SACRED BABOON

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Halfway between Yes and Kansas giving this typical US prog sound as Starcastle , Cathedral and this must've influenced nowadays US prog with the huge sound. I discovered this in the late 90's , so all the magic of the album might have gotten lost on me , but this is hardly the case for most collectioners whop rate this highly. If you are into the bands mentioned above , give it a spin , you'll find it good.

YEZDA URFA were another great symphonic-prog band from the late-70s American prog scene. Their two main sources of inspiration seemed to be YES and GENTLE GIANT, but they pushed those two influences to the extreme (If you think the Jon ANDERSON's lyrics were esoteric, you got to hear the lyrics on this album). Not to mention that the music here bursts with energy and invention. Marc Miller, the bassist, plays some of the most exciting bass lines ever recorded. In fact, after listening to prog rock for about 10 years, I've never heard another album with bass playing quite like this. The other musicians also offer some pretty tasty chops. Their guitarist plays using a clean Steve HOWE-influence style. The guitar-riffs are played at a frantic pace, and somehow mix HOWE's American-guitar chops with European classical influences.

If you're eager to hear a prog album that emphasizes complexity, tempo-changes, all-you-can-eat time-signatures, instrument changes in mid-song, and lyrics stranger than the writings of Tristan "Dada" Tzara, be sure to pick "Sacred Baboon".

Almost perfect, except on a few music passages emulating bands such as YES and GENTLE GIANT, which are not very original, as well as some vocal passages of the lead singer when he's alone (for this reason only it should be righter a "4 stars rating"). Instead the splendid track "To-ta in the Moya" or the last instrumental one, are a true personal imprinting by YEZDA URFA. The label Syn-Phonic by Greg Walker has just re-issued their debut album "Boris" and of course this is a splendid occasion to look at both albums, suitable for whom doesn't know their music; even though to me "Sacred Baboon" is better and more mature too.

Highly recommended!!

Ah, the dilemma of the clone band. Whether it's Germany's Neuschwanstein with an obvious neo-prog update on classic Genesis, or Japan's Bi Kyo Ran who do homage to Red-era King Crimson, it's tough to know how to assess these bands, who produced excellent albums with everything except that oh-so-basic pre-requisite of originality. Such is the problem I faced from the moment I encountered Yezda Urfa, a mid 70s American band who clearly worship at the altar of Yes and Gentle Giant. To describe the precise similarities between Yezda Urfa's music and that of its guiding lights would take an age (and quite possibly, defy belief ... even the band's name ensures that it will sit alongside Yes records in most record stores!) so I'll try and sum it up briefly.

The lead vocals and melodies are clearly influenced by Yes' John Anderson (like Flash's Colin Carter and Starcastle's Terry Luttrell, Rick Rodenbaugh even manages to sound like little ol' pipsqueak), but the bizarre vocal harmony sections and air-tight angular shifts in mood all laced over that peculiar dissonant, contrapunctual, poly-rhythmic rock that I thought only Gentle Giant could do ... well Yezda Urfa have it down pat. Believe me when I assure you that musicians like keyboardist/flautists/mandolin player Phil Kimbrough and bassist/cellist/vibraphonist Marc Miller had the talent to be giants in this field.

Maybe that's why I've grown to respect this band. Sacred Baboon has gradually overcome my initial prejudice, simply by the force of the musical skill on display. From the opening thrusts of Give 'Em Some Rawhide Chewies, which throws in some Tony Kaye-style organ and concludes with a nice offbeat guitar solo, through to the chamber music meets free jazz of Cancer Of The Band and the mammoth prog jamming of Tota In The Moya, all the way to the final half frantic, half sublime (the Renaissance-era passage in particular is intoxicating) effort that is Three, Almost Four, Six Years, this album is jolly good fun. In fact the main ingredient that Yezda Urfa themselves have brought to the party is a sense of fun ... the storming fifth track is called Flow Guides Arent My Bag!

Because Yes and Gentle Giant between them have done this all before, Sacred Baboon is not a top-drawer album, but it would be a real mistake to pass up on it just because of the strong influences it shows. While the album has the odd meandering moment, there is some astonishing music on display here, and it is somewhat sobering to think that it was recorded in 1976, but only released some 13 years later. Roll up, folks ... 73% on the MPV scale

3.5 stars.YEZDA URFA's debut album "Boris" was recorded and released in 1975 but no record label would take them on,but the following year(1976) a record label called "Dharma" agreed to release an album.So they recorded "Sacred Baboon" and re-recorded several tracks from the debut along with 3 new ones.Anyway "Dharma" began to flounder and the deal fell apart leaving this album to sit there collecting dust."Synphonic" eventually released it in 1989.I feel that "Boris" is a masterpiece,an amazing recording.If it didn't exist i'd probably give this 4 stars,but because my 4 favourite tracks on here were already on "Boris" it's hard to give this that rating.Especially when in my opinion those songs sound better on the debut.Still if you can't track down "Boris" i'd definitely recommend you listen to this one.What we have here is a sound that reminds me of both YES and GENTLE GIANT.Even the vocalist to me sounds better on "Boris",at times he sounds like he's strained and maybe having trouble keeping up with the fast pace on this album.I'll touch on the 3 tracks not on the debut. "Give 'Em Some Rawhide Chewies" features some huge bass lines and Howe-like guitar.Vocals come in fairly quickly.This sounds like YES until before 2 minutes when we get a brief GENTLE GIANT flavour. "Cancer Of The Band" is melancholic with flute to begin with.Vocals and piano a minute in.Nice vocal arrangements bringing to mind GENTLE GIANT.An acoustic guitar solo follows before vocals return.Good song. "(My Doc Told Me I Had)Doggie Head" opens with some chunky bass.The vocals seemed strained here at times.Synths are a nice touch when they arrive.A GG vocal arrangement and then some good organ 4 minutes in. If i didn't have "Boris" this would be a valued recording,please track down one of these two albums if you'd like to own some early and impressive American prog.

Oh...silly me! I read the reviews and jumped at it. Musically, quite impressive. You're right to assume these guys "sound like" Yes and "sound like" Gentle Giant...and occasionally "sound like" National Health. My problem is that I keep reaching for Yes and Gentle Giant after the first few tracks. If this doesn't bother you...then you're looking at a 4 star rating for this CD. If this rubs you the wrong way (the "sound like" factor), than 2 stars it is. If you're curious, give it a try. The vocalist DOES remind me a little of Steve Walsh from Kansas trying to pull off a convincing Ray Shulman vocal(Gentle Giant). It fails miserably, IMHO. :-(

Completely unbelievable.

This band is a UFO amongst all oddities in the prog world. What kind of imagination does it takes to write this kind of stuff? It goes from A-Z in the same song MANY times, which means it's 75 songs ideas crammed in one record of 7 songs. And the musicianship is probably one of the fastest, most skilled I've ever ecountered (a blend of Gryphon, Yes and Gentle Giant); which means they pound their instruments like blacksmiths on a poor anvil.

Take a perfect Jon Anderson clone and grow him a thick beard and dress him medieval. Good. Then, give him a lot of stimulants and some woodwinds. Okay. Finally, make him write lyrics after depriving him from 72 hours of sleep.

Absolute masterpiece of strangeness.

God what a band. After years of prog hunting it's not often the cynical and jaded fan comes across a true masterpiece they hadn't already heard. But that's exactly what 'Sacred Baboon' will be for many. And though magnificent, Yezda Urfa (a name taken from regions in Iran[Yazd] and Turkey) was not as tight as Yes, precious as Genesis, bold as Crimson or cool as Tull. They were just one of the finest American prog bands ever and this 1976 recording - a proper session made after the 'Boris' demo - is so full of consistently high-quality material, it's hard to fully digest at times. Other than the easy Gentle Giant comparisons, the closest thing to these five ingenious madmen would be S.F. avant-garders Cartoon, though technically YU out-do even them.

The silly song titles belie a fantastically intricate and demanding paradigm of whimsy and obsessive brilliance, as on 'Give em Some Rawhide Chewies' and 'Cancer of the Band' with the group's vocal rounds negotiated flawlessly by lead singer Rick Rodenbaugh, keyboardist Phil Kimbrough, bassist Marc Miller who also handles cello and Vibes, and Mark Tippins on guitar. 10-minute 'To-Ta in the Moya' and the two cuts that follow will be familiar to fans of the 'Boris' re-release [also Syn-phonic, thanks for a great production Greg!], will remind of Yes's more adventurous periods and features mind-bending key changes, modulations and rearrangements. Really cool track. Pop music this is not and I don't wonder they were completely missed in their time, or any time for that matter. I mean, what *were* these guys? Avant garde? A hippie art band? Tragically misunderstood or indulgent crap? No, just progressive rock at its best and most troublesome. 'Flow Guides Aren't My Bag' proves it with calamitous playing between drummer Brad Christoff & bassist Miller, Tippins' sure acoustic ax, and an urgent, popping arrangement by Kimbrough. Split personalties of brilliantly mad '(My Doc Told Me I Had)Doggie Head' and '3,Almost 4,6,Yeah' closes the show.

That bands like this actually existed at one time - on the planet we currently reside - is enough to add this glory of glories to your prog collection. Even if you hate it you'll love it.

For several years I avoided any YEZDA URFA album, because most of what I heard about them is that they formed a YES clone band with GENTLE GIANT structures, interesting as it may sound for many, I'm not a fan of GENTLE GIANT and find Jon Anderson's vocals annoying to an extreme, but last week I bought a cheap copy of "Sacred Baboon" and honestly don't plan getting their debut album.

Not that they are bad, on the contrary, they are good (not great), but originality is not a word in their dictionary, the vocalist Rick Rodenbaugh tries with all his strength to sound like Jon Anderson and he partially achieves success, because sounds very close but Jon is original and charismatic, this guy not.

The vocal works are complex and elaborate,. but sound as a "B" class GENTLE GIANT, they abuse of the dissonances but aren't able to capture the unique Medieval - troubadouresque atmosphere (in most of the parts), which was the most interesting feature of Derek Shulman and company, in what GG was unique, this guys are bellow average.

The album starts with the interesting "Give 'Em Some Rawhide Chewies" intro, which gives the impression of a Medieval track, but it's a mirage, then the band looses the path and never retakes it, start playing in the vein of YES but suddenly change into the vocal style of GENTLE GIANT to go back to YES, simply unimaginative and boring.

"Cancer of the Band" starts with a soft and contradictory flute section, a hybrid between Medieval and cheesy, but when they are capturing the essence Medieval Folk music, they add a dissonant guitar that sounds empty, despite their later efforts, the band is not able to retake the sound they started with.

"Tota in the Moya" is quite funny, sounds like "In a Glass House" with hits of "Relayer" (To be Over), touches of "Tubular Bells" (The mandolin) and Rick Wakeman's musical jokes.......The big question is ...Where can I find something that sounds like YEZDA URFA, sadly the answer is nowhere. People describe this track as an epic I believe it's a long song with patches of different bands.

When I believed it was enough of cloning bands, comes "Boris and His Three Verses" that sounds like "Tormato" with Medieval hints, but the band fails creating a convincing atmosphere, floating in the middle of two bands who play in a contradictory style, thanks God it only lasts less than 3 minutes.

"Flow Guides Aren't My Bag" could be the only song that sounds remotely original, until those keyboards taken from "The Advent of Panurge" brings us back to reality, but at least some attempts of creating an own sound.

"(My Doc Told Me I Had) Doggie Head" starts Jazzy with few references to any band, even the dissonant sections sound original, but as soon as Rick Rodenbaugh adds his vocals, sounds like Jon Anderson singing in the style of Derek Schulman, no more commentaries.

Just when I was going to stop listening "Sacred Baboon"comes "3, Almost 4, 6, Yea", an excellent track with complex but melodic arrangements, the drumming is outstanding and the bass is completely accurate, fast, vibrant and at last original, the acoustic middle section is delightful and the ending is brilliant (The lack of vocals helps a lot).................If only this guys had realized before they can write outstanding music, the story would had been different.

Now I understand why their material was only released 12 years after it's recording, because almost everything YEZDA URFA played was done before by more famous bands and better.

Because of the obvious musical skills of the band members and the last track, I will rate this album with 2 stars, because I was tempted to give them only one, something that pisses me because they are all outstanding musicians