EELA CRAIG

My highlights of One Niter.

The alternating composition Circles (15 minutes, 3 parts). After a majestic Mellotron intro a dreamy climate follows with soaring keyboards and pleasant work on the flute. Then a compelling rhythm with Mellotron brass, culminating in a swinging part with beautiful interplay between clavinet, string-ensemble and electric guitar. Next an interlude with wonderful vocals and tender Fender electric piano, a fiery and moving guitar solo, blended with organ and drums. Finally an accellaration featuring fiery electric guitar, Mellotron brass and fluent drums, what a great start!

Loner's Rhyme alternates between dreamy and a compelling rhythm, again with Mellotron brass. Along howling guitar runs, a splendid duel between the synthesizer and clavinet. Then an exciting part with swinging clavinet (an Eela Craig trademark, along the Mellotron brass sound), sparkling Hammond organ and propulsive conga percussion. This culminates in a final part featuring moving guitar, supported by the warm string-ensemble sound.

The long and instrumental One Niter Medley is a 'wet dream for vintage keyboards aficionados' (Mellotron, harpsichord, string-ensemble, Minimoog and Grand piano), remarkable is the huge variety, from classical violins in a swinging rhythm to a combination of symphonic rock and funk, unique!

The strong Way Down that sounds like a captivating blend of symphonic rock, funk and rock, embellished with a lush vintage keyboard sound and powerful electric guitar. Halfway a wonderful part with the string-ensemble, in combination with warm vocals and piano. In the end an exciting grand finale featuring Mellotron brass, piano and compelling work on the drums, goose bumps!

The acquisition of the new singer is an indication for the change in the sound on Hats Of Glass: more song-oriented, more romantic and less bombastic and less keyboard driven. My highlights.

The titletrack contains wonderful work on flute and keyboards and halfway a long and moving electric guitar solo. Grover's Mill delivers soaring keyboards, tender electric piano, varied keyboards and again moving electric guitar, often Barclay James Harvest comes to my mind, but without the lush Mellotron sound.

My absolute favorite is the longer and most adventurous composition Holstenwall Fair. First a slow rhythm with pleasant vocals and nice Hammond and Mellotron choir drops, next a shifting mood with sultry synthesizer sound and propulsive drums beats, a wonderful hypnotizing atmosphere. Then an accellaration with a catchy beat, fiery electric work, varied keyboard work and a sensational duel between a powerful guitar and pitchbend driven Minimoog. Finally majestic Mellotron choir and a return to the first part. This is how Eela Craig often sounded on their praised second effort One Niter, wow!

If you like melodic, harmonic and accessible symphonic rock with hints from Barclay James Harvest, Camel, Alan Parsons Project and Manfred Mann's Earth Band I highly recommend this compilation CD, I love the lush vintage keyboards, wonderful vocals and moving electric guitar!

In the first track A Spaceman Came Travelling (Chris De Burgh cover) Frits colours the music with his a bit higher pitched voice, this matches wonderfully with the romantic atmophere of this ballad, embellished with varied synthesizer flights, the distinctive vocoder and tender electric piano. The final part culminates into more lush with emotional vocals and sensitive electric guitar runs. The acquisition of the new singer and this cover is an indication for the change in the sound on Hats Of Glass: more song-oriented, more romantic and less bombastic and less keyboard driven. Like the titletrack (wonderful work on flute and keyboards and halfway a long and moving electric guitar solo) and Grover's Mill (soaring keyboards, tender electric piano, varied keyboards and again moving electric guitar), often Barclay James Harvest comes to my mind, but without the lush Mellotron sound. More dynamic are the swinging compositions Heaven Sales (warm duo vocals and delicate Hammond, Moog and clavinet) and the final one Cheese: powerful electric guitar runs and dynamic rhtyhm-section, subtle vocoder, flashy pitchbend driven Minimoog flights (like Manfred Mann) and finally a harder-edged guitar solo with fiery runs, really good!

But the highlight on this album is the longer and most adventurous composition Holstenwall Fair. First a slow rhythm with pleasant vocals and nice Hammond and Mellotron choir drops, next a shifting mood with sultry synthesizer sound and propulsive drums beats, a wonderful hypnotizing atmosphere. Then an accellaration with a catchy beat, fiery electric work, varied keyboard work and a sensational duel between a powerful guitar and pitchbend driven Minimoog. Finally majestic Mellotron choir and a return to the first part. This is how Eela Craig often sounded on their praised second effort One Niter, wow!

Don't expect music like on One Niter, but if you like the more laidback and romantic moments of Barclay James Harvest, Eloy and Camel, this is a pleasant sounding prog album.

My rating: 3,5 star.

P.s. (1) : The studio album tracklist misses the track Grover's Mill.

P.s. (2) : For its compilation album Eela Craig has chosen the title Symphonic Rock, and not Jazzrock or Fusion, that tells a lot.

The album starts with the long and alternating composition Circles (15 minutes, 3 parts). After a majestic Mellotron intro a dreamy climate follows with soaring keyboards and pleasant work on the flute. Then a compelling rhythm with Mellotron brass, culminating in a swinging part with beautiful interplay between clavinet, string-ensemble and electric guitar. Next an interlude with wonderful vocals and tender Fender electric piano, a fiery and moving guitar solo, blended with organ and drums. Finally an accellaration featuring fiery electric guitar, Mellotron brass and fluent drums, what a great start!

Loner's Rhyme alternates between dreamy and a compelling rhythm, again with Mellotron brass. Along howling guitar runs, a splendid duel between the synthesizer and clavinet. Then an exciting part with swinging clavinet (an Eela Craig trademark, along the Mellotron brass sound), sparkling Hammond organ and propulsive conga percussion. This culminates in a final part featuring moving guitar, supported by the warm string-ensemble sound.

The long and instrumental One Niter Medley is a 'wet dream for vintage keyboards aficionados' (Mellotron, harpsichord, string-ensemble, Minimoog and Grand piano), remarkable is the huge variety, from classical violins in a swinging rhythm to a combination of symphonic rock and funk, unique!

The short and cheerful Venezuela contains a fine blend of acoustic guitar, flute, vocals and Congas.

Finally the strong Way Down that sounds like a captivating blend of symphonic rock, funk and rock, embellished with a lush vintage keyboard sound and powerful electric guitar. Halfway a wonderful part with the string-ensemble, in combination with warm vocals and piano. In the end an exciting grand finale featuring Mellotron brass, piano and compelling work on the drums, goose bumps!

What a wonderful album by this excellent, pretty overlooked Austrian progrock formation: sounding very melodic and harmonic with wonderful vocals, a lush vintage keyboard sound and lots of interesting musical ideas.

The CD version has 4 bonus tracks, which represent the band transitioning from what you hear on the debut to the more symphonic sound that they would become famous for. The first two bonus tracks, "Irminsul" and "Yggdrasil," are instrumental and feature a revamped lineup. They are OK, but nothing special or worth listening to very often. The last two bonus tracks, "Stories" and "Cheese," again with a different lineup, show their new, symphonic direction, and are quite dreadful in this reviewer's opinion. I never cared much for their later albums, but these tracks are of an even lesser quality .

To wrap things up, I would say Eela Craig's 1971 debut album is an enjoyable slab of early 70's heavy prog. While not entirely original, it is nonetheless, above average compared to many of its peers. Just hit the "stop" button after you finish track 4 ("Indra Elegy") and you'll be pleasantly surprised. 4 stars.

To me, I found Virgin Oiland a confusing album. At least the overly-religious lyrics of Missa Universalis has thankfully been dumped, in favor of a concept album of a metaphorical horse racetrack as a symbol of life from birth to death, but the preferred racer was "hate", meaning even through you live and die, too many people prefer to to be hateful, greedy, and selfish. Or at least that's how I perceive the concept. Perhaps I'm looking a bit too much into it. Don't know. Regardless the band was really confused whether they should stick to the progressive rock they did so well in the late '70s or go a more commercial direction. "Beecher's Brook" definitely shows the band wanting to go back to the funky styles of One Niter, similar funky jam with clavinet, but as the album goes on, you could tell it's one half the band wanting to follow their own direction, and the other record company pressure (this was 1980, after all, and finding true prog rock albums were a bit skimpy, even Steve Hackett's Defector had a couple of pop songs on it). "How It Started" and the cheesy ballad "Carry On" definitely shows a more commercial leaning, the latter being in that late '70s soft-rock vein. "Love to Hate You Baby" is a misguided venture into disco, with vocoderized vocals, and small snippets of "We Shall Overcome" and "All You Need is Love" with a DJ voice telling everyone was the 1960s what everyone was told it was supposed to be (this was 1980, and the 1960s nostalgia of the 1980s didn't really take off until around the mid 1980s, I should know, as I witnessed that '60s nostalgia of the '80s which lasted from about 1983 or '84 until about 1990). "Still..." and "Lions Covering the Beaches" aren't too bad, reminding me of the more calm moments of Missa Universalis, thankfully without the religious lyrics.

Really, Virgin Oiland is an album I don't recommend as a starter for anything not familiar with Eela Craig. I'd suggest One Niter and Hats of Glass. Go for their self-entitled 1971 debut for a more jazzy/psychedelic side of the band, and approach Missa Universalis with caution (as the religious lyrics are difficult for me to take in). Virgin Oiland has its moments, and has some good material as well as some questionable material. So this one too approach with caution.

To me, this is the perfect 4 star record - it's good, some may think borderline great, some may think borderline ok. This record is a marvel of function - to the fan, it is engrossing with incredible variety. To the novice, this can be the album that turns you on to prog. It is accessible with no frills.

Worth a few spins if you can find it cheap somewhere - so are the next few Eela Craig albums, Hats of Glass and Missa Universalis. They are a bit more restrained, like the most subdued Camel or Ummagumma

There is no doubt about the direction the band was choosing at the time, when the opening cut is Chris De Burgh's ''A spaceman came travelling'' from ''Spanish train and other stories'', definitely a nice cover of lyrical and dreamy Symphonic Pop.But the rest of the album would follow the same vein, albeit with a more Teutonic, spacious edge due to the heavy use of synthesizers.Gone are the discreet Fusion edges of the previous album and with ''Hats of glass'' Eela Craig would stick with a 100% symphonic, laid-back sound.The soft lyrical parts remind me of very early KING CRIMSON, combined with the smooth symphonic plays of BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST.All vocals are in English lyrics and, despite the presence of three keyboardists, the music is always gentle, performed in elaborate orchestrations with sensitive vocals and Classical colors, based mainly on light synthesizers and electric piano.There is still some PINK FLOYD influence in certain tracks (''Chances are) with a slight psychedelic touch, but the arrangements are always full of grandiose synth-drenched soundscapes with mellow electric guitars supporting.''Holstenwall fair'' would offer the most organ-flavored composition of the album with the rhythmic tunes and the more pronounced electric guitars reminding of the links to the Kraut/Symphonic genre.On the other hand the dynamics of a trully succesful album are rather absent and the multi-vocal parts sound quite cheesy at moments.

The band had fully transformed from the Kraut/PsychJazz Rock act it was back in early-70's to an orchestral Symphonic Pop/Rock ensemble.Soft Symphonic Rock is what you get with ''Hats of glass''.Good album for fans of the genre, a bit too sweet for fans of the more complicated and intricate prog releases.Recommended.

There is indeed a dramatic turn in Eela Craig's sound in this release, leaving all Psychedelic and Jazz influences in the past and offering a grandiose Symphonic Rock with some spacey and Fusion touches, quite old-fashioned for the time.The group delivers some nice musicianship in four long tracks, opening with the 14-min. ''Circles'', split in four parts.Echoes of ELOY, BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST, PINK FLOYD and MANDALABAND are evident in this track, which combines a decent Orchestral Rock with spacey and keyboard-driven textures, led by synths, harsichord, piano and clavinets.The atmosphere of the track is pretty grandiose with an exceptional last part, led by Riedelberger's powerful guitar moves.The 9-min. ''Loner's Rhyme'' is another story.A very THE ENID-like Classical-oriented symphonic section opens and closes this composition, which however has a long and frenetic instrumental middle-part in a Fusion style with obvious funky vibes, characterized by strong clavinet and organ exercises, not far from GENTLE GIANT's sound.With the 11-min. ''One niter'' Eela Craig return to the opening MANDALABAND/THE ENID style with romantic, instrumental Classical textures, based mostly on mellotron, flutes, piano and harsichord, creating a delightful atmosphere.Again some funky moves are evident in the third part of this epic.The short ''Venezuela'' is a beautiful instrumental cut with acoustic guitars and flutes driving the music into more medieval ages, while the 7-min. closing ''Way Down'' follows a style between instrumental Fusion and synth-drenched Symphonic/Space Rock, featuring some nice changing climates.

''One niter'' contains some pretty fascinating music throughout, the mix of Symphonic Rock and Fusion stylings is not always succesful, cohesive or conveincing, but the tremendous instrumental work is sure to reward the listener.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Two long suites make up the bulk of this record. First up is he 14 minute "Circles" suite which is divided into five parts. It begins with "The Almighty" where we get those mellotron brass outbursts before it settles then it kicks in with the mellotron again. A calm takes over with flute then it kicks back in late with drums and mellotron to end it. "The Nude" is kind of funky with clavinet and it's uptempo. Mellotron sweeps across the soundscape. An explosion ends it. "The Curse" opens with piano and flute.Vocals for the first time after a minute. Drums, bass and organ eventually join in as it becomes more passionate. Check out the Gilmour-like guitar before 4 1/2 minutes. Nice. "The Blessed" sounds excellent as the tempo picks up with guitar still leading. Mellotron brass ends it. That ends the "Circles" suite.

"Loner's Rhyme" opens with keys, flute and a light beat as reserved vocals join in.The guitar replaces the vocals before 2 minutes. It's more dynamic after 2 1/2 minutes. Some impressive keyboard work follows.Vocals are back just before 8 minutes. Next up is the five part "One Niter Medley" suite. "Benedictus" opens with what sounds like harpischord then these spacey sounds come in including mellotron. Is that theremin? "Fuge" is classical sounding. "V.A.T." is eventually led by the guitar and a funky groove. Nice bass too. "Morning" is where they slow it down some but the sound is actually richer. "One Niter" ends the suite with guitar, mellotron, drums and piano all standing out in a positive way. "Venezuela" is a relaxed tune with acoustic guitar. "Way Down" is spacey to start as flute comes in then random drum patterns.Very cool sound here. It kicks in at 2 minutes and again it's funky with guitar playing over top. It settles as vocals come in after 5 minutes.

A low 4 stars for me only because my enjoyment level isn't that high for this one. I actually get more of a kick out of the followup "Hats Of Glass". It's more dynamic and easier to digest I suppose, but above all I connect with it emotionally.

"A Spaceman Came Travelling" has this spacey intro as reserved vocals join in. I like the vocal melodies before 2 minutes.Themes are repeated in this mellow tune. "Hats Of Glass" is also laid back with reserved vocals. I like the prolonged instrumental section part way through that is guitar / drum led. Lots of mellotron too. It turns dark and haunting before 6 minutes. "Grover's Mill" has these light vocals and drums that standout. I really like this one. "Chances Are" opens sounding a lot like "Funeral For A Friend" then it kicks in with a fuller sound including vocals. A spacey calm 2 minutes in then it retruns to that fuller sound.

"Heaven Sales" is much more dynamic sounding with keyboards and drums leading the way. It settles before 1 1/2 minutes as the vocals arrive. It then picks back up. "Holstonwall Fair" is mellow with vocals, a beat and mellotron. A change before 2 minutes and the birds are singing in this pastoral section. It's building 3 1/2 minutes in then the tempo picks up a minute later. Guitar then kicks in. Nice. Check out the majestic mellotron before 7 1/2 minutes then the vocals return. "Remove Another Hat Of Glass..." is a catchy and energetic number with guitar outfront early. Synths take a turn as they continue to trade off.

This is a low 4 stars but it's one I look forward to playing again in the future.This is a great example of seventies Prog.