THE SAVAGE ROSE

Here is another document of how a band can survive for more than 40 years and 20+ albums - through dedication and integrity. Thomas Koppel died in 2006 (one of his songs appears on the album) but Anisette and two of their common children keep the band and its sound alive...and they still have a lot to say. Their very special blend of hard blues, Nordic melancholy and her (meanwhile older) powerful voice is embellished with mournful horns and tasteful strings on some tunes. The music is timeless and the natural instruments handled by competent musicians are a rare find these days. There is no nostalgia here - Savage Rose always existed in their own time and that is good.

-- First review for this album --

The debut of this legendary Danish band is, according to the very brief All Music Guide review, "their lightest and most charming effort. Waltzing melodies give way to thunder-of-doom bass runs (...). With its oddly hollow sound, one is never really sure whether the tone is supposed to be playful or ominous." Yeah, that pretty much sums it up, but I'll try to give a deeper picture. There are eleven songs running a modest 34½ minutes in total. Released in July 1968, one naturally cannot expect notable progness of it, but it has lots of playful inspiration (at times reminiscent of for example WIGWAM's 1969 debut) that makes the posthumous label proto-prog well deserved. If I had to guess which bands had influenced them, I'd put my biggest bet on JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. Beatlesque this isn't per se, unless the term is referring to the musical versatility itself. And despite the dominance of keyboards, this music is in spirit also closer to THE WHO than to Procol Harum.

'Your Sign / My Sign' has a jazzy chanson feel except for the loud sounding chorus with a Jeffersonian psych rock touch. The vocalist Annisette hadn't yet found her truest girlish personality and she probably attempts to sound like Grace Slick and that sort. 'Open Air Shop' rocks hard. Tinkling piano, fierce organ, gritty electric guitar and a hectic rhythm section are supporting a Janis Joplin reminding roughness in Annissette's expression. The song ends with a lengthy and wild drum solo.

'You Be Free' (1:27) is weather-light, playful and, when it comes to the vocals, charmingly sensual. 'Oh Baby Where Have You Gone' is a lively, Who-spirited rock song with plenty of male harmony vocals. The drummer Alex Riel sounds to be the most gifted musician of the group at this point. Listen to his jazzy touch on 'A Girl I Knew' that rivals anything that John Denmore did in the Doors, or his elegant playfulness on 'Everybody Must Know'. This song is a good example of the way the album feels light but simultaneosly also very intense and explosive under the innocent surface.

'Savage Rose' has nice melodies and a flute solo (uncredited). 'Her Story' directs the spotlight to Annissette's powerful and soulful vocal delivery. 'White Swans' Marriage Clothes' is among the lightest tracks. Nice to hear again those male vocal harmonies reminiscent of the Moody Blues around 1967. 'Sleep' is the mellowest song, a relaxed duet of Annissette and the guitarist who elsewhere tends to get buried in the soundscape. 'You'll Be Alright' has orchestral grandiosity and closes the album in a spectacular way.

This is definitely among the best debut albums of the year 1968, but IMHO it's not a five-star masterpiece like the majority of the ratings suggest.

Such a pity that myriads of artists in the ProgArchives database never get reviewed, but I certainly hoped some other reviewers besides me for this long-lived, legendary Danish band, at least for their classic and more progressive era from the late sixties to the early 70's. After the 1973 albums Babylon and Wild Child, the band took a break and returned with Solen Var Også Din (1978), followed by another album in 1982. Since then, new Savage Rose albums have been released in a steady pace up to 2017. In practise it's been a project of vocalist Annisette and her husband, keyboardist and composer Thomas Koppel. Most of the tracks here feature Whitney Houston's guitarist Ray Fuller, but otherwise Thomas Koppel is almost sovereignly responsible of all playing, save some bass and drums/ drum programming.

I haven't much listened to Savage Rose's later era -- even the classic era only vaguely --, so I can't evaluate this album against other ones. Probably needless to say this music is not progressive rock at all. Most of all this is a vocalist's album, call it vocal oriented popular music or entertainment music, and I think that's the best area to look for overall musical references: female (post-80's) vocalists such as LARA FABIAN, PATRICIA KAAS, etc, with a synthetic production, in this case approaching modern r&b. In other words, accessible, emotionally oriented, programmed music to back up the distinctive vocalist. But at least Annisette is still a good singer, although not as unique as in the early days.

'Vanished' reminds me of BJÖRK in the early nineties (e.g. 'Come to Me', 'Venus As a Boy'). Impressive vocals and a deep atmosphere with a hypnotic rhythm and some cool organ and accordion. 'Planet of Paradise' is a very sensitive and soulful pop ballad but it avoids being syrupy. I'd like to compare it to some emotional STING songs such as 'Shape of My Heart', with a bit more of an r&b flavour in the sound. Smooth soul and r&b tendencies continue throughout the album, often underlined by breathy backing vocals or a gospel-like choir. Sadly the song material gets weaker midway. For example 'Meet Me There' and 'Beautiful Day' are terribly unoriginal, r&b-oriented pop songs. 'Shining' is slightly better as a sensitive ballad.

The album ends with its only cover tune, 'Smile'. Dozens of artists have recorded this Charles Chaplin evergreen, and Savage Rose's dreamy version is fairly pleasant, if a bit forgettable. This album starts much more promisingly than it continues, and at some point the music becomes rather boring really. Therefor two stars is enough.

— First review of this album —

I'm writing this single review mainly to remind us of the existence of this legendary Danish rock group in the PA database, as I did with another single review in February. Sadly there still are no reviews by those -- surely better acquainted than me -- who pushed for the contradictory artist addition here. I'm challenging you!

'My Family Was Gay' is the last song on the band's third album Travelin' (1969), and despite the 8-minute length it was also released as a single in which the song was divided in two halves. According to All Music Guide the "shockingly titled" song has "rather straightforward hints of incest". I won't deal with the lyrics. Musically this is a gorgeous soul oriented song. Although it doesn't necessarily call for a distinctive progressive rock stamp on it (it's 1969 when the genre was just developing, anyway), the song length makes it possible to have some proggy variety in the performance. This concerns mostly the latter half featuring a great electric guitar solo and momentary changes in the tempo and intensity before returning into the song's main substance.

Most of all, the band sounds wonderful. The unique vocals of Annisette, the piano & organ work reminiscent of THE BAND at their best, the fine drumming of Alex Riel, the Baroque pop flavour with the harpsichord, and the mentioned guitar solo. The early years of PROCOL HARUM may also come to mind, but frankly they had very few songs to challenge the passion and power of this one. I think I just fell in love with this song which surely must be the highlight of the album that's generally not counted among the strongest -- or the most progressive -- of this band.

So, if you know well some of their albums, please share your insights.

— First review of this album —

A request to those PA people who are familiar with this historically important Danish band, and especially to those who championed them here: I'd really like to read your reviews (only some ratings without reviews exist). No one besides me has even added items to their discography. Please, share your knowledge. I have listened to this band too little to be competent for an album review, hence a simple single review based on YouTube listening.

This is what All Music Guide has to say of their second album Travelin' (1969): "More excursions into soul-rock territory dominate one of their less distinguished albums. Highlights include the more serene and melodic cuts", the title track mentioned as one of them. Yes, the song is serene, melodic and pretty charming. The legendary female vocalist Anisette is not much heard this time. The male voices sing in nice high-pitched harmonies, backed by acoustic guitar, thinly whirling organ sound and a fine rhythm section. The Beach Boys made similar sympathetic small-scale songs.

'Life's Other Side' is another song from Travelin', featuring impressive, albeit somewhat shrieky lead vocals by Anisette. She uses a lot of vibrato in her ballsy and raspy voice, and thus she may be a case of love or hate. Funnily, I usually don't very much appreciate female voices like hers (for example in the early French prog band Sandrose), but I like Anisette for her naiive uniqueness. The song is a fairly rocking one and it contains harpsichord.