THE GRASS IS GREENER

This album is apparently quite the anomaly in that most of these songs have appeared on previous Colosseum albums but here they employ a different lineup of musicians. Plus, this was an album that was released only in North America- -which seems to indicate that the band (or record company) was trying to gain a foothold across The Pond--one that they had obviously failed to gain with their previous releases. The offerings here are jazz-tinged psychedelic rock album that predicts the music of GENTLE GIANT while reaching back to familiar West Coast psychedelic power rock bands like like The Doors, Spirit, as well as taking advantage of the way paved by more successful British Invaders like The SPENDER DAVIS GROUP, PROCUL HARUM, and LED ZEPPELIN.

1. "Jumping Off the Sun" (3:00) psych rock in a GENTLE GIANT vocal form. The music is a bit closer to the psych rock bands of the late 1960s--like SPIRIT but those vocals sound just Derek Shulman. The musicianship is very high, very tight. (8.75/10)

2. "Lost Angeles" (5:30) this one sounds like a sophisticated THE WHO song with Paul Weller singing the vocal. Drummer Jon Hiseman is so good that you can tell that the rest of the band feeds off of (or is driven by) his powerful skill. Great Jimmy Page-like guitar solo from David Clempson in the third minute. The rest of the band around him (including a second guitar track) are equally great: all focused on delivering the unmitigated CREAM-like power that Hiseman and the spirit of this song seem to demand/require. I can finally hear Dick Heckstall-Smith's sax in the final minutes of this one. Excellent song. (9.3333/10)

3. "Elegy" (3:26) a famous song that brings to mind both SPENCER DAVIS and BRIAN AUGER. Guest vocalist James Litherland has a great, soulful voice. The song's basic chord progression and melodic hooks work very well: a very memorable song. The role of the soprano sax and Neil Ardley's strings is noticeable but not a major contributor. (9.66667/10)

4. "Butty's Blues" (6:45) yes, full on organ-lead blues: the first song on which Dave Greenslade gets to really shine. He's very good--with an excellent horn arrangement behind him from Neil Ardley and excellent bass and drum play from Tony Reeves and Jon Hiseman. Once the amazing "big band" intro is over at 1:28, the song turns into a very typical blues/blues-rock tune--like something JOHN MAYALL or ROBIN TROWER would do. But then the horns return to remind us of the modern juxtaposition and Dick's tenor sax takes a solo in place of the second vocal verse. The dynamic whole-band finish is awesome! I normally don't like blues/blues rock but the participation of the horns makes this very dynamic and exciting. (13.5/15)

5. "Rope Ladder to the Moon" (3:42) an outlier in that this song had not appeared on any previous Colosseum releases, the song was picked up Jack Bruce and made more famous as one of his anthemic concert favorites. It is a very cool song with great vocal, lyrics, melodies, and full-band support music. Rated up purely on the vocal performance & clever lyrics (and delivery). I have the feeling that this song may also have been influential to Derek Shulman and his brothers. (9/10)

6. "Bolero" (5:28) one might laugh upon seeing this title on the page but the band actually do Ravel's original quite some justice with this heavy, full power-rock version. Nice keyboard and sax play over Jon's impeccable drumming, but it's David Clempson's fiery, bold-like-TERRY KATH electric guitar solo that really gives it its unique identity. It is one of those great, truly original and, therefore, iconic guitar solos. As a matter of fact, it's so good (and the rest of the bands' performance on his coattails) that you are actually transported into forgetting that this is Ravel's "Bolero"!! (9.125/10)

7. "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice" (2:48) another song lifted off of the previous year's Valentyne Suite album, this one has a psychedelic feel not unlike that of Iron Butterfly's "In-a-gadda-da-vida"--especially in the drum-and-bass- centered music. (8.75/10)

8. "The Grass Is Greener" (7:31) one of the pieces lifted from the actual "Valentyne Suite," this one is gentler and more prog-tempered than the album's other tunes--probably because it's an instrumental on which the band hope to show off their skills as musicians. I'm surprised at the uncredited full-horn ensemble opening as well as the slower TRAFFIC/Southern Rock tempo. It seems as if all of the band's instruments gain some showing here with full-spotlight solos from Hammond organ, bass, volume-pedal-controlled electric guitar, even sax and drums. The tempo shift into high speed for final three minutes (as well as the long, protracted dénouement at the end) will become such a template for so many Southern Rock bands like LYNYRD SKYNYRD, MOLLY HATCHET, CHARLIE DANIELS, and THE OUTLAWS. (The Allman Brothers were already doing it--so maybe Colosseum picked up the idea from them.) (13.125/15)

Total Time 38:10

I very much like this album: it has great musicianship--feeling as if each member of the band is fully committed to and engaged with each song. At the same time, despite the presence of horn sections on several songs and despite the excellent (probably virtuosic) musicianship, I could probably never be convinced that this music is Jazz-Rock Fusion. It's just progressive blues-rock psychedelia dressed up in some jazz fittings.

B/four stars; though I find the skillful and tight musicianship on this album to be exceptional, the songs are not always aligned with my own personal preferences. At the same time, I can definitely imagine the success and popularity that an album like this would have created in 1970/71.

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