ELASTIC ROCK

NUCLEUS were without a doubt one of the best Jazz bands around, and the UK's answer to Miles Davis.Their leader Ian Carr who played trumpet was a huge Miles fan and even wrote a Miles Davis biography. Amazing to think that both he and Karl Jenkins were in the same group. Both are such great song writers and musicians. Karl and drummer John Marshall would later play together in SOFT MACHINE. It's not hard to tell it's John playing drums here. Karl would become SOFT MACHINE's leader, which doesn't surprise me. What a talent ! The cover art here by the way is by Roger Dean.

"1916" might be short but man I love this one. I keep hitting repeat. It opens with Marshall pounding away on his drums then these melancholic horns join in.That's it for just over a minute. "Elastic Rock" is such a smooth and gorgeous track. The light drums, gentle horns, piano and bass. The guitar melodies from Chris Spedding are so tasteful. Great tune. "Striation" is led by bowed bass. "Taranaki" is another light and tasteful track. "Twisted Track" is again smooth with horns, while guitar is gently played with light drums and bass. Sax and trumpet play around each other 2 1/2 minutes in as the song starts to build. Nice. "Crude Blues (Part 1)" opens with Jenkins on the aboe with gentle guitar helping out. "Crude Blues (Part 2)" is a lively tune with a good beat. Love the horns before a minute. "1916-The Battle Of Boogaloo" reprises the horns from the opening track. I like it !

"Torrid Zone" is the longest track by far at around 8 1/2 minutes. A beat with drums, bass and guitar is joined by horns. Piano comes in then the song changes slightly after 2 minutes. Drums are more prominant as trumpet solos over top. Incredible sound here.The earlier soundscape is back 5 minutes in but with more atmosphere. Sax starts to solo over top. A fuller sound before 7 minutes.The last minute of the song is more like the beginning. "Stonescape" opens with piano and a horn melody. Some light drums come in. "Earth Mother" is the only track that all 6 members wrote together. Great sound to open as aboe comes in. It's building. Guitar, drums and bass dominate before 4 minutes to the end. Sax comes in late. "Speaking For Myself, Personally, In My Own Opinion, I Think..." is where Marshall does a drum solo, it makes me smile because he certainly did that enough with SOFT MACHINE as well. "Persephones Jive" is a great way to end it. So much going on here. Lots of interplay and intricate sounds. A collage of sounds really. Marshall impresses here too.

A solid 4 stars and a must for fans of British Progressive Jazz.