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Ratings:
The * rating (½-5) is my personal, entirely subjective and completely partisan rating of the music.
There is, of course, no 'Tron rating.
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Quad RPWL |
Ramp Redwalls |
ReGenesis Retroheads |
Paul Roland David Lee Roth |
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Quad II (1997, 39.57) ***Inner GrooveOuter Groove |
Current availability:
Information about British psych outfit Quad is amazingly difficult to find, not helped by their name, clearly an homage to the great UK valve amp manufacturer, whose most famous product is called the Quad II, title of... Quad II is a strange, drifting album, sounding like more drugs than you can possibly imagine were consumed during its creation, which probably means everyone involved was straight as a die. Its two, side-long tracks (it only appears to've been available on vinyl, even as late as 1997) meander through pastures of acoustic guitar, ambient percussion (yes, really), sitar and Mellotronalike flutes, with the occasional flurry of screaming lead guitar to haul you out of your torpor.
Both tracks feature 'Tron flute lines running throughout their length, though played rather too fast in places to be authentic, which will, of course, lead to an angry e-mail from the unknown musician concerned, assuring me it was real. I mean, it could be, not least those key-clicks, but... This is staying here until/if I should find out otherwise. Quad II isn't at all bad at what it does, but its determined lack of focus becomes slightly draining after the first side, unless, of course, you've medicated yourself appropriately before listening.
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Trying to Kiss the Sun (2002, 59.38) ***½ |
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| Trying to Kiss the Sun Waiting for a Smile I Don't Know (What it's Like) Sugar for the Ape Side By Side You Tell Me Why Believe Me |
Sunday Morning Home Again |
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Stock (2003, 43.46) *** |
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| Opel The Way it is Perceptual Response Forgive Me - Part 1 Gentle Art of Swimming Who Do You Think You Are Going Outside Sun in the Sky |
Forgive Me - Part 2 Forgive Me - Part 3 |
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World Through My Eyes (2005, 70.28) **½ |
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| Sleep Start the Fire Everything Was Not Enough Roses Three Lights Sea-Nature Day on My Pillow World Through My Eyes |
Wasted Land Bound to Reach the End |
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Current availability:
RPWL (named for the four original members' initials) started as a Pink Floyd tribute, releasing their first album, God Has Failed, in 2000. By the time they released Trying to Kiss the Sun, two years later, their name was already irrelevant, but they've obviously stuck with it for simplicity's sake. There's a distinct Floyd influence apparent on several tracks, although plenty of other things also get thrown into the mix, not least a touch of Genesis, with a heavier edge in places (Sugar For The Ape). Best track? Probably the all-out symphonics of You, where their influences coalesce in a fairly pleasing manner.
I'm deeply suspicious of Yogi Lang's supposed 'Mellotron', although I'd like to be proved wrong (the sampled piano is dreadful, sounding about as plasticky as it could). 'Strawberry Fields' flutes on the opening title track, with strings to the fore on Waiting For A Smile and Sugar For The Ape, although the choirs don't have that 'Tron ring about them. Saying that, the choirs on You do sound like 'Tron, and the string swells on Home Again are extremely authentic, but I'm still pretty certain they're samples.
The following year's Stock seems to be influenced more by late-'60s Floyd than its predecessor, and has fewer changes in tempo, electing to do that mid-paced thing throughout much of its length, although it turns out that it's a 'odds'n'sods' album, and shouldn't really be treated as a new release as such. I actually find it a little less interesting than Trying to Kiss the Sun, although anyone who attempts psychedelia in any form in the 21st century should really be given a listen. Don't get me wrong; it's perfectly listenable, just not stupendously interesting, despite its noticeably shorter length. What is certain is that there's far less 'Mellotron', with the only obvious use being more of those 'Strawberry Fields' flutes again on the almost-jaunty Who Do You Think You Are.
2005's World Through My Eyes is similar to Trying to Kiss the Sun, but without any of the qualities that made that a fairly decent album. Overlong and boring, it rarely picks up above its sluggish, Floydian pace, but without being a fraction as good as the Floyd. There aren't any highlights, really, although there are an awful lot worse albums about; it's all just so... uninspired. Plenty of 'Mellotron', which still doesn't convince me it's been anywhere near 35 strips of tape. Choirs on opener Sleep, strings on Start The Fire, more of those 'Strawberry Fields' flutes on Everything Was Not Enough, with strings on Three Lights and Wasted Land to finish off, though rarely doing anything exciting. Hmmm. Maybe spend your hard-earned on something else?
So; if you're going to buy one of these, make it Trying to Kiss the Sun, which is better than its successors both musically and 'Mellotronically', but none of them are exactly classics, to be honest.
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Nodular (1998, 73.11) ***IntripAnnular Nodular Angular Before the Storm Phasenverzerrung |
Current availability:
Stephen Parsick's Ramp (or ['ramp])'s EM is very much of the Berlin School, although they also display a talent for the kind of gently shifting electronics in fashion in some circles more recently, at least on their debut, 1998's Nodular. Like so many similar, the band make the mistake of thinking that because they can put over seventy minutes of music on a CD, they should, although the disc wears out its welcome after about the first four tracks, at least for someone not highly attuned to the genre.
In fairness, no-one's credited with Mellotron, so while the heavily-reverbed choirs on Intrip, Angular and Phasenverzerrung clearly originated from a Mellotron at some point, I rather doubt it was in the studio, being more likely to be when the samples were created. Klaus "Cosmic" Hoffmann(-Hoock) was involved on the production side, so he may have had something to do with them, but it all seems rather unlikely it's real. So; a decent enough electronic release, but indistinguishable from almost everything else in the field for the uninitiated, without even the bonus of any real Mellotron work.
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De Nova (2005, 48.16) *** |
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| Robinson Crusoe Falling Down Thank You Love Her Build a Bridge Hung Up on the Way I'm Feeling On My Way It's Alright |
Front Page How the Story Goes Back Together Glory of War Rock & Roll |
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The Redwalls mix powerpop with 'rock'n'roll', whatever you take that to mean. Their second album, 2005's De Nova, is entirely unoriginal, but entertaining enough, although few of the songs seem to have the kind of staying power a band of this kind needs so badly, although opener Robinson Crusoe, Love You and the Stonesy It's Alright aren't bad.
No-one's credited with Mellotron and indeed, it sounds somewhat on the fake side, with strings on Thank You, Hung Up On The Way I'm Feeling, Front Page and Back Together that are most likely samples. Overall, then, a passable effort in the 'attempting iconic rock'n'roll' stakes, but it all falls rather short, sadly. If anyone knows any more about the Mellotron sounds used, please let me know...
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ReGenesis Live (1997, 67.47) ***½Watcher of the SkiesFirth of Fifth The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Fly on a Windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974 In the Cage Supper's Ready I Know What I Like Carpet Crawlers |
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Here it Comes Again... (1998, 67.54) ****Back in N.Y.C.The Musical Box The Return of the Giant Hogweed Dancing With the Moonlit Knight Afterglow The Cinema Show Los Endos The Knife |
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Lamb for Supper - Live 2001 (2001, 64.53) ****Grand Parade of Lifeless PackagingChamber of 32 Doors The Lamia Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats The Colony of Slippermen Supper's Ready Dance on a Volcano/Drum Duet/Los Endos |
Current availability:
The first, and best of the UK Genesis tributes started life in 1994 as Geneside (ho ho), dropping the name a year later after having it consistently misspelt by promoters, and deciding it sounded 'a bit metal'. At the same time, they took on yours truly as roadie/driver/general factotum, a working relationship that lasted six years, giving me a fairly unique view into what made the band tick. And it wasn't a pretty sight...
I only missed one gig in those six years, which was, of course, the one they recorded for their first album, ReGenesis Live (never did work out the inspiration for that one), with a much sought-after video also receiving a brief release. Despite a slightly murky sound (straight to DAT from the desk), it captures the energy they put out gig after gig (150 in six years - pretty good going for a bunch of guys in full-time work...), with the strongest numbers from their set at the time. Keyboard man Doug Melbourne had just purchased a Roland M-VS1 module (identical to the 'vintage synth' expansion board for their JV1080 rack synth), and made good use of it on four of the five live tracks. To explain... tracks six and seven are two of the three tracks from their original '94 demo for getting gigs, and the 'Mellotron' parts are rather less, er, Mellotron-like.
Here it Comes Again... was a more professional affair all round, recorded onto digital 24-track, and the difference is immediately apparent. It features the best of their repertoire that didn't make it to the first album, although a couple of less obvious choices might've been nice; to my knowledge, there's no (official) live version of Can-Utility And The Coastliners available anywhere, by Genesis or otherwise (although there are probably good musical reasons why it didn't make it here), and ReGen never released their storming take on The Fountain Of Salmacis, either. Anyway, good versions all round here, with four of the eight tracks featuring Doug's M-VS1 again in its usual role, along with his rather gorgeous Prophet V for all the lead synth parts.
ReGenesis played their biggest gig yet in March 2001, to well over a thousand people at G2, the Second UK Genesis convention, unveiling their complete 'Lamb' show, which was, of course, filmed and recorded onto multitrack. Lamb for Supper - Live 2001 is an edited version of the show, although the entire thing's available on video, I believe. New-ish singer Tony Patterson does a pretty good Gabriel impersonation, and plays the flute, and in places, the band actually fool your ear into thinking it's the real thing, and you can't give a tribute band much higher praise than that, I suppose. By this point, Doug was using a combination of his Roland module and some super-high quality samples (for the choirs), with Chamber Of 32 Doors and Los Endos being 'Mellotronic' highlights. It has to be pointed out that there's some rather dodgy playing here and there; the contrast between Dance On A Volcano (new to the set) and Los Endos (been played for years) is startling, but then, when did Genesis ever play a perfect gig?
ReGen actually used my own Mellotron twice, at the same venue, the Putney Half Moon (back room of a pub, basically), once in summer '96, and again in February '01, but sadly, neither was professionally recorded, even from the desk. Doug left the band after their '01 autumn tour, and I've no idea what his successor uses on the fake 'Tron front, although unlike a tribute to another famous British prog outfit I could name, at least he uses Mellotron samples, not just generic string and flute patches...
So; should you buy these albums? Search me - despite working for the band, I never entirely saw the point of releasing albums of Genesis covers, played identically to the originals, other than as a good way of bumping up gig profits or, in some cases, making any profit at all. After the release of Genesis' own Archive box sets, there's nothing on any of these three albums that doesn't have an 'official' counterpart, which is why Can-Utility would've been such a good idea. Then again... There's a handful of other tracks that ReGen played at one point or another for which there are no official versions (The Battle Of Epping Forest and a couple of post-Gabriel songs I believe they've introduced to the set more recently), so it's up to you whether or not you reckon these albums are worth hearing. I'm told the band are still good live, playing theatre-sized venues these days and heading up for a shocking tenth anniversary in 2004. See you there?
n.b. It didn't happen. Big surprise.
See: Genesis
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Retrospective (2004, 67.02) **½EarthsongMan Judgement Day Dreams World Reveal Starry Night Urban Flight Delight Taking My Time The Fool |
Current availability:
Retroheads were formed by Tore Bø Bendixen, who, according to some spiel about the band that's plastered all over the 'Net, "Had been working several years as a commercial music- and sound-producer for radio and TV". Well, I'm afraid to say, it shows. Retrospective opens well enough, but before long, a mainstreamish neo-proggy feel kicks in, only letting up occasionally, with various other rock clichés rearing their ugly heads on a depressingly regular basis (see: the guitar arpeggios on opener Earthsong). That isn't to say that this is a bad album, just a rather generic and average one, that could've done with some heavy editing and total removal of the female backing vocals. Of course, you the listener may totally disagree, and, in fairness, there are many good moments, although none are sustained for long enough to really hold the attention.
The aforementioned spiel contains a very noticeable caveat; "They use the latest available technology and VST instruments to emulate the real thing. After all; It's not the way you create music that matters: It's the way you think". Roughly translated, this means, "We use a load of sampled sounds which don't quite cut it, rather than making the effort to sound really good". Glad that one's cleared up, then. The Mellotron samples aren't bad, as samples go, but they're far too 'smooth' to pass muster as the real thing. Strings all over the place, with a side helping of flutes, making for a decent enough (fake) 'Tron album, as long as you ignore much of the actual music.
To be perfectly honest, something about the whole concept of a band calling themselves Retroheads and releasing an album called Retrospective just sticks in my craw, I'm afraid. Did Änglagård need to call attention to their 'retro' tendencies in this way? I think not. Retroheads have released a follow-up, 2006's Introspective, though I've no idea whether or not the band have improved in the interim. Sorry to be so harsh, but this is really quite disappointing. Next...
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Re-Animator (2007, 46.20) **** |
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| Charles Dexter Ward Re-animator Chain Gang Pan Taliesin Valdemar Swamp Girl Abdul Alhazred |
Assassins Arkham Cthullu |
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Current availability:
Paul Roland is apparently one of British psych's best-kept secrets, with a discography as long as your arm, even though he made his first record as relatively late as 1979 (admittedly, he was all of twenty at the time). Apart from a seven-year gap in the late '90s to raise a family, Roland has released records continuously over a thirty-year period, many now highly collectable. 2007's Re-Animator is his first rock album since the early '90s or before and is a triumph of surreal, Victorian psych (?!), based on the writing of H.P. Lovecraft. Highlights include opener Charles Dexter Ward, the early Floydisms of Pan and ripping, jammed-out closer Cthullu, possibly the album's highpoint, but next to nothing here disappoints.
Paul Blewitt is credited with Mellotron, but if those smooth flute and string tones are from a genuine M400, I'll be stunned. Both sounds are used on about half the tracks, but going by the strings on, say, Assassins (slightly munchkinised and played too fast for a real machine), while the sounds add to the album's atmosphere, I'd wager they've been nowhere near a real, wattle-and-daub Mellotron. [note: Paul's written to me, saying that they're samples from eMu's Vintage Keys, and he wouldn't have credited it as 'Mellotron' at all]. I'm actually quite ashamed to acknowledge that Roland has passed under my radar up until now; an omission I shall have to correct. Re-Animator's an excellent little record, well worth your patronage, although don't come here expecting to hear swathes of real 'Tron.
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Diamond Dave (2003, 45.54) ***½ |
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| You Got the Blues, Not Me.... Made Up My Mind Stay While the Night is Young Shoo Bop She's Looking Good Soul Kitchen If 6 Was 9 That Beatles Tune |
Medicine Man Let it All Hang Out Thug Pop Act One Ice Cream Man Bad Habits |
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Current availability:
I'm sure you all know 'Diamond' Dave Lee Roth's history; joined the fledgling Van Halen in the mid-'70s, helped their rise to fame and fortune, left in the mid-'80s, initially successful solo career slowly went down the pan. Roth is the consumate rock frontman, reinventing Robert Plant and Steven Tyler moves for a new generation, while adding a few of his own, although recent reports say he's well past his best, and live appearances give the impression of some old guy fronting a Van Halen tribute band. Rumours of a hair weave, or possibly just an out-and-out wig don't help, either. For all that, Diamond Dave is a good rock'n'roll album, with Roth backed by a series of Famous Friends who make all the right moves, though don't expect Van Halen Mk.2. As far as I can work out, the material is pretty much all covers, with the more obvious coverees being The Doors, Hendrix and, er, Van Halen (OK, I know Ice Cream Man isn't actually their song).
Co-producer Alex Gibson also plays 'Mellotron', along with percussion and backing vox on That Beatles Tune, a.k.a. Tomorrow Never Knows, actually sounding like a standard 'Tron string sample played too low. So; if you have a soft spot for the Diamond one, you're probably going to like Diamond Dave, although hardcore VH fans probably need not apply. As for the 'Mellotron', though...
