TIME AND TIDE

A friend who worked as DJ in a local radio station always got new releases and gently borrowed some to this young, penniless teenager (yes, me). In 1975 one of the LPs I got was Greenslades Time and Tide. And although I tried very hard to like it at the time I was 15, I remember I did not. 40 years after the fact I am now listening to this album again, in a vain attempt to change this view. There were the first line up changes, with the departure of original bassist Tony Reeves, replaced by the equally competent Martin Briley, who also plays some guitar solos. But the problem with this group remains the same as ever: excellent musicians and weak compositions, plus sometimes unimaginative arrangements, even if some bits are really tasteful.

It seems to me that Greenslade tried hard here to sound both more rocking and commercial. Maybe the fact that other double keyboards bands were gaining some degree of success that Greenslade was not, like Supertramp, served as an example to be followed, I don´t know. But I do get the feeling they were trying to sound like Supertramp in some ways (just listen to The Flattery Stakes). Of course it didn´t work. In fact, this CD seldom works. And it is no wonder this would be their last album until some 25 years later. To be fair, not everything here is a waste: The trio of instrumentals (Time, Tide and Catalan) are the best tracks and sounds good put together like a mini suite. Also there are some instrumental breaks where those beautiful combinations of vintage keyboards and excellent rhythm section bring the best of them. But Dave Lawson´s often histrionic vocals ruin it all (he seems to be imitating Geddy Lee from Rush, get the picture?).

Time and Tide is surely Greenslade least interesting album of the 70´s. And considering that they did not exactly took the world by storm in any way, take these words as a warning. If you´re into their first trio of LPs then you should check this out. If you don´t get those first before tackling this one. Because Time And Time is definitely for fans and collectors.

Rating::2 stars.