Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography

ROUND THE EDGES

Dark

Heavy Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Dark Round the Edges album cover
3.08 | 51 ratings | 6 reviews | 16% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

Write a review

Buy DARK Music
from Progarchives.com partners
Studio Album, released in 1972

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Darkside (7:56)
2. Maypole (5:00)
3. Live for Today (8:04)
4. R.C.8. (5:03)
5. The Cat (5:19)
6. Zero Time (6:47)

Bonus tracks on 2003 reissue:
7. In the Sky (4:14)
8. Wasting Your Time (4:56)
9. Could Have Sworn (4:53)
10. Maypole (5:50)

Total Time 58:02

Line-up / Musicians

- Steve Giles / vocals, guitar, producer
- Martin Weaver / guitar
- Ronald Johnson / bass
- Clive Thorneycroft / drums

Releases information

Artwork: Steve Giles (photo)

LP Sis ‎- SR 0102S (1972, UK)
LP Machu Picchu, Ltd. ‎- PICCHU 2 (2013, US) Remastered by Warren Defever
2LP Void Records ‎- VOID60 (2019, US) Extra disc with Live versions, new cover, retitled "Dark Cross The Ages"

CD ProgRock Records ‎- PRR-004-2 (2001, Russia) Remastered
CD Kissing Spell ‎- KSCD 906 (2003, UK) With 4 bonus tracks from 1971
CD Machu Picchu, Ltd. ‎- PICCHU 2 (2013, US)

Thanks to Raff for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
Edit this entry

Buy DARK Round the Edges Music



DARK Round the Edges ratings distribution


3.08
(51 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(16%)
16%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(39%)
39%
Good, but non-essential (33%)
33%
Collectors/fans only (10%)
10%
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
2%

DARK Round the Edges reviews


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

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by GruvanDahlman
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars There was a time when all things obscure attracted my mind, due to the fact that albums were mysterious, hailing from the mists of time. There are alot of albums deserving a break, since they never made it in the past, but there are those I find that do serve a purpose of reference point. What do I mean? My point is that some bands made music of progressive nature and poured their ideas into the melting pot and thus created some sort of tapestry. All things may not be great but it can still serve a purpose of being interesting. The only album by Dark is such an example.

I bought "Round the edges" several years ago but the music printed into the CD was not all that great, I found. And still find. It is interesting as a moment in time but not groundbreaking. It is an obscurity whose main value lies in the strife of amateur musicians and the will to produce music. The progress of prog is an equally thrilling thing to examine as listening to all the truly great music of the genre.

The music of Dark is certainly sort of heavy. Do not expect it to be in Sabbath mode. Unfortunately a lot of people throw that comparison around when it comes to describing heavyness. It is true, however, that the music could be described as proto-metal, or something like that, but it has more of a jam feeling to it, a jam performed by less competent musicians than the guys in Sabbath. That however is not te reason as to why I find the music less interesting. The overall feel to the music is one of forced, that the music is really not all that thought through. It is a private pressing, so the sound and time spent on recording certainly contributes to the end result. One has to bear that in mind.

I would not really recommend this album to any one in particular. It is obscure and interesting as an image of a time long gone but it really is too amateurish, I think. That need not mean that the music lacks in true power or worth. In this case, however, it makes the end result poor. Not that good but interesting. Sort of.

Review by siLLy puPPy
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
3 stars More known for its status as having released one of the most expensive collectible records of the rock music era, DARK was a psychedelic rock band that was a bit late to the prog party by the time it delivered its debut ROUND THE EDGES in 1972 but nevertheless garnered praise for its innovative use of fuzz guitar that went beyond the usual one-trick pony wankery of the late 60s and used it in clever ways in its compositional fortitude. Formed in 1968 Northampton, DARK by guitarist Steve Giles who met guitarist Martin Weaver, drummer Clive Thorneycroft and bassist Ronald Johnson at their local school and set off to imitate American West Coast jam bands.

During its initial run from 1968-1973, DARK released only this one LP with a total release number of 64 copies recorded at S.I.S. Studios as a private release, many of which were given to friends and family thus making the album one of the rarest British releases of all time. Original copies have commanded hefty prices upward of £25,000 depending on the version and in 2016 was declared the 17th most valuable record of all time by New Musical Express (NME), a British music, film, gaming, and culture website. Although the original pressing has garnered a huge reputation with collectors of all things original vinyl, the album itself has been re-released several times and recently in 2022 with four distinct album covers (as well as numerous variations) including remastered versions.

Collectibility aside ROUND THE EDGES sounds more like an album that would have emerged in the late 1968, early 1969 timeline and to my ears sounds like that these tracks were written, performed and possibly recorded before 1970 and not released until the band saved enough money to do a proper release. For 1972 this jamming psychedelic rock is hopelessly outdated as it sounds more like Quicksilver Messenger Service than anything the year 1972 offered when progressive rock was at his peak of creative complexity. The original album features six tracks, three on each vinyl record side with the longest, "Live For Today" extending past the 8-minute mark. Compared to bands like Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, DARK really doesn't sound like any other band i can think of as its a strange mix of jam band, hard acid rock and early proto-prog moments.

Very much the baby of Steve Giles who provides vocals and guitar as well as sitting in as producer, the description as the album being a vehicle to display angsty fuzzy hard rock soloing is fairly accurate. The vocals are fairly awful with a limited range and lower the enjoyability factor for my ears however the musical performances are satisfying with stellar instrumental interplay that finds a very talented drummer tearing it up behind a stellar fuzzed out heavy psych experience offered by the guitars and bass. The album itself offered extensive gatefold sleeves in full color, handwritten notes and an overall ambitious presentation seemingly more fussed over than the music itself. Although the band is primarily known for this one album, it has released numerous archival albums as well as reforming in 2011.

This is no nonsense heavy psych without any true prog bells and whistles. A few time signature deviations from time to time but basically this music takes you back to the late 60s and the band would've been perfect as an opening act for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Cheer or Iron Butterfly. This band is surely only still relevant today due to its collectibility status but there is a world of difference between investors in previous goods and those who simply want to hear innovative music. There is no doubt that this is a decent record that is by no means as bad as some make it out to be but likewise there is really nothing on this album that truly stands out as original other than the fact that fuzz guitar was extended in its role which is significant but doesn't change the overall feel of the album. Certainly one for the history book and a decent spin but as a music lover hardly qualifies to shell out massive amounts of cash. A nice anomaly for 1972 but nothing more than a good side note.

Latest members reviews

1 stars Guess everyone who collects (or collected) vinyl eventually went through the stage of unhealthy interest to obscure LPs. As for me, I had 40-year experience of collecting vinyl, and went through that stage as well. However, believe or not, the original edition of the only studio album by Dark is ... (read more)

Report this review (#2969560) | Posted by proghaven | Sunday, November 26, 2023 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Dark was an obscure band that can be categorized as one of the progressive hard-rock hidden gems of the early 70's. Far from commercial melody and straightforward compositional structure, we have a loose jam-like music with distinguished distorted guitars, solid vocals, busy drums and pulsating ... (read more)

Report this review (#2583910) | Posted by sgtpepper | Thursday, August 5, 2021 | Review Permanlink

4 stars DARK were a short-lived British Psychedelic Rock band based in Northampton, who released just one album before splitting up and going their separate ways. Their super-rare "Round the Edges" (1971) album has now become a real collectors item as there were apparently only sixty private pressings m ... (read more)

Report this review (#2302580) | Posted by Psychedelic Paul | Monday, December 30, 2019 | Review Permanlink

4 stars The obscure album by Dark, "Dark Round the Edges" has been both praised and maligned by critics over the years since it's very limited private pressing over 40 years ago. While not all that progressive, it does feature progressive moments, but a more accurate description would be a prog-leaning, ... (read more)

Report this review (#1514945) | Posted by Igor91 | Tuesday, January 19, 2016 | Review Permanlink

Post a review of DARK "Round the Edges"

You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.