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"...Old
Dog Song..."
Gull
Records (distributed by Decca) went after the Camel, VDGG and Caravan
marketplace with their label's first release - "Things To Come" by
SEVENTH WAVE.
Issued
April 1974 on Gull Records GULP 1001 alongside Isotope's self-titled debut
album (GULP 1002, also released April 1974) and Steve Ashley's "Stroll
On" in May 1974 (Gull Records GULP 1003) – they all looked and sounded the
melodic thoughtful Prog Rock part - but for me always lacked actual tunes.
Seventh
Wave comprised of two individuals - singer and multi-instrument keyboardist KEN
ELLIOTT and his equally dexterous percussion pal KIERAN O'CONNOR. They weren't
new to Prog or Instrumentals - both being ex Second Hand who had two huge cult
albums back in the vanguard of the genre - "Reality" on Polydor
Records in 1968 and "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" in 1971 on
Mushroom Records - both mega-bucks vinyl rarities should you ever feel the need
to acquire them (I've reviewed the famous 1971 beast).
Unfortunately
as a Rarities LP Buyer and Mail Order Manager in Reckless Records in Islington
and Soho's Berwick Street for nearly two decades (busy, busy places and the
Berwick Street store still is) - I remember Seventh Wave well - in that you
couldn't give either of their LPs away for anything above two or three quid.
Their second and last platter was "Psi-Fi" in August 1975 on Gull
Records GULP 1010 (both titles reissued in July 1977 on the same catalogue
numbers when stuff like Gordon Giltrap was breaking on The Electric Company
label). Despite the obvious technical know-how and the dense almost Utopia-like
production values - "Things To Come" hasn't really aged that well.
All too many of the synth instrumentals like "Sky Scraper" and the
one-minute "Escalator" feel like noodles rather than songs and when
Elliott did sing on stuff like "Metropolis" or the Spector-esque
"Old Dog Song" - he sounded like Geddy Lee from Rush with a tourniquet
around his nether regions. Better is "Smog, Fog And Sunset" with its
huge notes and the ever so-slightly funky jaunt of "Dance Of The
Eloi" sounding not unlike a Genesis middle-eight from 1976's "A Trick
Of The Tail".
What
I can say is that BEN WISEMAN – a Remaster Engineer of re-known used by
Esoteric on many's a reissue and a name (like Andy Pearce) I look out for – has
revisited the Gull Master Tapes for this 2018 'Expanded Edition' CD reissue and
delivered a spectacular soundscape.
This 29 June 2018 UK CD of "Things To Come" by SEVENTH WAVE on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2630 (Barcode 5013929473041) sounds huge and in
a good way and
contains the shorter single-mix of "Metropolis" as a Bonus Track
(issued May 1974 as a UK 7" single on Gull Records GULS 3 with "Festival"
on the flipside).
The
16-page booklet has new MALCOLM DOME liner notes with contributions from
Elliott (taking the title from the famous H.G. Wells story – keyboardist Hugh
Banton of Van Der Graaf Generator joining them for the second LP sessions) –
there are lyrics to the four vocal tracks and Sound Engineer/Producer Neil
Richmond who had aided loads of Trojan LPs at Chalk Farm Road with Vic Keary
lends his thoughts on the recordings too. Fans will also be pleased to see
Michael Priddle’s intricately cool artwork is also reproduced throughout the
booklet.
Good
but never great for me – fans will need this however for the upgraded audio and
quality booklet presentation...
