very impressed by the album, but I couldn't believe despite the sparse nature that this was all one guy. Hearing him again now I can say that my opinion hasn't changed. That means something. Paul was onto something that really had merit with Chet Nichols and its a shame that some other dealers don't share his views on the album and have unjustly slammed it. Well to each his own pleasures and prejudices and I'd say this album belongs in every collection in my opinion.
     I recently heard what is supposed to be the big monster on Kama Sutra to most dealers/collectors Hackamore Brick's ONE KISS LEADS TO ANOTHER and what a piece of garbage! I actually got both records from the same record store on the same day and ONE KISS went right out the door with Chet securing a permanent home in my collection. Hackamore Brick sound nothing like The Velvet Underground who they are claimed to be just like. That could have been a good thing since for the most part I hate Velvet Underground and most other experimental New York noise groups like The Godz for instance- I'll admit they were hugely talented revolutionaries, but myself if I'm gonna go out there I prefer something more like Earth Opera. Hackamore Brick is a bad plain country rock record with a few other ideas thrown in that go nowhere and the whole album sounds like the band were in a comatose or just plain sloppy and lazy mindset when they made the album. Don't waste your time and your dough. To get back to Chet Nichols his album TIME LOOP really is special, but it doesn't get enough praise for how brilliant and creatively inventive it is. Initially the album was $50 to $75 and worth it and now the price fluctuates all the time and proves that the price of an album means nothing. I picked this up for $25 mint in the shrink and it is musically even beyond $50 or $75 it's priceless. So now let me give you the lowdown. Are you ready and steady to here my latest rant!? Hold on coz a here it comes!
           -Spinning On The TIME LOOP With Chet Nichols An Extraordinarily Great Record-
     Chet Nichols only used other musicians on one track on his TIME LOOP album and that is the title track with an appearance on piano from the late and brilliant Nicky Hopkins. The title track is a great song, but much more commercial than the rest of the amazing record. Tracks like "Electra," "Tell Me What The Count Is" and the bizarre short closing bit of madness "Quasar Sleeper" are all vocals and instruments by Nichols himself. Even when it is just a sparse backing of acoustic guitar and weird vocal effects somehow this album is far from folky in the bad way and much more roomy, much more progressive. I mean the kind of progressive that was going on in the UK at the time and I apologize for my slandering of Britain in one of my last blogs. I shouldn't let stupid people put me off my favorite country although I think England is really in a bad state of decline now like much of the world. The songs tend to be a bit longer on here than on Dog That Bit People and a bit shorter than some of Northwind's, but both bands with their freaky mellow progressive psychedelic laced sound would be good comparisons especially Northwind. There's a subtle moodiness here and some subtly dark moments that might even bring to mind some of the eccentric ramblings of the aforementioned Earth Opera's Peter Rowan. Unlike Rowan Chet Nichols had a voice that would have been commercially marketable had he not been a really progressive writer and singer with grand ideas and strong leanings towards freaked out wasted psychedelia.
       "Electra" begins the album and is a strong percussive number with soaring vocals and a captivating sound to it that sounds half California half England. The half California half England vibe comes up a lot. It's a shame Paul Major and I have been so long out of touch. I'd like to think that Paul will see this and be glad because Paul is a great guy and I'm sad to no longer be in communication with him. "Electra" has some very out there lyrics and a nice balance between acoustic and electric instrumentation with a nod to the past decade of the 60s and what the counterculture could produce in terms of brilliant music. Stoned looking Chet is definitely not a square guy- in fact you could say he's pretty strange and definitely someone who would defy authority.
   "Water Sand Castles" delves into a nautical mood that is very pastoral and pleasant with excellent vocals from Chet and some great musical creativity flowing from this brilliant man. He is very different from Todd Rundgren because he is coming from a completely different background and a completely different part of the country. Todd started out in a band. They were called Nazz and they were a great band, but Todd abandoned his Angophile phase before his solo career and became the East Coast's foremost pop/progressive/weirdness purveyor before he went completely narcissistic and crazy. I love Todd Rundgren, but I prefer Chet Nichols. Chet has going for him that he only did one album. He has going for him the UK meets San Fran vibe of songs like "Water Sand Castles" with its oceanic sweetness, the environmentally concerned thought provoking beautiful folk pop of "Who Stole The Ivy" and the stark acoustic guitar and voice intensity of "Lonely Woman." Every song on this album tries something new.
   There's a lot going on and a lot of pleasure to be had if you have an open mind. "Who Stole The Ivy" would have fit perfectly on an album from 1967 or 1968, but it is updated a little here to sound more of the early 70s era. Most of the songs on TIME LOOP were written between 1968 and 1970, but the album was recorded in 1972 and came out then. A sure sign that it was the 70s and not the utopian 60s is the lyrically violent musically crazed closing track on Side One "The Ballad Of Diamond Joe" about a guy who kills 3 guys with a saw and then gets hunted down and killed by the protagonist which is of course Chet's character. This kind of old West gone mad vibe was so popular in the early 70s, but it speaks of something that is as dark as the lyric Chet wrote. Altamont had happened (To Hell with the Hell's Angels says I!) and so had Kent State. The 60s were in retreat and getting further and further from the dream of a beautiful world as the 70s went on. There were still places and still dreams of places where there was a more relaxed and open life, but society and authority were closing in leading to paranoia and disillusionment. Side One of this album covers the ground from the hopes of the 60s right on through to the turning back on the world "We've Got To Just Make It Alone" vibe of the 70s. Strangely, it isn't a sad album. In fact, you may like me have a sense of joy or relief even when you hear this.
     Side Two begins with "(Spinning On The) Time Loop" a really catchy commercial number and the only track to use session players including Nicky Hopkins the late keyboard genius who helped out The Rolling Stones and The Kinks. "(Spinning On The) Time Loop" isn't like anything else on the record and it works instead of sounding like something hastily thrown together to fill up space.
      "Tell Me What The Count Is" goes right back into the UK and California gone twisted folk psych progressive vibes with insightful wary lyrics and a real sense of intensity. Nichols does a lot by working by himself. The least full sounding track is the title track with the full backing of session players and something like "Tell Me What The Count Is" speaks a lot for the true eccentric solo artist who does it all ably by himself. I, personally, would probably not sound half as good attempting something like this. I love Chet's voice it is so warm and crystal clear yet so quietly intense. He has that gift for sounding real and human that Brian Young in Northwind and John Caswell in Dog That Bit People have. He gives you the facts. He sings from the heart not the intellect.
      "The Offing" is a very pleasant song with a nautical theme again like "Water Sand Castles" and a really beautifully wasted vocal sound that drifts along just like the sea he is talking about. The lyrics are very pastoral and the sound is very warm and honest with a magical vibe about it that the whole album has. By contrast "The Beetles Are Coming" is a put down character study of someone who has no real personality and is just a loser trying to string other people along into his or her shallow selfish life. I know the type well. The hangers on had become even more stale and annoying than they were in the beginning as the 1960s dream was really getting far from view and it was the beginning of a bad period of people pretending to live in that kind of counterculture way who were just as conformist as those they said they despised. I turned my back on most of the friends I had when I was at my height of Hippy-in-my-own-way because of all the fake people who were fucking my life around with their narrow beliefs and drug abuse. I still have a lot of counterculture-alike beliefs and believe in living my life with a love for nature and other people and an open mind, but it gets harder and harder. "The Beetles Are Coming" nails it. Chet Nichols isn't as pissed off as Bob Dylan's pissed off lyrics, but he certainly lets whoever this was written for know that they are a loser. Even when Nichols is at his most intense he remains more gentle than overbearing although he isn't at all fragile sounding in the way that someone like the brilliant much lamented Clifford T. Ward was/is/will stay. Clifford T. Ward is far from Chet Nichols in the kind of music he produced during his all-too-brief life. Clifford was more British pop at its most melancholic and refined. He wrote sad and tear jerking songs and he wrote a few happy ones too, but Clifford was so British sounding and England oriented that there can't really be an American Clifford T. Ward without the word "Americana" coming into play. There is a little Americana here and there on TIME LOOP, but Chet Nichols is looking toward the UK and then he sends you off into outer space with the crazy mindblowing psychedelic strangeness of "Quasar Sleeper" which is more just strange sounds than a song.
     This is a wonderful album. There's not a track I'd take off or a thing I would change. Everything is so tasteful and so good and Chet has so much talent that I'm glad he is back performing, writing, and playing again with new interest in his music making him smile I'm sure. Nichols never could have made it on a pop/bubblegum label like Kama Sutra and it's unfortunate that back in 1972 his album went largely unnoticed, but I'd like to help out by my rave review here and Chet if you read this drop me a comment and I'll be overjoyed. I will be overjoyed if people go out and buy this record after reading this as it is definitely a masterpiece and a very, very special work of musical art.

New Zealand Trading Company As Love Is Born An Ominous Death For Hatred

You have to evolve and grow and become a stronger individual through life experiences. I've recently been through a very black period and it has left me determined about several things. Most importantly, I must take better care of myself and that includes all forms of health mental and physical. I've disowned nearly all heavy metal and even a lot of offshoots. I need to start giving myself a heavy dose of Europe in the form of German masterpiece albums like my fave Walpurgis's QUEEN OF SABA- their only album and the one absolutely essential-for-every-collection album on the otherwise lame OHR label. I am planning to see Germany for the first time this year by saving a lot of money. Germany is a country I have a lot of love for for many reasons. My next blog will be all on Walpurgis. Most of the sun coming into my life now is not coming anymore from England.  In a dark and disillusioned state I listen a lot to albums like QUEEN OF SABA (actually fairly upbeat), Fairy Tale's ONCE UPON A TIME, and New Zealand Trading Company who you'll read about here. I'm no longer an Anglophile. That is the biggest change of them all. I've been through hatred-of-England periods before, but they never lasted that long and it always was over something that could be mended. You can't mend a heart that's been broken or anger that's been brought on as many times as mine. However, I still love British bands and I still have some really amazing friends in England who I talk to regularly including several I'd like to meet in the top notch Parachute Regiment. The Paras, as they refer to themselves as and are referred to, are not just Britain's elite fighting force,  but they usually are a really good bunch who care about devotion to other people as well as their own mates. I don't hate England as I will never allow myself to hate any country, but the constant slamming of America, Germany, well you know it British Nationalism is a really disturbingly sick offshoot of Patriotism. There is nothing wrong with being Patriotic, but keep an open mind.
     Lately I just can't stomach much heavy metal anymore and I'm growing more and more sick of music that all sounds too redundantly loud for a whole album or career. I guess I could elude to The Rolling Stones- once one of the greats and now for a long time (really since shortly after Brian Jones died) a bad joke unless you catch them in concert (I wish I could!). Still, when Jagger/Richards and cohorts became a bad joke they became really funny so funny that I think it is intentional. The Stones love coming to America. It's used to be a lot of a grass-is-greener case especially with me and some musicians. You get British bands who really just want to conquer America and American bands who want to conquer England. It was much more so that way in the 60s and 70s when the swapping of influences hit big leading right here to a different swapping in New Zealand Trading Company. All native Maoris they wrote all their own material except for an insane cover of "Hey Jude" and instead of British or American influences they oddly enough went heavily for a Northern European sound. We'll get to them soon, but cold weather sounds are funny coming from a band from a Subtropical climate for most of the year. Also, add to that the name New Zealand Trading Company to throw people off. They sound as far removed from New Zealand as Denmark! Now we'll move to another little bit of writing and thinking.

     -Are Europe And America Better Than England? A Question Without An Easy Answer-
            Nowadays I spend so much time listening to music and getting pickier and pickier that if you want to impress me you've gotta really be something outrageously fantastic. I'm getting more and more into bands from America and Europe and would make an exception for New Zealand Trading Company and consider them European since their sound is more than 100% not New Zealand complete with thickly accented vocals and a strong Dutch/Danish vibe that is almost as if they'd recorded the album in Holland or Denmark. That may be the case. As nobody can dig up much information on the group the question as to where did they record the album and who got involved in the album during the recording to make it sound so good is up for investigation seemingly long term. I personally feel that I have spent too much time listening to British bands of all levels of quality from the best that I still place really high up there right down to complete mediocrity in the world of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Now I have no interest in heavy metal from ANY country. My British music is like my music from anywhere- more thoughtful even when rocking out hard. I never listen to shit music from anywhere, but let's just say that I was listening to some pretty shit metal from England, mainly on YouTube, but now I limit myself to Tygers Of Pan Tang and Diamond Head- only the masters will do. I don't even like Black Sabbath anymore. I find them stiff and sludgy.
Paul Major, though a very good friend, referred to The Open Mind as "stiff." No! Not at all! The Open Mind is a classic. England made so much possible, but not everything. Most of my favorite British records that are still favorite British records will not appeal to a whole lot of people who will go out and praise some British bands that I have a lot of trouble listening to. Read Canterbury Prog and I never liked any Canterbury bands except for early Caravan. These people usually are prog snobs or psych nuts who won't listen to anything that could ever be considered in the least bit commercial. I love good hooks and good melodies, clever songwriting, and great playing combined. Face up to the truth Ben, you're a perfectionist. Before I move onto this twisted gem let me thank and give a thumbs down to some people. In my thank you column all my really good friends both home and abroad who have stuck by me, all the good people who have given me a lot of helpful advice I really should and will heed, animals, artists, writers who write good poetry and literature, the good soldiers of ALL COUNTRIES, and all good music. In my thumbs down and wish you were dead column The Rifles Regiment of England who have caused unbearable pain and all nationalists, racists, bigots, prejudiced and hate-driven hate-loving sick people everywhere. If you don't have your mind open and have it screwed on better to have it blown off! To answer my own question the only answer that makes sense is that England isn't the paradise I'd thought it was, but no country is. Generally speaking Europeans and Americans are friendlier and Germany seems to really have a lot going for it, but there isn't a "best and better than any other" country. You take the good aspects of every country and then you'll be there where you should be. You don't pin all your hopes and dreams on just one country. That is the lesson I've had to learn about England.
          -The New Zealand Trading Company Dark As It Gets With A Tropical Breeze-
             It just doesn't get any better than this album for progressive rock with strong psychedelic leanings and I find it rather shocking that the only groups they are compared to are usually the polar opposite Strawberry Alarm Clock and Association! What The Hell!? To tell you the truth if you want light mellowed out dreamy psych this album has dreamy moments, but it is firmly a progressive record. There are a lot of jazz influences, a wide array of instrumentation, and despite the vocal led selections that cover this brilliant slice of vinyl perfection the vocals have a strong dark prog vibe to them that sounds sinuous even at the most breezy and joyful moment which is the stellar opening track "Oh What A Day." If you see this record in a store and your reaction is "Boy Are Those Six Ugly Guys!" don't put it back- buy it. You could be passing by one of the still undiscovered treasures of the early 70s. The Maoris are the Native peoples of NZ who had terrible acts of genocide committed against them just like the Australian Aborigines and American Indians. There is a lot of anger on this record and the fact that the band are criticizing so much of society and the evils of man really shouldn't be surprising. What is amazing is that "Oh What A Day" perfectly sums up the simple fact that man is only a true man of the earth when he is the closest to earth and to nature in a song that isn't an epic, but a short and joyful melodic progressive pop work of real integrity. The vocals are strong and very dramatic. The harmonies soar and right off the bat I'm thinking of Ache when they went for the heavily vocal oriented sound in 1976 as opposed to their earlier instrumentally driven attack. "Oh What A Day" like the rest of the album has thick accented vocals that sound very Dutch, Danish, or German and a backing with driving guitar, crisp rhythms, and some remarkably beautiful flute melodies.
   "Jam And Anti Freeze" is one of the most bizarre song titles I ever have seen on a record. Don't ask me what it means, but it sounds pretty creepy and the song itself can send more than a few chills up and down your spine. After the beautiful flute driven "Oh What A Day" comes this ominous psych into prog track with very creative dark winding venomous harmonies which at times scream and cackle in what sounds like an outbreak of rage. There are a million time changes, freaky vibes, dark jazzy guitar riffs, screaming fuzz tone passages, and quite a bit of eerie freaky organ work is used. A six piece band you can hear the fullness of their sound on the first two tracks with a very powerful contrast in atmosphere between these first two songs. I will quote you how this scary little track ends:
       "Along The Road Ride Horsemen Who Are Picking Fruit From Trees While Baby Builds A Castle Of Jam And Anti Freeze- Jam And Anti Freeze! Jam And Anti Freeze!"
    It sounds like a beach that has been covered in garbage and waste and destruction and that is the vibe of this song- waste and destruction all around and no way you can avert your eyes or in this case your ears and mind away from it. Still, it isn't so creepy you can't listen to it. If you know the Ache record PICTURES FROM CYCLUS 7 imagine an alternate take of "Still Hungry (Vampire Song)."
       "Nine To Five" is a topic covered by a million artists. Again, though, New Zealand Trading Company tread along a darker path and spice it up a whole lot more with dexterous passages of riffing guitars, swirling organ, and a nimble rhythm section who add a lot to the complexity. The song chronicles the nervous breakdown of an overstressed conformist office worker who goes completely mad and whose whole life has no meaning, nothing in it but misery and pain. Vocally these guys are really out there- tight yet both strongly harmonious and abrasive in the most subtle manner possible. This is also very much like Ache or Old Man And The Sea who I have only heard on YouTube and can't really comment on especially as my dream of getting an original copy will probably never become something that really happens. I bet this band are the only Mayoris who sound like Danish or Dutchmen! I will mention two other bands who this album bears a resemblance to- Earth And Fire and Golden Earrings/Earring. Both as you know are Dutch. My first guess when hearing this album was they were a Dutch band. Well, no, but it could have been recorded there. That is open to speculation. "Nine To Five" is a stunning track and a very sympathetic story song. There isn't a hero and an anti Hero boss isn't brought in either. You could say that it sounds existentialist, but it is something more like a narrative about conformity and redundancy in a man's life that he thinks will keep him safe, but ultimately what drives him to a nightmarish state.
    "Hey Jude" goes on for over 8 minutes and the histrionic progressive take on the Beatles/McCartney classic really sounds full of yet more anger and resentment as after the first half the vocalist screams like Demis Roussos of Aphrodite's Child gone completely mad on a really terrible hair day. Whether this take will freak you, blow you away, or antagonize you really isn't easy to answer as you will probably be freaked by how unlike the original it is, be blown away by the clever arrangement, and you might hate the guy's guts for screaming so much and going crazy. It kind of fits with the rest of this very strange album. Only the first year of the 70s and the youthful joy and optimism of the 60s is gone. It is so tragic. Music would go on to be just as or at least nearly as exciting as the 60s, but as I have said if you only like light psychedelic pop rock avoid this album- your narrow mind won't be able to understand a word or a note of it. I've never understood the appeal of what I call "Glee Club Psych" like The Strawberry Alarm Clock or The Free Design- to me it sounds like some kind of "The Beatles Never Happened" nightmare. That is not the case here!
     "Winnifried Jellicoe" has the worst opening line of the album, but the song manages to overcome its overt attempt to be the band's "Eleanor Rigby" by utilizing very clever vocals, mood changes, and instrumentation. I've never liked songs about old people, but this one is actually crazy enough to be good. There are some astonishing harmonies and the flute player in the band really is great for the whole album and adds a special sound to their music which is closer to the melodic playing of Peter Gabriel in Genesis than the abrasive style made famous by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson (another great one). I've always loved the flute so that is quite nice on this album and it makes up for the absence of guitar solos. Like the rest of the album "Winnifried Jellicoe" is both stark and with a bit of a tropical breeze thrown in. The lyrics deal with the decay of old age and senility, but they also tell a rather amazing love story that happened a very long time in the past.
     "Ruo Moko" is sung in the band's native tongue and manages to convey both an atom shower storm and a tropical vacation lazing by palm trees and bright sunshine at the same time! There is an unsettling vibe to this whole album. It really keeps you wondering just how much darker it can get and if anything is safe on offer by the New Zealand Trading Company. "Ruo Moko" as I don't understand Maori it could mean any number of things, but they are probably attempting the statement "We Are Proud Of Who We Are And You Won't Knock Us Down Again."
    "Could Be" is the brightest song on the album along with "Oh What A Day" with some great harmonies, more jazz influences, and some cool tropical percussion effects. There are some great heavy psychedelic guitar solos, beautiful vocals, and a really bright vibe that is a rarity of only two tracks on the album this and "Oh What A Day." Their sound is very Danish/Dutch for the whole album and that makes it very unique especially for an album that to my knowledge only gained a tiny American release.
   "The Prisoner" is where New Zealand Trading Company are at their very most disturbing. This creepy, violent, and raw, graphic story song chronicles a crazed and even more insanely desiring to get back to his "woman" escaped felon who begins by senselessly killing the dogs that are set after him during his failed run to the state border and ends on the grim note of him getting fried in an electric chair. This is the hardest track to be subjected to, but very well-written and performed. It's a great song and a very clever song, but really frightening lyrically and the music is almost as creepily phrased as the story of the track. When I listen to this I feel each time that this is really a statement of pacifism. They are saying that if you kill a living thing you will die violently.  I wish it were that way. I wish that even saying cruel words could lead to something bad happening to you that would either make you change your attitude or be severely punished. I think we've all wished something horrible to happen to somebody at many times in our life. This song begins with a man who has no reason to live except to murder and ends with his death. That could have more meaning than you think on first listening.
   "Total Stranger" ends things on a depressed and completely dejected note. However, this is a real standout track with a great use of organ and a very European vibe with again a very thickly accented voice. The affair has gone sour and there is no reason to live anymore is only the bare narrative of the lyric. There is something deeper than most broken hearted songs here and that is a sense of being a completely lost outsider who has been turned away from the one he loves to the point of severe depression. The vocal is solo this time with no harmonies, very stark, and full of what sounds like real pain and anguish. There is a brutal guitar solo and an Aphrodite's Child gone into miserable near suicidal depression vibe about this.. This record is a lot like Ache and I love it nearly as much as I love Ache's PICTURES FROM CYCLUS 7. The major differences here are mainly that no two albums are exactly alike and that instead of ending on a note of optimism like Ache New Zealand Trading Company end with despair. This is probably the best Northern European fucked up progressive album not recorded by a Northern European band! Think now of how strange that is. I can't fathom how they came up with this record. A Maori band who sound like Europeans I would think would be impossible- even the Maori band part is a real exception. If you want something mild and sunshine oriented like the wrong descriptions of this you'll be horrified by it, but if you want a great, brilliant, amazing psych into progressive masterpiece you can place up there with the best look no further. If you find this album and you love that dark freaky European sound then don't pass up the opportunity to hear a great record. I'd highly recommend New Zealand Trading Company. It has a permanent place in my collection.
             

Much Thanks To Bill Bonham And Matt Bridger Fairfield Ski Now Recieve The Praise They Deserve For A Lost Masterpiece

   Hi everybody, I've been gone for a long time battling a serious illness and going through much pain with a million and one reasons to never trust anyone again, but out of that gloom came some surprisingly good news from the original keyboard player of the not-even-known-who-they-were Fairfield Ski. I just recently during more crisis and domestic horrors have had a little light from co lead singer (on the rockier stuff)/bass player Matt Bridger! This band recorded the best album in British progressive music history and it never even gained a promo release at the time. Their album only made it to the acetate stage- that means a thick grimy slab of metal that looks bad and sounds like shit usually. This was completely unbelievable as had this very strongly crafted album and great talented band gained a release it would have placed them at the top. Until YouTube came to me with a surprise message from Bill Bonham, the keyboard player (And a great one at that!) I had no clue who these guys were. I mistakenly thought they were from the North of England or Scotland, but as it turns out all four members Bonham (keyboards/vocals), Nigel Wright (who sings the orchestrated softer tracks), Dave Hynds (Drums/lyrics on a lot of tracks/vocals), and Matt Bridger (bass/lead and backing vocals) hailed from music city par excellence Birmingham and Bill gives his/the band's story here from an interview this humble and great British expatriate (he's in America now) did with me, although I should point out that when he says the band split because Bridger left it was really because their publishing company went bankrupt:

                                  -Bill Bonham Sets The Record Straight-

"I myself played with john bonham and Robert Plant I have studied music since six and also played with Terry Reid and a lot more. I had left Terry due to an illness and came back to the Birmingham England area and saw an advert for a keyboard player for a band called the Cheetahs
(Check them at  http://brumbeat.net/    There was a guy involved named Nigel Husselby who financed and produced us. He died a few years ago from a heart attack. The name came from his girlfriend a PAN AM flight attendant named Ski from Fairfield  USA.
I wrote the arrangements for some and others were done by session guys. We all wrote music and lyrics and Nigel was not influenced by anyone in particular maybe Buddy Holly.. We disbanded after Matt quit and fell apart. I learned of this from Dave Hynds. There is an album coming out in Europe this June with a follow up from recordings we made back then.
Nigel and I also played in Sight and Sound another Birmingham band then we both came to the USA in 1975. I stayed and he went back home. I stay in touch with all of them still.
We never made a dime from anything and I suppose progressive rock is a correct term.
I was quite shocked to learn about the album a disc was found at an airport in Germany a while ago and after searching they found Dave and so it goes on.. Not sure how I feel as I have had so many disappointments through the years. The music business was hijacked by the attys who fear anything new and creative they want only what works that is why music is all the same these days
You can also find more from me at www.billbonham.com and at the brumbeat site. Bill"

It should be noted by me and as said by Matt Bridger that it was actually the bankrupt state of their publishing company that is the accurate reason for why the band split up, but despite this handicap the band are all still the best of friends and are very proud of the work they did together back in the early 70s.

        -Fairfield Ski The Legend The Betrayal By A Long Gone Geek The Vindication Coming-

     Bill Bonham became a Christian, but it was Matt Bridger who wrote "Man From Galilee" which sounds like Sweet gone subtly Christian progressive. A more progressive Move or Sweet may be a good comparison for their music, but with the meaningful name of Fairfield Ski especially in light of manager/man behind the band name Nigel Husselby's sadly not being here with us any longer changed to Fairfield Sky it is a really awful ending that on the scant few pressings done some years ago their name is changed from "Ski" to "Fairfield Sky" which is blatant skullduggery. The "reissue" came with a horrible wronger-than-wrong paste on liner note and no cover except for a tiny pasted on black and white bit of nothing on the front. This is the long gone asshole who shall go nameless's slandering of the band and it is also unfortunately the only way you'll hear this. The acetate barely exists and when copies were found they sold on the high thousands range making this rare hack job the only way you can hear their music. I can see why Bill Bonham would have mixed feelings, but at least if you fork over $125 or under for this less than satisfactory necessity you can tell that this is one of the most impressive albums ever made- that alone is a sign of coming vindication. If I had my own reissue label this would be the first album I'd put out. I suppose you want to know what makes it the best melodic psych into mellow progressive record ever. Can I back up my high praise? Oh I can you bet! For one thing Fairfield Ski could write intelligent, melodic, and inventive songs in several different genres yet be able to fit their sound under the "progressive" banner more for the inventive arrangements and powerful organ work than some of the more overblown aspects of that genre. A perfect case in point is the wistful strings and brass augmented ballad "Silver Tavern" which begins the record. Nigel Wright's soft high vocal never strains despite the Clifford T. Ward alike fragility of his voice on this track which is about how lonely a musician can be. So many songs have been written about being in a dead end pub and drinking your sorrows away, but there is a twist to "Silver Tavern." He has gone to the tavern not in search of a few 15 beers which is a small amount for an Englishman, but he is trying to persuade someone he meets in the tavern to be his romantic partner. The song is all about the hardships of a musician which is almost spooky as no sooner would Fairfield Ski complete their album than it wouldn't even see a release come about. The session players take the arrangement of this song into the stratosphere, but the most impressive thing is Nigel's voice and the atmosphere the band are able to create whilst they string pop right along with progressive. 

    "Circus" is much heavier yet still ultra melody oriented. Not a hard rock band really and they weren't intending this to be a hard rock album, but for hard rockers "Circus" with its light Uriah Heep meets Sweet meets Queen sound will be the album's standout. Bonham comes in with forceful organ work, the rhythm section fire high with the attack, and Matt Bridger's voice  is very gentle almost  sounding like Pete Dello or Ray Cane of Honeybus meets the late lamented Sweet frontman Brian Connolly. Since Brian Connolly is my favourite singer practically and Sweet my favourite band I guess I can come right out and say I was big into this one from the start! However, there is the vocal similarity to Brian Connolly and Sweet at their most pop psych/light glam, but other perhaps even better points of reference are The Left Banke, The Zombies, and Yorkshire's equally ill-fated Angel Pavement. Like Angel Pavement's singer Paul Smith Bridger and Wright tend to be very quiet and mellow in his delivery and you could also say they sometimes sound a little bit like Colin Blunstone. However, there is just enough force there to make Brian Connolly an even more apt comparison. Also, like Sweet, Fairfield Ski were four multitalented individuals who formed a very cohesive unit. "Circus" is the one out and out rocker, but they stay really sharp and focused without going into a pointless barrage of noise. The organ solo rivals Keith Emerson, though, bringing a heavy keyboard into melodious progressive pop. 

     "Would You Mind/The Writer" is both a medley and a long two part epic. Easily the best progressive track ever recorded by a British band along with the likes of bands like England, Yes, Northwind, Shape Of The Rain's "Broken Man" rocker, Kestrel (someone please get me an original of that!), and a few other really brilliant ones (I'm thinking Yes and Camel, but this is even better!)  it really is shocking, horrendous, and unfathomable that Fairfield Ski were completely fucked over without the album coming out at all! You won't believe me until you hear this probably, but it rivals even Yes!!!!! Yes for me are the best progressive band that made it- Yes and Uriah Heep. I also have to give a high ranking to Procol Harum so I think you know what's coming- Bridger sings just as well or better (if such a thing is even possible) than Jon Anderson and the inventive huge sound created by the band is grandiose in a Procol Harum/mellow Uriah Heep kind of way. "Would You Mind" the first part reminds me heavily of the late 60s when everything was really happening and music had become a way of blowing the mind and taking it new places. Lay back and let the waves of sound wash over you. The lyrics, like the whole album, are friendly and inviting asking you to come on in and have a good time. Glam was big in 1973 when this was recorded, but there was already beginning to be the split between the serious musicians like Sweet and throwaway rubbish like Paper Lace with Fairfield Ski firmly the former not the latter. There are glam like moments on the album, but here the sound is very progressive. Bonham's majestic organ is the main instrument and soars above the rhythm section. There are some psychedelic effects at irregular intervals, but this song isn't just an average progressive epic it says something important.The lyrics are Anti men who hate and destroy and have no love with a strong Pacifist/Anti Bigotry message:

    "I"d Like To Write A Book For Future Eyes To Read/Men Without Love Are Souls That Are Dead Like A Book That You've Got, But Already Read"

I couldn't agree more. Most soldiers I've met in person haven't been without love, but they've been a both with a lot of love and a lot of fighting spirit in them. I've had a lot of good times with soldiers so I can't say they are "Men Without Love," but the line in this song nails it to any man who doesn't have love and only has hate. If you hate everybody and can't give or receive affection you should be dead.  I probably am going to have to mention The Move and The Beatles here as influences too with a bit of Roy Wood here and there and some Lennon/McCartney magical vibes too. You listen to this track and the amount of love and effort put into it makes the band's bad luck heartbreaking. Most people will never hear this and it beats out anything else. Nothing else is as good as this that I can think of! Certainly the bullshit that was/is/always will be Pink Floyd failed miserably at attempting to create a similar kind of huge wall of sound. Pink Floyd sound like pompous prats compared to "Would You Mind/The Writer." The song also comes to a very psychedelic ending with backwards vocal effects and lots of phasing. The bastard who put this out compared this to Forever Amber and that is both relevant and way off the mark. Forever Amber is another example of one of the most amazing records ever made and a band that ran into a lot of bad luck and personnel issues amongst themselves which also did not help them to gain a proper release. However, there is a big difference among many big differences. Forever Amber had only a measly 99 copies pressed of their masterpiece THE LOVE CYCLE, but it is an actual album release and was later given royal treatment by the great Tenth Planet label only to go out of print as soon as it was officially put out! Don't know why! 

       Side Two of Fairfield Ski is something different altogether and shows a more overtly pop side to their progressive ambitions with plenty of brilliant hooks and amazing vocals from Nigel, Bill on "Meet Me At The Station," and Matt on the rockin' stuff. The harmonies are beautiful and some tracks like "Meet Me At The Station" in particular sound like fellow Brummies The Idle Race had Jeff Lynne reformed the group. Jeff Lynne, well there's another genius I could say I'm reminded of by Fairfield Ski. If you want hooks, melodies, beautiful music look no further. "Something On Your Mind" should have gained the band a worldwide album release and gone to number one the world over, but how many times am I gonna have to express that this band was given the worst letdown ever for a band with so much going for them. Maybe The Magic Lanterns gaining a US release (it probably was a comp) and a smash hit with "Shame Shame" was just luck. Maybe it all is just luck if you go anywhere at all! If I had more hair left (I have some, but not like my old big page boy bangs and seductive locks!) I'd be tearing it out over how bad things were for Fairfield Ski! And not even an official release to introduce the world to their great music. I would not put them in with Northwind or Dog That Bit People because they don't have rural or folkrock leanings despite the melodic sound all 3 bands share. Fairfield Ski are coming more from a progressive pop side and that makes for a different masterpiece than many other British early 70s releases. The songs on Side Two are all fairly short and some are very much like Clifford T. Ward, Honeybus, The Zombies, The Left Banke, and McCartney, but even with all those other superb artists named this is pure Fairfield Ski all the way. Standout tracks are "Something On Your Mind," "Meet Me At The Station," "Si Te Dois Partis," "Suddenly I'm sure" with lovely harmonies, and the beautiful closing track "Time Is Fast Approaching/Goodnight." I've mentioned the whole side I think! This is really something special. England was going through something of a musical upheaval and musical brilliance in the 60s and 70s, but this may well be the best it ever got and it wasn't even a record at the time. So the best thing to do is unfortunately to try and find this bad release from 1996 long out of print and be contented with what matters most- the music.

   My sincere thanks and appreciation to Bill Bonham and Matt Bridger for helping me out on this one. You made amazing music and you made some dreams come true in a life that is full of pain and fearfulness. May your brilliant music live on for eternity!

New Hope's To Understand Is To Love Underrated In The Extreme Until Now!

It's amazing how there still are some things out there that have a low level rep, but are actually miles better than a lot of hugely hyped and very expensive records. I find that with most American records the best ones are just really hard to locate and some of the most highly thought of ones not only does every nefarious or not-so-nefarious as the case may be record dealer have, but they just aren't any good. I was to find this out in a very revelatory way in 1994 when I grabbed for $5 a beat up copy of New Hope's only record TO UNDERSTAND IS TO LOVE and was harangued by a bad dealer about it and later in the fall heard the hyped up overrated The Frederic which many dealers rave about and hated it with a passion. My hatred over the years of The Frederic's PHASES AND FACES except for one brief bounce in the wrong direction for about a week has never lowered its fury. I consider it about the worst that there can be and it is about time somebody said who that band were and what their album really is. Hyperbole from dealers and some collectors aside The Frederic isn't psych and isn't pop psych. They were a supper club/lounge/nightclub band from Grand Rapids Michigan and that's all they were. A square, smug, smarmy, phoney, and very basic-in-a-bad-way lounge pop/folk record is all their PHASES AND FACES is. So if you've heard that they sound like The Zombies and Chad And Jeremy take my word- you've been lied to. If you want a quaint pop/folk record that has some pop psych in it actually and is great and does sound like The Zombies or Chad And Jeremy (read Baroque Pop) then for a fraction of the cost of The Frederic buy the masterful The New Wave on the aptly named Canterbury label. You will find what I have said fact when also you find that The New Wave is a lot harder to track down than The Frederic.
      However, to get back to my original shock and the point of what I'm saying to the fore here I didn't know The New Wave or who they were in 1994. I also didn't know who New Hope were. Let's get onto that. Are you ready!?
       -The New Hope Of New Hope's TO UNDERSTAND IS TO LOVE A Real Masterpiece-
      Go back in time to 1994. I was 18 years old and had been collecting psych and pop psych and other stuff from the 60s/early 70s era for a bit and I all too occasionally took the chance on something I knew nothing about for cheap and bought it. $5 wasn't the usual cheapest I'd go, but something about that bare and mysterious looking black and white cover roped me in. I'm glad I bought it. If you move ahead several months to the end of that year a friend was so knocked out by New Hope that he not only borrowed it from me- he stole it the little bastard! At the time there was no grudge and there isn't one now. I've had this album a few times over the years and funnily enough the best vinyl copy I've had and have hung onto only cost me 50 cents in (you guessed it) New Hope PA. So who were the New Hope your probably wondering? They were a band who had a minor hit when they were The Kit Kats with a brilliant song they wrote called "Won't Find Better Than Me" and were led by virtuoso vocalist Kit Stewart. Kit Stewart and Carl Von Hausman (keyboard virtuoso) reworked their hit into even more of a Left Banke/Four Seasons cross to make it a really stunning work on their next album TO UNDERSTAND IS TO LOVE by their next band New Hope. New Hope came from Eastern Pennsylvania and comprised Kit Stewart, Carl Von Hausman, "Big" John Bradley, and Ron Shane. They had some fairly wide success in the NJ/PA area, but for no reason never broke out nationally. Their album is among the best records ever recorded by an American band and as far as pop with power pop, baroque, and progressive inclinations goes you can't find better than their record TO UNDERSTAND IS TO LOVE. Recorded in Philadelphia and released by the small Jamie label they aren't hugely expensive yet, but they certainly are no longer around now. Maybe word has gotten out, but I kinda doubt it. This should be one of the most famous American albums and I was of that opinion when I first discovered it in 1994. If I've loved something that long and it hasn't worn off a bit on me then it really must be good although I must point out that I had really good taste even back then.
     TO UNDERSTAND IS TO LOVE begins with "Won't Find Better Than Me" which can rank up there with the most genius moments of Brian Wilson and Michael Brown with great vocal harmonies and a great lead voice from Kit Stewart who isn't far off from The Left Banke's Steve Martin. There is also an obvious Four Seasons influence and since they are a great band too for what they did there is nothing wrong with that. The Four Seasons, however, belonged to a different time and different kind of world. The influence of their harmonies is a prominent one in many vocal oriented groups, but unlike the bands that adapted their influence to Baroque or power pop something had happened after the early shock of The Four Seasons and that was The British Invasion. New Hope adapted to the changing times, but they also here dabble in 50s rock and roll and early 60s mainstream pop in a very energetic experimental medley of "Won't Find Better Than Me" which comes right after their headlong leap into brilliant Baroque pop on their first new take on their classic. They must have known they'd really hit the right spot with "Won't Find Better Than me" and I like the medley a lot. "You're So Good To Me" is a Brian Wilson song and sounds very much like The Beach Boys with an added bonus- there is kind of a freaky big echo effect on this album like they recorded it inside an old church or something and the huge amount of sound that comes out really is stunning. "Distance" is one of the real high points of New Hope's album. It blows the lid of The Grass Roots and some of the early Turtles hits with soaring harmonies, strong piercing lead vocals and a clever juxtaposition between minor key verses and major key choruses. It could be an American Zombies at work- well in fact it is! There are no weak links on here, but definitely "Distance" is one of the best songs on the whole record. I think that New Hope really had a lot of credibility and certainly their talent as musicians can't be questioned so the small label and mysteriousness of the whole project is fun for collectors, but must have been anything but fun for them.
  The problem is addressed in the last 3 tracks on Side One all of which are really great. I am guessing this album is from 1970 rather than 1968 going by the out and out progressiveness of Side Two's stunning first track "Look Away" (no, not an early version of the Chicago catastrophe which is anything but progressive) and the last 3 tracks on Side One sound not even 1968 or 1969. "Let's Get Lost On A Country Road" goes through a lot of changes, but the summery happiness just sounds way more earlier than with the current program. "Breezy" and "You've Got To Know" also have so much joy and optimism that despite an attempt to move the harmony pop forward they sound even less forward than Vanity Fare or White Plains- two bands who owe much of their brilliance to overt American influences. I keep using the word "American" here, but New Hope are a lot more Anglo than The Frederic! 
     The Frederic is bluntly put and truthfully put a despicable record that never should have been made. It ranks as one of the worst and most obnoxious albums ever made with an ugly truth coming out of it when their most talentless member David Idema changed his name to David Geddes and had a hit with the as sick as Bloodrock disgusting and horrendous "Run Joey Run." I rest my case here. Actually, let me rub the salt in even more and turn it to a burning painfulness. American dealers oftentimes I have noticed have their head right up their ass. I said that The Frederic, Darius, Stone Harbor all were crap albums that a lot of dealers had and a lot of dealers hyped. I then said that the best American records may have been less money, but try finding them. I then after that said that imports, particularly British Imports, were going to skyrocket in value. I was right about all of it. With me never seeing more than one copy back 20 years ago of a major label album like SATURN RINGS by Michele which I hope to own this Saturday not only will I take it and be glad it really is rare and really is brilliant.
     I have sometimes heard so many bad records from America that I really scratch my head about our country, but damn it the 1960s hit in a big way here and that is very much stated not just in heavy or even just out and out psychedelic rock, but also in pop psych and straightforward pop records. A great case would be New Hope. While they definitely were never hippies that isn't a prerequisite. What New Hope are they are. They don't try to fake you into thinking they aren't just some really talented guys who love the more pop side of the British tuppence and American coins having a great time, but they really pull off something remarkable here. Side One is the side where the flowers are blooming and summer time can be yours even on the most depressing of winter evenings. It's the side where 1967 meets before that and it all sounds brilliant. However, on Side Two there is a real move towards a more progressive direction and no track is more a perfect hybrid of progressive arranging and pop hooks than the epic "Look Away." The lyrics are actually very meaningful here all about how you can't just hide from it when things in the world and your life are not right. Kit Stewart is really passionate and the combination of soaring piano and bagpipes takes this one up to the stars. Yes, there is a long bagpipe/Scottish section and a lot of Michael Brown like piano gone to where I would think Brown would have taken The Left Banke had the huge split between him and the rest of the group not happened. Michael Brown was too moody and too cantankerous maybe. He blew a great thing and went off into oblivion before reappearing in Stories who are awesome and "Look Away" isn't far from Stories when Mike was in the band. Unfortunately, like Stories a huge amount of ongoing success just didn't come for New Hope. Unlike Stories there wasn't a number one hit. I'm glad for that actually as I can not only live without "Brother Louie" I'd make a bet with Mike Brown that we both hate it equally! Brown was definitely hipper, more of an artiste than New Hope, but that isn't necessarily something that is a brilliant attribute. When you alienate everyone you work with you must be not playing all your cards right or living in the way you should.
   That someone as talented as Mike Brown and New Hope can both just vanish is really sad. It tells you a lot about the music business. For 5 minutes and 37 seconds New Hope tell you a whole lot and they make something that lasts longer than anything else- a perfect song. "Look Away" has not one note I would change. The whole song is just so brilliant that it makes a whole lot of what else was out there sound really sterile and uninteresting. Side Two moves into two very mature melodic pop tracks with "Find Someone" and "They Call It Love" which both combine East Coast techniques with a California 1965-1967 kind of Beach Boys alike hopefulness. There aren't any angry riot scenes and bomb blasts on this record. It isn't a reflection of the despair that had set in which makes it very different from something like Liverpool England's The Koobas who sang of riots and used bomb blasts in their brilliant epic "Barricades" in 1969. Again, I'm not sure of the year of New Hope, but I would guess they came out later than most other more fresh faced and love fueled melodic pop rock bands and albums. "The Money Game" however shows that these guys could get to a sort of Elvis meets Koobas masterpiece if you can even imagine something that bizarre and it comes complete with screaming fuzz guitar! The heavy fuzz tone on "The Money Game" is another clever little trick and the words are again progressive and true. They say they've had it with wealth and greed running everything. Well I have too. More tricks come on the last real track here "Rain" which is then followed by a Gregorian Chant called (of course) "Gregorian" of "Won't Find Better Than Me" as a rather dark end to the album. "Rain" combines progressive inclinations with perfect melodic pop only here the sound is a bit more leaning to some British influences which do come up on some tracks. New Hope go where The Beach Boys couldn't. You have to remember that as strong a presence as he is to the Beach Boys Brian Wilson always had Mike Love to knock him down. The reason why The Beach Boys couldn't move further is simple. They couldn't move to consistency because of square Bruce Johnston and asshole Mike Love. There are probably around 4 or 5 Beach Boys albums that are masterful all the way through, but there also are the albums like SURF'S UP that I'd rather just forget where Brian is off his rocker and Mike Love gets his evil way with "Student Demonstration Time."
     Now The Beach Boys are reinventing themselves and making great music again thanks in no small part to Brian Wilson and his now it would seem to be permanent writing partner the unlikely Jim Peterik who masterminded one of the best AOR bands ever to exist Survivor. Survivor always cut way deeper than most. Now that Jim is working with Brian Wilson you can believe the guy really has something if you were stupid enough not to when he and Frankie Sullivan were writing all those great songs in Survivor. Yes, I'm getting to the fact that New Hope DIDN'T survive. That may be because you can tell they weren't exactly as young as most of the competition out there, but it may also be just as much because they were an East Coast band at a time when very heavy vibes were coming in everywhere and 60s melodic groups had an alarming fall out rate. Come mid to late 1970 things were changing in a big way. The progressive and hard rock influences from the West Coast, England, and Europe were coming in with sometimes brilliant sometimes painful results and the charts began filling up with schlock when it came to American bands/artists. The most easy to point out problem however must have been the small label. With a label that went under pretty much as soon as TO UNDERSTAND IS TO LOVE came out and not enough promotion there is probably the reason for New Hope packing it in. I've heard a few things over the years to the effect that New Hope also never left Pennsylvania or New Jersey. That, true or not, also would hurt. Not getting national exposure and not getting a major label deal aren't always a recipe for a masterpiece, but with New Hope that's what you have- a perfect masterpiece and one of the best records ever made. Your collection isn't complete without New Hope. I said that when I was a lot younger than today and I'll be saying it when I'm older than today. And I know.

An End Forever To Mail Order For Me + How Do You Tell Soft Pop From Sugary Sweet Ick? I know How.

The last 3 weeks of my life have been my own Trials Of Job. I have been violently ill with arthritic/paralyzing symptoms in my arms and hands brought on by stress and strain and when these horrible pains don't occur I suffer serious upset of the stomach also brought on by stress, strain, and nerves.  My life has become so full of stress, tension, and horrors that I find it hard to live. I've even had trouble listening to music I've been so sick and yet my one hope and my own thing to keep me alive has remained music and the fact that I am finally getting to go where I wanted to go to avoid the horrendous deal that just happened when I go to make amends and make a record transaction I can love on next Saturday in a PROPER STORE. This is over 3 weeks too late to have saved me from my sickness, but will be a welcome bright spot in a very black period for me. How did this all start? How did it all happen? With the worst goodwill gesture ever from me and the worst nightmare of a record deal I've ever been through. The dealer whom I am now wishing would be in as much pain as I am shall go nameless and so will any other details of the last fatal record nightmare. Let's just say that MOST mail order dealers are parasites who never could run a store because they'd go bankrupt in two seconds. Some of these people, like the one the latest nightmare happened with, are decent to good people who shouldn't be in this business. Honesty is the key and once the lying and conniving starts you're finished and over with. I would also appreciate someone telling me about why I've had to be miserable for such a long period of time with seemingly no end to it... I think I'd better cool down and relax as much as I can before I say something here I regret.
                    -Is There A Better Life Ahead For Me? I Hope So!-
     Music has gone through a lot of evolutions and so does life. I am hoping that out of the blackness will rise an Age Of Light And A Healing Of Body And Mind for me where I will become a healthier, happier, saner person. I've always been very emotional and always been, as you can tell from my previous entries, fairly hard about certain things and people. One thing that has been a constant since I was a teenager has been the hunger to hear just about everything there is out there worth hearing and that is fed by my ultra eclectic tastes in not just music, but everything. I have developed both a weakness for McCartneyesque or otherwise well written soft pop/soft rock and also for the harder, heavier kind of psychedelic and progressive rock.
                        -A Little Bit Of Variety And A Lot Of Emotion Make Life/Music Good-
    Some bands have lasted long enough to dabble in both art forms such as Jigsaw, but usually an eclectic release that is between heavy/hard and soft/calm is a one off release. I never figured that out, but there are an endless amount of bands and artists who have straddled both lines and not gone beyond one masterful or great yet a little flawed recording. I think to show the dark side is important, nigh on essential. So too must it be to make positive statements and not to encourage things like suicide or destruction in recorded form. Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest have been blamed for this when they were firmly singing and writing from the heart against it which shows what a sketchy subject it is. Having lost two really good friends to suicide I have only written one song lyric about it and placed on a more biblical level of someone who is a demon who kills himself and then goes to Hell. Easily it is my darkest lyric ever that I would actually put to vocal lines and music. I've lost a lot of interest in heavy metal although you'll find me listening to hard rock, AOR, Pomp Rock, and hard progressive underground rock/heavy psych and plenty of it.
                                      -Delving Even Deeper Getting Even Heavier-
      Asgard will always be a firm favourite, but their one album is a melodic heavy underground one with plenty of delicious British cosmic psychedelia thrown in. I suppose I couldn't call The Scorpions' masterpiece LONESOME CROW "melodic," but the fury has a structure to in on that album lacking in a lot of other hard heavy rock brain blasters that because of their lack of variety don't get half the time on my turntable as LONESOME CROW does. Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton not to mention Jimmy Page and a whole bunch of others began what was at that time a very novel and good thing. Then sometime later on other people took hard rock away from the blues base and turned it into heavy metal. That does not mean that classical influences don't work- they actually can be downright essential. It would be the preachy teachy or "Look At Me I'm Just Soo Sexy" stuff like Iron Maiden and Metallica in the former Guns & Roses in the latter category that there is absolutely no need for. Guns & Roses began life as a great hard rock band with an annoying lead singer, but Axl Rose got himself so twisted around that he turned their music into a joke. Many people start and end with the very first album. I never bought it after Mr. Axl Rose's racist and gay bashing lyrics and comments following LIES (their second effort) brought them down to the lowest level along with his good buddy Sebastian Bach who showed his evil true colours.
     When you make music out of hate you ain't making music. I was always more into the really good stuff like UFO or Diamond Head and I still love those bands. I also still have a lot of love for Grand Prix and Shy who are two of the most melodic of all hard rock/Pomp rock/AOR bands. Another great melodic band would be Magnum. That Magnum built an institution on a cult following and a few glimpses of major success is amazing. They began life as an out progressive rock band! Give plenty of credit to Tony Clarkin whose pen hasn't dried up or his guitar prowess and Bob Catley who is blessed with a majestic voice.
     There is the question of where music can go to now. I wonder about that a lot. For all the new advances in technology and the vast improvement of music over the last several years there still is an awful lot of trash out there. Most of it is filed under "Heavy Metal," but there are the huge selling commercial artists as there always will be even during a musical renaissance period. The one period where almost everything was exciting was the mid to late 1960s. Things fragmented in the early 70s, but undoubtedly there was a lot of brilliant music being made then that just didn't take off and sell in any quantity.

           -Soft Rock, Melodic Prog, Melodic Pop, Or Soft Slush, Wimp Prog, Icky Sweet-
     I used to find records that were worth trying and would form my musical flights of fancy in record stores and it will go back to that. I will be only dealing in stores with knowledgeable and helpful people who run them and nevermore with twisted mail order record vampires. That reminds me of one of the most strange and unnerving songs ever written "Still Hungry (Vampire Song)" by the Danish band Ache off their best album PICTURES FROM CYCLUS 7. That album is a melodic progressive gem with an edge to it. I got into soft pop after soft progressive, but be warned there is a lot out there you never should hear that is soft slush and icky sweet wimpy nothing. Wimpy or light isn't even necessarily what will destroy an album or band it is when it crosses the line into sickly sweet rubbish. I will always love Jigsaw, Wings, Camel, Kayak, Klaatu because these bands made really good music. Paul McCartney has done an incredible volume of work that has gone everywhere from the classiest melodic pop/rock around to the sweetest sappiest non-music, but he has never stopped creating. Give him a lot of credit. Give The Beatles the most credit of any band ever formed. You can put Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys up there too, but they have a sound harder to imitate without being too squeaky and icky and sugary. It takes a huge amount of talent to even come within a hair of Brian Wilson yet the writing teams of greatness like Greenaway/Cook and Jigsaw's Des Dyer/Clive Scott have made some real magic happen. Whilst Rogers Greenaway and Cook wrote lots of great songs for bands like White Plains that was also coming out of the beat boom of the 60s in England. I suppose that there isn't really any easy way of giving you the advice of how to tell if something is going to be a McCartney or a White Plains or Jigsaw or Ache or if it's gonna make you cringe. Usually, though, go by song titles and sometimes an album cover is the cue as to whether to jump on in or forget about it. A word of warning would be that Katch 22's IT'S SOFT ROCK AND ALL SORTS comes in a cover to die for, but the cover version songs on the back and the sappy titles give it away. There are glimpses of hope in some of the original material, but this one is way off the mark. On the other hand Angel Pavement never even got a record out at the time, but they may be The Best Of The Best. Just buy the now long out of print official anthology MAYBE TOMORROW and you will be blown out of your mind by how great their music is- a perfect mixture of Baroque Pop and melodic British flowery psych. For the loungier kinds of fun that are still solid good fun and for quality melodic rock and pop look no further than a lot of great Canadian and European bands like 25th Regiment's ECOLOGY Beatlesesque masterpiece and Abba- one only famous to collectors the other a worldwide phenomenon. Remember it's your taste and your choice. It doesn't matter what other people think about it. There lies the key to happiness- live for yourself and give to others, but don't give too much. I gave too much recently and got 1st degree burns. Do be careful who you deal with and a word of advice- stay away from mail order. Don't be lazy because it will cost you mightily. Heed that advice and up to a sweet Bedfordshire you go!

       

Stingray's 1979 US Release- Ultimate AOR/POMP From More Than Unlikely South Africa

South Africa is a country that I always have had some serious issues with. Even as a child in the 1980s I was aware of Apartheid through songs like "Biko" by Peter Gabriel and " I Ain't Gonna Play Sun City" which both were big songs on the radio then. To me nothing is worse than bigotry of any kind and I have no room for ill-founded judgement of other people because of their race, class background, Nationality (although I admit it's here that I too have some prejudices- I don't like Ireland or Israel, but I'm not vehemently hateful of people from these countries on a "Take One Person At A Time" basis) or any other reason. What I have overlooked is that not all South Africans were/are racists and perpetrators of genocide.
            -From The Narrow Mind To An Open Door Looking At Stingray's Background-
     Whilst there hasn't been an amazing music scene out of South Africa they did have a very large music scene in the 1960s through to the mid to late 1980s and many of the bands were opposed to Apartheid. It was not the case with atrocious John Kongos, but it would definitely be the case with the part Black (Julian Laxton) part white Freedom's Children- maybe the only truly great South African psych band. Stingray, the band I'm writing about here, are produced by Julian Laxton and indeed he produced quite a few South African bands in the 70s. Also, Trevor Rabin came from South Africa and was opposed to Apartheid from the start- even attacking it during some of the worst times in the 80s when he was in the newly revitalized Yes. I've talked to South Africans who serve in the British Army years ago on the phone and none of them supported the racist beliefs of the South African government or the benighted people who were the supporters in the population. So I guess you can't prejudge anything or anybody.
    Stingray, who formed in the mid 1970s, are probably the peak of melodic AOR/pomp rock and came from South Africa. They made an album that came out in the States just named after themselves that I've known about since I had a book called The International Encyclopedia Of Hard Rock And Heavy Metal when I was just 13 years old. They were described as sounding a lot like Boston which is partially very true. Stingray had some huge success in their Native country, but unfortunately the US release didn't generate much of anything in terms of sales and it has gone on to be quite a rare record. I had heard it before I got it two years ago and overlooked the entire record- what a huge glaring error that was! After Stingray broke up their awesome lead vocalist/writer Dennis East had quite a successful solo career in South Africa, but his brilliance seems to be unheralded everywhere but in South Africa!!!! That is very unfortunate because this man had a great set of pipes and he could put to pen some killer AOR. Also, there is vast talent from the rest of the band with soaring guitars and keyboards which together with a powerful dexterous rhythm section  make this album essential for any collection of obscure 70s/80s bands. You can place this next to the other AOR/Pomp masterpiece records I've written up like Alliance, Painter, and Lionheart. I'm going straight into the music now.
Take hold and listen well.
            -Stingray From 1979 On The Usually Lame Carrere Label An Amazing Record-
   Stingray got at least one of their albums released in the States and worldwide on the usually horrendous Carrere label which only had one other great band I can think of on their roster- Saxon. Saxon played and now are playing again more melodically charged and lyrically interesting heavy metal and it's probably a good guess that whatever A&R man got Saxon their deal with the mainly worthless Carrere also signed Stingray. In the mid to late 70s early AOR bands like Boston, Styx, and Foreigner were making huge money and a lot of bands were signed in the wake of the success of such amazing bands. There is no resemblance to the bluesier Foreigner on this album, but Boston and Styx are good reference points for Stingray. However, that tells you less than half the story about what their brilliant 1979 international album just called STINGRAY sounds like.
       Stingray numbered six men with a whole lot of ability. Besides Dennis East on vocals (and he also was a huge part of the writing in the band penning or cowriting over half the material)
there is guitarist/vocalist Mike Pilot, organist Danny Anthill (from I believe Freedom's Children!), keyboard player Allan Goldswain, bass player Eddie Boyle, and drummer Shaun Wright. In a six piece band you'd expect there to be at least one guy in the band who isn't a musical maverick. That ain't so here. Right off I can tell you that both Goldswain and Anthill beat the living shit out of the horrible keyboard player Pat Leonard in the otherwise great band Trillion from the States. If Trillion's Leonard had learned not to masturbate with his synthesizers then Trillion would also be another good comparison just for how much positive energy is generated by the music made by Stingray. There aren't any songs on this album that are going to make you feel miserable. On the contrary you'll be feeling good when you hear Stingray.
        The first track "Better The Devil You Know..." is misleading. It's the longest track on the album and unlike the more laidback material on offer for much of the record is almost a melodic metal behemoth. Right from the beginning of the album Dennis East displays a superb range and a powerful voice to begin with which includes a lot of character. The relentless yet catchy guitars, soaring harmonies, and powerful keyboards are fantastic with a lot of energy and aggression. The lyrics are on the subject of cheating in a relationship of the kind of that he comes home and his wife is screwing another man, but they are clever enough to rise above the cliched subject matter. Mike Pilot unleashes some great guitar leads and also contributes excellent driving riffs. The rhythm section of Boyle and Wright is very strong and energetic with nothing coming up short. However, Stingray aren't a sort of more metallic Boston or Toto with pomp leanings so this track is more of a big overture and workout than indicative of the rest of the songs on the album.
     "Hard Headed Loner" is more what Stingray are about. Multitracked guitars that you can't believe are all one guitar player, catchy keyboards, and amazing vocals spur on a very melodic upbeat kind of AOR that sounds a little bit earlier than the release date and also perfect 1979 music with a very open sound. By that I mean what is the key to a lot of Stingray's music. They aren't just another band. The amount of melody in their music and their carefree vibe are most welcome when too many bands are either copying what's in the charts or too busy moaning and groaning to get anything done properly. Again, there is a compelling lyric to the song about an enigmatic female who needs no one else to satisfy her.  Most bands would bitch and slam a self-sufficient woman who doesn't need anything or anyone else. Instead Stingray leave you to your own interpretation.
  "Lucy" is another different sort of a track penned all by East with a keyboard heavy Pomp backing and wailing majestic vocals from this brilliant man. I can think of few singers who hold a candle to him. He appears to be coming from some other kind of background in most of the songs here than normal rock and roll singing largely because he is so down to earth and sounds like he would never be arrogant to anybody. He has the perfect AOR voice, but his lyrics and songwriting show a maturity seldom heard in a lot of rock music of all kinds. "Whole Lotta Fire" continues the soul influences of "Lucy" in a more upbeat way and drops the heavy mysterious approach of that song.  There's plenty of energy and fun with strong vocals and cool harmonies. Everything Stingray does is hyper professional. I get the impression that if anyone had auditioned for this band who was the least bit mediocre in some way or middling even they wouldn't have been part of the group. Big praise from finicky me. Also, there is the sense of fun. Stingray aren't gonna bring you down. They're really a polar opposite to the much too serious kind of music that clutters up so much of rock and like all great music from all eras an all-out professional carefree band like Stingray make one appreciate really meaningful melodies and songs a whole lot more.
    "Where Do We Go From Here?" is the first song to indicate the kind of direction much of this album, indeed the whole of Side Two, takes. It's highly melodic pop meets the rock foundation of the previous tracks with stellar vocal harmonies, nice acoustic/electric guitar combinations, and yeah there are a few similarities to Styx and Boston especially. Funny thing here is that I'd guess this was the work of an American band if I didn't know. It doesn't sound at all English, but I mean that as a compliment. "Where Do We Go From Here?" really is a fantastic track and Dennis East is amazing when his voice soars above the already up-in-the-heavens harmonies. A Pomp Rock masterpiece. If you like the songs of bands like Argent, Boston, Styx, and John Lawton era Uriah Heep this album belongs in your collection and your collection needs it if it isn't already there and on your regular playlist!
             It is the second side of the album from the first track "The Man In My Shoes" through to the beautiful closer "How Much?" that cements the brilliance of this record and makes it the best ever. I'm melodically oriented. As soon as songs fly out the window and become jack offs I lose all interest. The lack of melodic vocals and good songwriting is what kills bands like Judas Priest after the early stuff and just about all of Iron Maiden's music, but a lot of AOR/Pomp bands could have used a dose of the humour, craftsmanship, and songwriting prowess of Stingray. Frankly, compared to them a lot of other music is boring and does not get regular plays from me. That would be not just the AOR genre, but also I need there to be great songs and solid performances in any kind of the broad genre that rock is and Stingray are up there with the best. Oftentimes I'll go from a psych record or a progressive record or a pop record and plunge right into this one afterwards. That speaks highly of it.
    "The Man In My Shoes" has a really strong melody, smooth harmonies, excellent guitars, and soaring lead vocals from East in a song about a rock star who wants nothing more than to end his stardom to lead a normal happy sane life. You can't believe that kind of maturity on a first effort. It sounds more like what a band would close out with saying than begin by saying right away "You can have all the superstar nonsense I'm just a good singer and a good musician." How refreshing it is. The only other bands I can think of who are on the same level of melodic brilliance of Stingray are bands like Magnum whom I love, Sweet, Boston's 1st, Styx at their best, The Beatles, and some other ones that I've raved about here recently who are in a whole other genre closer to The Beatles and just post Beatles era.
    "Gonna Keep My Head Together" has a title that speaks for itself. It's a fuck off statement without any whining, groaning, or "Oh How You Broke My Heart" jilted nonsense. He is the one who knows from the song's start that the relationship has gone bad, but his response is to move on and walk away from the annoying behaviors that have led to the end of the love affair or friendship. This song doesn't have any romantic or sexual implications so it really is an anthem for all of us who have been tricked and used by other people. You don't need that person. Don't freak over them just get rid of them. Again, Stingray have maturity. The harmonies would make even Brian Wilson blush! There are only two credited with vocals on the album (Dennis East on lead and Mike Pilot guitar/vocals), but on a lot of tracks it sounds like all six of them are harmonizing! The production job from Julian Laxton is very impressive and everyone gets to show their various strengths from the vocals right through to the impressive rock drumming. "Gonna Keep My Head Together" has a great solo from Pilot where he never once goes off the rails and stays really melodic. I'm usually unable to get through a solo and do that! I seem to always end up showing off on the guitar and I know that strong melodies are really hard to come up with especially in a solo. As much as I love Angel and Trillion even they start to sound a bit indulgent compared to Stingray! There is nothing that is better than this album for the genre.
  "Lovesaver" together with "How Much?" is my personal favourite track on the album. It begins with a happy little electric piano and then the knock-you-out A Capella harmonies come in sounding like Queen meets The Beatles meets Boston meets Styx!  Then the band come in full blast and take you into the stratosphere. Awesome! The lyrics are full of emotion and are about finding the perfect loving sympathetic person in a relationship who saves the protagonist and fills their life with bliss. You get that big upbeat feeling from the song like you do from the best of a band who have the unusual surname of Stingray's guitar player as their name- Pilot. I have forgotten Pilot up til now, but they'd be another great band who I could say a lot of kind things about. Blue,  from Scotland like Pilot, are also a band who made enduring and endearing music of the best quality. The reflective verses in "Lovesaver" remind me a bit of Blue's early work and The Beatles making the chorus even more impressive. Sweet Paradise as the lyrics say indeed.
     "Breakdown" is the most adventurous vocal arrangement of the album together with the previous track and when it's put together with the solid no nonsense melodic rock of the song that is Stingray's trademark. Intricate harmonies, clear and precise lead vocals, and soaring guitars combine with non stop rock excitement to make for a masterpiece of an album that is great to listen to. "Breakdown" like "Lovesaver" begins with strong harmonies, but this time the lyric is about a love affair that goes completely sour and he just says to the bad person "dish it out." The carefree vibes are really great because a lot of AOR and all love oriented lyrics in rock tend to be full of unnecessary angst and tantrum throwing. Some bands and singers can make that brilliant, but not many. I would say skip right over the second Trillion record CLEAR APPROACH- ONLY because it has the worst "Poor Jilted Broken Ruined Me" song ever written on it complete with inept masturbating bass, synthesizers, and guitars and may be even worse than Gentle Giant! The song I'm referring to is "I Know The Feeling." You do? Well then I can thankfully say that I DON'T. I have had many bad endings to relationships, but after feeling sorry for myself I usually realize that I'm better than the person I was trying to win over. Trillion sound like amateurs compared to Stingray and that is saying something as I love Trillion especially their amazing first album just called TRILLION which also benefited from a very gifted lead vocalist/writer Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen. Fergie was known as Dennis on Trillion's debut, but after that ever since joining the long lasting Louisiana band Le Roux then Toto for one album (the brilliant ISOLATION) he's been known as Fergie. If I were asked who had the most golden brilliant flowing silvery wonderful killer voice in AOR it would be Dennis East of Stingray and Fergie whilst his replacement in Trillion Thom Griffin is nearly up there. AOR is music and metal is mostly not. I find myself enjoying metal sometimes and thinking even some of it is really good music, but that's only the kind where it gets passionate. I think most metal is noise. Stingray are all about melody and great songs and they just happen to be virtuoso musicians. There isn't any showing off or upstaging of anybody on this record. Also, to get back to them being South Africans it sounds like they have great hearts and would never support Apartheid. Their working closely with a black producer is very indicative of that lack of bigotry and small minded thinking that was seriously damaging to all South Africans then.
    "How Much?" is a beautiful ballad of uncertainty. It is about someone who can't address the needs for a shared relationship where it isn't just taking it's also the giving to the singer of the lyrics. They need some time to work it out, but Dennis sings without straining and the lyrics are sophisticated and well-written. I love this song. It makes me feel better when I hear it. It has a soothing melody and beautiful harmonies. When I've gone through bad periods I've pulled this record out and "How Much?" and the whole record have given me the strength to go on with my life. Thank you Stingray, you may never have hit it huge here, but you're better than nearly any of the competition. Since Stingray are a great "Songs AND Chops" band you can listen to them with song bands as different from them as Honeybus whom I love and chops bands as brilliant as Yes. Stingray are amazing. Find this rare masterpiece and put it right on the turntable and bliss out like I do when I play it. Enough said.