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"…Inner Space…"
Like many longhaired
spotty-teenagers in the early to mid 70’s - I was completely drawn in by PROG
ROCK and its mind-expanding themes. I’d be sat there on a Saturday morning
(before Alan Freeman’s Rock Show on Radio 1) with my Garrard SP25 turntable,
Dustbuster and Emitex Cleaning Cloth whirling away - whilst I devoured the
graphically drawn lyrics on Genesis and Yes gatefold album covers. It wasn’t
long before my complex-rhythms addiction spread to Uriah Heap, Gentle Giant and
Badger – in fact anything with a Roger Dean album cover on it. It was therefore
a natural progression that I would stumble on Dave Greenslade’s keyboard
vehicle – GREENSLADE. I thought the first two albums "Greenslade" and
"Bedside Manners Are Extra" (both issued in 1973 on Warner Brothers)
had good moments - but their 3rd LP "Spyglass Guest" saw a level of
sophistication that was undeniably better – and in places – even rather
beautiful. Which is where this timely UK 2CD reissue comes in…
UK released May 2011 - "Spyglass Guest/Time And Tide" by GREENSLADE on Rhino/Edsel EDSD 2098 (Barcode
0740155209834) contains Greenslade’s 3rd and 4th studio albums Remastered onto
two CDs and mellotrons out as follows:
Disc 1 (38:49 minutes):
1. Spirit Of The Dance [Side 1]
2. Little Red Fry-Up
3. Rainbow
4. Siam Seesaw
5. Joie De Vivre [Side 2]
6. Red Light
7. Melancholic Race
8. Theme For An Imaginary
Western
Tracks 1 to 8 are their 3rd
album "Spyglass Guest" - originally released August 1974 in the UK on
Warner Brothers K 56055 and in the USA on Mercury SRM-1 1015.
Disc 2 (32:33 minutes):
1. Animal Farm [Side 1]
2. Newsworth
3. Time
4. Tide
5. Catalan
6. The Flattery Stakes [Side
2]
7. Waltz For A Fallen Idol
8. The Ass’s Ears
9. Doldrums
10. Gangsters
Tracks 1 to 10 are their 4th
album "Time And Tide" – originally released April 1975 in the UK on
Warner Brothers K 56126 and in the USA on Mercury SRM-1 1025.
The 20-page booklet is much
better than I thought it would be – all the original album artwork is here
including the lyrics and inner gatefold pictures; there’s a knowledgeable
history on the band and the albums by ALAN ROBINSON and best news of all is the
hugely upgraded sound. PHIL KINRADE has done the remastering at Alchemy Studios
in London and a superlative job it is too – far better than the dull Eighties
CDs I’ve had for years just to have the music. Speaking of which - the music is
keyboard-driven Prog Rock with sophisticated Jazz rhythms, chord changes and a
lyrical lightness of touch that was even fun at times. Bandleader Dave
Greenslade played a huge array of instruments - ARP Synthesisers, Fender
Rhodes, Clavinet, Glockenspiel, Harmonium, Mellotron and even Tubular Bells.
The band also featured Dave Lawson on Various Keyboards and Lead Vocals, Tony
Reeves on Bass with Andrew McCullock on Drums. Ace sessionman and guitarist
Martin Briley joined them for "Time And Tide”.
To the music - no matter how
much affection I once had for these albums - in 2011 a lot of it sounds
horribly dated. Tony Reeves vocals still feel strangulated to me. But there is
still wonderful stuff on here nonetheless - in particular the instrumental that
ended Side 1 of "Spyglass Guest" - "Siam Seesaw". Alan
Robinson’s liner notes describe it as "…thoughtful, elegant and a real
gem…" and he's right. I’ve waited decades to hear it sound this good – and
I’ll admit that at 52 – a little Proggy tear of joy came out of my eye on
rehearing it. "Little Red Fry Up" has the guitar of former Colosseum
axeman Dave "Clem" Clemson, while Andy Roberts of Liverpool Scene and
Plainsong did acoustic guitar on the lovely "Siam Seesaw". "Joie
De Vivre" is excellent (lyrics above) – featuring Violin work from Graham
Smith (String Driven Thing) trading off keyboard codas with Greenslade.
"Red Light" is the nearest they ever got to a single track – clever
lyrics with the keys aping the melody. "Rainbow" opens with rainfall
and a sinister piano lead-in – it’s then added to by treated drum and cymbal
patterns, which fades into a prettier piano passage halfway through that is
beautifully produced by Jeremy Ensor. It’s very Prog, but it’s actually very
good. "Spyglass Guest" ends on a cover version of Cream's "Theme
For An Imaginary Western". In fact the album saw their only chart action
in the UK - 3 weeks - peaking at Number 34.
1975s "Time And
Tide" saw collaboration with Patrick Woodroffe on the album artwork (they
would work later on 1980s double "The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony") –
Woodroffe’s art bearing more than a passing resemblance to Roger Dean’s iconic
work. While it might have looked the part, the opening "Animal Farm"
is awful and the bitchy "Newsworth" isn’t much better. The Treverva
Male Voice Choir lends itself nicely to "Time" which in turn segues
into the full-on Mellotron instrumental "Tide" - as a duo, they're
very good. "Doldrums" is nice (like an outtake from "Wind And
Wuthering"), but most of the rest sounds wildly out-of-place for 1975 and
even tedious.
1976 would see the arrival of
PUNK which would blow away all this Hippy nonsense – and rightly so. But for a
brief moment back there - to me and many others who held this band and that
period of music in great affection - a 25-minute Mellotron solo seemed like the
most natural thing in the world – and even beautiful somehow…
To sum up – this 2CD set is a
five-star reissue of three-star material – making available again two rare
vinyl LPs with enhanced packaging and really great sound. And at less than a
fiver, if you’ve any affection for even parts of them - it’s a deal.
I’m off now to get a haircut
and find a real job…
PS: their first two albums "Greenslade" and "Bedside
Manners Are Extra" are also reissued May 2011 on Edsel as a 2CD set for
the same cheap price...
