YEAR ONE

This short-lived crew produced this one album and split, but what they created is an effective mix of hard rock, jazz, folk, and psychedelic elements. Overall, it's an enjoyable album with quite a few rough patches. One of the lead vocalist sounds like a softer Derek Shulman; I might go so far as to say this album sounds like what I'd imagine it would be if early Uriah Heep got together with Gentle Giant and jammed with America a bit, but kept the instrumentation on the minimalistic side- a convoluted description perhaps, but the best I can come up with.

"E=MC-2" The band uses a combination of saxophone and synthesizer to make up one half of this initially bouncy work, but abruptly a gentle acoustic guitar and sweet steel guitar with pleasant vocals takes over (sounding like a cross between "Soon" by Yes and "Ventura Highway" by America).

"Now You Are in the Puzzle" Easing up a bit, the group offers a peaceful acoustic guitar and piano accompanying pleasant vocals. The spunkiness soon returns though, bringing in a funky saxophone solo and lead guitar.

"Morning Lights" Beautiful acoustic guitar and harmonies make for a lovely, folk-like listening experience.

"Jubilation" A sparse song with only percussion to fill the void at first, this song becomes more akin to 1960s folk rock, but features some sizzling guitar work. Adding variety is a sprightly flute solo.

"Your Love, My Love" Again the acoustic guitar is the main instrument. The vocals range from calm passages to high-pitched shrieks (think Uriah Heep), but keeps things mostly tranquil thanks to the fluttering woodwind- a highlight performance.

"Juggle" A swampier feel is made by muffling the guitar and bass and adding some quivering keyboard. If there were a song on this album to really appeal to Gentle Giant fanatics, this would be it.

"Transitory River" Soft electric piano, working through mostly major and diminished chords make up this quieter piece. Even though it is soft, I find this to be one of the best tracks on the record, reminiscent of parts of the Gentle Giant album Three Friends.

"Flood" A gritty guitar riff kicks this one off, and lays the foundation for saxophone and bass solos, two instruments that almost seem to be competing with each other.

"Universal Love Song" Placid acoustic guitar, soft keyboards, and quavering vocals make up this docile tune. It becomes something of a Mediterranean waltz toward the end, though.

"Year One" The title track begins with classic guitar and meek singing. As it adopts a fuller sound, it also introduces a theatric, deep voice similar to "Genetic Control" from Genesis's "Get 'Em Out by Friday." The music ceases for a moment, and then brings in falsetto vocals and raunchy saxophone and guitar- not at all a smooth or enjoyable way to continue the piece.

"We Look Out at You" This uncomplicated rock song reminds me of The Who both in sound and structure, but adds texture with a distant organ. The guitar solo works over a steady bass pounding out the same note.

"As Much as I Know You" Here is even more variety for this album- a country song that sounds just like The Eagles would have done early on in their career.

"Rock 'N' Roll Nights" As the name might suggest, this is a rock and roll boogie- as progressive as one of ELP's "comic relief" tracks, but almost as good as an early Blue Oyster Cult number.

"Above You" Electric piano and acoustic guitar make up the bulk of this short song, but it includes America-like harmonies and some southern rock grit.

"True My Lord" A simple acoustic rock song, this sounds a great deal like Neil Young.

"Champion" The band doesn't put away their acoustic guitars- on the contrary, they bring out more, and keep things in the style country-inspired folk rock. A few times through there is a shift towards more Van Morrison-like jazz.