MORGAN

The only thing that strikes me as odd is that Morgan has had to come to Italy to record (and published) this album. Why, then, as too many bands (not just between RCA's bands) has disappeared as a band. Considering the high quality of music presented can only regret that this band has produced one album and has recorded a second album (released posthumously). Morgan was a band formed by great musicians, all with previous experience in famous bands (but today interesting for the presence of vocalist Tim Staffel, former Smile [pre Queen]).

The music is good, a mix between ELP, King Crimson, Yes but it is strange As there are echoes of Italian bands of the period, perhaps because many of Italian bands were trying to copy English andAmerican music (not that this is a fault, after all). (Probably the echo of Italian Prog is due to certain sounds of synths, because programmed with Italian programmers). In all these compositions like "War Games" or "Alone", shine a bright light. Although the production is a little flat (defect typical of Italian productions of the period) and it sounds so Banco del Mutuo Soccorso I can say that "Nova Solis" is an album of a band that deserved to go to the Olympus of the great bands of the 70's. Also because the suite "Nova Solis" it sounds very Yes in some parts and Greenslade in others, as well as incorporating elements of King Crimson, ELP, and other similar bands, to the point that it could be said to see in it a very personal style.

Although "Nova Solis" is an album of a minor success band, is an excellent album, that can still be good today and, indeed, to convey the same emotions as that emitted in 1972.

I purchased this album primarily because I wanted to see what Tim Staffel got up to after leaving Smile. As a big Smile fan (as big a fan as one can be for a group that released only 6 songs clocking in for a total of less than 30 minutes), I had hoped for a bit of that Smile sound in this album. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of keyboardist Fisher, as I knew he would later go on to Mott the Hoople, and although a fan of that band, I wasn't sure how much in terms of "chops" the guy had. I was disappointed on neither account.

The vocal portions are quite reminiscent of the Smile/early Queen sound, especially on the Staffel penned "Alone" and on the chorus of "War Games" and of course on the old Smile tune "Earth" which made its way into the middle of the epic "Nova Solis". As others have said, the instrumental work reminds me a lot of ELP, that is bombastic, pretentious and a whole lot of fun. Fisher tackles the keys as ably as Emerson, and the bassist and drummer (Robert Sapsed and Mo Bacon respectively) are more than capable of keeping up and providing some over the top playing to go along with the over the top keyboard work of Fisher.

The epic "Nova Solis" is actually three songs, "Floating", the previously mentioned "Earth" and "May I Remember" connected with interwoven instrumental passages composed by Fisher (think Tarkus here). "Alone" is more of an accoustic song and definitely reminds of Smile, and a bit of the more accoustic ELP style. "War Games" has a bouncy, rhythmic piano during the verses, and the choruses are definitely Smile or early Queen in their sound. The opening track, "Samarkhand the Golden" kicks things off with ample amounts of pomp. This is an easy 4-star album, a great edition to anyone's prog collection. If you are a fan of Smile or early-Queen and ELP, add a star, as this is essential listening.

Morgan Fisher is a genius.

There, I said it. I mean, how else could he make some of the most inventive and interesting prog rock on the planet and end up in his late 50s writing music for commercials in Japan, and getting a pretty penny for it I would hope. Sounds like a good gig to me, and a good life lived for this king of B-list prog, master of the sideshow and winner of countless Best Music No One Really Cares About awards. I don't know, maybe Fisher's playfulness appeals to me (something usually missing from today's prog). Or maybe his truly impressive musical range and compositional gifts are just too hard to ignore despite the funhouse feeling on this debut from 1972. And then there's the spectacle. All I know is Nova Solis is spilling over with atmosphere and imagery, and the fact is that Morgan Fisher gave more on his records than many of the bigger names of the time. It's an album wherein, as John Lennon said of Mr. Kite; "You should be able to smell the peanuts".

Solis is an extravaganza of what had become possible with the rock format, a parade of idea after idea passing like giant floats, each eagerly waiting in line to be revealed. This is prog when things were closer to the wild west, with as many snakeoil salesmen and roaming criminals as reliable merchants and ranchers. But among the scoundrels, Morgan Fisher and songwriting partner Tim Staffell were legit. Simply put, this LP was the sh*t-- the absolutely real thing, authentic, strong as aged goat cheese and stinking of a far off place where no good things were happening. It's what the guys who have heard it all and know classic era prog inside & out quietly listen to when no one else is around. Every aging, coffee-swilling cigarette smoker with a bad hankerin' for prog and a tragically steady paycheck who's collection from Britain between 1969 and 1979 is larger than that thing they launched the space shuttle from will deny to their death this is the godsmack of second tier symphonic prog. But it is and they know it.

Similarities are hard to peg for these guys, it was such an original group. Certainly the brilliant descriptive and incidental work of Raymond Scott is apparent in Fisher's material, as well as Syd Barrett's sense of adventure, the circuses of Dave Greenslade and maybe a whiff of Zappa. 'Samarkhand the Golden' is wonderful vintage stuff enhanced liberally by Fisher's VCS 3 synth, Hohner & DK 1, Mo Bacon's eager drums and bassist Rob Sapsed doing a heroic job enhancing Fisher and Staffell's arrangement. Derivative 'Alone' is a miss but 'War Games' rocks, Bacon tearing up his drums, Staffell's vaguely biblical lyric and giddy vocal, and Fisher terrific on all number of keys from a Steinway Grand to a Hammond to a Spinet as he knits up the background, always sure to never let a good moment go to waste. Holst's 'Jupiter' from The Planets starts the second half, the nine part title piece. It's not long before things start melting apart into sound effects and space sickness but Morgan picks it up and pumps out the prog; mean organ flurries, unexpected jazzplay, piano lines merging into squealing synths, descriptive mood-setting, carousels, calliopes, histrionic dramaturgy, and more Holst at the end.

A one of a kind release by a band that epitomised the working prog musician and what a few inspired guys could do with some good equipment. Someday along your listening journey, Morgan Fisher's work deserves your attention. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But soon, and for the rest of your life.

This album shadowed by its recognized predecessor "Nova Solis" 1972 has exceeded all my expectations. Unlike "Nova Solis" (which generally speaking is a kind of "mix bag" of pop, sympho with some jazz-rock-fusion touches) here we have one of the very beautiful, uniquely formed, crafted, keyboard-driven kind of sympho-rock and jazz-rock outfits. To get a rough idea just imagine how it could be if ELP would play jazz-rock. Morgan Fisher has proofed him self as one of the most intricate keyboard wizards (Moraz-Wakeman-Emerson level). The album was tragically underrated at the time due to poor promotion. In US the album was issued in 1976 by title "Brown Out". A must for all fans of keyboard dominated type of symphonic-rock direction. Highly recommended, five stars without any doubts! Progressively yours. Dreamfish.

4,5 stars - This debut of the obscure prog outfit Morgan is perhaps the best prog I've ever heard, and believe me, I know more about prog than any of you out there. The music is very dominated by synths (in fact, no electric guitars can be heard on this album), especially the VCS-3, and Morgan Fisher sure knows how to use that thing. And what a precious little gem Roger Taylor and Brian May lost when Tim Staffell quit Smile. No wonder they picked Freddie to replace him - their voices are very similar. If you are looking for dreamy melodic prog rock in the vein of Yes, (early) King Crimson, Genesis, etc., this is NOT what you're after. This is much more complex and inaccessible than any of those bands. If I wasn't such an expert on prog rock, I'd probably say that it reminds me of ELP. But it doesn't! Emerson never played this complex music. Fisher is far more talented, and it goes without saying that Tim Staffell is a better singer than Greg Lake since his voice is downright mediocre. Now you run along and buy this album and expose your little ears to experimental rock extraordinaire!!

A band that falls into that gray area of prog rock during the early 1970s when everyone and their brother was getting into it with mixed results. That being said, 'The Sleeper Wakes' is not a half-bad record, though only about four of the cuts are above average. But those few are excellent, even brilliant at times, and certainly superior to material of similar ilk by Greenslade at their duller moments or Tempest (UK). Keyboardist Morgan Fisher leads a kind of ELP organ prog meets Frank Zappa jamming with Cartoon (American). Classical rockers 'Fire in the Head', 'The Right' and avant-symphonic pieces like 'What is - is What' make this easy-to-scoff-at album worth a few dollars if you see it.