TEMPEST

Irish like Prog Folk / Folk from USA ? I wasn't sure what to think at first. But over the course of time, I felt the need to listen to this album again and again. Catchy, indeed. Combination of my two (let's say) favourite genres (even Irish music has its music after which you will know everything, there's not much place to progress, not as, but similar to blues - you simply have to behave within certain limits, if you want it to work).

And it's combination of basic Irish Folk and something more. I though that this "something" isn't here (after listening typical ballad Let's Live For Today), but later on, especially in interludes within songs, it's present.

So probably

4(-), very barely. But because it's my first Tempest album and I don't know yet about said using of the same style, I'll stick with this rating. And I quite like it anyway.

At least at this early stage in their career, TEMPEST did little to justify categorization as "progressive" beyond occasional passages suggestive of big-time JETHRO TULL envy, and I suppose one could argue that's all the credentials they need. But so many bands, especially from the other side of the Atlantic, plied a similar trade in a more convincing, serious and authentic manner.

This is not bad by any means - it's entertaining and relatively well produced Celtic rock, not much different from what you'd get if a good Irish pub band was given studio time and a saavvy producer. This is particulary true on the first half of the selections, dominated as they are by revved up takes on overly played out standards like "Handsome Molly" and "Wild Rover". The proceedings are more than salvaged by the later selections - the thankfully wordless "Dance of the Third Leg", the punchy "Heart of Mine", and the ambitious "Man Without a Name" - all of which display more adventurousness and point to future potentia. At present I cannot say whether this was fulfilled since I pretty much dismissed TEMPEST as a MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG or OYSTERBAND midwestern wannabe in the early 90s.

Somehow the centuries of practice have provided their British Isles counterparts with a more spontaneous and enduring take on this little subgenre, which is celtic rock, no more no less,. However, if this is a favourite style of yours, as it is of mine, TEMPEST has done just enough to avoid sounding like a totally cheap bootleg. 2.5 stars rounded down.

Tempest´s third offering was the second I had since I discovered this very interesting prog folk outfit. Compared to 2006´s The Double Cross, this one is slightly more on the traditional side (meaning the electric guitars here have not so much bite). I also prefer DC´s repertoire more than this one, but that´s just a matter of taste, for the usual high quality choice of songs, the excellent musicanship and the tasteful arrangements are all here ten years before that disc. I also love lead singer and multi instrumentalist Lief Sorbye´s voice. He sounds a lot like a old time minstrel coming from a Robin Hood film!

One thing there always puzzled me was the fact that this band is based on the USA since their music is not even remotely american. They are truly heirs of european groups like Steeleay Span and Fairport Convention. Tempst did modernize their sound and again the production is much superior to those two groups ever had. And the playing here is quite joyful and energetic with some fantastic electric guitar licks and brilliant bass parts along with the more traditional elements of the flute, violin and mandolin. You can see those guys really love what they´re doing. As a curio Keith Emerson does makes an appearance on the first track, The Barrow Man, delivering the odd synth solo.

Tempest hardly brings anything new to this kind of sound in terms of structure, but, boy, are they convincing! They do make everything here sound new! And there is no fillers anywhere. There are few lows here also, and even in those cases I must point out it is just my personal taste, not the quality of the material.So if you like prog folk, go for it. It is very unliked you won´t like this band. Rating: four stars.

This is my first Tempest album and I should say I never heard about this band before. But I read one of Kenneth Levine´s reviews about them and. since we have similar tastes, I decided to give it a try. And I did not regret it! Real good band and real good CD! Tempest does sound a lot like a modern version of Steeleye Span (sans the female vocals) from the mid 70´s (around the time of Now We Are Six, to be more precise). But make no mistake, they are not copycats. In fact they sound a lot rockier and the production here is quite superior.

Like Steeleye Span the repertoire has a lot of traditional songs, plus some original stuff. Lead singer Lief Sorbye has a fine voice, perfect for the style, like a young Ian Anderson (so, expect lots of personality!). The musicanship is top notch, of course and I particularly liked the electric guitar sound: powerful, crunching, but not overwhelming. The guy knows when to play and when no to play. The bass parts are also a highlight, great! There are some awesome traditional sounds too, like the violin (another fine feature here). this is a team efford of sorts and it´s one of the best I heard lately.

As it often happens with most of the good prog records, The Double Cross took a little time to be fully appreciated, even if the opening track (Captain Kidd) did make a strong impression since the very first moment I head it. There are no fillers and the instrumental tunes show all the prowness of this energetic band. Very convincing record. Even if they did not bring anything groundbreaking or new to the genre, this is the kind of CD every prog folk fan should own it. I´m looking forward to hear their other works, before and after this one. But The Double Cross is, already, highly recommended. .

They (seemingly) never tire of the road!

Ever since 1996 (I have not yet heard their very earliest albums; this band goes back to the late 80's), Tempest have been trying to make the "same" album over and over; same formula, same sound, same aesthetic, same producer, same label, etc. Some of the members of the band have been replaced over time, but the musical direction has remained basically the same throughout. They seem to live by a 'if it works, why change anything'- principle. And it has worked for them as they have indeed made several excellent albums that both Prog Rock fans and Folk Rock fans might find more than worth their while. However, what I have just said somewhat disguises the fact that some of Tempest's albums lean a bit more to the Folk side and other albums a bit more to the Rock side of the band. The present album falls somewhere in between on that scale.

Like their obvious heroes Steeleye Span, Tempest here mix traditional with original material in a Rock context and they even feature a cover of an old Pop song in Let's Live For Today which in the booklet is described as "our Celtodelic cover of the classic 1967 Grass Roots hit". As on all previous Tempest albums, we also once again get one traditional Scandinavian song sung in Norwegian (Jomfru) due to the origin of the multi-talended band leader Lief Sorbye. He has a great and distinctive voice and on this album he is credited with playing mandoguitar, mandolins, octave mandolas, flute, harmonica, bodhran and tambourine. But the sound of Another Dawn is, as usual with Tempest, dominated by acoustic and electric guitars, fiddle, bass and drums though I miss the excellent lead guitar from the Balance album.

While some previous albums featured unusual elements such as bagpipes and didgeridoo (The Double-Cross), female backing vocals (Shapeshifter), synthesisers (played by Keith Emerson on Turn Of The Wheel) and an abundance of flutes, Another Dawn features only the "basic" Tempest line up. Producer Robert Barry is, like on previous albums, credited with playing keyboards, but there is very little keyboards on this album - mainly Hammond organ and never to the front of the sound. Barry, who has been with the band for a long time, is in the booklet elevated to 'honorary band member'.

In conclusion I can say that this is a good and very enjoyable album from a great band, but in order to keep the Prog fan interested over their continued discography, Tempest will really have to start making some radical progression. With the present album they don't push things significantly beyond what Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span has been doing since the 70's. Indeed, attentative listeners will recognize a few of the traditional pieces that has been previously performed by these older Folk Rock bands. While Another Dawn is a recommended addition to any collection that already holds Turn Of The Wheel, Balance and The Double-Cross, I do not recommend starting your investigation into Tempest with this album. Those other albums are all better places to start and a bit more interesting albums from a Prog perspective.

Another storming album from Tempest!

Starting with the great Turn Of The Wheel album (I have not yet heard the band's two first albums), this great Folk Rock band seems to have operated on the every-second-album- principle i.e. they have alternated between making good albums and even better albums. While albums like Turn Of The Wheel, Balance and the present one are more Rock based, the albums released in between these, The Gravel Walk and Shapeshifter, are more focused on the band's pure Folk side. I don't mean to say that all these albums are radically different from each other, they are certainly not. But Turn Of The Wheel, Balance and The Double-Cross are better and more interesting albums, in my opinion; especially so for Prog fans.

With The Double-Cross, Tempest once again turns towards the more hard edged sound found on Balance and it is clear that they stay true to what they do best. This is the Tempest that I like best, anyway. However, even if their different albums emphasise different aspects of the band, all of the albums I mentioned above, including the present one, seem to follow a similar formula and all the Tempest trademarks are here once again; a mix between original and traditional material, a mix between Rock and Folk, etc. Also, we once again get one traditional Scandinavian song sung in Norwegian (Per Spelmann) due to the origin of band leader and multi-instrumentalist Lief Sorbye and also once again the album opens with a song about a notorious pirate. This time it is Captain Kidd, which is the opening number (on Balance the opening number was a song called Captain Ward). All this gives a slight feeling that they are repeating themselves a little bit, but it is certainly a pleasant thing to listen to even if not quite as breathtaking as some earlier efforts.

There are, however, some new and exciting elements on this album too. Bagpipes and didgeridoo makes their first appearance on a Tempest album here which is most notable on Cabar Feidh. But for the most part the sound is, as usual, dominated by fiddle, mandolin, bass, drums and guitars. The electric guitar sound is slightly less to my liking here and there is not such great lead guitar work as could be found on Balance. The keyboards are, as always, played by Robert Barry, but there is very little keyboards on this album - mainly Hammond and never to the front of the sound.

The album closes with a longer track called Wizard's Walk. This is a medley of several pieces and is not very different from the rest of the album even if it moves through several different moods and atmospheres including a Blues improvisation with harmonica!

While this is another strong Tempest album, it is, as I said, not quite up to par with Turn Of The Wheel and Balance. I would recommend going for those two first, but for anyone wanting to venture beyond that point, The Double-Cross is an excellent addition to your collection. It sure was to mine!

One for the fiddler

As a follow up to the excellent Turn Of The Wheel album, The Gravel Walk is something of a disappointment. This albums seems not to have been aimed at those who were impressed by Turn Of The Wheel's innovative and eclectic mix of Folk Rock and hard edged progressive Rock, but rather at fans of more traditional Folk Rock in the Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span tradition. More than half of the material here is traditional and the electric guitar solos and keyboards are much less present here as are the Ian Anderson-like flutes. The sound is dominated by fiddle, mandolin, vocals, bass and drums.

Still, this is a good album but it is, in my opinion, the least good Tempest album (among the ones I have heard so far, which are: Turn Of The Wheel, the present one, Balance, Shapeshifter and The Double-Cross).

Recommended for fans of traditional British Folk Rock, but for Prog fans I would strongly recommend to begin with another Tempest album.

Good, but not essential

Not really shifting shapes too much!

Shapeshifter is yet another good Tempest album, but I feel that they are playing it rather safe here. All the songs are good, but they don't manage to say anything that they had not already said on their previous albums. Further, the progressive elements that were so clearly present on albums like Turn Of the Wheel and Balance tend to take the backseat on this album in favour of a more classic British Folk Rock approach very much in line with Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. They once again, like on The Gravel Walk album, lean heavily on traditional material (about 50/50). Tempest still rocks here, but they have lost some of the hard edge of the Balance album.

In one sense they certainly do shift shape here; they have a new line-up once again. But the presence of Norwegian-born multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Lief Sorbye is what carries the Tempest sound. He is really a very talented singer and song writer. Sue Draheim takes over the position as fiddler on this album and she also provides backing vocals to many songs. This only strengthens the Steeleye Span similarities even more. It is actually rather remarkable that Tempest, a band that has existed only since the late 80's, can sound as confident and "classic" as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span that had been around since the 60's or early 70's.

One thing that made the previous Balance album so good was the presence of a couple of great instrumental pieces. While there are some nice instrumental work here too, there is nothing on par with Dance Of The Sand Witches or Battle Mountain Breakdown from the previous album. The band trademark to include one traditional Scandinavian Folk number sung in Norwegian is not broken, this time it is a number called Fjellmannjenta.

While Shapeshifter is definitely a good album, I would not recommend this album to start with. Turn Of the Wheel and Balance are better places to start investigating this great band.

The perfect balance!

Balance is Tempest's fifth studio album since their inception in the 80's. On their previous album, The Gravel Walk, they reverted to a more classic electrified Folk, focusing too heavily on traditional material and leaving much of the Prog and Hard Rock ambitions that were so apparent on the Turn Of The Wheel album behind. With Balance they are back on track and in line with the title of the album, there is indeed a very appealing balance here between traditional and original material, between acoustic and electric instruments, between instrumental and vocal material and between the Rock and Celtic Folk elements of their sound. The music has a harder edge than on any other Tempest album; this music really rocks! The guitar work by new member Todd Evans is impressive. Particularly on the two exceptional instrumentals Dance Of The Sand Witches and Battle Mountain Breakdown that are credited to Evans. The latter being something of a Neo-Classical Metal piece!

While the band has been through many line-up changes, the presence of Norwegian-born multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Lief Sorbye is what carries the Tempest sound. He is joined here by the aforementioned Evans on lead guitar, Adolfo Lazo on drums, William Maxwell on bass and Jim "Hurricane" Hurley on fiddle. Robert Barry is once again on the keyboards which are mainly Hammond organ and occasional and rather sparse synthesisers. Lief Sorbye himself plays mandolin, mandola, bodhran and harmonica. All involved are excellent musicians!

The album opens with a traditional number called Captain Ward which is one of four traditionals on Balance. The Fairport Convention similarities are very strong here and Sorbye's voice even reminds much of that of Simon Nicol of that band. But Tempest is more progressive and rocks harder compared to Fairport Convention and other classic British Folk Rock bands. Sorbye writes or co-writes about half of the songs here. A trademark of the band is to include one traditional Scandinavian Folk number sung in (some old variant of?) Norwegian! This album in no exception to that and this time is it a number called Villemann. It is hard to point towards stand out tracks on this album as everything is equally exciting. There is so much energy and punch in this music!

Prog fans will probably notice that the songs are shorter this time, no track is over six minutes long. But this should not deter anyone from checking this out. But don't expect too much, however. Tempest's music is still primarily electrified Folk with an edge and some distinct progressive leanings. Many fans of progressive Rock might be more satisfied starting with the brilliant Turn Of The Wheel, but Balance is really great too and both are excellent additions to any Prog collection.

Highly recommended!

Taking us by storm!

Tempest is an American-Norwegian-British Prog Folk band that has been around since the 1980's. They should not be confused with the all-British Heavy Prog band of the same name with Jon Hiseman and Allan Holdsworth that recorded two albums in the mid 70's. Also, I think that there is at least one further band also using the same name (not Prog bands though, I suppose?), and no wonder, it is indeed a great band name!

This multi-national, US-based Prog Folk band plays a Celtic-influenced Rock with fiddles, mandolins and flutes in addition to the standard Rock band line up with electric guitars, drums, bass and vocals. They also feature keyboards on their albums and on the present album none other than the great Keith Emerson guests on The Barrow Man adding some great, but admittedly rather sparse, synthesiser lines. Presumably the band met Keith while recording the Jethro Tull tribute album together with other greats such as Roy Harper, John Wetton, Ian McDonald and several others. The rest of the keyboards are played by one Robert Barry (I very much doubt it is the same Robert Barry who sang lead vocals on the 3 album with Emerson and Carl Palmer in the 80's) and is mostly organ and some synthesisers. But keyboards have only a supporting role throughout, fiddle, flute and electric guitars taking the lead.

Surprisingly for a band based in the US their sound is strongly influenced by British Folk music and is, in many respects, similar to that of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, particularly the 80's and 90's albums by that band. Indeed, I think that Tempest has played several very important Folk festivals in the Anglo-Saxon world. But Tempest has a much harder edge compared to Fairport Convention and similar bands, Tempest's music is Folk Rock with emphasis on both the 'Folk' and the 'Rock' part; this is Folk Rock that really rocks! Speaking of Fairport Convention, the multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Lief Sorbye has a voice that reminds of that of Simon Nicol. The lyrics are almost all in English, but Tempest has made it some kind of trademark to include one song on each of their albums that is sung in (some old variant of?) Norwegian! On the present album it is Bonden Og Kraka (which means the farmer and the crow).

Comparing the sound of Tempest with British Folk Rock bands of the 60's and 70's like Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span, one notices immediately that Tempest is more progressive. But don't expect too much, however. Their music is still primarily electrified Folk with some progressive touches and tendencies. The band seems a little bit afraid to delve too deeply into Prog territory, perhaps in order not to alienate their Folk following? The "progressiveness" of this band is at the level of 80's/90's Jethro Tull in their best and most progressive moments. The flutes here do indeed sound a bit similar to Ian Anderson's playing. But compared to Jethro Tull, Tempest's material is more traditionally based. Some of the material on this and other Tempest albums is traditional and some is original. Still, I'm sure Tempest's music will appeal to many fans of Jethro Tull (as well as Prog fans in general).

Many seem to think that Turn Of The Wheel was Tempest's first album, but it is actually their third studio album. In addition, they also had a compilation album as well as a live album under their belts already at this time (1996). Maybe they are more well-known in Folk circles than in Prog circles? Anyway, I have been so busy telling the history of the band (as much as I know of it) that I have so far failed to mention how great they are! Combining traditional material with original, Folk Rock with Prog Rock, Kansas-like violin with Jethro Tull-like flutes, etc. have given Tempest a sound of their own that I find highly appealing. You might even say that they "took my by storm"! Other albums by the band are very good also, but this is the place to start investigating the band.

Very highly recommended!