PIRANA

Despite it's proximity to the rest of the world, Australia, and latterly New Zealand, did manage to cultivate a small scene of psychedelic and progressive groups, mainly gathered around the clubs and bars of Sydney, Auckland and Melbourne. The likes of Spectrum, Rainbow Theatre, Bakery, Ticket, Mantis, Sebastian Hardie, Band of Light, Ayers Rock, Tamam Shud and Tully showcased a vibrant selection of styles, whether it be acid-licked blues-rock or jazz- influenced symphonic rock, and much like Pirana, original vinyl copies of most of the above are now worth ridiculous sums of money(as of writing, their is a single copy of Memento's 1972 effort 'Bakery' for sale on Discogs for just under $2,000).

With a sound influenced by latin rock outfits Santana and Chango, Jimi Hendrix, British prog and late-sixties garage- rock, Pirana's debut is all heavy guitar-and-organ interplay and colourful instrumental flourishes, though multiple listens also reveal a debt to such non-prog luminaries as Chicago and even early Blood, Sweat & Tears.

Featuring a line-up comprising Tony Hamilton(guitar, vocals), Stan White(keyboards, vocals), Graeme Thomson(bass) and Jim Yonge(drums), the first album is arguably the stronger of the two, yet truth be told the difference is minimal. The same line-up would begin work on 'Pirana II' in 1972, but just a few days into recording keyboardist Stan White was replaced by Keith Greig, which goes some way to explaining the second album's guitar-heavy sound.

Unfortunately, despite backing from EMI, neither of Pirana's albums made much of a mark on the Australian charts, or anywhere else for that matter, and following the lukewarm reception of 'Pirana II' and the constant struggle to find gigs and make a resonable living, the band split in early 1973.

The Australian scene may have been small, and very far away, yet it produced a remarkable number of excellent albums in a very short space of time. Pirana, with their spicy organ runs, busy guitars and energetic jamming make for an excellent entry point for those wanting to take the plunge, and both their albums are highly recommended.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2016

This CD serves up both Pirana's albums without any omissions or added bonus tracks.

Pirana was an Australian band who started out as bit of a split personality between 1970s pop and Santana like jazz. The first album, track 1-7 if I am not wrong, tells that story. This album has a split personality, but still an excellent hammond organ sound which saves this album from a disaster.

The second album, track 8-16 if I am not mistaken, is much more a Santana copy. Both the Santana the band and Carlos Santana, the solo artist. This album does lack any identity and charm though. Charm the first album, strangely enough, had in abundance. The band played a couple of big gigs and then split up because of the lack of commercial success. Listening to this compilation, I have sympathy for that decision. Pirana is not the worst band in the history of prog rock and this compilation is OK if you like Santana. I think two stars would suffice.

2 stars

The first album was pretty much a rock and pop affair with some excellent hammond organs. Pirana changed direction on their second album and went Santana. Well, make that in the vein of a blend of Santana the band efforts and the Carlos Santana solo albums. There is also some pretty good guitar based fusion on this album. Pirana changed hammond organ player inbetween their two albums. The new one, Keith Grieg, is more reined in than the hammond organ player on the first album. The guitars is more in the forefront on this album.

The problem is the lack of any good songs here. The only good thing about this album is the fusion stuff. But this album totally lack any identity. Well, almost lack any identity. The final song here, Move to the Country, is as horrible as a mix of rock and fusion can get. I will remember that song for a while, yes. And for the wrong reasons. The rest is acceptable, but dull. I understand why this band, despite given all the chances, never got a commercial breakthrough. I guess a life in obscurity for their albums beckons despite of recent re-releases on CD.

2 stars

But thankfully, this album has been re-released together with their second/final album as a two for one package on CD. It is reasonable available. I only bought it because I thought it was the metal band of the same name. I then binned it until I spotted this prog rock band being included in PA. So the albums was dusted off again.

On their debut album, Pirana is not particular progressive. Take the worst of the pop music from the early 1970s and you get the idea. There are a lot of The Eagles, even Bay City Rollers and some other pretty dire pop music here. This in addition to some very good hammond driven rock in the vein of Santana and some space rock bands. The best stuff on this album is very, very good and can best be described as a mix of Krautrock, space rock and latin jazz. Santana in other words. Stan White's hammond organ sound is generally excellent. When he is let loose here, this album takes of into an infectious swinging album. The pop stuff on the other hand.......

It seems like this band tried to please everyone on this album. It is an album of it's time. The sound is good. The vocals is good and the musicians is good. The pop stuff is a two star. Stan White's hammond driven rock and space rock songs is a four stars effort. There is no outstanding songs here so I am therefore landing on a barely three stars album. I also quite like this album too. The two for one package is well worth pursuing for those into this type of sound.

3 stars (barely)