BEDSIDE MANNERS ARE EXTRA

On the poppier side of early-seventies progressive rock sit Greenslade, a super-group of sorts composed of former members of Colosseum, Rare Bird and Samurai. Featuring a double- keyboard attack and no lead-guitar, Greenslade's style of prog sits somewhere between the ambitious fantasy concepts of Genesis and Yes and the more saccharine sounds of lesser- known symphonic proggers Druid, with an upbeat, almost-whimsical sound undercut by bouts of ELP-style keyboard noodling, thick bass-lines and expansive drumming. Released in 1973, 'Bedside Manners Are Extra' is the group's second, and best-loved, album, featuring six, semi-complex tracks, some of which manage to come across like mid-period Genesis jamming with American jazz-popsters Chicago. Both the title-track and the jazzy 'Chalkhill' provide glimmers of Greenslade's past, with the galloping keyboards reminiscent of Rare Bird's first two albums, but the real drawback here is the material's poppy nature, which eschews the dark undertones that characterizes the genre at it's best(in albums such as 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' by King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator's 'Still Life') in favour of bland, homogenised pop-prog stylings that leave the listener craving something meatier. Pretty but vacuous, 'Bedside Manners Are Extra' is a prime example of the kind of forgettable prog that gave punk it's chance to strike. Buy 'Garden Shed' by England instead. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010