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DAVID SANCIOUS & TONE: TRANSFORMATION (THE SPEED OF LOVE)

David Sancious

Jazz Rock/Fusion


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David Sancious David Sancious & Tone: Transformation (The Speed Of Love) album cover
3.80 | 33 ratings | 4 reviews | 15% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
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Studio Album, released in 1976

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Piktor's Metamorphosis (6:33)
2. Sky Church Hymn #9 (8:49)
3. The Play and Display Of The Heart (6:27)
4. Transformation (The Speed Of Love) (18:07)

Total time 39:56

Line-up / Musicians

- David Sancious / Hammond & Yamaha organs, Moog, piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, clavinet, acoustic & electric guitars, bells, vocals (1), composer, arranger & co-producer
AND
- Gerald Carboy / bass, wind chimes
- Ernest "Boom" Carter / drums, percussion, vocals (1)

With:
- Gayle Moran / chorus vocals (4)

Releases information

Artwork: Anthony Tillman

LP Epic ‎- PE 33939 (1976, US)

CD Wounded Bird Records ‎- WOU 3939 (2003, US)
CD Esoteric Recordings ‎- ECLEC 2458 (2014, UK) Remastered (?)

Thanks to ? for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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DAVID SANCIOUS David Sancious & Tone: Transformation (The Speed Of Love) ratings distribution


3.80
(33 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(15%)
15%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(64%)
64%
Good, but non-essential (18%)
18%
Collectors/fans only (3%)
3%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

DAVID SANCIOUS David Sancious & Tone: Transformation (The Speed Of Love) reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Easy Money
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars If you like a heavy dose of classic 70s prog-rock with your jazz fusion, then this is the record for you. I don't understand why this record didn't receive more attention when it came out. It is easily equal to, if not better than similar records by artists such as Return to Forever, Mahavishnu, Camel, Ponty, Holdsworth and Bruford. Throughout the album David displays a strong keyboard technique that shows influences from Chick Corea, Keith Emerson and Jan Hammer. I first heard this record at a Genesis concert , the sound man was using it to warm up the crowd. Unfortunately this was when Genesis was heading downhill and nothing they played that night could compare to the music on this record.

The album opens with Piktor's Metamorphisis, a jazz-rock processional tune with lots of great synth soloing that is equal parts Camel, Jan Hammer and ELP. This is followed by a Jimi Hendrix tribute called Sky Church Hymn #9 in which David shows that he isn't too bad on the guitar too. This song shows what The Experience could have sounded like if they had a bass player as good as Sancious' bassist Gerald Crosby, who along with drummer Earnest Carter is one of the best rhythm sections in a genre full of great rhythm sections. Sancious plays this song with the expected Hendrixisms, but David turns it up to eleven by adding some nice McLaughlin and Jeff Beck licks too.

Side two is a long jazz fusion suite that features many high powered synth workouts plus a beautiful choir section with Gayle Moran and others on vocals. I do hope fans of groups that combine jazz-fusion with 70s instrumental progressive rock will check this out, poor David, he really deserved much more recognition than he received.

Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
4 stars Sancious second album came a bit bizarrely with a similar artwork of orange skies at sunset, just like its previous and debut album To say that if the container looked the same,and deduct that the content was the same as the debut is something I wouldn't do, but there is a bit of that. The awesomely gifted Sancious was breaking grounds with his risky mix of jazz and symphonics without actually sounding cheesy or cliché or being part of Sinatra's generation. The man was using modern jazz rock/fusion ala RTF or later WR, but instilling a good dose of classical music, a bit like McLaughlin had done with MO, but quite achieving the same results, which is where Sancious innovates. This album is actually attributed to DS and Tone, which is his back up band, roughly the same players than on the debut, including bassist Carboy and drummer Carter, and an appearance of Gayle moran, already a guest on the previous album.

Just four tracks on this album, three of them medium-sized on the A-side, but the longer of these Sky Church Home is good blues but overstaying its welcome at 9 minutes. The other two tracks are much more interesting for the progheads, as the opening Metamorphosis takes you through a bunch of challenging rhythms, and entwining solos of keyboards and guitars (both handled by Sancious) and even gets a bit of growled vocals in until you feel dizzy. After Sancious' fiery guitar pyrotechnics on the blues tracks, Play And Display Of The Heart is a welcome rest, a slow-starting fusion piece starting on a classic piano (and later a slightly more jazzy guitar, but not at first) and remains in the mostly in the symphonic (sorry to use this word for a sole piano) realm.

The flipside's sidelong Transformation returns more to the enthralling music of Metamorphosis (mmmhh!! I think the titles are a solid hint), slowly rising from the ashes under a hundred percussion instruments slowly crescendoing (a bit like the Moody Blues had done so typically in their classic period), and once the track is under way, it turns out that it should've been subtitled speed of light or speed of sound rather than Love.Sancious' rocky guitar histrionics are much of the appeal on this album and the groups support him well, providing studious and well kept rhythm. All I heard from Sancious is the first two albums, but this mother is definitely his better tracks spread over the two discs. After a dizzying quarter hour of all-out music reaching some real heights, the track slowly fades with the same percussion instruments that had started it. Outstanding playing from everyone, even if Moran's voice is an acquired taste (not by me), but her interventions are rather insignificant in regards to the tracks' enormous stature. Its amazing that Sancious' two epic label albums didn't get more recognition (although they sold rather well, back then) and is not a household name among fusionheads. Part of the explanation might be that both album were out of print for many years, and only received a reissue in Columbia's Master Of jazz Rock in the early 90's, and now finally a third recently. Both his first two albums are very much worth your investigation, the forst being more even, while this one is presenting Sancious' masterpiece.

Review by snobb
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars David Sancious possibly is better known as studio musician, but this album represents him as very competent solo musician. Just four compositions, David plays both keys and guitar. The music there is more or less similar to jazz fusion leaders of that time.

"Sky Church Hymn #9" is unusual blues based composition with very energetic guitar in Hendrix-style. Two other side-A compositions contain all main elements of jazz fusion from mid-70-s. David plays attractive keyboards tunes and structures, with some passages , but I like more separate moments, than compositions in whole.

Fourth, longest composition (and side-B of original LP release) is 18+ minutes long jazz fusion suite with vocals (including Gayle Moran). With bigger accents on individual instruments soloing, generally this composition could be compared with RTF works.

Overall, album contains many moments of really high class energetic jazz fusion of its time and demonstrates very competent musicianship. I just missed concept feeling, the music often sounded as great demonstration of some musical pieces, not too much connected between each other. Great musicianship, but after listening you possibly will remember some separate pieces and moments, but hardly all album as whole work.

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars David Sancious was part of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for their first three albums before going out on his own. After his solo project ended he became a session musician for popular pop stars. So yes he has done very well for himself. Man I hate to even bring up the Springsteen connection because i've never been a fan, quite the contrary actually, ever since "Born To Run" was all over the radio in the seventies. And that dude from "Rolling Stone" who said he saw the future of Rock when he saw Springsteen way back when, I hope you've finally gotten your laser eye surgery because you were dead wrong. The music from Sancious is sort of a Jazz / Fusion style mixed with Symphonic-Prog I guess you could say. I have to admit as much as the playing on this album impresses me, especially the bass and drum work, I just can't get into the music.

I probably like the first track the most. "Piktor's Metamorphosis" contrasts the laid back, chill out mood with the more aggressive keys, bass and drums sections. "Sky Church Hymn #9" opens with drums as this bluesy guitar comes in. Not fan of this. It turns more uptempo though with some ripping guitar (okay i'm impressed) before ending the way it began.

"The Play And Displays Of The Heart" opens with piano and acoustic guitar with the tempo switching back and forth. It's okay. "Transformation (The Speed Of Love)" is the closing side long suite. It kicks in after a minute. Organ 5 minutes in then we get a calm before it kicks back in. Love the bass and drum work. A calm with bells 9 1/2 minutes in and later after 12 minutes before kicking back in 15 1/2 minutes in. Good song but i'm not overy impressed.

I'm in the minority here with my thoughts on this record so a grain of salt is recommended. I think it's good, most think it's great.

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