AFFINITY 1971-72

Glad to report this one is actually all available, technically, via Spotify--who cares that it was off their greater 4-hour boxset? This is going to be a happy day to get a band off The List... I really had higher hopes in general, but earlier today, to explain, I was deep in their earlier, less-than-Prog (and I mean "less-than"...) material (from 1965-1967). Ultimately, the band has a very confusing mix of material, ranging from Beat to Garage Rock to straight-up Jazz to what I would call Proto-Prog. In the very least some of this, like "Grey Skies" (see notes below, too) is indeed very early Progressive Rock as we would know it now.

Overall, most is a bit bland. Some decent songs, and I am a fan of Vivienne McAuliffe's vocals (sometimes reminiscent of Ann Wilson (not too possible she was an inspiration, is it?), but... I dunno. Plenty of low-lights; plenty of material that just isn't going to appease someone looking for Prog (as I frequently am).

The clear highlights for me were "Rio" and "Sarah's Wardrobe", both satisfactory Prog-Lite songs. The latter I can't believe is actually from the early-70s... I hope I'm not listening to re-recordings (though I guess I'm not really complaining here). I'm just saying, hope I've not been duped, somehow (again, not that I'm complaining).

True Rate: 2.5/5.0