T2

Proggers love "Top" lists for their favourite music. I own over 500 prog albums and this would make any top 10 (probably quite high in the 10) I could compile. It is imaginative, clever and well played. The songs "No More White White Horses" and "Morning" are prog classics.

I can remember buying the vinyl original on its day of release and 2 of my pals also bought it. Sadly, their record label didn't back them enough so they fragmented when they could have been big prog figures of the 70s.

As a power trio they managed to make huge prog creations with just a little use of other instruments in the studio (the brass sounds on the 2 tracks I have mentioned are superb). My only negative comment is that I prefer Keith Cross's power guitar chords to his fast solos but this is not really a criticism.

The recent boxset including 2 albums' worth of additional material includes a remaster of the classic "Boomland" album which is far superior to the previous releases on CD and I am still getting more familiar with those songs on the extra material as I keep playing the "Boomland" CD.

A criminally underrated band who, with more backing, could have been BIG! with just a guitar, bass, drums lineup. Shame on their record label of 1970!

I'm of the opinion that progressive rock and heavy metal share a strong bond from infancy. It's true that many of the metal bands of the eighties and nineties were heavily influenced by prog bands of the seventies, but more than just that, I believe that way back in the late sixties as both progressive rock and the first generation of heavy rock artists were developing their crafts, both subgenres had emerged from the nexus of psychedelic music. Simply speaking, progressive rock would borrow a lot from jazz and classical while early heavy metal would come from a combination of acid rock or heavy psych and a revamped version of the blues. Yet thanks to the experimental psychedelic rock years, both subgenres would freely choose items from the other's bag of tricks. One needs look no further than King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man to hear how both prog and metal could be presented in a single song.

T.2. were an English band that took heavy guitar rock and blended it with a jazzy rhythm and created extended songs which sometimes featured psychedelic guitar distortion and feedback sections and other times soft, acoustic moments. In the simplest description of their music, imagine "Fire and Water" era Free with the largely unknown Necromandus. They released a single album in 1972 and a second album's worth of material was shelved until 1997. They released three albums in the nineties which seem to have been mostly overlooked.

"It'll All Work Out in Boomland" is an album of four tracks with side B being taken up by the 21-minute "Morning". The song that ends up on YouTube proto-metal and early heavy rock compilations is "No More White Horses", which opens with a simple three-chord riff played muted at first but then opens up as the music intensifies. It's a great example of early doom metal as indeed was the music of many English bands at the time. The band is joined by a trumpet (possibly two) and then the song mellows down for the verses while powering up for the choruses. It closes with lots of drum action and blazing guitar work.

The album opener, "Circles" is also a very worthy track to mention for its jazz-based drumming and bass work and some of the guitar playing as well. But there are open chords and barre chords played with crashing bursts of distortion. Near the end, the music lays back for some experimental jazz-type playing as the guitar goes from clean jazzy exploratory notes to psychedelic distortion rumbles and feedback.

The middle track on side A, "J.L.T." is a mostly acoustic track not unlike something Pink Floyd might have done on the soundtrack for "More".

Side B's "Morning" is basically in two parts, with a slow acoustic opening that leads into a mid-tempo rock song with more Free-like hard rock chords. There's a two-minute psychedelic/experimental interlude before the second part begins, which is characterized by a more up-tempo rock number that then becomes a showcase for wild guitar soloing. Note that during these lead guitar showcases, the drums are often going nuts in parts while the bass is holding down a repetitive but frantic rhythm. The bass does stand out a lot on this album and though it often repeats its lines, bass player Bernard Jinks says in the CD re-issue booklet that he intentionally restrained himself to allow for Keith Cross (guitar) and Peter Dunton (drums) to be able to show off their talents more.

The re-issue comes with three bonus tracks, all of which are BBC sessions. "Questions and Answers" and "CD" are not on the album and feature a more psychedelic guitar sound and playing style, leading me to believe that these are older recordings. "CD" must be the hardest hitting track on the whole, uh, CD. I also feel the guitar solos on these two tracks are more emotive than what we hear on the actual studio album. The final track is "Circles" again, though I feel it's less effective here with the BBC because the drums are not mixed very loudly and the heavier guitar chords are also quieted down.

T.2. were a band that took the jazzy blend of rock, intensified the guitar sound with lots of hard-hitting open chords and barre chords, and added some frantic lead guitar. They played longer tracks and like most bands of the day, they added mellow acoustic parts. There is also the presence of brass on a couple of tracks. They are not progressive like Genesis or Yes or even King Crimson but more like the psychedelic bands of the late sixties who added parts to songs that allowed for a galloping rhythm section to provide a backdrop for fast fingers on the guitar fretboard. An album recommended more to people who enjoy heavy psychedelic rock and early hard rock / heavy metal and less to people who enjoy experimental jazz or symphonic rock.

British heavy symphonic blues power trio T2's crowning gem, "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" is a truly archetypal release of the early 70's.

A perfect compilation of all of the nuances of the emerging prog sound at the turn of the decade, "Boomland" ranges from the heavy blues rock of "No More White Horses" to the hazy psychedelia of "In Circles" to the lightly orchestrated balladry of "J.L.T." to the symphonic grandeur of "Morning". Impressively enough, though, it sounds neither dated nor derivative. Instead, T2 presents a very interesting, and powerful, patchwork of all of the different musical ideas being tossed around in UK at the time.

I would rate this a masterpiece if it wasn't for the slight limitations in terms of sound that are posed by the three-man lineup; aside from "J.L.T.", which features some gorgeous brass arrangements, the guitar-bass-drums sound can get a little monotonous. As it stands, this is a solid 4 star album; an excellent addition to not just any prog collection, but any classic rock collection, too.

3.5 stars...

Peter Dunton,Bernard Jinks and Keith Cross formed T2 in 1970 with an aim to play ground- breaking rock music with lots of energy and enthusiasm.Dunton and Jinks were members of the band ''Neon Pearl'',while Jinks met later Cross,as they both played on ''Bulldog Breed''.T2 were signed by Decca Records and released the album with the imaginative title ''It'll all work out in boomland'' in 1970.

The album contains four tracks,one of the being the long epic ''Morning'',taking the whole B- side of the LP.The starter ''In circles'' is where the band seems to have given all their energy and lust for good and powerful rock.A guitar-driven track,where Keith Cross shines with his unbelievable performance,characterized by the abstract chords and powerful grooves,with a tight rhythm section covering him as well.''J.L.T.'' is a lot more than a psych ballad with a very emotional Dunton singing and somekind of horn-section with trumpets ending the track with a thrilling melody.Side A closes with ''No more white horses'' ,which continues from where ''J.L.T.'' ended,with a piano-driven opening section with smooth vocals and backing trumpets supporting,when suddenly 17-years old Cross takes over playing his frenetic guitar all the way to the end.The endless energy and complicated breaks of T2 return on side B with ''Morning'',a composition split between acoustic parts with a psych orientation and great vocal sections, and instrumental passages based on Cross' hard/bluesy guitars and Dunton's dynamic drumming. It's the track where I am reminded most of ROBERT FRIPP's guitar style in his mid-70's works with KING CRIMSON...and that says something for Cross' talent.

Unfortunately T2 were short-lived and it is really a question what this band could have created a couple of years later,when progressive rock was on the rise.Overall,a very good and powerful heavy Proto-Prog release from a band with talent and skills.Strongly recommended!

T2 were one of the great mysteries of the late 60s early 70s. Should have been HUGE but somehow lost out to lesser heavy prog bands. All three members of this trio were exceptional musicians and the songwriting is top-notch. The interplay between the trio is well balanced between individual virtuosity and group dynamics. Although the recording itself isn't the highest quality, the music production is solid, especially the orchestral sections of "No More White Horses."

If you like the idea of the darker sides of the Hendrix Exprerience and Cream, paired with the scope and expanse of the early days of prog rock, then this release is well worth checking out. Also, If you're famliliar with the fuzzed out, underground-feel of early Vertigo label releases and that appeals, then this release should be a priority.

I'd like to know whatever happened to guitarist Keith Cross after the demise of T2?

Avestin has been promoting this album for a while now, and when I mentioned it to Tom Ozric he couldn't contain his enthusiasm for it saying it was a 5 star album. So I went into this hopeful but also thinking about how many times i've been disappointed by similar circumstances in the past. Well I was quickly blown away by the sheer power and inventiveness of this trio, nevermind the astonishing guitar work of this teenage prodigy named Keith Cross. The thing is i'm even more impressed by the drumming of Peter Dunston who ranks up near the top of the heap for me as far as favourite drummers go. He's absolutely incredible ! It's hard to believe this band didn't become famous until you read how "Decca Records" held back the distribution of this album purposely out of spite. They had T2's debut album produced by one of their own because they were in a dispute with the band who wanted a really raw sound like when they played live, this is not what the label wanted hence their own producer. Well the band made some compromises and so did the producer. The final result pissed off the label so much they fired their own producer, and many fans who heard T2 live could not find their album for sale anywhere. Ahhh politics. I like the story of when the band played the Marquee Club and John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix were both hanging around backstage. These guys were killer live and there was a huge buzz about them. Unfortunately it all fizzled because of poor sales.The label had won.

"In Circles" opens in a restrained way that sounds so good then it kicks into a higher gear. So impressive. Vocals after 1 1/2 minutes. Why does this remind me of early CAMEL ? The drumming is outstanding as the guitarist rips it up. What an opener ! "J.L.T." opens with strummed guitar as keys and drums join in. Reserved vocals before a minute. Mellotron after 3 1/2 minutes. Nice. "No More White Horses" is a song I knew already because I have in on my LANDBERK "Lonely Land" album. That was the first time I had heard of T2, when it said it was a cover of a T2 song. The sound builds until the guitar is screaming. It settles 2 minutes in with strummed guitar, bass and light drums and starts to build again.These contrasts continue. Check out the guitar solo 5 minutes in and then the blistering attack 7 minutes in as riffs follow. "Morning" is the side long closing track at over 21 minutes. Pure Prog right here as themes are repeated and the tempo and mood shifts throughout. Just an amazing ride that has it all.

We don't see ZowieZiggie offer up too many 5 stars but he did with this one including an opening "Gosh !" which is exactly how I feel about this album.

I chose this album as my first review because T2's It'll All Work Out In Boomland has a very important meaning for me. It's perhaps the first minor-classic I bought, I remember it like if it was yesterday, a sunny day with my schoolmates in Viareggio, and in a small shop I found that sleeve that I had already seen in a book... So, it's very difficult for me to be objective about this album.

Now that I think of it, I don't want to be objective at all in my reviews.

I won't indulge in technical matters, because I'm not competent enough, but instead I'll try to convey the overall feel of the album, with a longer paragraph for the most significant cut of the album I'm reviewing.

So, this was released in 1970, so it means that the band had bluesy and rock influences, but in this they tried to move a step forward towards..bla blah blah blah...pretty boring uh?

....................... General atmosphere of the album

Once you start to listen to this album, you immediately become aware of the incredible potential of the young guitarist, Keith Cross, who was 17 when the album was released. In fact, the first song, In Circles, features some stingy and aggressive guitar play, but you notice that Peter Dunton's voice wants you to relax and think, despite all the guitar madness going on. Relaxed energy. The vocals are unusually calm for this kind of music. The other kind of ambience that this album brings is lonely introspection. It appears in the strangely titled JLT (it apparently means Joy Little Tune, in spite of the introspection of the lyrics) which express an atmosphere of a summer morning in the country, with the protagonist passing his time in solitude, torturing his own brain with questions Feeling less forgotten than alone/In solitude the time/Passed in several shades of dismay/And glimpses of the truth) This is achieved with a folk instrumentation (acoustic guitar mainly) which accompanies the vocals, until a surprising mellotron section comes: and that's one of the best mellotron tracks I've heard. The two halves of the T2 sound unite for the conclusive Morning. We mentioned morning speaking of JLT, right? Well, the start of the long Morning song is very very similar... delicate folk music which express the sleepyiness of a summer...well...morning. But, later, the electric power of the band comes out and this piece evolves in a improvised freakout, but don't think of a mess... It's fantasy, not noise making. Sudden riffs, cleverly interrupted by folk passages and mellow vocals, and then, to keep your attention high, another stunning guitar solo!

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The most significant track of the album is NO MORE WHITE HORSES. That's a monster track.

This, apparently, as stated in a interview with Peter Dunton, wants to recreate the feeling of dispair and hopelessness felt by the population during the Polish invasion by the german troops. Now that you know it, try to find the references in the song! It opens with a guitar/bass riff which reminds of the marching german troops, who are approaching...you can feel the danger and the menace. This builds to a climax where the trumpets joins the guitar (a trumpet of war?), there is a vibe of tension, when the vocal section finally comes, you almost feel released. But, the vocals convey a sense of despair and terror, as experienced by the population (you got nowhere to hide, there's no white horse to run away). The rest of the song is conducted by the guitar solos, which gradually overwhelm the piano (the violence of war which overwhelms the piano, do you remember that film about the polish pianist during WW2, eh?) The song climaxes in multi tracked noises of triumphant feedbacked guitar, after the echoes of the defeated instruments, which fade away....

......

An excellent album, it's a sham that their second album (T2/Fantasy) it's not complete, because the result could have been even superior to this, thanks to the more frequent presence of keyboards (Mellotron), which has only a secondary role here.

This album should have been their second release but was buried into the vaults for a very long period of time (twenty-five years!). The release of these lost tapes was a fine news for the fans of this discreet band from the early seventies.

Although the sound might not be exceptional, it is quite decent when one bears in mind its genesis.

Since the line-up is the same as the one who recorded the excellent debut Boomland, what we'll get here is pretty much in-line: at least during some tracks. A heavy and bluesy rock which has its roots in the Jimi Hendrix Experience (Highway is the closest and best one of the whole).

What makes them special though are very sweet vocals which contrast with their heavy music (Careful Sam). Psychedelia is not forgotten either and is softly rendered during the smooth Timothy Monday). During longer pieces, their proclivity to jam (CD) is very well underlined. This album also holds some very smooth musical passages. Almost pastoral and early Genesis oriented. The fine Minstrel is such a melancholic track with mellotron and flute.

After such a nice parenthesis, we are brought back in their heavy blues jamming mood. As such, Fantasy is not very well achieved and the guitar solo is too much Jimi oriented. Too much is too much.

The closing song is another good number, with some symphonic aspects as well. It sounds as if T2 was willing to explore new musical territories. It would have been a nice adventure, had they decided to go on a little longer. But they decided to split: too bad! It is called T2. Such a name maybe because they hadn't another title in mind while they wrote it, who knows?

This is an enjoying album, but I was much more impressed with their debut one. Three stars.

Gosh!

As soon as you have heard the first notes from "In Circles" the gorgeous opening number of this album, there is no doubt that the "experience" will be quite interesting. This long track is a truly a wild stuff, but at the same time it has rounded edge, mostly thanks to fine vocals.

In terms of "experience", no need to add that the magical shadow of the master (Hendrix) is floating during this incredible song. It is a highlight of this album and an amazing kick off.

To be honest, "T2" is also effective while they decide to record sweet and psychedelic rock ballads. Keyboards add some prog touch indeed to "J.L.T.

Another excellent track is "No More White Horses". It opens again with a furious guitar solo, not alien to Jimi or Clapton. The psychedelic feeling remain through the peaceful vocals. The whole is a fabulous trip (I bet you) through a remarkable song: the hypnotic bass play provides an hypnotic riff during the instrumental parts and what to say about the guitar work from Keith Cross? Simply brilliant I guess. "No More White Horses" is a superb track and another highlight.

The epic "Morning" is a perfect digest of the whole album.

It starts very smoothly, almost as "J.L.T." and evolves brilliantly into hard to heavy territories on such a fantastic crescendo scheme. All this being covered with the smooth vocals from Peter Dunton who brings a sense of sensibility and tranquillity amongst these hard sounds.

OK, it might be a little long (just over twenty-one minutes), but I'm just found of this type of music (the Hendrix syndrome again). It is a vibrant return to these late mid sixties full of excesses but so important for the further development of rock music.

This song is a great combination between heavy and tranquil parts. It is really moving while Dunton sings. Some solid soloing are dispersed all along this long track and keep the interest of this song pretty high during the whole length of this fabulous number.

The CD release comes with three bonus tracks which are a great complement to the original release. Same and great Hendrix filiation during both "Questions & Answers" and the jazzier "CD".

I like the former one in particular which could have sit perfectly on the original album. The same fine atmosphere can be felt (vocals, riffs and beat). It almost starts as the Jimi version of Hey Joe but quickly leans towards a huge guitar solo again. This is one of my favourite song from this album (but almost each one is so fine).

"CD" is more of a jam "experience": no doubt that you will be captivated by these musical moments which reminds me furiously of "Voodoo Chile". And the demo version form the opening track of this great album is such a fine way to loop the loop.

This little known band produced A HUGE album which is an extremely good picture of the late sixties/early seventies hard-psychedelic music. I am emotional giving the masterpiece to this album which is not so hard to find hopefully (some 10? on Amazon's marketplace - France).

As a friend of mine once said, this album sounds like a rehersal. Not far from truth. Very poor reunion attempt by T2, especially if we consider their first album It'll All Work Out In Boomland, which was more than fine. The fact that Second Bite was recorded in 1992 (though it sounds like it was created in 1982), and that Cross is missing cannot be an excuse.

Overall feel of the album is cheap (partly due to low standards of SPM/WWR label); songs are in horrible pop vein, with very few progressive elements, and they all sound somewhat similar. I hardly managed to listen it form the beginning to the end as the whole thing sounds uninspired, extremly boring and lame, though with some laughable moments - for example, sound of the police siren in Out in the street is totally ludicrous. Most of the time I got a feeling of a local wedding band playing poor covers on their cheap equipment.

Vocals are identical in every song - sleepy and tired, drumming is simply odious (sounds like a drum machine), keyboards sound artificial, only the guitar playing is acceptable. Moments of hope are scarce, the only one that I can think of is guitar lead in Careful Sam. 22 minute epic Age 2 age is epic indeed - I nearly fell asleep.

Maybe this album is a joke noone gets?