TITANIC

Thanks to the catchy, Santana-styled hit single 'Sultana', history has cast the heavy Anglo-Norwegian outfit Titanic - vocalist Roy Robinson, guitarist Janne Loseth, organist Kenny Aas, bassist Kjell Asperud and drummer John Lorck - as something of a one-hit-wonder; a quick glance at the group's career suggests otherwise. Formed in 1969, Titanic have actually enjoyed a pretty solid career, personified by an initial nine-year run of writing, recording and touring that produced six studio albums. Whilst many will remember Titanic for 'Sultana's jangly rhythms(which, incredibly, reached no.5 on the UK singles chart) Titanic also managed to issue a series of albums that mixed heavy rock power, psychedelic arrangements and bluesy organ riffs, a run initiated by 1970's powerful debut and eventually ended with the 1979 album 'Eye Of The Hurricane'. Though true commercial success always seemed to elude them, Titanic have always enjoyed a small-but-loyal international fanbase which has since seen them re-form twice, initially with 1991's cunningly-titled 'Lower The Atlantic', and then once again with 2008's 'Diamonds & Ashes'. However, for the true Titanic experience, it is this eponymous debut from 1970 that one must seek out. Originally issued by CBS before finally receiving a proper remastering for Repertoire Records excellent 2002 CD reissue, 'Titanic' ties bruisingly heavy guitar-and- organ interplay, pounding percussion, and yearning melodies into a hard 'n' bluesy acid-rock concoction brushed with a slight pop-sike hue. The chugging, seven-minute opener 'Searchin', the percussion-heavy assault of the album highlight 'Something On My Mind' and 'I See No Reason's imperious riffing are exactly what Titanic are about; powerful drums backing crushingly-heavy blues-based riffs and juicy organ runs. Add the gruff vocals of Englishman Roy Robinson and you have Titanic at their youthful best. Elsewhere, though, you will find surprises. The pretty, piano-led semi-ballad 'Mary Jane' with its orchestral backing and sentimental tone proves a real departure, making for a slightly awkward stylistic shift, whilst the Fab Four homage 'Cry For A Beatle' exhibits a light and hazy psychedelic-pop vibe. Most bizarre of all, however, is the big band-and-jazz fashioned bop-rock of 'Firewater', a brassy, two-and-a-half-minute sub-'Sultana' cut that sports a slight Chicago shade and a very abrupt ending. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2013

If you thought Titanic could not do any worse than Ballad of a rock'n roll loser ,they actually manage to do so with Eye of the hurricane.On Ballad of a rock'n roll loser we do manage to get 3 decent songs,but here there is unfortunately nothing memorable.Songs sound like third rate Bob Seger leftovers.Straight ahead AOR with no pulse. There is about seven songs worth one star and 3 maybe worth a star and a half.Yes it is that bad I am afraid to say,and after this album the band also broke up or went on a 10 year hiatus,and who could blame them.

Thankfully they were able to deliver three excellent albums and one passable in Return of the Drakkar.As they say,all good things come to an end.

After Ballad of a rock'n roll loser, the American southern tinged rock,and ultimate let down, compared to the first three albums,Titanic tries to recreate a bit of those early days.This album kind of is more of a hard rock album with a few mellow slow songs with a splash of prog mixed in here and there.

Four songs makes this a small 3 stars album.Cascades ,My gate to hell, Jack knife and Flashback.As mentioned Flashback could be an attempt to recreate Sultana and and I think they succeed immensely.There are vocals on with a few squirts of synths ,but sounds great.

Not much else to add that has not already been said.If you like Titanic,there are couple of nuggets to be had here

After about a 10 year hiatus Titanic resurface,with 2 of the original members back for more with singer Roy Robinson and guitar player Janny Loseth.

There is unfortunately nothing sounding like the first 3 records here which I love. What we get it is pretty straight forward sounding classic / AOR / melodic rock that you hear on the average classic rock radio stations. There are the up tempo rockers and the melodic balads evenly spread out over the 12 tracks here.

So for the progfan out there you wanna steer well clear of this one,but for me as a Titanic fan I was happy to get to a chance to hear what these guys could come up with.

Zowie and Ivan like me are fans.Great reviews and thanks,and I will just add a little more.Norwegian Titanic were a great band with great musicians. Like Tasavallan Presidentti and Wigwam from Finland,Lake from Germany and Culpeper's Orchard from Denmark,they had an English singer/lyricist.I guess to appeal to a wider fanbase. Titanic was big at home and France and Africa supposedly.

On this their first album it sounds like they made a tribute soundwise to their favorite bands without making covers.They made songs that could be totally mistaken by the bands that we may have thought they were.

There are hats of to mainly Santana,Procol Harum,Beatles, Cream and Jethro Tull it seems. Even Booker T. This may sound like a turnoff,but these guys pull it off in such a style, that is very convincing and they make the playing field totally their own.

Titanic is still going with 2 original members.Looks like they got some shows lined up for 2011. Thanks for some great music Titanic.

Unfortunately, I don't have any childhood memories for this album, nor I know much about it. I just seemed like a good deal. And don't take me bad, it's not bad music, actually, I quite enjoy it. There are negatives, of course, like it's still "proto", finding of themselves and music path they'll take and also drumming on first two songs seems annoying to my ears (maybe it's just me). It's driven by lazy drumming, but most importantly, ever-present organ. It's exactly the sound you'll expect in a band from this era. Melodic, sometimes (never disharmonic).

4(-), typical band to be honest. Think of for example "Rare Bird" here. There's for sure history connected with them. I read it on few pages around the internet, but I'm not eye witness, just a young guy who stumbled over this. "I see no reason, I see no reason".

Return of an organ

With their recording contract with CBS now over, Titanic moved to the rather smaller Barclay records for the release of their fifth studio album in 1978. Once again, the line up was to alter significantly, with John Williamson and Andrew Poulton both departing. Back came John Lorck on drums, to be joined by the wonderfully named basist Saintclair Brunet. More significantly though, the line up once again boasted a keyboard player in Claude Chamboissier.

While the album displays some of the pop rock traits which hampered the disappointing "Ballad of a rock 'n' roll loser", it does at least see the band attempting to turn the clock back towards their fine early albums. The opening "Blue train" is a pleasant but largely prosaic piece of guitar rock. The following (appropriately named) "Flashback" however reintroduces the fine organ sounds, the track being a fairly blatant attempt to create a "Sultana part 2". In a nod toward progress, synthesiser also appears on the track. The remaining tracks on side one (note that the sides are reversed on the rear sleeve) also feature the welcome return of keyboards, but are rather lightweight pop affairs. "Sparkly brown" is especially pop orientated, bordering on the bubblegum.

The side two opener "Jack Knife" is a sort of blend of "Sing fool sing" and "Underbird" from the band's early career, the frantic percussion and driving Hammond reminding us of the band's glory days while offering something fresh and interesting. "Mr. Hyde" has a Mountain (the band) feel to it, the harsh Leslie West like vocals suiting the rock and roll rhythm well. "Haunted house" is an uncomplicated acoustic song, but its strong melody and fine vocal performance make it an album highlight.

The closing "Cascade" is the longest track at just over 6 minutes. The song is a fine organ drenched ballad with a top notch vocal performance by Roy Robinson. It features some effective high backing vocals and some impassioned lyrics.

In summary, a much better album than its predecessor, but "Return of Drakkar" still falls well short of the first three albums released by the band.

After their pitiful " Ballad Of A Rock'n'Roll Loser", the band couldn't do any worse I guess?

This album at least features some keyboards which were absent from the bluesy / country "Loser". This return of drakkar, is not a true return to their roots but at least the band offers some good rock music (the opener "Blue Train" is such a track).

Some attempt to revive the old spirit with "Flashback" which is very much "Santana" oriented: lots of percussion and fine guitar (it was released as a single). Even if this song can't compete with "Sultana" (but this was an exceptional song), it is enjoyable to listen to decent music again from "Titanic".

I would lie probably, if I told you that the reggae " Round n' Round" is an extraordinary number. But I prefer such an average song to the ones that were available on the weak "Ballad?". Some pop/rock feel with "Sparkly Down" could have been an attempt for a hit but was never released as a single.

"Titanic" reverts to the funky feel with the last track from side one of the original LP (as far as I know, this one was never released in a CD format). On the heavy edge though, this tracks ends up nicely into a heavy-rock song ("Let it Ride").

The flip side opened on another funky tune ("Jacknife ", a single B-side) which doesn't have the same fine feel as the previous track. This album, although holding no jewel is quite bearable to be honest. The rocking "Mr. Hyde" does no harm and the rock ballad "Haunted House" (another B-side) is decent as well. The powerful vocals from Roy Robinson can be fully appreciated here, just as during the good " My Gate to Hell" which demonstrates that the band had still a strong tendency to write some heavy stuff.

My favourite song from this album is also the longest one. It is somewhat similar in structure than the great "I See No Reason" from their debut. "Cascade" is an emotional rock ballad and another occasion for Roy to show all of his vocal talents. It lacks the great instrumental parts from its illustrous predecessor but it is a nice way to close this album.

I would say that this "Return Of Drakkar" is worth five out of ten, but I upgrade it to three stars.

2.5 stars really!!!

After a series of good but directionless albums, Titanic apparently chose to finally get their act together and choose a musical direction; and from the looks and sounds of it, it was going straight down the drain or the bottom of the ocean. All kidding aside, the least we can say is that the album is fairly aptly named after the musical content, but the group has got some excuses since there are further line-up changes, including the departure of bassist and main songwriter Siggs and drummer Llorck. Apparently the group had even come to separation and the rebuilding process was not that smooth, which would explain why this came out in 75. But clearly the time to sail for that boat had gone, and although the album is not as bad as one collab makes, it's definitely a letdown compared to previous works. Trouble is that when the singer becomes the main songwriter, you're usually not heading in the prog direction., .

True that there are no killer heavy Hammond-driven hard prog track like Eagle Rock in this album, and there could be half the tracks on Ballad Of A RnR Loser that could claim the quality of ballad like the opening almost-good Riding Shotgun, the rather-good title track and the delicate album-closer Don't Turn Around, which is probably my fave on this album. There is still the odd Latino feel track like Richochet, but we're far from Sultana. All of the other tracks are bluesier or countrier tracks: Honky Vagrant, The Crippler, Following A Line , Buckshee Woman, Gambler Dealer and Fly Alone. Hell, you'd think you're almost on a mid- 70's southern rock album with slide guitars, rowdy rednecks and confederate flags?.. and the good musicianship of the group makes it quite credible in that direction.

The repertoire re-issue holds the accompanying single with the non-album Sliding Down Again, an average neutral rocker, and a different version of the title track. Definitely more guitars and fewer guitars on this album, Groslie plays piano on the few tracks, but the organ goes unaccredited, but it could be him as well, but why isn't he listed as a group member then? The shorter songs are not helping much either since the space for interplay is reduced by the normal song format. Anyway here's an album for SouthernRockArchives.com, but for progheads, it's better shunned.

"There's icebergs on the starboard bow, won't you dance with me" (Harry Chapin)

Having successfully plotted a path through the icebergs of major line up changes prior to recording their previous album "Eagle rock", Titanic found themselves back on a similar path when it came to recording this album. Gone after just one album was keyboard player Helge Groslie (he does play piano on the title track though), but this time the band did not bring in a replacement in that role. Given that the Titanic sound was until now based around the driving power of the Hammond organ, this inevitably meant a change of direction.

Unfortunately, this time that direction change sees the Titanic heading straight for said iceberg. All of a sudden, the songs are much more light-weight affairs, with twangy guitars and southern rock drawls. Part of the problem appears to be that no one is willing to step up as leader of the band, the songwriting credits being spread thinly among the remaining members. This only serves to emphasise the contribution made by the departed bassist Arica Siggs in that department.

The title track is a pleasant Blood Sweat and Tears like affair, but it is a million miles from the mighty power of "Underbird", the superb prog of "One night in Eagle Rock", or the organ driven excitement of "Sultana". "Ricochet", which closes side one, appears to be a half hearted effort to create another "Sultana", but it's more of a withered raisin really.

"Following a line" sounds for all the world like a song by Family, Roy Robinson doing a passable impression of Roger Chapman. The best track is the closer "Don't turn around", which has a slightly more considered arrangement, a decent melody, and some good (but sadly unaccredited) synth.

It really is difficult to remain positive about this album. Expectations were high as a result of the quality of the previous releases. We could have forgiven the band if they had produced something which rested on their laurels, but "Ballad of a rock'n'roll loser" is all too appropriately named. To be fair, this album may have formed the fulfilment of a contractual obligation to CBS records, as they left the label after its release.

Worth avoiding.