Czar "Czar" 1970***

Czar are one of those bands that had been (ostensibly) unfairly overlooked in their time, only to be revered decades later. Like so many others, their albums were consigned to cut-out bins, recycled or plainly destroyed. After a decade or two, collectors would start to talk about them in reverential tones, dedicate internet pages to them, and presto! yesterday's losers are today's cult heroes. I just checked discogs to see if any of the original LP's are available on the market, and what do you know? They have two: One (condition VG+) goes for €900, the other (condition Near Mint or Mint) sells for €2430 (+ shipping, which should be a substantial amount given that you'll need an armored truck to transport this treasure). It makes me lol to think of all the copies that were melted down or destroyed as useless. So why did the record-buying public ignore Czar so blatantly? I'm sure the cover didn't help, with its picture of a boggle-eyed hippie superimposed on that of someone in an unconvincing Halloween bear suit wearing a crown. We get it. Bear=Russia --> crowned bear=czar. Only this bear looks slightly less realistic than Paddington Bear, the TV show from my childhood. But mainly one has to remember the sheer number of brilliant albums released during 1969/1970, and the number of bands standing in the same niche between psychedelia and heavy prog. I'm not saying their music was derivative, but neither did it stand out in any way. So given all the other albums released in 1970 if you bought only, say, 20 LP's that year would you make "Czar" one of them? I know I wouldn't - which is not to say that it's merritless. It has a nice sound, combining the mellowness of the Moody Blues and King Crimson and heavy rock of Uriah Heep. Organ and Mellotron are way to the fore, with some nice guitar solos and heavy drumming. One ingredient that distinguishes Czar (formerly known as "Thursday's Childen") from its contemporaries is the harmony vocals which give it a pop/folk air. "Tread Softly on My Dreams" is a strong opener, with its gothic mellotron and impressive guitar solos. "Cecelia" is another long piece with an oriental melody featuring heavy organ, harpsichord and more electric guitar. "Follow Me" is a straight rock song with a catchy chorus. At 3'25'' it's the record's shortest track, probably recorded with a single release in mind. "Dawning of a New Day" is a melodic Moody Blues-like piece, while "Beyond The Moon" and ballad "Today" are simpler and reminiscent of West Coast psychedelia. "A Day in September" was the original album closer, a long prog piece dominated by organ a la Procol Harum or The Nice. Later CD editions would include a multitude of outtakes and demos, but mine only adds their sole single, 1970's "Oh Lord I'm Getting Heavy/Why Don't We Be A Rock'n Roll Band". The former song is soul reminiscent of Jullie Driscoll/Brian Auger records of the time and latter a pleasant but undistinguished rocker. In my opininion "Czar" is a good album, certainly worth saving from oblivion, but it's not in any way an essential purchase, even for fans of psychedelia and progressive rock.

**** for Tread Softly On My Dreams, Cecelia, Follow Me, Dawning Of A New Day, A Day In September

*** for Beyond The Moon, Today, Oh Lord I'm Getting Heavy, Why Don't We Be A Rock'n Roll Band?

Harmonium "Si On Avait Besoin D'Une Cinquième Saison" 1975*****

Harmonium were a folk/prog band from Montreal, Canada. They wrote exclusively in French and supported Quebecois independence. 1975's "Si On Avait Besoin D'Une Cinquième Saison" ("If there was need for a 5th season") was their 2nd LP and it represented a huge leap forward from the acoustic folk of their debut. The sound is still acoustic and drumless, but incredibly rich, with flutes, accordion, pianos and mellotrons, vocal harmonies etc. The orchestration and the long and complex compositions push the album from folk to prog territory, despite the absense of the usual heaviness and grandiosity. Of course, the "4 seasons" concept has been done before (Vivaldi is more than a popular name for pizzerias, you know) but they give it a new twist: after presenting a song for each season, they top it off by adding "Histoires Sans Paroles", representing the hypothetical "fifth season" of the title. As for its musical worth, no reason to be coy: It's an album of sublime beauty, period. Some may find it a bit too pretty for its own sake, but that's their problem. "Vert" (spring) opens the album with a sweet flute melody and is, despite the instrumental flourishes, basically folk rock with airy vocal harmonies. "Dixie" is a playful ragtime jazz tune that will remind you of carefree summers and silent movies. It's followed by the 10-minute "Depuis L'Automne", a melancholic song with wonderful passages of classical guitar and Chopin-like piano. It's all given a lush symphonic feel by washes of floating mellotron. "En Pleine Face" (i.e. winter) is another broody piece which reminds me more of French chanson - maybe  it's the effect of accordion that closes the song creating a nostalgic effect. The last song in the 5-season cycle is a 17-minute suite called "Histoires Sans Paroles". As in classical music, this is comprised by five movements. The first "L'Isolement" is a charming flute-and-acoustic-guitar melody. It ends with majestic mellotron segueing into "L'Appel", dominated by electric piano and acoustic guitar. It made me think of Pink Floyd circa Atom Heart Mother, a feel that became even stronger with the shift to "La Rencontre" (the meeting) a psychedelic collage creating an uneasy feeling akin to walking through an enchanted fairytale forest. This is followed by new age symphony ("L'Union") with soaring mellotron, soothing beach sounds (wave and seagulls) and some of the most beautiful vocals you'll ever hear on an instrumental, courtesy of ms. Judi Richards. The last movement "Le Grand Bal" starts off like carousel music, and is slowly enriched with piano, reeds and mellotron playing a waltz-like tune to match that movement's title. Harmonium would go on to record a double studio album and a live one, before disbanding in '78. I have in my collection many albums I prefer to listen to (especially louder ones), but few can compare to this for sheer beauty. I can't understand why Harmonium are not mentioned in the same breath with Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes. Their music is as accessible as any in prog, though I guess they lacked radio hits. "Dixie" was released as a single (maybe because of its short duration) and was a local hit, but it's atypical of the band's sound and not indicative of their capabilities. Oh well...

***** for Vert, Depuis L'Automne, Histoires Sans Paroles (HSP)1: L'Isolement, HSP4: L'Union 

**** for Dixie, En Pleine Face, HSP2: L'Appel, HSP5: Le Grand Bal

*** for HSP3: La Rencontre

The Moody Blues "Days Of Future Passed" 1967*****

Another concert I recently saw in Amsterdam was that of the Moody Blues. The audience in these two concerts (The Who and Moody Blues) had an average age of 60+, quite the opposite from what happens in Greece where, regardless the kind of music, concert-goers are mostly young with the odd middle-aged person here and there (Of course, the crisis may have changed that, too). Why that happens in The Netherlands, I don't know. Is it a sign of youth turning away from rock? Of the deep influence pop music had in Sixties' Holland? Or of the Dutch baby boomers being really active and immersing themselves in all kinds of activities when Greeks of their generation mostly just go to the tavern? Anyway, it made for an enthusiastic audience. The band featured 3 members from the classic line-up, Justin Hayward (guitar & vocals), John Lodge (bass, guitar, vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums, though a second drummer was required as he couldn't physically pull off the whole gig). The other two played with undiminished prowess, while the rest of the musicians were also very good - especially the two ladies contributing vocals, flutes, saxes, keyboards and more. My only objection is the "psychedelic" screen projections, obviously meant to replicate a 60's light show but actually looking like a Windows Media Player visualisation. The music was a melange of pop and progressive rock drawing from all stages of their career. Not that I'd mind had they stopped in 1972, when they took a break after a string of 7 masterful albums which began with this one, arguably one of the cornerstones of pop and rock music.

The Moody Blues at Heineken Music Hall,
Amsterdam 25/6/2015

Funnily enough, the original idea behind it belonged to a member of that most maligned profession, a record company executive. Having devised a new enhanced stereo recording technique, Decca Records sought for the right sound to showcase the new technology and came up with a (previously unimaginable) mixture of pop and classical music. They even chose the piece, Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 and enlisted a pop group to play. Only they had other ideas. Instead of working on their symphony parts, they hijacked the orchestra and had them play their own music, a song suite replicating the different hours of a typical day. The result was so good that no-one was upset by their mischief and the album was released with much fanfare, Despite the fact that neither album nor single bothered the Top-10 at the time, it signalled the opening of new horizons and the birth of the Progressive Rock genre, The orchestra bridges the songs together and takes the spotlight on the symphonic opening and closing parts, but the Moodies' sound is in itself very rich, as it's embellished with flute, sitar and, most notably, mellotron - a tape-replay synthesizer emulating the sound of an orchestra which came to dominate prog rock in the 70's. The album begins with "The Day Begins", an orchestral piece cleverly previewing some of the themes that will follow, in symphonic form. A spoken intro and instrumental bridge are followed by the majestic ballad "Dawn Is a Feeling" and the playful "Another Morning" evoking vivid images of children playing. Another orchestral interlude is followed by psychedelic rocker "Peak Hour". The Afternoon is comprised by Hayward's lyrical "Tuesday Afternoon" and Lodge's "(Evening) Time to Get Away". The first part was also released as a single and is a beautiful melody with great vocals, acoustic guitar and mellotron. "The Sunset" somewhat echoes The Beatles' flirtation with Indian music while Evening's second part "Twilight Time" is an upbeat psychedelic rocker typical of the late 60's. Which leads us to "Nights in White Satin", one of the all-time greatest ballads in the history of music. It's impossible to calculate how many couples have slowdanced to this song holding each other tight, how many lovestruck youths have written it on cassette compilations for their loved one or dedicated it to them on the radio. Emotive vocals, majestic strings, breathtaking melody: no wonder it's never off the airwaves - just turn the dial long enough and it'll pop out. I'll hazard a guess that, as long as there are lovers and music, it'll keep getting played. The original album ends with a short narration by Edge, but this edition adds no less than 10 bonus tracks: Alternate versions of "Tuesday Afternoon", "Dawn Is A Feeling", "The Sun Set" and "Twilight Time" prove that the songs work fine even taken out of context, while a live version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" provides a link to their R&B roots. Single tracks "Fly Me High", "I Really Haven't Got The Time" and "Leave This Man Alone" are fine specimens of Beatles-y pop, while "Love and Beauty" and "Cities" veer closely to the more intricate sound of the album. All in all, an influential bona-fide classic - no record collection is complete without it...

***** for Dawn Is a Feeling, Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?), Nights in White Satin, Tuesday Afternoon (alternate version)

**** for Another Morning, Peak Hour, The Sunset, Twilight Time, Fly Me High, Love and Beauty, Cities, Dawn Is A Feeling (alternate version), The Sun Set (alternate version),Twilight Time (alternate version)

*** for The Day Begins, Morning Glory, Lunch Break:Intro, (Evening) Time to Get Away, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, I Really Haven't Got The Time, Leave This Man Alone

Anekdoten "Chapters" 2009****(comp)

The name "Anekdoten" makes me think of people sitting around a fire and exchanging amusing stories. So I slipped the CD in my player, grabbed a beer and got ready for a good laugh. And so it began: "Hear me breathe/From the other room/So which of all the lies you told/Should I keep as my own?/The metaphors are lost on me/What I see is what I see/The earth is moving - time to say goodbye?/Only sky ahead/Love's so hard to find...". If that is Scandinavian humor, it's totally lost on me. But to be honest "funny" is not the word most associated with this band. I believe that that would be a tie between "mellotron" and "KingCrimson". For those unfamiliar with mellotrons, they are a form of primitive synthesizer mimicking the sound of a symphonic orchestra. The Beatles have used it on occasion but some bands have based their sound on it: The Moody Blues, Genesis and...King Crimson. After listening to the first CD, I have to say I don't see that many similarities to the latter group (other than the omnipresence of mellotrons). The sound is much more contemporary, reminding me more of Porcupine Tree, Anathema or Marillion. Opener "Ricochet" is atmospheric alternative rock while "The Great Unknown" is more progressive with flute and mellotron fills, heavy guitars and melodic vocal."From Within" and "In For A Ride" are heavy prog with loud guitars while "The War Is Over" is a gentle psychedelic piece with acoustic guitars and light percussion. "A Sky About To Rain" juxtaposes heavy Sabbath riffs with synths and segues seamlessly into the instrumental "Every Step I Take". "Groundbound" and "Gravity" are two more experimental psychedelic tracks and "When I Turn" an excellent ballad with beautiful piano and a full sound courtesy of the grandiose yet warm mellotron. When I started on the second disc, my expectations were rather lower. After all it's mostly demos and previously unreleased songs, something to hook in the completists. Well, I was right about this: It was different from the first. For one thing, I found out where the King Crimson comparisons come from. Half the songs sound like the spiritual child of KC's "21st Century Schizoid Man" but the opener "Sad Rain" is like a new "In the Court of the Crimson King". And I absolutely loved it. To think that the band had it previously exiled to the Japanese-only edition of their debut...presumably for being too derivative? It was the very first track written by them and they probably still wore their influences on their sleeve. The next two are also from the band's debut "Vemod" and include Opeth's Per Wiberg on piano. They are well suited to the "prog" label as they are really dense compositions. Lead vocals are handled by the bassist Jan Erik Liljestrom who has a more romantic and operatic voice than guitarist Nicklas Berg who handles most of the vocals on disc 1. "Wheel" has a lonesome horn playing in the background that is absolute genius. The rest of the songs are demos from the albums "Nucleus" and "A Time Of Day" although it may be more accurate to call them alternate versions, since they're fully realized songs. They're loud and complex compositions alternating from fairy-like to nightmarish and verging on the prog-metal of Tool or the aforementioned Opeth. Closer "Prince Of The Ocean" is an atmospheric song with a gentle acoustic intro and a combination of male and female vocals. Overall an album highly recommended to fans of Porcupine Tree and modern prog in general.

***** for Sad Rain

**** for The Great Unknown, The War Is Over, A Sky About To Rain, When I Turn, Prince Of The Ocean

*** for Ricochet, From Within, In For A Ride, Groundbound, Wheel, The Old Man & The Sea, Nucleus, Book Of Hours, 30 Pieces

** for Monolith, Every Step I Take, Gravity, This Far From The Sky