This is the debut solo release from Jargon (who provides vocals, keyboards, and piano), the lead singer from Greek band Verbal Delirium. He has been joined on the album by Nikitas Kissonas (guitars), Leonidas Petropoulos (bass) and Verbal Delirium drummer Wil Bow. Another very important part of the album is the use of a string quartet, whose music was arranged by Kissonas who is also ex-Verbal Delirium but who I will always think of as Methexis, whose debut album ‘The Fall Of Bliss’ I reviewed some 12 years ago (and I note Jargon provided piano on one track). This is very much a singer’s album, a songwriter’s album, based primarily around the piano. Sung in English, the album revolves around Jargon and there are times when he is the only player involved, or just with strings to accompany him. There is no need for the band to all be involved, and the result is an album which has room to grow and develop.
There are times when it is incredibly layered, others when it is quite simple, so much so that one never really knows what is going to happen next. Bow is happy to provide rim shots as much as simple snare, often playing more in a jazz fashion than normal rock, while Petropoulos has a strong approach which keeps it all tied together. This allows Kissonas to do whatever he likes, which even could be nothing at all, or providing string riffs or solo. Even the use of electric piano at some points does not come across as twee, but rather something which is being used for a particular sound. The use of a real string quartet as opposed to using synths definitely provides more depth and breadth, allowing for more force and presence to be deployed.
Strong vocals, rough and anguished at some point, delicate and almost playful at others, centre the album. The band I kept being reminded of this is Discipline, as there is something about this which really makes one think of Matthew Parmenter, although possibly with even more piano. It is theatrical, passionate, emotional, and one of the best albums I have heard from Greece in some time. Jargon may not be a name known to many but based on this album that will soon change.
I was somewhat surprised when I started playing this, as while I knew it was a re-imagining of a song originally written as an instrumental back when Gandalf’s Fist was first starting out, I had no idea this had more in common with folk music as it does with the progressive form for which they are so well known. It has been issued to create awareness of the forthcoming 10-year anniversary special release of ‘The Master and the Monkey’, which promises to be something very interesting indeed. Uilleann Pipes and whistle are provided by Faliq Auri, but everything else is by Dean Marsh (vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, programming, synths). He says this is a special song to the band, being recorded multiple times over the years (and on the single is available in four different versions). Gandalf’s Fist continue to push musical boundaries and here they are doing so by going back in time. This is definitely one which will appeal to folkies as much as it will to the progheads who think of them more for ‘The Clockwork Fable’. It certainly ties in very well indeed with the folk singles I have been listening to this week! -Kev Rowland | 8/10
‘Electric Region’s is the latest solo album by Focus bassist, Udo Pannekeet, and since he started work on it, it has taken some five years to complete amidst his other recording and touring duties. It also features guest appearances by current Focus guitarist Menno Gootjes as well as by ex-Focus guitarist Eef Albers so any fan of that band is definitely going to be interested. It commences with the title track (which is marked as “Part One”, but nothing else by that name appears on this album so possibly that is for the next one) which is nearly 24 minutes in length, plus two numbers written some years ago plus a couple of newer ones, giving a combined length of approximately 44 minutes.
This is a jazz fusion record, with some very Latin style percussion at times, and takes us back firmly to the late Seventies. He has involved brass and woodwind musicians alongside the five guitarists, so there are 15 musicians involved throughout and the overall feel is of something incredibly self-indulgent. Pannekeet is a fine bass player, and he is a firm believer in the power of the ensemble as although he plays complex lines throughout, he rarely allows the mix to bring him forward, tending to concentrate mostly on the drums and horns. But, this is music which meanders, there is little in the way of direction yet it also does not have the power of improvisation. I listen to a lot of fusion these days, but when I started checking to see how much longer this had to go the first time I played it I knew there was a problem. To my ears it has not got any better with repeated listens and even though I have seen this get some rave reviews on the web, this is not one of them. I would much rather hear more delicacy such as on “Little Nura” when we have some sombre bass chords which lead into a track unlike the rest of the album. As for the rest, it is really not for me at all.
It has been a very long tine indeed since I have been able to write anything remotely critical about one of the best progressive rock bands to come out of the UK and I am certainly not going to start now. They may have released just four studio albums during their career, but there has never been any doubt about their importance to the progressive scene and one can only wonder what would have happened if Geoff hadn’t decided to move away from the group and follow his heart into a life in the ministry. I remember talking to Brian in the early Nineties about the band ever having a reunion, and he discounted it as no-one was really involved in music anymore, plus Andy Sears was in Spain and Clive Mitten was in Australia. Still, he kept working on remasters and extended editions of the albums and also released a whole series of live albums from different points in the band’s career.
No one ever expected Clive to come back to the UK, and even when he did there was no certainty the band would reform, but reform they did (without original keyboard player Rick Battersby), and since then there have been quite a few trips down memory lane with members of Galahad subbing in at different times. But all good things come to an end and Andy Revell wanted to go out at a big event, and so Barbican’s Sill Street Theatre was booked and on Saturday 15th December 2012 the band played the final (?) gig. The line-up featured three guys who had been there at the very beginning, namely Brian Devoil (drums), Andy Revell (guitar, backing vocals) and Clive Mitten (bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals). They were joined by Dean Baker on keyboards and piano, who had been a constant presence since the band reformed, along with “new” singer Mark Spencer who also provided some guitar. Both Dean and Mark are also full-time members of Galahad (plus other bands), while Roy Keyworth, who used to also be in both Twelfth Night and Galahad, joins the band for “East of Eden”.
As always, the band kicked off proceedings with “The Ceiling Speaks” where Revell and Mitten duel on guitars, with bass coming from synths, and immediately they are up and running and the audience are in fine voice. All anyone really knows of the setlist at a TN concert is the opening song and the last, which will always be “Love Song”, so I was intrigued to see what was going to be included here and I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that there was a significant move away from material recorded by Andy Sears. Mark’s voice is quite similar to Geoff’s in many ways, so he would be more comfortable with the early songs, and perhaps that is why a decision was made to include just a couple of songs from ‘Art and Illusion’ and nothing at all from ‘The Virgin Album’. It is a shame not to hear the drama of “Blondon Fair” or “Take A Look” but putting those to one side I think the only song of note not in this set would be “The Collector”. We have time for “We Are Sane”, “Sequences” and “Creepshow” alongside the likes of “Human Being” and “Fact and Fiction”.
By my reckoning this is the twelfth official live album from Twelfth Night (counting ‘Live and Let Live’ plus the ‘Live and Let Live Definitive’ albums as two), which somehow seems fitting, and yes I do have them all. Each one is a gem in its own right, a snapshot of time, and while I must confess this doesn’t quite live up to Geoff’s last album with them, that is less to do with the performance and more the raw emotion and passion from everyone knowing it was Geoff Mann’s last ever gig with the band. This set has also been released on Blu-ray and DVD, but due to poor planning on my part I have ended up in one part of the country with my Blu-ray player in another, so that review will have to wait a few weeks. But, if you search for ‘Twelfth Night A Night To Remember’ on YouTube you will be able to see some clips from that, which proves just what a band this is/was.
This can’t be the end; we’ve already had a teaser with the ‘Sequences’ EP so let us see what happens next. Until then, listen to a modern version of one of the best prog bands ever to come out of Reading.
After hearing and really enjoying the recent second album from This Winter Machine, ‘A Tower of Clocks’, I have worked backwards and am now playing their debut from 2017, ‘The Man Who Never Was’. This does have a slightly different line-up from the next album, as here they were a five-piece which later expanded to have a second guitarist, but Al Winter (vocals), Mark Numan (keyboards, backing vocals) and Peter Priestly (bass) are still in the band , while this album also featured Gary Jevon (guitars) and Marcus Murray (drums). Much has been made of fact that the band only got together the year before, and then managed to produce an album like this, and rightly so as it is a delight.
What we have here is a very songs-based neo prog album which could have come out some 25 years earlier. The guitar is used rather sparingly, with somewhat Hackett-like tendencies and nuances, only providing riffs and power chords when the time is right, while the piano/keyboards often provides the melodic lead and the bass provides a different melody altogether. Then on top of it all here are the delicate and delicious vocals of Al Winter, bringing the listener in. While Final Conflict, Pallas and earlier Galahad are obvious reference points, there are also some Genesis and Camel influences as well and the result is an extremely well-crafted and enjoyable album which only gets better with repeated playing. Both this and the follow-up are incredibly immediate, and anyone with a fondness for the Nineties progressive rock scene being brought up to date needs to seek out both albums immediately, if not sooner.
For a band who are on their fourth album, releasing their debut ‘Mirror’ as long ago as 2007, it seems a little mean to point out that this is actually a side project of RPWL guitarist Kalle Wallner, but given he will always be associated with them, it has to be done. However, unlike RPWL, and indeed unlike the band which preceded that one, Violet District (whose only album ‘Terminal Breath’ came out in 1992 – I remember reviewing it at the time, god I’m old) this is not a band heavily influenced by Pink Floyd. To be honest, based on this album alone I wouldn’t even call them a progressive rock band – I haven’t heard the last two so don’t know how they compare – but here we have a melodic hard rock outfit with, at best, some neo prog influences.
So, although some RPWL fans may search this out due to the connections with that band, they may well turn away in some dismay as here we have an album where the guitarist allows himself full rein to hit power chords and simply rock in a way which he restrains himself from doing in RPWL. When asked about the album title, Wallner says “It’s about blind understanding. When you get the right people on board, there is no need for lengthy explanations. You just hit the recording button. And when you then give the right musicians the right music … that’s when they help you take it to the next level. No need to convince anybody, no discussions. And no compromises are necessary. You just pump it out.” This is certainly an album which has been pumped out, with a superb melodic hard rock performance with great songs and licks, and a special mention must be made of singer Scott Balaban who strides across proceedings like a colossus. This may be his first studio album with the band, but he has been involved for a while, and indeed was the singer on the 2017 live album ‘Liquid Live’ and he is the perfect foil to Wallner. He also provided most of the lyrics, and the result is something which is powerful and instinctive.
This is a really enjoyable album from beginning to end, just put out of your mind that here is the guy from RPWL, as finally this feels very much like a band as opposed to a side project and it is going to be fascinating to see where they take it from here as they move solidly into melodic hard rock. 8/10 Kev Rowland
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