BLAST FURNACE

Denmark has never been a notable prog country. In the late 60's and early 70's there were several bands oriented to jazz-rock or folk-rock, but much of anything to be labelled as (symphonic) prog precisely. Danish bands with longer careers include the Fusion oriented Burnin' Red Ivanhoe, and Savage Rose whose roots were in the early r&b and jazz but tried many different styles along the way (I would support their inclusion in PA).

During the early years of progressive rock as a genre, there were four short-lived Danish bands who released a sole, eponymous album: Old Man & The Sea, Hurdy Gurdy, Pan -- and Blast Furnace. The drummer-vocalist of this Copenhagen-based group was an English immigrant Tom McEwan. Bassist Arne Wurgler had played in the mentioned Pan. Organist-pianist Thor Backhausen plays some flute too on this album. Guitarist Niels Vangklige does some tight electric guitar solos here and there.

Placed here under Psychedelic/Space Rock, Blast Furnace must have been a problematic case for PA's subgenre teams. There is a hint of psychedelia in the music which in the end is pretty many-sided, as the band bio points out. My main associations or references come from the late 60's proto-prog era (if there was one, in hindsight), TRAFFIC and PROCOL HARUM, who likewise mixed various musical elements from blues to folk, not necessarily in a way to make the compositions either eclectic prog or symphonic prog, at least not in the case of Blast Furnace.

The only slightly longer piece is 'Toytown' (7:17) in which the organ indeed reminds me of Procol Harum. The instrumental faster section is energetic jazz-rock. McEwan as a vocalist is a bit rough around the edges, not much of depth or colour in his voice, and yet his singing is often the essence of the songs. Is there an English-language equivalence for the word chanson? I'd compare him, well, if not quite to the likes of Jacques Brel, at least to the story-telling Harry Chapin, for his voice also.

The songs are mostly quite moody in atmosphere. My favourite is the emotionally moving, piano backed 'Goodbye Mr. Bobo' -- and its brief reprise -- about the sad and lonely clown. The cd contains a Danish- language intended-to-be-a-single bonus track sung by Arne Wurgler. It is less rocking and more chanson-like.

This album/band is a sympathetic curiosity and not a bad listen at all, if you generally like the eclectic late 60's vintage rock which is not very clearly progressive (symphonic) rock. In England this would have sounded already somewhat outdated in 1971. So, don't expect too much from it. 3,5 stars.

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