OLD LOVES DIE HARD

I ended up having an odd relationship with the music in Triumvirat's Old Loves Die Hard album, their fourth studio effort, released in 1976. When i first heard and bought the album, in 1988, i was overwhelmingly impressed, positively to no end. Jurgen Fritz's keyboard work, especially, moved mountains for me-with it's dazzling technique and real emotion. On evaluating things now, as i write this review decades later, Old Loves has, unfortunately, not stood the test of time for me very well.

Don't get me wrong. Triumvirat are my favorite band, and always will be, their first three records being the best progressive rock on the planet. But this album proves that when the singer-songwriter-guitar player Helmut Koellen left the band at the end of '75, things were really shaken up for Triumvirat, and they never really recovered. On assessing OLDH now, i fully realize how important and integral Koellen was to the greatness of the sound of the band, both as an instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. This record is no Illusions or Spartacus, and no matter how hard they try, it mostly pales in comparison to those previous masterpieces. For example, the musicianship doesn't have the exciting bite of it's predecessor, Spartacus.

Now, not to become completely dismissive, i am still impressed with the suite "A Day In My Life", where Jurgen Fritz really shines, especially in the section for solo piano, which is quite moving. Fritz's keyboard skills also come to the fore in the long side two track "Panic On 10th Avenue", which is an interesting listening experience. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Fritz tries in his keys playing, the guitar and drum work that meets him comes across as pretty run of the mill.

Now regarding new vocalist Barry Palmer, in his singing, the vocals come off as a bit long winded, something that never occurred in previous records of Triumvirat. Palmer is a competent vocalist, but doesn't really have the deep emotional content of Helmut Koellen.

In a band like Triumvirat, if even one member isn't up to par with the others, it shows painfully. And i hate to admit that it shows on this album. In the final analysis, quite a bit of Old Loves Die Hard is run of the mill and pretty ordinary-in this case, my old loves seemed to have died pretty easily! Two and a half stars, really.