GRACIOUS

"Super Nova" occupies the whole of Side One of the album. This 20-minute-long epic is a four-part suite, so prepare for blast- off with "Arrival of the Traveller". it's a pounding and throbbing Space Rock instrumental opener which immediately brings to mind Hawkwind and early Pink Floyd. That opening assault on the ears leads us into "Blood Red Sun" a two-part song, opening with a harsh-sounding and strident slow marching rhythm, foretelling a bleak dystopian future for the Earth, which has obvious parallels with King Crimson's "20th Century Schizoid Man". The second part of "Blood Red Sun" is a fast-paced, instrumental freak-out jam session, where the talented group of musicians sound like they're really having a blast. This powerful and energetic blast from the past might not have the awesome power and brightness of a super nova, but it's a luminous red giant of a song. We're really slowing things down now though for "Say Goodbye to Love", an unashamedly romantic tearjerker, so it might be time to get out the hanky, because this emotionally appealing ballad might just bring a tear to the eye. The singer really pours his heart out with these touching lyrics:- "Once there was peace on earth, Joined were thoughts of people, Who knew more of love and kindness from them, Living life always a thought for each other, So I can say good bye to love, Say goodbye to happiness." ..... You can put away the hanky now though and "Prepare to Meet Thy Maker" with the fourth and final part of the "Super Nova" suite. The song opens with a gloomy doom-laden atmosphere, but don't get too downhearted because the singer emerges in fine voice from the gloom with what turns out to be a very uplifting and exhilarating piece of beautiful music. The Prog Gods will be Graciously appeased, because this is a really grandiose and triumphal anthemic masterpiece to lift the spirits heavenwards.

If you're looking for fun and feeling groovy, then have a listen to "C.B.S", the 7-minute long funky jam session which opens Side Two. There's no clue in the lyrics as to what "C.B.S." might be referring to, but it's nothing to do with the well-known record company of the same name. Just groove along and shake your booty down to the ground for this invigorating and intoxicating piece of music. This is a fast-paced, toe-tapping, organ-driven number with attitude. Onwards now with "What's Come to Be", a moody bluesy Mellotron song which sounds remarkably like The Moody Blues! It might not be quite as grandiose and spectacular as "Nights in White Satin" but it's not far off. In the immortal words of Barclay James Harvest, this symphonic epic could be described as a "Poor Man's Moody Blues", but in a good way. There's a nice use of alliteration in the title of our next song "Blue Skies and Alibis", even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's a great piece of music though which barrels along at impressive speed with all of the musicians going hell for leather to keep up the pace. A well-earned tea-break might be in order for both the band and the listener after this frantic and frenetic jam session. Good Gracious, is that the time!? We've nearly reached the end of the album now and it's time to slow down the pace just a little for the closing song, "Hold Me Down". You can't hold this band down for long though because they're still in good solid rock & rolling form with this uplifting barnstormer of a song.

If you're in a Gracious mood for some good old-fashioned, classic British Rock from the early 1970's, then this is the album for you, because "This is...Gracious!!" - with two exclamation marks!!

There's few surprise turns on This Is...Gracious!!, and the band just lack that certain magic, be it pretension, high drama, camp, kitsch, bombast or whatever that helps to send prog into the realm of greatness. To their credit, it was not from a lack of talent or from trying. Similar to a band like Spring, they will always remain a seventies' prog footnote with a dedicated cult following.

Gracious was an early seventies' Mellotron, standard keys and guitar based symphonic prog band whose influences run the gauntlet from the Moody Blues to early Zappa/Mother's of Invention. Near virtuoso players, their scattershot approach works well, on this suite like album, with the more friendly Moody's like fare and the group's near Beach Boy's harmonies, while a pastiche, do shine. Where Gracious go wrong is on extended studio manipulated dissonant sound experiments (like early Mother's of Invention) and the band's fascination with tight repetitive bass, keys and drum rhythms that seem to go on forever and, worse yet, seem to go nowhere.

What does work well for Gracious is that they seemed to have foreshadowed (by 20 years) Robert Fripp's obnoxiously harsh toned math like guitar playing, which would have worked better if it was not surrounded by second rate Zappa like satirical lyrics. I'm not a big fan of Zappa's inane social critiques, but Frank did them first and a thousand times better.

I can't recommend more than two and a half stars, rounded to three, for GRACIOUS(!). Perhaps their follow up album issued one year later will be more focused and original. Time will tell, as I'm getting ready to give that a disc a spin in due time.

The jewel of the album is the first side-long epic "Super Nova" which starts out with some really cool spaced-out sound effects dishing out the best progressive electronic of the day and then begins to really rock out with a Floydian guitar riff that reminds me of the Syd Barrett years. Act two delivers a good drum beat with pleasantly interacting guitars and keyboards and the anthem to the "Blood Red Sun" begins and ushers in acoustic guitar passages and the ever changing flow of the four chapters continues for 25 minutes.

The rest of the album is more hard rock oriented with shorter times and slightly less progressive and probably intended to get a single or two for any possible radio airplay which never materialized. "C.B.S." has a good organ and guitar run with latin percussion and actually has a Yes kind of feel at times. "Blue Skies And Alibis" sounds a bit like Steely Dan. "Hold Me Down" sounds like Free.

I have a mixed reaction towards this album. The band clearly learned how to focus their attention on writing more cohesive pieces of music creating a slightly more commercial feel to the whole thing. The songs are better constructed and are a little more memorable but the unbridled live wire approach of the first album was one of the attributes that I really like about this group. Overall I like the maturity of the album but miss the diversity. In the end this is a decent second outing for this lesser known early symphonic prog band that employs a pop vocal technique which adds a slight contrast to the sophistication of the music. Recommended.

This is one of those albums that is all over the place. Some call it messy or unfocused. Some may call it pompous and overreaching and it's obvious that at times this does seem like an amateurish attempt to create something grander than is actually realized. The music meanders through different genres ranging from heavy psych to mellotron drenched symphonic prog and even from ragtime to medieval folk music with a whole track devoted to a classical fugue. These parts come and go and ramble and twist and turn and you never really know where they are going. That's part of the charm here, at least for me.

I think I like the "Heaven" and "Hell" tracks the best along with the finale "The Dream." "Heaven" starting as a floaty mellotron rich track with nice ambient passages. "Hell" begins with a descending keyboard run simulating the great fall into the the depths of the abyss and carries through with a dark gloomy mood replete with keyboards and heavy psych guitars. "The Dream" is the longest track on the album with a length of 17 minutes. It runs the gamut of everything prog in 1970 with nice fuzzy guitar and lots of keyboards, mellotrons and a nice 60s groove and lots of trippiness! The music remains fairly accessible and melodic throughout the entire album. It all sounds a bit like if The Beatles and King Crimson and maybe Cream all got together for a jam.

This is one of those albums that does have some inconsistent moments and a rambling feel at times yet despite it all this is exactly what I like in music. It is adventurous, exciting, unpredictable and spontaneous. I enjoy the album from beginning to end and despite the awkwardness that occurs from time to time i simply don't find it detracts from the overall excitement of the album. The boldness and enthusiasm are what makes this for me. Certainly not a masterpiece but well worth having in any prog collection as one of those obscure additions that's worth checking out from time to time.

This double CD includes the first two albums of the UK Prog band Gracious, these are: "Gracious!" and "This is... Gracious", both originally released on early 70s. The Band is known for being very accesible, and their music style can be described as eclectic rock ranging from; Prog, Hard rock, Classical, jazz, etc... The highlights of the CD 1 are:

"Introduction" A rock track. A good one, very simple, catchier and accesible.

"Heaven" A beautiful song, after the intro it is almost poignant. another very accesible song

"The Dream" It is just a lot of improvisation mixed. There are good moments, memorable.

On CD 2 are:

"Super Nova" Consists of four tracks, all of wich are differentiable each other. Enjoyable.

"C.B.S." Good song, moderately complex and catchier.

3 Stars... I highly recommended this double cd

"Super Nova" (3.75 out of 5.00) This song consists of four tracks, all of wich are differentiable each other. The Introduction is "Arrival of the traveller" which gives a good atmosphere of mystery, "Blood Red Sun" is the first sung track, it almost makes feel goosebumps, "Say Goodbye to Love" is a beautiful song, very different from the previous, delightful with a outstanding mellotron work, "Prepare to Meet the Maker" is the outro of "Super Nova" and the least interesting of the four songs although it`s enjoyable.

"C.B.S." (2.75 out of 5.00) Good song, moderately complex and catchier.

"Once on a Windy Day" (2.50 out of 5.00) My least favorite, serious, but not bad.

"Blue Skies and Alibis" (3.00 out of 5.00) This song brings back joy, I like this refiller despite its simplicity.

"Hold Me Down" (2.75 out of 5.00) The chorus are outstanding but the song itself simple, weak and slow.

3 stars well received and slightly better than their debut.

"Introduction" (3.75 out of 5.00) The album kicks off with this rock track. A good one, very simple, catchier and accesible.

"Heaven" (4.00 out of 5.00) This is such a beautiful song, after the intro it is almost poignant. The repetitive lyrics did not annoy at all, then it became a bit heavy, another very accesible song. I like it.

"Hell" (2.50 out of 5.00) The first half is instrumental and repetitive, nothing interesting. The Last half it becomes really funny and more adventurous but not a big deal.

"Fugue in 'D' Minor" (1.50 out of 5.00) Classical music it`s not my thing, well played but out of place in this album.

"The Dream" (3.25 out of 5.00) After the promising intro all turns classical again (Yuck!)... I was expecting something heavy but... Wait... Then it turns beautiful again, just like "Heaven". This song is very eclectic ranging from: Hard rock, Classical, jazz, prog, etc... It is just a lot of improvisation mixed. There are good moments, memorable.

3 Stars well received and recommended