GARDEN SHED

Until around 15 years ago, I'd never even heard of this album from 1977. And after a few listens, I was just dumbfounded that music of this quality and originality had to go unnoticed by the masses because of timing (the infiltration of punk and disco) or mis-marketing. The only other plausible explanation I can come up with is that the first song - before it fades into a Genesis-like prog gem - starts off with some light and unstructured musical sounds on the keyboards, imitating some atypical instruments (like Chinese strings, trombone, tuba, etc.). If the casual listener got bored 75 seconds into this album, he/she might have missed 47 more minutes of prog bliss!

This is a GREAT album of progressive music in the vein of mid-70's Genesis and Yes. Nice use of mellotron, piano and other keys throughout, interesting drumming a la Bruford, and a melodic bass that doesn't get lost in the mix. Great vocals and harmonies, occasionally sung falsetto, growled or whispered for dramatic effect. The lyrics are more in the Genesis vein of story-telling, sometimes humorous in a tongue-in-cheek manner. A couple of the vocalists remind me of Triumvirat's Helmut Kollen and Genesis' Tony Banks (that's right, Tony Banks!) from his solo albums. But I also hear passing similarities to Supertramp's Roger Hodgson and Yes' bass player Chris Squire, which I'm sure adds to the Yes-like harmony vocals heard occasionally.

This particular issue of the CD comes in a thin miniature album sleeve replica of the original album (perhaps a quarter inch higher than a normal CD jewel case). An insert includes all of the lyrics and other info in both English and Japanese or Korean or something. (Personally, it was difficult for me to follow along with the lyrics in Japanese!;-) This issue also includes a 4-minute bonus track called Nanagram (that's the way it's spelled on the insert), which is all instrumental, and a nice way to round out the CD with over 52 minutes of music. (Nanagram/Nanogram comes from another rare, short album of their recorded material called "The Last of the Jubblies".)

Despite the references to the prog masters, this group has a very unique sound of its own, and they take an original path with their lyrics and varied lead vocals. As an example, "Three Piece Suite" (with it's Yessy "A Venture" vibe in the first section) features three different lead vocalists in its three different sections. Overall, a very good and complete album, and even slightly better than two other one-off prog essentials that I love from the same era - Cherry Five and Cathedral's "Stained Glass Stories". (Dare I also mention Neuschwanstein and Yezda Urfa?) Obscure but excellent!

Believe me, I've got more music than I have time to fully listen to, and you probably do too. But this is the type of CD for which we yearn and endlessly search; and when you find it, you just have to add it to your CD library. 4-1/2 stars