LADY OF SHALOTT

• Cuckoo (Love's Labour's Lost) Lady of Shalott , 1977

Get ready for a big shock when you will listen to this.

Of course it does sound as "Yes". So what ? Can you imagine a bunch of Israeli youngsters producing prog rock at his best in 77 ? Well, listen to this album.

The opener "Lady Of Shalott" is fantastic. Vocals are so close to Jon's ones that you really believe that it is a YesForgotten album.

The comparison with the master is easy : great symphonic moments, complex instrumental passages (especially in "Cuckoo"), very good musicianship (Moti Fonseka sounds as Howe at times). This band really deserves a close listen.

Three stars for this effort.

Send comments to ZowieZiggy (BETA) | Report this review (#104616) | Review Permalink
Posted Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Atmosphera: Lady of Shalott [1977]

Rating: 7/10

Oy vey! Prog from Israel!

(Note: I'm only reviewing the four tracks that were on the original album. I'm not including any of the copious bonus material that was put on the reissue.)

Atmosphera's sole album is yet another gem from the vast treasure chest of obscure 70s prog. This particular gem is unusual due to fact that it came from Israel. This is probably a major reason why this band didn't receive the attention it deserved; Israel isn't exactly a bastion for progressive rock, and it was difficult for the band to promote themselves during the pre-internet age. This is a shame, because Lady of Shalott is a superb album. The music presented here is bombastic symphonic prog with an enormous Yes influence. Every musician here plays their respective instruments the way the members of Yes would play theirs. Needless to say, the musicianship here is fantastic. Every member is excellent, but the most impressive musical component of this album is undoubtedly the drumming from Ami Lipner. This guy has serious chops, combining technical finesse with engaging creativity.

The epic title track opens with ethereal piano, and a stunning rhythm section leads into the vocals. Slightly spacey guitar and marching snare drum then transition into a lengthy section of instrumental interplay. This is a spectacular song; it truly captures the spirit of symphonic prog. The equally epic "Cuckoo (Love Labour's Lost)" is less majestic and symphonic; somewhat jazzy instrumental interplay plays an even bigger role here. The rhythm section is incredible yet again, particularly when it's backing up the pleasant vocals. Fonseka's guitar takes the lead on "Tomorrow", and his playing is excellent. It rings of Steve Howe, but with a stronger blues twist. This blues/hard-rock vibe is explored further on the final piece, "Love Waiting for a Lover." The guitar playing is sublime yet again, even though this probably the weakest track on the album.

Symphonic prog fans should be careful not let Lady of Shalott slip past their radar. It is not a perfect album - the second half is significantly weaker than the first - but there are moments of pure magic to be found here. Many write this album off as a "Yes clone", but this is unfair. The Yes influence here is unmistakable, but the band manages to create inspired and intriguing compositions; there's a difference between "stylistically similar" and "derivative." This is one of my favorite obscure 70s prog albums, and it certainly should not be overlooked by fans of this particular style. And how about that rhythm section!

Send comments to Anthony H. (BETA) | Report this review (#469415) | Review Permalink
Posted Saturday, June 25, 2011

Atmosphera's sole album is essentially a love letter to Yes. Like Druid, Atmosphera produce new compositions following the pattern set by The Yes Album and Fragile, and perform in a manner directly inspired by their heroes - bassist Alon Nadel in particular seems particularly good at creating a big Chris Squire bass sound. Unfortunately, the fuzzy production values on this album prevents it from ascending to the heights that Druid attained. Ultimately there are so many bands out there following the lead set by Yes, and I can't say that Atmosphera represent a blindingly amazing example of this sort of thing; the lack of any compositions of the complexity of Yes' from Close to the Edge to Relayer only underlines the gulf between the inspiring masters and the inspired apprentices. One to pick up if you absolutely cannot get enough of bands who try to sound like early Yes.

Send comments to Warthur (BETA) | Report this review (#556831) | Review Permalink
Posted Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Hello Starcastle, Druid and other Yes derivative bands fans! This is surely for you!! I was amazed to find out that this Israeli group recorded this album in 1977. I mean, did anyone knew Israel had a prog band? And in thye 70´s? Yeah, I was amazed too. And they do play very well, by the way. The first two tracks are very much Yes unfluenced, vocalist Efrayim Barak emulating Jon Anderson so well one can only guess if he was not the man himself lending his voice to this group. The two other compositions that compromised the original LP are less Yes-like and more original, but they are also less interesting. While the perfomances are superb - guitarrist Moti Fonseka and drummer Ami Lipner are both specially skilled and creative - the production is understandable weak. The remastering for CD might have helped a little, but still is obvious those guys recorded under rather less than ideal conditions (the keyboards sound suffered the most). Still, they did a nice job.

This 2 CD version includes the whole original LP on the first disc, plus an alternative version of cuckoo. the second record has the video of the title track, two tunes from the LP recorded live, plus a few tracks from bands the members formed after Atmosphera broke up. This stuff is far more experimental and avant guard than their former outfit. Again it´s more interesting than really good.

Overall I liked the Lady Of Shalott work. It´s doubtless very symphonic and quite promising. Too bad they call it a day before developing some more. They surely have the chops and the talent to go a lot further than they did. Still, this CD is quite a find. It´s good to see that so many people were touched by prog music and tried hard to express their love for it everywhere.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Send comments to Tarcisio Moura (BETA) | Report this review (#767821) | Review Permalink
Posted Friday, June 08, 2012

Sounds like Yes. (I am only referring to disc 1.) Yes, it sounds like Yes, especially because of the typical high pitched voice and the Bruford-style drumming. The keyboards, with frequent use of chord breaking, sometimes sound more like Genesis than Yes. The guitar player proved he listened a ... (read more)

Report this review (#430261) | Posted by Formentera Lady | Sunday, April 10, 2011 | Review Permanlink

Atmosphera comes from Israel. Unfortunate, they only released this album. The last version comes as a 2 CD version. I only have the original album (CD 1) and it is that one I am reviewing. This is a very good birthday gift to any Yes fans out there. Both as a gift to yourself or someone ... (read more)

Report this review (#254266) | Posted by toroddfuglesteg | Friday, December 04, 2009 | Review Permanlink

One word review: WOW More than one word review: With my jaw hanging down so far and tears of joy over owning this pooring down onto my keyboard it is rather hard to type out how amazing this album sounds. This my friends is no YES clone, this could very well be a YES equal! Now I know how ... (read more)

Report this review (#207970) | Posted by manofmystery | Saturday, March 21, 2009 | Review Permanlink

This is simply amazing music!! Atmosphera really out did them selves, being only kids when they recorded it, this is highly progressive rock with a lot of sensitivity, I have only high appreciation for them, writing this music in those early years of life . Although I have the cd version which ... (read more)

Report this review (#108141) | Posted by sagichim | Saturday, January 20, 2007 | Review Permanlink

Lady of Shalott is one of the highlights of Israeli prog, a very interesting album with some very high "ups" and minimal "downs"... Almost every moment is virtuoso playing, lush composing, ranging from minimalstic to bombastic... It's hard to say that every moment is musical genius, but near ... (read more)

Report this review (#83006) | Posted by TheLamb | Friday, July 07, 2006 | Review Permanlink

After years of searching for another band providing quality progressive music, as found in albums of King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd (and a few other) - I've finally put my hands on this double album. No, I'm not saying it equals to any of the above, but this is as close as it gets, as ... (read more)

Report this review (#64403) | Posted by | Thursday, January 12, 2006 | Review Permanlink

Well here is an album which doesnt get much reviews... Atmosphera was an israeli band which never released its album at the time (1977) because of lack of interest in the record companies and the israeli public in general. Does it mean that the album is not good?? Actually far from it!!, the al ... (read more)

Report this review (#61057) | Posted by | Wednesday, December 21, 2005 | Review Permanlink

This is THE GROUP From Israël : The Best ... Lady Of Sharlott is a beautiful album ... Melody ... in the good of Genius Genesis ... this is a Prog Melodic Music ... This is recommended, as this is a Master-Piece of Music. Really Good music, this is strange of Israël with atmosphere Yes for ... (read more)

Report this review (#50386) | Posted by Mellotron93 | Friday, October 07, 2005 | Review Permanlink

This album probably reveals the Israeli Symphonic-Rock days at it's best. Consider the fact the band members were young then (16-17 years old), one of them showed that even he could be named "the middle-east's fastest guitarist" (Moti Fonseca). Their sound can be interpertated: the music tha ... (read more)

Report this review (#34234) | Posted by | Thursday, June 02, 2005 | Review Permanlink

Atmosphere is an old Israeli progressive rock band that doesn't exist anymore, however , it managed to be popular among the progressive rock fans in the late seventies and early eighties. Atmosphera used to play symphonic progressive rock like Yes. I believe that their entire CD is better than ... (read more)

Report this review (#34233) | Posted by Dan Yaron | Friday, May 27, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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