GRACIOUS

Good compilation

This double CD includes the first two albums of the UK Prog band Gracious, these are: "Gracious!" and "This is... Gracious", both originally released on early 70s. The Band is known for being very accesible, and their music style can be described as eclectic rock ranging from; Prog, Hard rock, Classical, jazz, etc... The highlights of the CD 1 are:

"Introduction" A rock track. A good one, very simple, catchier and accesible.

"Heaven" A beautiful song, after the intro it is almost poignant. another very accesible song

"The Dream" It is just a lot of improvisation mixed. There are good moments, memorable.

On CD 2 are:

"Super Nova" Consists of four tracks, all of wich are differentiable each other. Enjoyable.

"C.B.S." Good song, moderately complex and catchier.

3 Stars... I highly recommended this double cd

After their debut album it was the turn of their second.

"Super Nova" (3.75 out of 5.00) This song consists of four tracks, all of wich are differentiable each other. The Introduction is "Arrival of the traveller" which gives a good atmosphere of mystery, "Blood Red Sun" is the first sung track, it almost makes feel goosebumps, "Say Goodbye to Love" is a beautiful song, very different from the previous, delightful with a outstanding mellotron work, "Prepare to Meet the Maker" is the outro of "Super Nova" and the least interesting of the four songs although it`s enjoyable.

"C.B.S." (2.75 out of 5.00) Good song, moderately complex and catchier.

"Once on a Windy Day" (2.50 out of 5.00) My least favorite, serious, but not bad.

"Blue Skies and Alibis" (3.00 out of 5.00) This song brings back joy, I like this refiller despite its simplicity.

"Hold Me Down" (2.75 out of 5.00) The chorus are outstanding but the song itself simple, weak and slow.

3 stars well received and slightly better than their debut.

A very accesible Prog band

"Introduction" (3.75 out of 5.00) The album kicks off with this rock track. A good one, very simple, catchier and accesible.

"Heaven" (4.00 out of 5.00) This is such a beautiful song, after the intro it is almost poignant. The repetitive lyrics did not annoy at all, then it became a bit heavy, another very accesible song. I like it.

"Hell" (2.50 out of 5.00) The first half is instrumental and repetitive, nothing interesting. The Last half it becomes really funny and more adventurous but not a big deal.

"Fugue in 'D' Minor" (1.50 out of 5.00) Classical music it`s not my thing, well played but out of place in this album.

"The Dream" (3.25 out of 5.00) After the promising intro all turns classical again (Yuck!)... I was expecting something heavy but... Wait... Then it turns beautiful again, just like "Heaven". This song is very eclectic ranging from: Hard rock, Classical, jazz, prog, etc... It is just a lot of improvisation mixed. There are good moments, memorable.

3 Stars well received and recommended

Although only existing for a brief while during the progressive rock boom of the early 1970s, British outfit Gracious managed to produce two lengthy albums worth of complex symphonic art-rock, with 1971's 'This Is...Gracious!!' following on from the group's debut '!' of a year earlier. Whilst '!' was issued on the now legendary Vertigo imprint(them of the famous 'swirl' logo), the relative commercial failure of the album saw this sequel-of-sorts released by Phillips. Both labels, however, proved pretty indifferent to Gracious' singular sound, with the lack of promotion and support echoed in both albums poor sales figures. Thirty-odd years down the line, however, and the group's reputation has been happily restored, this second, superior album in now recognised for what it really is, namely an excellent slice of adventurous progressive rock from a group who really did deserve better. Whilst '!' featured some wonderful moments, as an album it was overlong and unfocused, the music too often interrupted by strange, anarchic, avant-garde interludes, spoken word sections and touches of weird humour. Thankfully, 'This Is...Gracious!!' is much more about the actual music. This is reflected in both the epic, twenty-four minute long opener 'Super Nova', which segues effortlessly from moments of serene instrumental calm to blistering segments of pacey, intricate guitar-and-mellotron-drenched rock, and the album's stand-out piece 'C.B.S'(Don't ask; I don't know what it stands for). 'C.B.S' is a marvellous track, a piece underpinned by an insanely catchy rhythm and imbued with charging organ runs and blistering guitar work which make a mockery out of the seven minute running time; if only it were longer. The rest of the album unfortunately fails to scale the peaks reached on the first half, yet there is still plenty that should please fans of classic-era progressive rock, especially in the imaginative playing of guitarist Alan Cowderoy and the almost soulful vocals of Paul Davis. Imagine King Crimson with a sense of humour, and you kind of get the sonic picture. Whilst both Gracious albums are highly recommended, this second - and final - release from this sadly-ignored five-piece is well worth investigating.

Strangely this band had been out of my attention for a long time and today I had the chance to hear their two albums. What to say, while not exactly fantastic, it is quite interesting indeed. Very diverse, at times somewhat lacking direction, but with some very beautiful moments, like the movements of the Mellotron-drenched epic "Super Nova" or "Once On A Windy Day", with it's amazing vocal harmonies. "C.B.S." and "Blue Skies And Alibis" also hold some dynamic and heavy playing. Especially recommended to those who like some bluesy garnish to their symphonic meal. Three and a half stars rounded up to four. It shows that the band definitely had some more ideas to offer and their premature splitting up was a pity.

This is... AWESOME!!

After gorging myself on their spectacular debut, I knew that I just had to hear Gracious's second album as well. There seemed to be no proper reissues of this album, so instead I decided to buy the Japanese Mini-LP (for those of you who don't know about Mini-LPs, they are CDs that are given the same packaging as the original vinyl LP, but obviously scaled down, and are usually manufactured in Japan). This was my first mini-lp, but while this album has no fancy packaging, the original sleeve was nonetheless revealing about the history of the album and the band. Upon viewing the back cover, one becomes instantly aware that this was originally a very cheaply produced album. Distributed by Philips as part of their 'International Series', the sleeve is donned with an advert for other albums in this range including 'This is... Dusty Springfield', 'This is... Val Doonican' and even 'The Band Of The Scots Guards'. This explains the ghastly album title 'This is... Gracious!!', though I dislike the fact they included two exclamation marks instead of one. In fact, this album was shelved for a while before being distributed, leading to the bands unfortunate demise. The album may have been cheap, but for your money you get astonishingly good music.

The album kicks off in true prog form with a sidelong track Super Nova. For some of you, this version is 25 minutes long, but on the original album, and on my version, this track is only 21:40 in length. Apparently the original suite was too long for one side of music so they had to cut one of the sections (What's Come To Be) out, and stick it on the second side. Some remasters have placed this section back into the song, bringing it to 25 minutes, but I disagree with this move. On the record, Super Nova sounds as if it was rewritten so as not to include What's Come To Be, and thus sounds better without it. In the 25 minute version, the suite simply loses it's flow! I shall review it as a four-part suite and not a five-part.

Arrival of the Traveller is the first part of the suite, and is entirely instrumental. The first two minutes sound experimental and dissonant, but afterwards the music becomes more regular. There is a throbbing bassline behind this part which gives way to a theme that sounds inspired by Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra.

The next section of the suite is called Blood Red Sun. This section is very catchy, and has a very anthemic mellotron sound. The lyrics of the song remind one of 21st Century Schizoid Man and the vocals are treated in a similar way too. After this part finishes, it gives way to a groovy instrumental that stops abruptly before the next part (which may or may not be What's Come To Be).

Say Goodbye To Love is played on the acoustic guitar, and accompanied by the mellotron. The lyrics are simply sublime. This is a very beautiful song.

The next three minutes are very experimental and proggy, before we reach the final part of the suite, Prepare To Meet Thy Maker. This is a hymn-like song with wonderful vocals and simple yet beautiful lyrics. The last 2:45 of this track are instrumental, but with wordless vocals. The outro to this song, and indeed this suite, is very symphonic, and is simply perfect. Whilst The Dream on the last album had more recurring themes, Super Nova does just as well without them. This suite is a rich, beautiful and moving piece of progressive rock.

Side 2 opens with C.B.S., so called as it reminded mellotron player Martin Kitcat of some artists under contract to the Columbia Broadcasting System. The structure of this song is a classic in terms of prog rock: two shortish vocal sections seperated by a meaty showcase instrumental, much like a thick musical sandwich. Other songs in this format include Firth of Fifth and By-Tor And The Snow Dog. The instrumental is extremely good, with other instruments soloing on top of the repetitive bass riff. It's easy to criticise this song for being too repetitive but I don't feel it detracts the song that much. The highlight is the technical guitar solo.

If the King Crimson influence wasn't obvious by this point, What's Come To Be will surely make it clear. This song, with it's deep mellotron sound, is incredibly similar to Epitaph on KC's debut. The clue that this song was once part of the suite on Side 1 is the inclusion of the word 'Supernova' in the third verse. The lyrics are quite apocalyptic, and the outro is quite spectacular and powerful until it fades out. This would have been a good inclusion into the suite if they'd found a way to make the songs flow together.

Blue Skies and Alibis is perhaps the weakest track on the record. The breaks between verses are quite long and repetitive, although the proper instrumental is actually quite good. The verses themselves sound nothing like the rest of the song and feel a little out of place at times.

Hold Me Down is a return to form for the band. This is more of a straightforward rock tune, although the instrumental betrays the groups progressiveness. I have to admit I really like the chorus to this song, and the verses are good too. The instrumental is obviously the highlight, and at one point the band play with time signatures extremely successfully. It's hard not to enjoy this playful track.

The individual songs on 'This is... Gracious!!' are more concise than those on 'Gracious!' but they are still as fun and enjoyable. It seems that the band put more effort into writing proper songs rather than being experimental on this record, but I think the two records are equal in quality. Gracious are one of my favourite underground prog groups, and their second album deserves nothing less than 5 stars for being so enjoyable.

Hi there prog fan! Before I begin reviewing, I just like to say that I would love to know how you stumbled upon this album, because it is a really obscure one indeed. In my case, I was on the German record company Repertoire's website. I spent an afternoon browsing through their catalogue to try and find some old 70s gems which I hadn't heard of, and finding links on Youtube or Spotify to hear them. From this search I found a few interesting bands like Dust, Catapilla and Armageddon, but the most promising album I found was this, Gracious's debut. Whilst the cover art didn't seem very progressive, I knew that I couldn't resist the temptation of a 17 minute track. I quickly found this on Spotify, and began to play it. From the very beginning they had me interested; their mathematical approach to the intro was definitely appealing. At the 30 second mark, I grew more interested when the tone of the music was drastically changed as an excerpt of Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' was played. I knew I was hooked when the electric sound of the guitars and the bass cut in at about 2:30. Here was a song that had many interesting twists and turns in the space of a short pop song, and was not even 15% of the way through! For a couple of days, I listened to other parts of the album but not playing the entirity, as I wanted the experience to be fresh for when I would get a copy myself.

Here the review begins. Gracious were a funny little group indeed. The bonus tracks of this album reveal that they were at one point a very cheesy pop group, and I honestly have no idea how they made the leap from their mediocre to awful singles to suddenly writing intricate 17 minute songs.

It is possible to view the first side of this album as a 22 minute suite, since the Introduction has religious undertones and Heaven and Hell are mentioned in the lyrics. The theme of the suite, although clearly religious, is very vague. To me it speaks of the fallacy of religion, saying that all you are doing is following orders and believing others blindly, although the lyrics are very open to interpretation. For example the lyrics 'Do you have a clean mind?' seem rather sarcastic and commandments like 'Will you give some money to the church in time?' make religious people sound greedy. (These don't reflect my views, just the interpretation of the lyrics)

Musically speaking, it all kicks off with the appropriately titled Introduction. To most prog afficionados this would spell some short instrumental overture, but instead this is a medium length song which is about as close as the album gets to classic rock. It has a conventional three-chorus structure but the use of a harpsichord makes it sound very different to normal rock. The instrumental is also quite long (over 2 minutes), which leaves plenty of time for a guitar solo. However the production of this album is such that the solo sounds rather muted and doesn't leave much of an impression. However the song is nonetheless enjoyable and a good set up for the progressive treats coming up.

Heaven begins with a beautiful mellotron introduction, which could be easily compared to the corresponding introduction to Genesis's 'Watcher of the Skies'. Other instruments join in and and add to the musical soundscapes before we drop into an acoustic guitar section. This is quickly followed by the only vocal section of the song, the main lyric being Do you have a clean mind? The lyrics are quite simple but still quite evocative and the remaining 2 minutes of the song allows you to ponder the meaning of them. All in all this song is definitely heavenly, being extremely beautiful in places. As a treat, the guitar solo towards the end is far better produced, and sounds more prominent.

Hell then ensues! Both Heaven and Hell are around 8 minutes long, which allows them to be seen more equally. However the band did a good job of making them sound very different, Heaven being mainly light and beautiful and epic, and Hell sounding more random, jarring and heavy. They did not fall into the cliche of one sounding happy and one sounding miserable, as that would just be too obvious and would probably not deliver their vague message, whatever it may be. The creativity is at a peak in Hell, where you genuinely don't know what is around the corner. The first half of this song is much heavier than the second half, but the second half is extremely clever as well. There is bizarre shanty which then leads into the famous Can-Can. Risking sounding quite directionless, both Heaven and Hell are prog rock masterpeices. Simply the amount of creativity makes this so, as they are very eclectic in nature, drawing from all sorts of influences, sometimes very directly (eg the Can-Can). Objectively they are the best performances on the album, but rather than tainting your opinion with my own, I'll leave it to you to decide which you prefer.

Fugue in 'D' Minor does exactly what it says on the tin. The harpsichord heard in Introduction is on full display here whilst being accompanied by acoustic guitar, creating a very baroque feel. This entirely instrumental peice would not sound out of place in the 1600s, so what it is doing on a 70s record i'm not entirely sure. While I hate to say this about such an amazing album, it's quite easy to say that this music is just filler. It performs very much the same role as 'Horizons' does on 'Foxtrot' (that's the second time I've referenced Foxtrot!) as a sort of interlude before the epic final track. The playing is good, but the track doesn't go anywhere in 5mins so it's just a little bit dull.

All stops are pulled out now for The Dream. The opening 3 or 4 minutes (as I described in the first paragraph) had me hooked, and made me want this album dearly. I cannot remember the last time that I've been hooked so quickly to an artist I've never heard before! The piece quite simply describes a bizarre dream. The dream itself seems to begin with the playing of 'Moonlight Sonata' and ends with the alarm clock sound towards the end. Whilst there are utterances of 'Good Night' near the beginning of the song, the lyrics only really begin about 6 minutes into the song. Afterwards, lyrics are placed intermittently throughout.

As with Heaven and Hell, The Dream switches moods very drastically and quite often, but there is a 2/4 riff that seems to run all the way through the song, with the band hopping on and off this riff to try other ideas. The use of very brief and completely different sounding sections makes this very progressive listening indeed.

However, it's not all good news. According the liner notes, the studio wished them to perform the whole song in one take and add overdubs later rather than recording pieces seperately and sticking them together. This might explain some of the minor complaints people have about it. For example, whilst the creativity is there, the musicianship leaves something to be desired. They aren't bad, but for a progressive group there's not a great sense of virtuosity in the performances. The song itself sounds quite simple to play. The vocals are probably the worst thing here. Whilst they seemed good enough on other tracks, there are points where the singer sounds really amateurish.

As I said before though, these are all very minor complaints. The Dream becomes an extremely fun and complex musical journey! The amount of variation on this track is simply astonishing, and the music is written very progressively for a record released in the early days of prog rock. The track is never boring, and always seems to pass very quickly for 17 minutes. Gracious succeed in creating an extremely exciting and cool prog rock epic.

I find it strange that this group have been labeled Symphonic Prog, when the music here is so eclectic. Rarely do you find a group who like to have so much variation within a single song. They really keep you on the edge of your seats in the more epic songs. The fact that the band aren't all virtuosos is actually endearing. Good on Gracious for experimenting and pushing the boundaries so far. It's amazing what such an obscure band could do on a record! The music here is so complex, and they achieved the goal of making extremely good progressive rock. I've always liked my music very complex, and all three of Heaven, Hell and The Dream exude truly high levels of what I regard as 'progressiveness'. 'Gracious!' indeed!

(Also, for those who aren't keen on the album artwork, look inside the gatefold sleeve, you'll have a nice surprise.)

Mellotron Heaven.

This first Gracious album is a little classic of symphonic progressive rock, with many great moments and some loss of quality, especially in the long suite The Dream which is too inorganic and inconclusive, sometimes even boring. The other four tracks are in focus however, so I think that this album is a good deal for collectors of progressive rock music.

Introduction is an effective opening track, characterized by a catchy harpsichord theme followed by an aggressive guitar riff. Some little hesitation in the vocal parts are compensated by the excellent instrumental sections, including a great guitar solo.

Heaven deserves a separate discussion. I believe that the introduction of this track is one of the best things of all progressive. If you are mellotron fan and love the dreamy atmospheres that only this instrument can recreate (do you remember the ending of "Seven Stones" by Genesis, or "In The Wake Of Poseidon" / "Libra's Theme" by King Crimson?) then forget my rating and the number of stars I give. What you need to do is go by your music shop and buy the album. The vocals are just fair but what really makes the difference is the solemnity of the organ/mellotron intro followed by a majestic electric guitar part. (Fun fact: the song by the Italian '70s band Panna Fredda - which can also be found on progarchives - titled "Un Re Senza Reame" ("A King Without a Kingdom"), is nothing more that this intro takes note for note! Unfortunately the results aren't the same).

Hell is more experimental and aggressive with the ominous tones of the organ and several dissonances that are repeated along the track. There is a bit of everything in this piece, even a brief excerpt of Can-Can.

Fugue in D Minor is a piece for harpsichord in clear classic derivation. I'm not a great lover of this kind of songs where contamination with classical music is so evident, however, in the context of an album where the single tracks are so different from each other, it does not bother me much.

The final suite, The Dream, unfortunately is not up to previous tracks. It's a long song aged badly, at times confusing, with references to the Beatles ("Hey Jude") and to classical music (the introduction is "Moonlight" by Beethoven). Despite several plays I have never been able to appreciate it, finding it rather tedious and sometimes banal.

Highly recommended to mellotron lovers because of Heaven, as I already explained. For all others it is a good album, but not a masterpiece. If instead of The Dream there was "Supernova" (for those unfamiliar with Gracious, is the long epic of their second album) the rating was 4 stars. But here I can give no more than 3 stars. Final rating: 6/10.

Best song: Heaven

Man it must have been frustrating to be at the mercy of the record label you were signed with back in the day.To have them wanting you to change your style and sound all in the name of selling more records. GRACIOUS had to wait 2 years after completing this record before the record company would release it, by then the band had folded. I do like this better than the debut although much like CRESSIDA's two releases there isn't a lot to choose between the first and second albums as they are fairly evenly matched. More mellotron in this one though.

"Super Nova" was the 25 minute side long opening suite. It's experimental and spacey early then we get this beat rising out of the atmosphere around 2 minutes then it turns powerful. Some great drumming here. A change after 4 minutes then the vocals arrive and they are passionate.The mood becomes cheerful 6 1/2 minutes in as the tempo picks up. It does settle back with vocals and guitar.The vocals stop and the tempo picks back up 9 1/2 minutes in with the keyboards leading this time. It changes again before 11 minutes with strummed guitar and vocals. Mellotron joins in. A change to a darker sound 14 1/2 minutes. Silence a minute later. It turns experimental then the vocals return 17 minutes in as it stays mellow to the end.

"C.B.S." is a catchy little number.Vocals after a minute. Organ only before 3 minutes then the guitar and drums kick back in.The guitar starts to solo over top 4 minutes.Vocals are back 5 1/2 minutes in. "Once On A Windy Day" opens with mellotron as reserved vocals join in. A full sound after 1 1/2 minutes.This is good. It settles back as contrasts continue. "Blue Skies And Alibis" is uptempo with prominant bass and guitar. It settles with vocals a minute in then it kicks back in as contrasts continue. "Hold Me Down" is a vocal led track. It's okay.

3.5 stars. A band that just hasn't caught on with me but is obviously very talented.

This is GRACIOUS' debut from 1970.It's funny reading the lead guitarists' thoughts in the liner notes which were from 1995. He says he hated the name GRACIOUS as their band name and still does. Considering they were once called SATAN'S DISCIPLES I guess GRACIOUS does seem a little tame (haha). This band is often associated with other bands who use lots of mellotron and certainly the follow-up to this is loaded with it, the debut though doesn't actually have much mellotron on it.

"Introduction" opens with drums then everyone joins in including the vocalist.This is a catchy mid-paced tune. "Heaven" opens with organ and drums then it settles into a pastoral mood with mellotron. It's slowly building then a change before 3 1/2 minutes as strummed guitar and a lightweight soundscape take over.Vocals a minute later. Intricate guitar before 6 minutes then it picks up before 7 minutes with the guitar out front. "Hell" opens with experimental sounds then it kicks in around 2 minutes. No real melody until around 3 1/2 minutes.This sounds great. It settles 5 minutes in with piano and vocals then It turns into a Ragtime mode a minute later. A change after 7 minutes to a more intense sound. "Fugue In D Minor" is classical sounding throughout and I don't really like it.

"The Dream" is the 17 minute closing track.This one is interesting to say the least.The guitar comes out firing then it calms right down with piano.Vocals 2 minutes in and they are laid back.The sound gets more intense once the vocals stop 2 1/2 minutes in. Guitar comes to the fore then keyboards. Spoken words before 7 minutes then he starts singing.Things get a little strange after 9 minutes. It kicks back in instrumentally a minute later. I like when he says "I'm going to walk right over to him and put him on the floor". Funny section.The music kicks back in before 15 minutes.

A good album all things considering.