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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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Zachary Jones Band Zebra Zello |
Jac Zinder Zoldar & Clark Zombies |
Zomby Woof Zone Zone Six |
Zucchero Fabio Zuffanti |
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Homestead Deluxe (2004, 50.13) ***½/TT |
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| Static on Country Radio High Sierra Household Accessories Shady Lane Drive Lullaby Pioneer's Lament Of Dreams and Dreaming The Ballad of Rachel Corrie |
The Lesser Traveled Road Tale of the Tall Oak Homestead Deluxe Letter From a Frontier Town Driving West Virginia Reprise |
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Why are The Zachary Jones Band filed under 'Z', you may ask? Like Max Webster and others before him, the elusive Mr. Jones is nowhere to be found in the credits, and doesn't actually exist, so 'Z' it is. They describe themselves as 'traditional American-folk harmonies converging with intense blues-rock riffs and exotic Latin/jazz percussion', which loosely translates to 'slightly countryish American folk-rock', which is no bad thing, certainly in comparison to the mush that comes out of Nashville these days. Homestead Deluxe is their debut album, and is actually a very pleasant listen, with gorgeous picked guitar work on several songs, not least excellent opener Static On Country Radio.
Electric guitarist Bill Bechtel doubles on Mellotron, laying down a highly evocative string part on Static On Country Radio, with more of the same, plus opening cellos on Shady Lane Drive and some very nice flutes indeed on Lullaby. More of those strings on Pioneer's Lament, and that's yer lot, sadly. So; a very pleasant album, with some genuinely moving moments, mostly clustered together at the beginning, although it all tails off slightly towards the end. Several decent 'Tron tracks, too; Bill tells me it's M400 #809, and if you think a couple of those string notes seem to hold just a little too long, they may have been digitally 'stretched' in the recording process...
See: My Wild Heaven
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Zebra (1983, 37.40) ***½/TTTell Me What You WantOne More Chance Slow Down As I Said Before Who's Behind the Door? When You Get There Take Your Fingers From My Hair Don't Walk Away The La La Song |
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Zebra were always a band out of time; too late for the 'sophisticated hard rock' crowd, and too early for the AOR brigade. Saying that, by the time of their third album, V.3, they had indeed moved in that direction, but it appeared to be too little, too late.
On replaying Zebra I was reminded how good two of the songs are, particularly Tell Me What You Want and Take Your Fingers From My Hair, although neither are among the four tracks on the album featuring Mellotron choir. I suspect that, like so many of his contemporaries, helium-voiced singer/guitarist Randy Jackson preferred string sounds from synths (why?!), but at the time there was simply no substitute for the old 'Tron 8-voice (and some would say nothing's changed...). All four of the 'Tron songs here are good, pomp-inflected US hard rock; looking at the copyright dates, most of them date from several years earlier, and it shows (in the best possible way, of course).
Zebra's follow-up, No Tellin' Lies (***) is good, though not in the same league as their debut, and sadly, 'Tron-free. The band have recently reformed, and recorded their rather belated fourth album. I've no idea what they sound like these days, but I suspect they haven't re-attained the heights of their first release. So, if you like a bit of pomp, you could do worse than pick up a copy of Zebra; don't expect an all-out Mellotron classic and you won't be disappointed.
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Quodlibet (1999, 53.55) ****/TTI Will Be the WindSpaken Flag of Convenience Prästpolskan Zwecia Anthem of the Long Forgotten Loss Ekelundapolskan |
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Strangely for a Swedish band, the first outfit I thought of when I put Quodlibet on was Kansas. OK, so Zello have a violinist, but the influence goes much deeper than that; there's some ripping Hammond playing, and although the vocals are weaker, the singing has something of Steve Walsh about it, although I heard a touch of John Wetton in Anthem Of The Long Forgotten Loss, too. In other areas, though, they're very different, especially in their song structures; Zwecia is 25 minutes long, a song length Kansas never even nearly attempted. Opener I Will Be The Wind is the most Kansas-alike track on the album, with a superb chorus melody; some bands could've turned this song into a dismal AOR effort, but in Zello's hands it works brilliantly. Most of all, though, the similarity is in the melodies; you know, those major-key violin bits over distorted Hammond with that 'wide-screen' American prairie feel to them. Actually, the only non-'Tron tracks here are three short folk-influenced violin (or should that be fiddle?) pieces, sounding strangely more English than American.
There's actually very little Mellotron on Quodlibet from Anders Altzarfeldt and Mats Olsson (haven't I seen that name somewhere else?), mostly just little bursts of choir here and there, with an occasional string chord, so it's really only used to enhance their sound, rather than being central to it. The main keyboard work on the album is the organ (with a little mono synth), with a couple of great solos thrown in, Steve Walsh style (sorry). So, all in all, this is an excellent album, modern prog without any discernable neo- influence, and above all, great material. Not so hot on the 'Tron front, but buy it anyway.
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Chairs I Have Known (1996, recorded 1988-89, 73.04) ***/T |
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| Intro Real Cool Moslems The Dentist What Makes Kurt Weill? The Partial Elegance of Burnt Toast Tango (1989) Holiday for Mooks It's Hot on Mondays Pet Sounds |
5/4 of a Man Walt's World Hawaiian Block Party When in Rome, Stay Home Please Don't Offend Me Cutting an Onion Everybody Dance With Me Dear Hearts and Gentle People Tango (1984) |
7 Theories of Human Nature Nirvana Breakdown Wait Cool Filth Children's Wire Birdhouse Pussy Boy (Motherfucker) |
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Bloody hell, how do I describe L.A. resident Jac Zinder's Chairs I Have Known? Jazz-klezmer? Avant-folk? Gypsy lounge punk? All of the above? The album's a compilation of low-fi recordings made over 1988-89, released two years after his tragic death in 1994 on the brave-yet-foolhardy Catasonic label. It includes several live tracks and lots of stuff that sounds like it was recorded in Zinder's garage, which it probably was, with all but the last four tracks (by Bufadora) recorded with his band Stay Home. His angular sense of humour (as in 'at an angle from most people's') permeates the album, but in a good way, as do his mittel-Europa polka-style musical sensibilities, making this an album that fans of the John Medeski school of New York oddness will probably appreciate, despite emerging from the opposite coast.
Zinder plays the Mellotron (source unknown) himself, with skronky strings on Real Cool Moslems and the odd choir chord and flutes on Holiday For Mooks, although that seems to be it. Well, Catasonic should be lauded for preserving this unique artist's work, although it quite clearly isn't for everyone. As far as its Mellotron use goes, you've heard more, and better, elsewhere, but if you get a chance to hear the album, the two tracks in questions are worth the effort.
See: dEUS
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Zoldar & Clark (1977) ****/TTTTTouch the SkyNow is the Time To Be Alive The Ghost of Way Lunar Progressions In Time Day After Day |
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It seems there's an interesting story behind Zoldar & Clark: a dodgo tax-scam label, Dellwood, released two albums recorded by New England proggers Jasper Wrath as Arden House and Z & C, quite certainly ensuring that no-one involved made a bent nickel from them. As a result, what I originally described as 'their lone album' is actually nothing of the sort, as Jasper Wrath also released one of the first American prog albums in 1970. Anyway, Zoldar & Clark crept out in 1977, at a time when lesser outfits were still being signed, playing in a similar, though inferior style. I suppose the best way to describe this stuff is pomp, that peculiarly American cross between prog and radio-friendly rock (as popularised by Styx, Angel, or most of all, Yes-lite crew Starcastle), that never really travelled very well, although they definitely veered towards the more progressive end of the style. Maybe that was their downfall.
Although a couple of tracks head a little too near 'very mainstream' territory (To Be Alive is a particular offender), most of Zoldar & Clark is very good indeed, and deserves better than the considerable obscurity in which it finds itself. I was originally under the impression that Joe Cannata played the Mellotron, but it seeems more likely that it was actually Michael Soldan. Whatever, his 'Tron work is excellent, with strings, brass and choir all over the place and some nifty pitchbend parts cropping up here and there. To say you're not going to find this album easily is probably a bit of an understatement, but should you happen to come across a copy for less than top dollar, it's probably worth the investment.
n.b. This was reissued in 2008 as Ghost of Way, intercut with Arden House's Coming Home, although it looks like it's more a 'best of' the two records, which is a shame. More news when I manage to track down a copy.
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Odessey & Oracle (1968, 34.58/79.58) *****/TT½ |
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| Care of Cell 44 A Rose for Emily Maybe After He's Gone Beechwood Park Brief Candles Hung Up on a Dream Changes I Want Her She Wants Me |
This Will Be Our Year Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914) Friends of Mine Time of the Season [CD adds: A Rose for Emily (alternate version 2) Time of the Season (alternate mix) Prison Song, a.k.a. Care of Cell 44 (backing track)] |
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The Zombies were the intellectuals of the UK beat scene, being grammar school boys from St. Albans, just north of London. Mind you, Mick'n'Keef went to grammar school too, so there goes that argument. Anyway, after a string of hits, including the sublime She's Not There, later devastatingly covered by Santana, the band released their swansong, Odessey and Oracle, to little initial acclaim; they were so low on their label's priorities that no-one coughed up to correct the sleeve designer's idiot misspelling, so Odessey it remains. Between Colin Blunstone's distinctive vocals, Rod Argent's keyboard work and the superb songwriting, it's almost inconceivable that it could fail, but the band split soon after its release, sick of the usual industry hassles. The only reason this album has any standing in the public consciousness now is that Time Of The Season (which sounds like it was recorded at an earlier session) was released as a posthumous single in the States, becoming a massive hit; with appalling irony, the biggest of their career. They refused all entreaties to reform, with Blunstone going on to a sporadically successful solo career, and Argent going on to form, er, Argent.
Musically, Odessey is absolutely fantastic; perfect intelligent pop with a psych edge, it reminds me strongly of Fairfield Parlour's wonderful From Home to Home, consisting largely of mature, melancholy little pieces like A Rose For Emily and Beechwood Park. As for Argent's Mellotron, Care Of Cell 44 has a wonderful string part, as does Hung Up On A Dream, which adds flutes to the mix. Changes opens with a beautifully-recorded 'Tron flute part, reprising throughout the song, although Brief Candles is slightly less special. It's a shame they didn't use it more (where have you heard this before?), but three superb 'Tron tracks is three more than you can usually expect. Either way, this is an absolute late-'60s classic, and an essential buy.
Incidentally, Big Beat's '30th Anniversary Edition' contains not only the mono and stereo versions of the album, but finds room for three alternate versions, including A Rose For Emily with a 'Tron flute part presumably removed from the album version, although a backing track for Care Of Cell 44 removes the 'Tron strings.
See: Argent
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Riding on a Tear (1977, 41.40/64.54) ***½/T |
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| Introduction Suicide Riding on a Tear Requiem Part 1 Requiem Part 2 Dora's Drive Mary Walking Through the Woods Walking Through the Woods |
Finale [CD adds: Dora's Drive (single edit) Mary Walking Through the Woods (single edit) Highwire Dance Back Home] |
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Zomby Woof (whom I mistakenly referred to as Zomby Wolf for ages) got their name from a Frank Zappa song (on '73's Overnite Sensation, I believe), but had no musical connection with ol' Frank whatsoever. The Bavarian outfit had been around since the early '70s, but apparently didn't consider themselves professional enough to record until 1977, when their demos were picked up by the independent Jupiter label. Riding on a Tear was released later that year, and is a typical German progressive release of the time, loosely comparable to acts such as Rousseau or Tibet, while never being in the Novalis league, never mind Grobschnitt.
The album opens with some excellent piano work on Introduction; in fact, the instrumental work is highly competent throughout, especially Matthias Zumbroich's keyboards, including a considerable amount of clavinet, not heard so often on progressive albums from the era. The composition is adequate, although nothing really leaps out at the listener, at least on an initial listen, although there's some excellent jamming on Dora's Drive. Speaking of which, whose weird idea was it to release an edited version of a jammed-out instrumental track as the album's sole single? The '70s, eh?
There's actually very little Mellotron to be heard on the album. Apparently, the band found a broken-down one in the studio, and bassist Udo Kreuß spent some considerable time and effort getting it running again, although the only 'Tron I can hear is a male voice choir part on Requiem Part 2. So; do you or don't you? Yes for progressive fans looking for something they haven't previously encountered, but no for the casual listener, and no for anyone looking for some serious 'Tron use. Oh, and the second two bonus tracks are well worth hearing, though you're unlikely to find this without them anyway, I suspect.
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Z (2002, 34.05) **½/TTTKaze no Hajimaru BashoGood Days Daibakuhatsu No.1 Sekai no Hon no Katasumi Kara Boku no Soba ni Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ Orange no Yuuhi Secret Base (Piano Version) |
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Zone are one of those totally manufactured, all-female J-pop bands who mean bugger-all in the West (er, are there any who do?), despite an enormously high profile at home. 2002's Z, with its Help!-referencing sleeve, was their debut (followed by O, N and E. No, really), featuring the usual mix of uptempo, slightly rocky efforts and power ballads, of next to no interest to anyone with a jot of musical taste, frankly. I was amused by the Brian May-alike guitar work on a couple of tracks, although I can't say it noticeably increased my listening pleasure.
I've no idea who plays the Mellotron (usual transliteration difficulties), although it's all over the place, with a gentle string part opening Daibakuhatsu No.1 before it all kicks off, repeating later on, with similar on Sekai No Hon No Katasumi Kara and Orange No Yuuhi. The album's crowning Mellotronic glory, however, is their best-known song, Secret Base ~Kimi Ga Kureta Mono~ (I presume the punctuation's correct), featuring a particularly upfront and lengthy strings part plus flutes, grinding to a halt at the end in a distinctly 'this Mellotron's real' kind of way. Overall, then, musically fairly awful, but Mellotronically surprisingly good. Your choice, methinks.
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Zone Six (1997, 59.30) ***/T |
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| Barbwired Box So Far Empty Faces Vacuum Three Elements Mindtrap #1 Dream Eyeland Her Smell Hasn't Left Me |
Bubble Trouble Mindtrap #2 Mindtrap #3 The Place Oh Mary |
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Zone Six are one of several bands led by German psychonaut Dave Schmidt, including Sula Bassana and Liquid Visions, and are as trippy as the best of them. Zone Six is an improvised album; would it be cruel of me to say, "And you can tell"? Full of Hans-Peter Ringholz' acid-drenched guitar leads and Jodi Barry's Gilli Smyth-style 'space whispers', it meanders along in a suitably stoned kind of way, occasionally hitting the spot, but too often not. To be honest, this is a bit hit-and-miss; Dream Eyeland is the semi-obligatory Ozrics-style festi-dub number, while The Place is a weird piano and vocal number that seems to have dropped in from another album. I know it's meant to be improvised, but it just ends up being all over the place.
Just one 'Tron track, from Schmidt, with a strident string part towards the end of opener Barbwired Box. I've no idea why they didn't use it more extensively; it might've provided a bit of sorely-needed focus. Anyway, a very trippy album that may not grab you any more than it has me. Then again, it may. Not much Mellotron, either way, so don't go buying it for that.
See: Liquid Visions | Sula Bassana
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Spirito DiVino (1995, 44.36) **½/T½ |
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| Voodoo Voodoo Datemi una Pompa O.L.S.M.M. Pane e Sale X Colpa di Chi? Il Volo Senza Rimorso Papà Perché |
Così Celeste Alleluja |
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Bluesugar (1998) ***/TTT |
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| U Make Me Feel Loved Blue Thin Air If Not Tonight Back 2 U Donkey Tonkey (Temporaneamente) X Sempre Tuo More Than This |
Karma Stai Kalma I Wish You Love I Tempi Cambieranno |
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Shake (2001, 47.51) **½/TTT |
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| Sento le Campane Music in Me Porca l'Oca Ali d'Oro Ahum Scintille Baila Dindondio |
Rossa Mela della Sera Shake Tobia |
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Zu & Co. (2004, 76.58) **½/T |
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| Dune Mosse Muoio per Te Indaco Dagli Occhi del Cielo Il Grande Baboomba Like the Sun (From Out of Nowhere) Baila Morena Ali d'Oro Blue Pure Love |
A Wonderful World Pippo (Nasty Guy) Hey Man (Sing a Song) Il Volo Così Celeste Diavolo in Me Senza una Donna Il Mare Impetuoso al Tramonto Salì Sulla Luna e Dietro una Tendina di Stelle... Miserere |
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Zucchero ('Sugar') Fornaciari seems to have been around for ever, releasing albums in English for the last decade or so. Going by '95's Spirito DiVino (or however it's spelt - it's a pun, for what it's worth: 'divine spirit'/'spirit of wine' - thanks, Mark...), he's in that 'adult pop' area, sitting next to U2 et al., so don't come here looking for innovation or anything. Actually, most of the material's fairly balladic and middle-aged, making U2 sound cutting edge (if you'll excuse the pun); one for people who don't want anything new. I mean, Eric bloody Clapton plays on the album... A bit of the man's Mellotron on Il Volo, with a nice pitchbent strings part with more regular chords in the chorus and what sounds like a more 'standard' string part in closer Alleluja.
Three years on, Bluesugar, says 'no change', but in Italian (no cambiare? Probably not). More mainstream 'adult contemporary listening' (gack!), more teeth-grinding boredom. Four Mellotron tracks on the album, played by the man himself. Thin Air has some fairly upfront strings, while the strings on If Not Tonight sound like they could almost be real, so I'm not sure what the deal is there. More Than This has both flutes and strings, while I Tempi Cambieranno (sung partially in English) has more of those orchestrally-arranged strings.
Confusingly, 2001's Shake seems to be available in two different versions, although the differences may be more in the titles than the actual tracks; rather hard to say, when most online literature is in Italian... Usual old crap, although John Lee Hooker's cameo on Ali D'Oro makes a welcome change from Zucchero's vocals. Loads of Mellotron, surprisingly, from both Zucchero and Luciano Luisi. String parts on Ali D'Oro, Ahum (possiby also known as Hasta El Fondo?), Dindondio, Rossa Mela Della Sera and Tobia, with Ahum probably being the best.
As if the issue needed confusing any further, 2004 (2005 internationally)'s Zu & Co. consists largely of songs he's released before performed with famous guests, including his Italian-language version of The Korgis' sublime Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime, Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo. Not much 'Tron, with what sounds like the same version of Shake's Ali D'Oro and a (partial?) re-recording of Spirito DiVino's Il Volo, featuring the stunningly talented Ronan Keating.
Zucchero finally gave up on the Mellotron, although whether he's replaced it with samples or just ditched the sound is unknown. Anyway, he did the decent thing and sold it to someone good, namely modern Italian prog gods The Watch, who make damn' good use of it. As for the above, Bluesugar and Shake actually have some decent 'Tron work between the, but don't blame me for the musical content...
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Fabio Zuffanti (2009, 41.35) ***/TTE' ProbabileLe Piante Sott'acqua Dormono Cuoci Bene Andiamo Avanti (per il Film) Ottobre Sentieri Nel Ghiaccio Domeniche Senza Tramonto Così a Fondo... |
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Fabio Zuffanti is bassist and frequently bandleader with a host of current Italian progressive and progressive-related acts, including Finisterre, Hostsonaten and Maschera di Cera, although he's been known to go out on a limb, notably with the post-rock of LaZona. I was expecting something fairly progressive from his first solo album, Fabio Zuffanti, so it's all the more surprising to be confronted with a largely instrumental post-rock-with-beats affair, progressive in spirit but a long way from 'prog' as we know it (Jim). It's almost pointless trying to pick out 'best tracks'; the whole purpose of the album is presumably to be listened to as a whole, placing it a very long way from iPod culture indeed.
Zuffanti has confirmed that he used a real Mellotron on the album, which makes it all the more surprising to hear how he uses it; I can only imagine he takes a few seconds of playing then loops it, either in a sampler or as part of the digital recording process (is there any difference any more?). A real one's in the studio, but we're not hearing it played in real time, as the eight-second rule is broken time and time again. Opener E' Probabile features two or three minutes of the same string chord, with less of the same on Andiamo Avanti (Per Il Film), choirs on Ottobre and more strings on Sentieri Nel Ghiaccio and closer Così A Fondo..., though it's all so far from 'standard use' that it's difficult to know whether or not to recommend it.
An intriguing album, then, though not necessarily one that your prog die-hard's going to like. It's probably more use as relaxing music than, say, something to play in the car; I can't really imagine anyone sitting down and listening to this intently, but I could be wrong... Plenty of Mellotron, but not in a form in which 'Tron spotters are likely to, er, like. Different.
See: Finisterre | Hostsonaten | Maschera di Cera | LaZona | Fabio Zuffanti & Victoria Heward
