OLD LOVES DIE HARD

The fourth album for Triumverat marks a big change for the band. Their last two albums were successful in about every way possible and they had proven themselves to be capable progressive rockers that play music very similar to Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Up to this point, the band had been a trio and the original keyboardist, Jurgen Fritz (whom the band was centered around) and drummer/lyricist Hans Bathelt were still the loyal members of the band. For the last two albums, which the band is most known for, Helmut Kollen was the vocalist and bassist, but, finding that he was having problems singing the new songs, left the band and died not too long after that. A new singer was hired named Barry Palmer after he submitted a cover of Paul McCartney's 'Maybe I'm Amazed' in answer to an ad for a new vocalist to Fritz. But, the band was still without a bassist, so a fourth member had to be brought in. Instead of hiring someone new, Werner Frangerberg, who was the band's original bassist who actually left before the recording of their debut album, was brought back in, meaning that this would be the first album he would be featured on.

Getting used to this new line-up, and the fact that they were now a quartet, was something they would have to quickly adjust to. Would the band be able to retain their sound and their popularity with this new line up? From the surface, the album called 'Old Loves Die Hard' looks like it could be a contender with a mix of long and shorter tracks, one on the long ones being a 3-part suite and two others that exceed the 10 minute mark. The first side is made up of 3 good sized tracks starting with 'I Believe'. The song has a moderate beat with some complex rhythms and the topic is quite contemporary, not quite as epic as some of their previous tracks even at almost 8 minutes. It's an interesting enough track, but is definitely more 'straightforward' sounding than pervious, but still pretty good. Even though the keys are still prevalent, it sounds less like ELP than before, and more like Styx and also what sounds like a children's chorus towards the last part of the song.

Next is 'A Day in a Life' which is the 3-part suite mentioned earlier. This one is completely instrumental and it begins with 'Uranus' Dawn' which starts off with electric piano and synth playing a more mellow and laid-back feel than on their previous efforts. This meanders melodically along until it comes to 'Pisces at Noon' when the piano takes over. This is a nice and rhapsodic piano solo (mostly), but still not as complex as their previous albums. Fritz still gets to show off his mega-talent though, so it's not bad. It all ends with a sudden upbeat section called 'Panorama Dusk' where layers of synths and keyboards are all joined by bass and drums, now sounding more like before, but this section of the suite is quite short and is over quickly.

'The History of Mystery' follows the suite and is the longest track on the albums at almost 12 minutes. As the track begins, it continues with the more straightforward sound while it goes through a vocal section, but when the tempo picks up a bit more, it starts to sound more like ELP again, so at least there is a return to a bit of complexity as the keys take the band through various tempos, meter shifts and styles. Even though it took a while, at least all hope is not lost yet. Also Barry's vocals are definitely stronger than Helmut's were. On the LP version of the album, this track is divided into two parts with part 1 ending the first side and picking up with part 2 on the 2nd side. The break between parts is quite natural sounding though with no fade outs/ins needed.

'A Cold Old Worried Lady' is a piano-led ballad with nice vocals by Barry. The synths come in bringing in some nicely done string effects with other orchestral sounds. It sounds very much like Kayak's 'Ruthless Queen', or at least seems styled after it. It's quite straightforward, but still very nice. A long instrumental 'Panic of Fifth Avenue' follows this one, and the band returns to it's ELP style with heavy keys and synths backed up by great bass and drum work, tempo and meter shifts and so on. Excellent track, styled somewhat after 'Toccata'. It all ends with the title track 'Old Loves Die Hard', a moderate track with vocals, which acts more like a closer for the album than anything else.

Overall, the album is decent, but is a bit more straightforward than the previous albums by the band. It has some great tracks that recall the sound of the band that gave them the respected status from fans and critics alike. It is not yet a turn away from their signature sound, at least not yet completely, but it also isn't as solid as their best albums. However, classic prog lovers and ELP fans will still find plenty to love here anyway. But it does mark the beginning of a steep descent into failed commercialism that the band would embark in later. The band would even become more unstable as the original two members would soon separate with Bathelt leaving the band because of pressure from the record label to commercialize their music even more and Fritz going along with that plan. Also, the original bassist Frangerberg would leave the band once again. Still, this album was able to still give enough quality material to be considered an excellent album. 3.5 rounds up to 4 stars.