JADIS

Jadis spent the 80's performing live and releasing demo tapes and by the end of the decade Chandler was surrounded by Les Marshall on guitars, Trevor Dawkins on bass, Mark Law on drums and Pete Salmon on keyboards.In 1989 the band released their self-titled first LP on Back Beat, produced by Marillion's Steve Rothery, consisting of some new tracks and old songs from the previous demos.

Side A shows the more romantic face of Jadis.Sensitive guitar work and vocals by Chandler, beautiful solos, light atmospheric synthesizers and very memorable choruses present a group with true potential.Still through this accesible approach the prog aesthetics are still evident, mainly on some of Salmon's keyboard acrobatics and GENESIS-inspired melodic approach.Side A of the LP is quite good, but the flipside is trully brilliant, opening with one of the Jadis' highlights, the fantastic ''G13'', where Chandler's guitars really shine with some ultra- melodic hooks and incredible solos.''Out Of Reach'' features again Chandler fast and furious solos next to some atmospheric synths and dramatic breaks, very IQ-sounding track of great quality.''Don't Keep Me Waiting'' goes more along the lines of Progressive Pop Rock with light guitars and a memorable chorus, though the atmosphere is really emotional.And talking about emotions the closing ''In The Dark'' must be one of the best Jadis tracks ever.Definitely among Chandler's best vocal performances with superb guitar work in the vein of STEVE ROTHERY and some flashy synths here and there.Absolutely magnificent.

This particular Jadis LP is very rare, fortunately all of these tracks made it either in a Jadis studio album or future compilation, so anyone can taste them.However anyone who owns an original copy of this first ever Jadis release should be really proud not only for its historical value but also for the highly recommended Neo Prog-oriented content.Very good.

Jadis first ever release is kind of a mystery. It´s so rare that few people are even aware of its existence. It´s not cited on several band´s discographies, It´s absent even on their official site. It was recorded in 1989 and it seems to be the sum of some recordings at the time and a few songs from older demos. It was produced by Marillion´s guitarist Steve Rothery and had a very different line up from the one we were accustomed to see as their first incarnation (1994´s "debut" More Than Meets The Eye): here only guitarist/singer/songwriter Gary Chandler is present. Even the long time sidekick Stephen Christey was not credited on this record. Here Chandler is backed by Trevor Dawkins on bass, Pete Salmon o keyboards and a couple of drummers: Mark Law on side 1 and Paul Awin on side 2.

What strikes me the most about this album is the excellent songwriting and the overall very good performances. Considering its obscureness I presumed the songs were weak and/or done by an inferior line up. Of course the production is not up to their latter, "official" releases. Still, it was far from some crap sounding albums I have heard at the period. The good news is that no cut is a lost gem, since all the tracks were either re-recorded on future CDs or available on compilations.

In the end is understandable why this LP never got a CD release. It´s just a curio, a collector´s item for the hardcore. The band would produce much better recordings of those songs on future releases even if Chandler´s talents as songwriter and performer were evident by the quality of the the stuff in here. Jadis is one of the great neo prog bands of all time.

Gary Chandler's Jadis project can be seen as the first "second wave neo-prog band", or perhaps a sort of neo-neo-prog release. Whilst the original generation of neo-prog groups formed in the 1970s or very early 1980s and were influenced primarily by the prog groups of the 1970s, Jadis formed in the mid-1980s and very clearly took their neo- prog heroes as their main inspirations.

Having landed support roles on IQ's Nomzamo tour and Marillion's Clutching At Straws tour - the latter arguably being neo-prog's commercial zenith - Jadis also kept busy in the studio and made a number of demo recordings, with Marillion's own lead guitarist and friend of the band Steve Rothery handling the production side of things. They would eventually compile and release these as this self-titled album, which has languished in obscurity since then but has become more generally available recently. (In particular, it was included - with some bonus tracks - as the bonus CD on InsideOut's 2012 rerelease of More Than Meets the Eye, though irritatingly the most recent rerelease of that album has a different bonus CD that doesn't include this.)

Though produced by a largely different lineup from the Jadis we're used to in the 1990s, Gary Chandler's general compositional and stylistic approach - a sunny, upbeat, positive and optimistic take on neo-prog, rather refreshing considering the darker emotional territory the subgenre often explores - is already evident. G13, which would be updated for More Than Meets the Eye, is a particular treat.

Jadis has been working since 1982, fitting within the current of neo-prog bands that emerged during that time. And since then they created a series of demos that were finally embodied in this first self-titled album produced by Steve Rothery.

But if there is something that distinguishes Jadis from other groups of the time such as IQ, Marillion and Pendragon, it is a more concise and almost pop song structure, which although it sounds progressive, does give it the tracks a more conventional touch.

And that's not necessarily a negative thing, especially when we hear the overall quality of the album, which is quite high, especially thanks to exquisite guitar work, and some good keyboard bases that, although they haven't aged as well as they should , they do add a mystical and dreamy touch to the sound that in my opinion resembles them in a certain way to the polish band Collage.

I don't know if this "Jadis" is the best record to get to know the group, but I definitely recommend it for all those fans of 80's neo-prog.

Best Tracks: Follow me to Salzburg (I specially like the Keyboards in this one), Taking Your Time (wonderful guitar solo) and In the Dark (great bass line and amazing keyboard solo in the instrumental section)