MEDIUM RARE

Two EPs and a selection of rarities

"Medium rare" is a compilation album, but one which should appeal to those who appreciate the music of Jadis. Two early EP's by the band, "Once upon a time and "Once or twice", provide the first seven tracks here. All have been remastered, but are otherwise as they appeared on those now deleted EPs. The remaining seven tracks are a selection of demos, live tracks, re-recordings, and rarities.

Of the two EPs, "Once upon a time" is by far the stronger, the three lengthy tracks being well up to the standard of anything which appeared on the band's albums. The first two tracks, "Follow me to Salzburg" and "All in one day" merge to form a superb 11 minute piece. The music is of course pure neo-prog, but is slightly softer than that of sister band IQ, with lusher string synthesiser layers. The four tracks which made up "Once or twice" are more prosaic, generally lacking strong melodies or a real sense of purpose.

"Live this lie" originally appeared as the 9 minute opener to "Somersault", but here it has been re-written and re-recorded in an effort to make it more "commercial", and thus improve its chances of gaining radio play. The results are however mixed, and it is hard to see how such a track would appeal to the masses, even in this form. The demo of "Giraffe chariot" has some decent sounds but as with many of Jadis recordings, lacks a strong melody. The completed piece appeared on the "Understand" album.

The live version of "The world on your side" ("Across the water") rambles, and adds nothing to the original. The "Acoustic medley" which has extracts from "Sleepwalk" and "Falling away" arose from a series of unplugged gigs Gary Chandler and Martin Offord did together, the following acoustic version of "This changing face" (from the "Once or twice" EP) actually preceding the medley by about three years.

"Alive inside" was recorded in haste to fulfil a demand from their record label for a bonus track for the Japanese release of "As daylight fades". Due to the lack of availability of some of the band members, Tony Diaz makes a guest appearance on keyboards. The latter half of the track has some decent guitar work, but otherwise the song is a fairly normal upbeat rock song.

The album closes with a cover version of "Old and wise", originally sung by Colin Blunstone on the Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the sky album". Gary Chandler recorded the song as an audition for a Dutch touring theatre show. His singing here sounds different to his usual performances with Jadis, the track being an enormously successful interpretation. He also adds a fine guitar break to replace the sax solo which originally closed the song.

In all, an interesting if somewhat eclectic mix of songs. Some of the otherwise unavailable tracks are really only of interest to committed Jadis fans, but the "Once upon a time" EP is superb in its own right, and the closing track is a real gem.

The album comes complete with extensive, well written sleeve notes by Gary Chandler but take care when reading them, as they are not in the same order as the tracks appear on the album.

This is a collection of non album tracks, live recordings and demo songs. And I must say that it is not as bad as it could sound.

Their great EP "Once Upon A Time" is fully featured. It is my preferred work from the band (probably because it is hard to be concentrated during a full "Jadis" album). One of my all-time fave called "Follow Me to Salzburg" surely deserves attention.

The same story is not valid for "Once Or Twice". Their second EP was really poor in comparison. It is also featured in its entirety.

In terms of live recording, the version of "Hiding In The Corner" is very good. But even if the band was playing rather faithfully during their live shows , their sound was harder and Garry Chandler was doing above average on the vocal side.

I have a special kindness for the live acoustic medley, not because it is a great moment of music but only because I saw Garry and Martin as opening act for "Pendragon" in June 06 at the Spirit of 66. Souvenir, souvenir...

Demo songs have never been my faves. The version for "Giraffe Chariot" is almost cut by half and is of little interest. The closing number (a cover song) features a wonderful guitar break. One of the highlight (even if there are very few ones) of this compilation.

As Easy Livin is saying in his very good review for this work : "unavailable tracks are really only of interest to committed Jadis fans, but the "Once upon a time" EP is superb in its own right, and the closing track is a real gem".

I will stick to the orthodoxy of the terminology : fans only = two stars.

By the time I purchased this album sometime in 2002, I was aware on what to expect from the band that I had known since 1998: good but not essential in terms of music they produce. However, I still purchased the CD and the live DVD because I had already collected some CDs of their early album. It's actually a collection of rare tracks but to my surprise I do enjoy spinning this CD. For example the opening track "Follow Me To Salzburg" which starts something typical with their music: a long guitar solo. But interestingly this song has non linear structure where the symphonic elements flow smoothly from one segment to another. In fact, at the end of the song there is a break in symphonic style which reminds me to symphonic prog style.

It flows excellently to second track "All in One Day" which moves the music into more dynamic style with dazzling drumwork and stunning keyboard that augments the music excellently. The keyboard solo at 5:16 is really cool and YES it reminds me to IQ music, really! It's cool. The opening two tracks plus the third track "View From Above" are basically taken from the band's EP "Once Upon A Time" in 1993. The third track is also an excellent one especially in combined riffs of bass guitar and guitar plus powerful keyboard work.

The next four tracks from 4 to 7 are taken from their EP "Once or Twice" in 1996. Track 4 "This Changing Face" starts ambient with keyboard-based rhythm section augmented by guitar and powerful bass lines. When vocal enters the music, it has a bit of pop nuance but the riffs strengthen the music especially with guitar work of Gary Chandler. Track 5 "In The Dark" is faster in tempo and the song was inspired by the band members investigation on charwelton railway. The keyboard solo is really stunning and inventive.

The other tracks are demo and live versions throughout the band's career. "Hiding In The Corner" was recoded through the band's live performance at The Melkweg, Amsterdam. While "Live This Life" is rewritten and re-recorded version. "The World On Your Side" is another live version in Melkweg Amsterdam. It also contains an "Acoustic Medley" which demonstrates great acoustic guitar work by Chandler. AT the end of this CD, the band covers Alan Parson Project's famous track "Old & Wise". It's an excellent cover.

Overall, this is a very good compilation that in fact I also recommend this for newbie. You will find that the rare tracks are also good. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Certainly when it comes to compilation albums I rarely give a high rating unless i'm a huge fan of the band or there are some rarities that are of interest. JADIS released this in 2001 after remastering two of their EPs.They decided instead of re-releasing them that they'd basically delete them and put them on this compilation recording.

Tracks 1-3 are from the 1993 EP called "Once Upon A Time".The first two tracks were written some 6 years before they were recorded for the original EP.The third track "View From Above" has more time changes in the first minute than anything else they had done up to that point. "The Changing Face" was their first attempt at a normal song with the verse, chorus, verse, chorus etc. "In The Dark" was written just prior to being invited to open for MARILLION's "Clutching At Straws" tour in 1988. It would be JADIS' opening number on that tour. "Taking Your Time" was the first song written by one time bass player Trev Dawkins. "Hiding In The Corner" and "The World On Your Side" were both live tracks from the same concert in Amsterdam in 1995.

"Live This Lie" was from the "Somersault" album but this is a re-written and re-recorded version of it. "Giraffe Chariot" and "Alive Inside" are demos. "Acoustic Medley" was a live medley of tunes done by Orford and Chandler only. "This Changing Face" was an acoustic version recorded for a cd that the Classic Rock Society put out. "Old & Wise" was a cover of an ALAN PARSONS PROJECT tune. Lots of great pictures of the band in the liner notes as well. Most of my info comes from the little blurb that goes with each track.

A "fans only" rating from me, but if your a big fan you can consider this a 3 or 4 star album.

Still one of the few prog bands who have an definite sound of their own, Jadis has been for many years the showcase foe the vocals and guitar of Gary Chandler (and long may it continue to do so). This album brings together the two CD EP's of rare material they released some time ago, along with lots of extra stuff to bring it up to over seventy minutes in length.

The songs are from various sources, and there are comments about each along with who played on it ? just a shame that for some reason the CD plays in the order of the back of the booklet, but this is a slightly different order to the listing inside. But this is just nit picking as the album is strong enough to stand as a standard release. Personal faves are the acoustic medley (don't like the naff fade out though) and "This Changing Face" which both feature just Gary and Widge. Please can we have a complete album of this some time?

As well as these, some demoes, unreleased material and live cuts make this an album that any Jadis fan will be proud to own.

Originally appeared in Feedback #62, May 01