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Highlighting in album tracklistings denotes 'contains Mellotron'. On 'multi-part' tracks I've tried to indicate which parts contain 'Tron, although this isn't always possible.
Ratings:
The * rating (½-5) is my personal, entirely subjective and completely partisan rating of the music.
The 'T' ('Tron, of course...) rating (0-5) is an only slightly more objective indicator of an album's Mellotronness.
By the way, if you know of any Mellotron albums that aren't listed here, please look at my albums page first! Thanks.
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Si on Avait Besoin d'une Cinquieme Saison [a.k.a. Le Cinq Saisons] (1975, 41.34) ****/TTT½VertDixie Depuis l'Automne En Pleine Face Histoires Sans Paroles |
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L'Heptade (1976, 85.36) ****/T½ |
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| Prologue Comme un Fou Sommeil Sans Rêves Chanson Noire Le Bien, le Mal Pour une Blanche Cérémonie Le Premier Ciel L'Exil |
Le Corridor Lumières de Vie Lumière de Nuit Éclipse Lumière de Jour Lumière de Vie Comme un Sage Épilogue |
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En Tournée (1980, 87.57) ****/TTT |
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| Introduction Comme un Fou Chanson Noire Le Premier Ciel L'Exil Le Corridor |
Lumières de Vie Lumière de Nuit Lumière de Jour Lumière de Vie Comme un Sage |
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While Harmonium's first, self-titled album (***½) is pretty much straight French-influenced folk, Le Cinq Saisons (as it's usually known) adds a progressive element, although it's entirely drumless, reminding me in places of Italy's wonderful Celeste, operating around the same time and half a world away. After opening with the gentle Vert, the album is let down slightly by the irritating, jaunty Dixie, before being completely redeemed by the pastoral, acoustic guitar and piano-led Depuis l'Automne. En Pleine Face is very French, complete with accordion, but lengthy closer Histoires Sans Paroles stays true to its title, 'Story Without Words', by being a lengthy instrumental in the same style as Depuis l'Automne.
Serge Locat's Mellotron string work on Depuis l'Automne is exemplary, although much of it consists of laying down a two-chord riff for acoustic guitar and sax to solo over. After a wordless vocal/'Tron section, the string part becomes far more interesting, and the ten-minute piece ends on a superb short solo 'Tron section. Histoires Sans Paroles goes one better by having a darker two-chord 'Tron riff, more interesting chords and several solo sections, along with a short chordal flute part near the beginning, which sounds more like Mellotron than the band's two flautists playing in harmony.
1977's ambitious double, L'Heptade, utilises an orchestra across much of its length, who set out their stall from the off, with the almost wholly orchestral Prologue. The album largely moves away from the French folk template that characterised their first two releases, although there's still quite a bit of acoustic material on display. It's difficult to pick highlights, although the 14-minute four-part Lumières De Vie is especially good. Serge Locat plays quite a bit of synth this time round, and drums are used across much of the album, giving it an entirely different feel to its predecessors. Doubtless due to the orchestra, Locat's Mellotron use is rather lesser this time round, although some 'Strawberry Fields'-style flutes can be heard on Comme Un Fou, with the real thing playing over the top. The first part of Chanson Noire and Le Corridor have some background strings, while Comme Un Sage features just a few seconds of choir, quite distinct from the massed voices of the musicians.
En Tournée is basically a slightly cut-down version of L'Heptade, played live, sans the original orchestral accompaniment, meaning that a healthy proportion of the orchestral parts are covered by Locat's Mellotron. Comme Un Fou features strings and choir, with most the album's choir parts being backup for a few real voices. Actually, much of the album's 'Tron work is fairly low-key, although there's a nice upfront string part in L'Exil and some full-on choirs in the last part of Lumières De Vie. I'm torn between a TT½ or TTT rating for this, to be honest; there's Mellotron on practically every track, but mostly in a supporting role to the rest of the band, denying it a full 'Mellotron Album' tag. Saying that, it's a great album - well, it's effectively the same record as L'Heptade, albeit with an extra added live feel. I leave it up to you which version of the album to buy.
So; if folk-influenced symphonic prog sounds like your thing, you really can't go too far wrong with Harmonium. All these LPs may end up with higher * ratings after I've had time to become fully conversant with them; like so many excellent albums, I'm sure they'll grow on me as time goes by. As far as their Mellotron content's concerned, Le Cinq Saisons is a bit of a must, although L'Heptade doesn't really cut the mustard, although it's probably the better of the two albums by a narrow margin. Go for the live version instead.
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Diamonds on the Inside (2003, 61.21) ***½/T |
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| With My Own Two Hands When it's Good Diamonds on the Inside Touch From Your Lust When She Believes Brown Eyed Blues Bring the Funk Everything |
Amen Omen Temporary Remedy So High So Low Blessed to Be a Witness Picture of Jesus She's Only Happy in the Sun |
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Unfortunately, I keep mixing Ben Harper up with Roy Harper's son, Nick, but there's no real comparison whatsoever, other than their use of acoustic guitar; maybe reviewing this album will separate the two out in my brain. Ben's been around since the early '90s, sometimes recording with his on/off backing band, the Innocent Criminals, operating in the, er, 'acoustic rock' area, I suppose, mixing folk, soul and gospel with rock and funk on his more uptempo tracks. Not my thang, it must be said, but he seems to do it perfectly well, and at least it's well thought out, without that commercial sheen that makes so many current artists almost unlistenable to my ears.
His fifth studio album, Diamonds on the Inside apparently has more funk influences than Harper's previous albums, but they're not that overt, leaving most of the album in the acoustic zone. I find that he writes great intros that morph into average songs, but that's probably only the way I hear them. The Mellotron's played by Greg Kurstin, but it has to be said, we're not looking at the heaviest use ever, with a brief flute part at the beginning of So High So Low and a longer part on closer She's Only Happy In The Sun.
So; very good at what it does, as long as that's what you're into. Beats the crap out of most current rubbish, anyway, and Harper can both play and sing. Not much 'Tron, mind, but at least he used it.
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Wonderwall Music (1968, 45.44) ****/TT |
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| Microbes Red Lady Too Tabla and Pakavaj In the Park Drilling a Home Guru Vandana Greasy Legs Ski-ing |
Gat Kirwani Dream Scene Party Seacombe Love Scene Crying Cowboy Music Fantasy Sequins On the Bed |
Glass Box Wonderwall to Be Here Singing Om |
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George's first solo album is the soundtrack (or a part thereof) to 'Wonderwall', apparently a rather run-of-the-mill psychedelic-era film (I've never seen it) about a guy who brightens his life up a little by drilling a hole through to his hippy neighbours to spy on their lifestyle, falling in love with Jane Birkin in the process (understandable). Slight? Undoubtedly, but George's soundtrack music's really rather good, mixing pieces of Indian music (Microbes, Tabla And Pakavaj, Glass Box etc.) with more typically late-'60s fare, with generous helpings of barroom piano, with the occasional bit of Mellotron thrown in, too. As with most soundtracks, don't expect a cohesive effort here; Dream Scene and Cowboy Music are much as you'd expect, while the frankly bizarre Crying features two violins wailing up and down the scale in an onomatopoeic manner.
Wonderwall Music is actually notable (at least on this site) for being George's only use of (presumably) his own Mark II; at least, I don't know of any other 'Tron use throughout his lengthy solo career, although this album is hardly loaded with it. Red Lady Too has flute chords doubled with 'Tron vibes behind the almost honky-tonk piano, while Drilling A Home features MkII Dixieland rhythms with some interesting varispeed tape effects. Greasy Legs has more vibes, but Wonderwall To Be Here is the album's Mellotronic highlight, with some gorgeous strings giving a very Moodies-like feel to the far too short piece. The recent CD issue adds a swarm of bonus tracks, which I believe are the rest of the soundtrack, plus other odd bits, including a track recorded with George by the Remo Four, on which I hope to comment as soon as I get to hear them.
So... do you or don't you? Well, Wonderwall Music is probably best described as a 'period piece', and it's quite a pleasant listen, but don't expect to hear much (any?) of George's guitar work on it, although Eric Clapton is apparently present somewhere along the line (maybe the psych leads on Ski-ing?). As for the Mellotron, there are only two or three particularly good tracks, and only one of those is at all overt, so I'd probably have to say no for the 'Tron, not sure for the music, but yes for a small piece of music history.
See: Beatles | Paul McCartney | John Lennon | Ringo Starr
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Screamin' for My Supper (1999, 60.50/65.30) **½/T½ |
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| Just a Little Hole Delicious Surprise L.A. Song (Out of This Town) Is That Too Much to Ask By Her Get Your Shit Together Stay G.O.P. |
Skin Girls Say Sky is Falling Mama Favorite Things [bonus tracks: Take Me Away There's No Sound] |
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Leave the Light on (2003, 41.30) ***/½ |
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| Lifts You Up Leave the Light on Bottle of Jesus World Without You Lay Your Hands on Me Broken and Ugly Lifetime If God Only Knew |
Monkey Back Sky Full of Clover I'll Stay With You |
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Beth Hart is an L.A.-based singer-songwriter who, going by her performance on her second album, Screamin' for My Supper, desperately wants to be 'soulful', ending up sounding like an updated Janis Joplin (who, ironically, she has played in an off-Broadway show). There's nothing actually wrong with her voice per se, but if she stopped over-emoting for all she's worth, she'd be a lot easier on the ears. Most of the material is far too R&B-ish for my liking, although there's obviously a vast market for this stuff; not in my house, however.
In addition to the four-piece band Hart has playing with her (she plays keyboards, too), several musicians are credited on a track-by-track basis, which tells us that the ubiquitous Patrick Warren plays Chamberlin on two tracks, with various strings on Delicious Surprise and L.A. Song (Out Of This Town). However, there are three other obvious Chamby tracks, so I can only assume that her 'regular' keys man, Benmont Tench (Tom Petty's Heartbreakers) plays it, as he's done for so many other artists, not least Johnny Cash and Aimee Mann, with strings on Just A Little Hole and the album's hidden track, There's No Sound, and a short flute part on Skin.
Hart's follow-up, 2003's Leave the Light on, has been available in many different versions in different 'territories', or 'countries', as the rest of us know them. The 'standard international version', released in late '03, several months after the New Zealand version, for some reason, is a rather mixed bag, although it has its moments, not least Bottle Of Jesus and Lay Your Hands On Me, although the programmed loops are rather irritating, and other tracks merely grate, particularly closer I'll Stay With You. Morten Buchholtz is credited with Mellotron, but the only place it even might be hanging out is a faint string part on World Without You, but you've got to listen pretty closely. I've heard several of the tracks that appeared on the other versions, and there's nothing obvious on any of them, for what it's worth.
As far as Screamin' for My Supper goes, I've probably been a little harsh, but that kind of voice just makes my hackles rise, and the musical content doesn't help. Five Chamby tracks, none of them exactly essential, so I'd go elsewhere if I were you. The aforementioned Aimee Mann might be a good place to start. Leave the Light on is marginally better, but ultimately drags, especially if you hear one of the longer versions.
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Jade (1998, 48.28) **/½ |
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| Let it Fly Without You You & I Break the Chain Là-Bas So Visible (Easy to Miss) Jade Reconcile |
Above the Trees Bittersweet Believing Everytime You Smile |
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Montreal native Corey Hart seems to've been around for ever, producing pop for adults, AOR-lite (!), singer-songwriter stuff for those who don't want to hear anything unsettling... Suffice to say, his eighth album, Jade, is a soporific collection which only picks up even vaguely towards the end, with a couple of slightly less irritating faster tracks, though they do little to liven things up, to be honest.
One Mellotron track, with near-inaudible strings on Break The Chain from Michel Corriveau, with what sounds like a few volume-pedalled chords a little way in, but like so many of these utterly average records I review, the 'Tron input is minimal; I'd imagine it's rather too full-on for this type of album, which begs the question: why bother at all? So you can put 'Mellotron' on your instrumental credits? Pour quois? So; avoid on all fronts. Pointless.
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Is This Desire? (1998, 40.37) ***½/T |
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| Angeline The Sky Lit Up The Wind My Beautiful Leah A Perfect Day Elise Catherine Electric Light The Garden |
Joy The River No Girl So Sweet Is This Desire? |
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White Chalk (2007, 34.53) ***½/T |
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| The Devil Dear Darkness Grow Grow Grow When Under Ether White Chalk Broken Harp Silence To Talk to You |
The Piano Before Departure The Mountain |
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As is well documented, Polly Jean Harvey is a modern-day enigma, constantly changing her sound and image, always a step ahead of the pack. Sound like someone else we know? Kate Bush also falls into this category to an extent, but to her credit, Harvey sounds nothing like her, vocally or musically, unlike several other female singers I can think of. She apparently becomes irritated when critics assume that her work is autobiographical. Fair point; does anyone accuse Dylan of always writing about his own life? Actually, they probably do, which says more about them than him, I think.
1998's Is This Desire?, like the rest of her output, is effectively a singer-songwriter album, albeit heavily stylised, with the core of the album being Polly's actual songs, which are pretty good if you ignore some of the now-dated arrangements. Despite the real strings on several tracks, I'm pretty sure it's Mellotron on the heavily electronic My Beautiful Leah, with strings from either late-period Captain Beefheart collaborator Eric Drew Feldman or John Parish, sounding distinctly different to the real ones.
Almost a decade on, 2007's White Chalk is, overall, a more acoustic album, with Polly playing piano on several tracks, though the overall weirdness level is still fairly high. So what would you rather hear? R&fuckin'B? Lyrically, it's as uncompromising as ever, with a particularly rude verse on When Under Ether. Definitely Feldman on 'Tron this time round, with flutes on Silence, though I suspect the various string sounds to be heard on the album are either real or synth.
So; an eclectic artist who's used a Mellotron twice, briefly. You don't really need to hear these albums for their Mellotronic input, but Harvey's a fascinating artist in her own right and I can imagine her music repays however much effort is put into getting to know it.
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Tokyo Sonata [OST] (2008, 46.20) ****/TTTT |
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| Main Theme A Shisso Kokkyo Unten [take 1] Unten [take 2] Nami Main Theme B Clair de Lune |
Asa Ryuhei no Mezame Kaigyaku Ansoku Ryushi Daini no Ansoku Tori no Yume Toku ni Mieru Hikari |
Okina Juryoku Suimin Yasashii Koe Ending Echo, Echo Clair de Lune |
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Kazumasa Hashimoto's Tokyo Sonata is his soundtrack to the 2008 film of the same name, a modern tale of how 'normality' and harmony can be destroyed by circumstance. The soundtrack is a truly beautiful piece of work, performed on woodwind, piano and Mellotron; heartbreakingly transparent, this is not the soundtrack to your typical Hollywood all-action blockbuster. Aside from Debussy's Clair De Lune (the last track is Hashimoto's own arrangement, only found on this album), all the material is original, so no selection of current indie faves and past 'classics' to distract us here. This isn't the kind of album that has 'highlights' per se; it's designed to be listened to in its entirety, and at a mere 46 minutes, surely that isn't asking too much of the listener?
Hashimoto plays what appear to be real Mellotron flutes on a large chunk of the album. Certain notes sound the same (wobbly, dull, even flat) every time they're played, which could indicate first-generation samples, but then, chances are they would using the real thing, if it was badly adjusted. Anyway, it's the main sound used on all the highlighted tracks above (plus cellos on Okina Juryoku and Ending), highlights including the Main Theme, Unten [Take 2] and Okina Juryoku. Listen, this is one of the best 'Mellotron albums' I've heard in a while; do yourself a favour and get to hear it. Great composition and shedloads of 'Tron work; what's not to like?
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The Dawn of Ananda (2000, 49.12) ***/T½ |
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| Precious One Ananda Twig Summon the Angels 'Michael' Prince of Angels Lily Lullaby This is Destiny A Thousand Angels |
Running River Runs Angel Blue |
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Annie Haslam is, of course, best-known for her long-term membership of Renaissance, where her pure soprano and the band's orchestral approach aided them in standing out from the 'second rung down' progressive pack. The Dawn of Ananda was her fifth solo album, and is probably comparable to the most laid-back end of Renaissance's work, although it borders both MOR and New Age, too; this is not an album for your Inner Punk. Annie's voice is as beautiful as ever here, although the orchestrations are synth-derived these days; there are at least five keyboard players credited on the record, depending on whether the legendary Tony Visconti's 'multi-instruments' credit includes keys.
One of the five 'definites' is Larry Fast, a.k.a. Synergy, always more of a synthesist than a 'keyboard' player per se. It's rumoured that he played Mellotron on the album, and indeed, those distinctive choirs and strings appear on the last two tracks, Running River Runs and Angel Blue, although it's impossible to tell whether or not Fast's M400 is involved; I believe it's been renovated in recent years, although not until after this album's release. So; could be samples, could be real. These things have a way of being verified one way or the other, so I may be coming back to this at some point. In the meantime, if you're looking for something at the very laid-back end of the progressive spectrum, you may just have found it, although I really wouldn't bother for the Mellotron work.
See: Renaissance
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Hater (1993, 31.06) **½/T |
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| Mona Bone Jakon Who Do I Kill? Tot Finder Lion and Lamb Roadside Down Undershoe Circles Putrid |
Blistered Sad McBain |
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Hater were a Soundgarden side-project, formed by bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron, along with Monster Magnet guitarist John McBain, all three going on to play in the rather better Wellwater Conspiracy. Hater's unformed riffs give the Seattle game away; my chief problem with the whole 'grunge' explosion is that, for something supposedly in the hard rock area, decent riffs are at a premium, although I suppose its thrashy post-punk chord sequences define it. Doesn't make me like it any more, though... Despite the album's brevity, it still manages to outstay its welcome, sounding exactly like what it is: a side-project made by the rhythm section of a better-known band. Sorry, but this is pretty unexciting stuff, badly sung and only competently played, and what the hell's with the country-punk Blistered?
Glenn Slater plays Mellotron on one track, with a rather badly played string part on Lion And Lamb, which really isn't going to put this at the top of your 'Mellotron wants list', or probably even on it all, to be honest. Think: bassist and drummer record side-project. Mind you, the Wellwater Conspiracy are great; maybe they'd got their heads round the whole business by then. Oh, and for anyone else who's spotted the title, opener Mona Bone Jakon is the Cat Stevens track, apparently with Shepherd's additional lyrics.
See: Soundgarden | Monster Magnet | Wellwater Conspiracy
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Only Everything (1995, 51.23) **½/T |
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| What a Life Fleur de Lys Universal Heart-Beat Dumb Fun Live on Tomorrow Dying Proof Bottles and Flowers Outsider |
OK OK Congratulations Hang Down From Heaven My Darling Simplicity is Beautiful You Blues |
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Juliana Hatfield (ex-Blake Babies) has attracted quite a bit of stick during her career for coming from a fairly well-off family. Well, kiss my arse; so what? If I tried to compile a list of 'rock stars from comfortable homes', I'd be here all year, and it's only February. Going by her second solo album proper, 1995's Only Everything, I would criticise her for her bland, mainstream 'alternative' rock (alternative to what, precisely?), but that's another matter. Maybe if the album had been trimmed down to 30-something minutes it might be better, but 50 minutes of her sub-Pixies/Nirvana style gets a bit much after a while. That isn't to say that the whole album's a dullsville waste of time; Congratulations features an interesting high-up-the-neck riff (a Hatfield trademark, apparently), while Hang Down From Heaven's acoustic verses break the pattern nicely, but there are too many also-rans here, doing the album no favours at all.
Hatfield herself plays Mellotron on My Darling, with a nice enough flute part that almost certainly comes from a real 'Tron, and not a very well maintained one, by the sound of it. That's your lot, though, and it's a lot of substandard post-grunge to listen to for one barely passable track.
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Hatfield & the North (1973, 46.20/54.11) ***½/T |
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| The Stubbs Effect Big Jobs (Poo Poo Extract) Going Up to People and Tinkling Calyx Son of 'There's No Place Like Homerton' Aigrette Rifferama Fol de Rol Shaving is Boring |
Licks for the Ladies Bossa Nochance Big Jobs No.2 (By Poo and the Wee Wees) Lobster in Cleavage Probe Gigantic Land Crabs in Earth Takeover Bid The Other Stubbs Effect [CD adds: Let's Eat (Real Soon) Fitter Stoke Has a Bath] |
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The Rotters Club (1975, 50.19/63.26) ***½/½ |
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| Share it Lounging There Trying (Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw Chaos at the Greasy Spoon The Yes No Interlude Fitter Stoke Has a Bath Didn't Matter Anyway |
Underdub Mumps Your Majesty is Like a Cream Donut (quiet) Lumps Prenut Your Majesty is Like a Cream Donut (loud) [CD adds: (Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw |
Chaos at the Greasy Spoon Halfway Between Heaven and Earth Oh, Len's Nature! Lything and Gracing] |
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Hatfield and the North (named after a road sign on the A1 on the way out of London - still there, last I saw) were part of the rather nebulous 'Canterbury' scene, progressive rock characterised by a jazzy bent, not to mention somewhat substance-inspired song titles. The Hatfields are a particularly bad example of this, obviously finding something howlingly funny about the titles you see above, although the music suggests nothing of the sort. In fact, the Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut bit is borrowed directly from Monty Python, so if I was feeling generous I could write the whole thing off to boyish enthusiasm. Or something. However, it's impossible to slag the band's musical dexterity; fuck, could they play! If you're impressed by obscenely outrageous displays of musicianship (and I know some of you are - and where you live), you'll be blown away by these albums.
Hatfield and the North is at its best when the singing stops, so it's a good job it's largely instrumental. The tracks run into each other to the point where you have to watch the CD display to know when you're on the next one, making me suspect that the track divisions are pretty arbitrary, and mainly there to give the band free rein on their penchant for idiotic titles. Dave Stewart (good Dave Stewart, of Egg, Arzachel etc., as against evil Dave Stewart of the bloody Eurythmics) plays his heart out here, with the sort of instrumental callisthenics that could get him a job as trick keyboardist at the circus; really quite spectacular, with considerable melodic invention. Pity it's all rather dodgy jazz-rock, really, as the band had talent to spare, but obviously considered this was a good area in which to utilise it. Anyway, aside from the usual piano, organ and synths stuff, Stewart plays some typically abstruse Mellotron strings on the rocking Shaving Is Boring, just before it lurches into the 'Caravan section', with that irritating organ sound favoured by bands from Canterbury. Maybe it was something you could only buy there. Let's hope so. The CD bonus tracks are from a single released later in '74, by the way. Yes, they released a single.
The Rotters Club shifts further into 'irritating jazz territory', with too many vocal sections for comfort, though the instrumental sections are still ridiculously dextrous, as you'd expect. The only 'Tron this time round is a few chords at the beginning of Didn't Matter Anyway, with literally a handful of string chords that fade in, then out again. I can't give an album less than half a 'T', but this barely deserves even that; I'm not sure I've heard another album containing so little Mellotron, without (of course), containing none. Why bother? Incidentally, due to the restrictions of my HTML table formatting, Mumps is actually the whole of side two, although its four parts are listed in the second column above, and the bonus tracks are from a posthumous album, Afters.
Anyway, if ferociously-played jazz-rock's your bag, you'll love the Hatfields. Conversely, if it's not... There are a few good tunes (remember them?) here and there on these albums, but they tend to be a bit few and far between. There's so little Mellotron, particularly on The Rotters Club, that they were barely even worth reviewing, to be honest. One (or two) for musos everywhere.
See: Egg
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Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974, 40.56/58.38) ****/TTT½ |
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| Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke) Wind of Change D-Rider Web Weaver You'd Better Believe it (live) Hall of the Mountain Grill Lost Johnny |
Goat Willow Paradox (live) [CD adds: You'd Better Believe it (single version edit) Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke) (single version) Paradox (remix single edit) It's So Easy] |
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Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975, 44.49/47.51) *****/TTT½ |
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| Assault & Battery Part I The Golden Void Part II The Wizard Blew His Horn Opa-Loka The Demented Man Magnu Standing at the Edge Spiral Galaxy 28948 |
Warriors Dying Seas Kings of Speed [CD adds: Motorhead] |
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The '1999' Party: Live at the Chicago Auditorium, March 21 1974 (1997, 97.53) ****½/TTT½ |
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| Intro/Standing on the Edge Brainbox Pollution It's So Easy You Know You're Only Dreaming Veterans of a Thousand Psychic Wars Brainstorm Seven By Seven The Watcher |
The Awakening Paradox You'd Better Believe it The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke) D-Rider Sonic Attack Master of the Universe Welcome to the Future |
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Thrilling Adventures: Live 1976 (1999, 53.06) **½/½BrainstormWind of Change Steppenwolf Uncle Sam's on Mars Time for Sale Back on the Streets Sonic Attack |
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Space-rock veterans Hawkwind have rarely, if ever kept the same lineup for two albums running, so finding themselves without the services of poet-in-residence Bob Calvert for the recording of their fourth studio outing, Hall of the Mountain Grill, they moved slightly (but only slightly) away from their roots, recording their most overtly 'progressive' album yet. It was the first to feature violinist/keyboard player Simon House, who slapped Mellotron all over the album, giving the band an occasional symphonic edge, without destroying the freeform element of their sound.
Unfortunately, the Mellotron is recorded fairly badly; in fact, the production overall is pretty ropey, but that's what happens when you spend the entire recording process stoned out of your mind, I suppose. House comes straight in on funkyish opener Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke) (I expect they do...), with a string part running through most of the song. More of the same on instrumental Wind Of Change, while D-Rider has what may be 'Tron choir, but it may just be actual voices. Hard to tell. The title track is another instrumental piece with loads of 'Tron layered over the piano (!) part. I told you this isn't a typical Hawkwind album... A live Paradox closes the album with more 'Tron strings, giving you a taste of the rarely heard 'Mellotron jam' style; it has to be said, there's a reason you don't usually jam with one, but House makes a good go of it anyway... Incidentally, the EMI CD adds several tracks, most of which are 'single versions', but there's also a b-side, It's So Easy, including more of that strange 'Tron choir.
The following year, Hawkwind produced what some fans consider to be their piéce de resistance, Warrior on the Edge of Time. It's a very different album to, say, their stunning live extravaganza Space Ritual (*****), but works brilliantly as a straight space/prog crossover. Opening with Lemmy's bass under House's 'Tron strings, Assault And Battery is one of the band's all-time classics, driving along superbly before shifting into The Golden Void, with more 'Tron and one of the most piercing MiniMoog notes you're ever likely to hear (and no, it's NOT House's violin!). Opa-Loka isn't really a song, as such; more a rhythm track with some 'Tron strings layered over top, with a few other bits thrown in. In direct contrast, The Demented Man is a rarity for Hawkwind, an acoustic ballad (complete with seagull sound effects), with much 'Tron strings and choir. Side two of the album is strangely 'Tron-free, but just as good, apart from final track Kings Of Speed, which really doesn't fit the album's feel at all; it was released as a single, backed by Lemmy's Motorhead, included on the CD. Stop the disc after Dying Seas and you'll have a more 'complete' album, to be honest. Although House stayed in the band for another couple of albums, he obviously disposed of his Mellotron after Warrior, switching to various synths, along with his trusty violin.
Since the mid-'80s, Hawkwind have fallen prey to the reissue merchants, with literally dozens of compilations, dodgy live recordings and straight reissues of their early albums on a bewildering variety of labels, with, no doubt, little if any of the profits making their way back to the band. Some of these are awful recordings (the cheekily-named Space Ritual Vol.2 (***) springs to mind), while some are just plain awful (The Text of Festival (**½)), so Hawkwind collecting has become an absolute minefield for the newbie. Two or three of the dodgier efforts could put you off them for life, but anyone who picked up The '1999' Party should have no such problem; a good, professional recording from their 1974 'Mountain Grill' tour of the States, it sounds great and is superbly packaged. Simon House's Mellotron is used on six tracks, three of which are the same as their Mountain Grill antecedents, leaving three older songs with Special Extra Added Mellotron for flavour; all are improved by the 'Tron strings, especially the excellent You Know You're Only Dreaming. Incidentally, the album is notable for an early appearance of Mike Moorcock's poem Veterans Of A Thousand Psychic Wars, later to be set to (excellent) music by his other chief musical collaborators, the Blue Öyster Cult.
While we wait in vain for a decent 'Warrior' tour recording, any number of other tours become documented, in highly variable qualities. Thrilling Adventures: Live 1976 (also known as Thrilling Hawkwind Adventures) is a murky, bootleg-quality recording, from Bristol Colston Hall, September '76 on their Astounding Sounds tour. Bob Calvert was back in the band for a spell, and is one of the best things about the album, along with its cool, retro-futurist '50s comic-style sleeve art. Basically, this is a bit of a mess; a so-so set list (presumably incomplete), averagely played and poorly recorded. There are several incredible Hawkwind live albums; this is not one of them. As far as Simon House's Mellotron goes (surely on its last outing?), all I can hear is some murky, background strings on Time For Sale (where is this track from?); the strings on about the best thing here, Wind Of Change, sound like string synth.
So; all these albums except Thrilling Adventures are well worth your dosh, but if you're not sure where to start, go for Warrior first. In fact, that and Space Ritual should be your Hawkwind starting points, but for 'Tron action, go for any of Mountain Grill, Warrior or '1999' Party. So, when are we going to get a decent '75 live recording, eh?
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Lowedges (2003, 40.53) ***/½ |
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| Run for Me Darlin' Oh My Love The Only Road On the Ledge You Don't Miss Your Water (Till Your River Runs Dry) The Motorcycle Song |
It's Over Love I'm on Nights Danny The Nights Are Made for Us |
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Sheffield native Richard Hawley played in the last incarnation of Pulp, being encouraged by that band's Steve Mackey and Jarvis Cocker to record his own, pre-psych '60s-influenced songs. Lowedges (named, as are most of his albums, after an area in his hometown) is his second full-lengther, and it has to be said, if you're going to get anything out of this, you'd better be prepared to chuck anything later than, say, 1966 out of the window and get yourself ready for a burst of Sheffield noir. Think: rain, neon, cigarettes, horn-rimmed spectacles (not glasses), more rain, two channels on your black-and-white telly and Dusty Springfield on the radio. Appeal? Not here, it doesn't, but I've never understood this particular brand of nostalgia; however, Richard Hawley does, as do his increasing legion of fans, assuming you can call such a well-mannered bunch a 'legion'.
Colin Elliot is credited with Mellotron (he also plays it on Hawley co-production A Girl Called Eddy's self-titled album), but all I can hear is distant strings and flutes on opener Run For Me, either of which could be produced by almost anything, really. OK, not a Clavinet. Anyway, if you're into this kind of retro, you may well like Mr. Hawley, but don't come here looking for some kind of Mellotronic experience.
See: Pulp | Jarvis Cocker
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The Rub (2001, 31.30) ***/TT |
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| Start a Little Late Slip is Showing The Land of Nod Alone Wood and Glue Albatross Red Lines Guitar Lesson |
Sign of Your Love Pistol and Glasses Lovely to See |
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Annie Hayden (ex-Spent) is an American singer-songwriter who has to be applauded for refusing to succumb to the temptation to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Her solo debut, 2001's The Rub, combines acoustic and electric elements on tracks such as Slip Is Showing and Sign Of Your Love, with the surprise addition of several instrumentals, not least the lovely Guitar Lesson and her sympathetic, keyboard-led version of (early) Fleetwood Mac's Albatross.
Hayden and John King share Mellotron duties, with string parts on the brief The Land Of Nod and Wood And Glue and flutes on Albatross, although the chord part on Slip Is Showing (sometimes credited as Mellotron) is nothing of the sort, sounding more like an early polysynth. So; a better than average album of its kind, although expecting anything too exciting will lead to disappointment, while nice Mellotron work on three tracks makes it work checking out if you see a copy cheap.
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Blue Jays (1975, 47.00/50.40) **/½ |
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| This Morning Remember Me (My Friend) My Brother You Nights Winters Years Saved By the Music I Dreamed Last Night Who Are You Now |
Maybe When You Wake Up [CD adds: Blue Guitar] |
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Songwriter (1977, 42.27/54.29) *½/0 (½) |
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| Tightrope Songwriter (Part 1) Songwriter (Part 2) Country Girl One Lonely Room Lay it on Me Stage Door Raised on Love |
Doin' Time Nostradamus [CD adds: Wrong Time, Right Place Marie Heart of Steel Learning the Game] |
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7" (1979) *½/½Marie Heart of Steel |
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It's debatable whether or not The Moody Blues actually split up after the end of the original band's final tour in early '74; their most recent album (1972's Seventh Sojourn) was by then two years old, while their attempts to record its follow-up in '73 came to nothing. All five members recorded solo records, Justin Hayward and Mike Pinder initially working together, until Pinder dropped out, to be replaced by bassist John Lodge for 1975's Blue Jays, although Lodge doesn't actually play on the (originally non-album) hit Blue Guitar, Hayward being backed by 10cc. The album is, frankly, the most insipid piece of soft-rock schlock it's been my displeasure to hear for a while, making the Moodies sound like The Stooges. Well, nearly. Someone (Hayward?) plays a very background Mellotron string part on Who Are You Now, as against the real strings used across the rest of the album, although I'd be lying if I said it added anything to the record.
The same goes for Hayward's Songwriter ('77), a horrendously insipid effort about as out of tune with the times as you can imagine, although the thought of fluffy Justin attempting anything even remotely aggressive is liable to induce uncontrolled smirking. His 1979 single, Marie, however, appears to have some background M400 choirs about halfway through (from Ken Freeman?), although it's a bit 'blink and you'll miss 'em'. If you're a diehard Moodies fan and have to have everything, both sides of the 45 are on the 2004 version of Songwriter, but I really cannot recommend either of these in any way, I'm afraid.
See: The Moody Blues
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Flat as a Pancake (1974/75, 39.24) ***/TTNever Been Any ReasonOne Against the Other Love Me Tonight City of Gold Fly By Night Lady Jefftown Creek Lovin' Me Along Ticket Back to Georgia Brother Jacob |
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Gettin' Lucky (1977, 41.06) **½/T |
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| Gettin' Lucky Back in My Own Hands Show Me I'm Alive Take it on Home Dancer Road Don't Let Me Sleep in the Morning Sands of Time Call to Arms and Legs |
Time Has a Way Every Little Bit of My Heart |
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I don't know where Head East hailed from, specifically [note: St. Louis, Missouri, apparently], but they've got that Midwestern sound about them, a sort of hard-ish rock without really breaking sweat; think early REO Speedwagon, before the (full-on) AOR. Effectively r'n'b-based stuff, with plenty of boogie piano, rock'n'roll guitar and slightly ropey vocal harmonies, they were probably a decent enough draw on the mid-'70s concert circuit, supporting Ted Nugent and his ilk without ever risking being a serious danger to the headliners.
Originally released on their own label in 1974 before being picked up by A&M, Flat as a Pancake is typical of the genre, being perfectly competent, but desperately unexciting, and about as vital as being beaten over the head with a wet sponge. It starts well enough, with some nice synth work from Roger Boyd on Never Been Any Reason, but quickly slips into mid-tempoville, from where it rarely emerges. Boyd's keyboard work is one of the best things about the album, actually, with some nice Hammond (listen to the intro to probably the album's best song, Jefftown Creek), and synth on several other tracks. Not to mention, of course, a bit of Mellotron, most unusually for a band of this type, with the chief use being the strings on City Of Gold and Ticket Back To Georgia, both, unsurprisingly, ballads. I don't know what tapes Boyd had in his machine, but there's some brass on One Against The Other, and with no brass section credited, I suspect that's 'Tron, too. There may just possibly be a couple of other bits of 'Tron buried way down in the mix, but they're just as likely to be high-end Hammond deceiving the ear; hard to say. Anyway, not bad, not really that good, two decent-ish Mellotron tracks. That's it.
I expected there to be some 'Tron on 1976's Get Yourself Up, but with Greg Oakley credited with 'string arrangements', the two tracks with strings sound like the real thing. '77's Gettin' Lucky gets back to the (credited) 'Tron, although the strings on Show Me I'm Alive are real. The album is, to be brutally honest, stupendously average, with the only highlight of any kind being Sands Of Time, which sounds vaguely like Styx, or maybe Kansas, but everything else is either turgid Midwest boogie or a drippy ballad; the term 'filler' could've been invented to describe Call To Arms And Legs. Boyd digs out the 'Tron for one track, the wishy-washy Time Has A Way, but it's no match for even the fairly ordinary use on Flat as a Pancake. For those of you who saw my previous "I won't pay more than a quid or two if I find a copy" note, by the way, I did, in fact, pay exactly a pound for a copy of this in a charity shop. So; I couldn't in all conscience really recommend either of these albums for either music or Mellotron, although if you're into that mid-'70s American thing you might just like them.
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Heads in the Sky (1981, 35.32) ***/T½ |
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| Heads in the Sky Survive Three Isle, My Land Atomic Energy Sweet Heavy Water Meltdown Requiem On My Way to Freedom Atlantis Lies |
Golden Morning Heads in Rio |
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Heads in the Sky were a little-known late-period prog outfit from Canada, whose sole, eponymous album was only released in their home country, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan, for some obscure reason. To be perfectly honest, it's not that great a record, being mostly rather insipid neo-ish prog, although that style was yet to appear in its full-blown form. There's a slight electro-pop influence in places, too, mainly due to Russ Walker and Chris McKim's synth use, including something that has to be an Oberheim. Unlike so many of their contemporaries, the band obviously had something to say, with both Three Isle, My Land (work it out) and Atomic Energy Sweet tackling the nuclear debate, though in a strangely laid-back kind of way. Walker sings on a few tracks, but overall, the album feels more instrumental than vocal, which is probably a good thing.
Walker and McKim stick some Mellotron on the album, although it's hardly the heaviest use you'll ever hear. There are distant choirs on Survive, occasional upfront string swells on Three Isle, My Land and the relatively lengthy On My Way To Freedom (plus a brief flute part on the latter), while a few seconds of strings on closer Heads In Rio finish a rather unsatisfying album with very little Mellotron use, considering on how many tracks it's used. This is one of those so-so records that gets prog fans excited due to its obscurity, then almost inevitably disappoints when it's actually tracked down. I've heard far worse, but there's practically nothing here that stands out from the pack, with its late-period 'Tron use being its only even minor talking point. Pick it up if you see it cheap, but don't go out of your way.
