BUNCHAKEZE

"Too progressive in 1985?"

London, 1984: the three young and self-confident musicians Colin Tench (guitar, synthesizers and vocals), Gary Derrick (bass) and Cliff Deighton (drums) decided to leave their band Odin, they were fed up with not getting gigs, which simply meant a life without audiences. They founded a new band named BunChakeze. According to Gary this is why. 'The name came from the instrumental at the start of the album. We could not come up with a name for it. I said "what key is it in" Maybe we could put the chord sequence to make a name. Colin said it's a" whole bunch of keys" so I don't know what we can make of it. In the 1970s an English band called Slade, used to misspell their song titles so that is what we did. Bunch of keys, became Bunchakeeze.'

In 1985 Bunchakeze recorded the tracks for a vinyl record, eventually with a singer from LA who was on a trip to the UK. Despite their strong musical ideas and the huge time and energy the band had put into the recordings, no record company was interested. In those mid-Eighties known prog bands their sound had often turned into more accessible and song-oriented, like Rush, Marillion, Genesis, BJH and Camel, a kind of 'Prog Light'. Perhaps BunChakeze their varied progressive music was too hard to pigeonhole for the record companies, or perhaps even too progressive? Anyway, unfortunately the 1985 tracks remain in the vaults. Until in 2010 the band members decided to release that 1985 material, as an own production CD. So how about BunChakeze their progressive sound on the CD Whose Dream?, how wrong were all those negative reacting record companies?

Very wrong! Because listening to BunChakeze is a very pleasant musical experience, their music is loaded with variety and strong musical ideas. I notice elements of Rush, Wishbone Ash and Pink Floyd, but the band have succeeded to keep an own musical identity. Singer Joey Lugassy (later he earned two Emmy nominations for best sonsg in drama series) his voice is pretty distinctive and matches with the music. The nine songs all contain their own atmosphere, the level of the compositions and the musicians is on a good and constant level. I am very glad for the band that they finally got their album release, they fully deserved it! Some personal favourites on this album.

Inventive and varied guitar work in the opener Bun Chakeze.

A fat sequencer sound (like Star Cycle by Jeff Beck) with expressive vocals and beautiful interplay between guitar and piano in Walk In Paradise.

Warm acoustic twanging guitar (with overdubs) in Flight Of The Phoenix.

Moving electric guitar runs in Midnight Skies.

And a tribute to 1973-1979 Pink Floyd in the atmospheric The Deal.

Thanks to the medium CD we progheads can enjoy BunChakeze their interesting and adventurous progressive music, after it remained 25 years in the vaults.

This review is dedicated to the memory of prime mover and prolific musician Colin Tench, who sadly passed away in December 2017.

Sometimes you read about a lost gem from a past decade. This album would indeed be a lost gem but as I understand it, it was never released until 2010. So if it was never taken out into public, I guess it was never lost. Just carefully stowed away until the time was right to let it flash in the sunlight.

BunChakeze formed out of the ashes of Odin of London (recorded material from the early eighties also released a few years ago and available for download). Featuring Colin Tench (guitars, keyboards), who is known more now for his work in Corvus Stone, Gary Derrick (bass), and Cliff Deighton (drums), BunChakeze (Bunch a Keys) decided to record a progressively flavoured album in a time when "prog" was considered a dirty word in older circles and not even known as a word in younger ones. With no money, the three lads managed to snag a deal with a studio that wasn't built yet: essentially, help build the studio and you get to record in it. The entire story of the band's progress is recorded most humorously in the CD booklet. With vocalist Joey Lugassy safely locked inside the studio, the band laid down its tracks.

The opening instrumental, named after the band, is a quick-paced, busy number that reminds me a little of Yezda Urfa, an American band whose music suffered a similar fate (recorded in 1976, released in 1989). A brilliant number and one that truly stands out for 1985, it is complete in its compactness but nevertheless it seems unfortunate that it wraps up in under two minutes.

Except for the final track, the rest are all songs with Lugassy's vocals. Much of the music reminds me of Genesis or Pink Floyd in parts without sounding exactly like either. I expected that there would be an eighties feel to the album but there is only just. That horrendous snare echo that can be heard on so many mid-eighties albums is not present here. It feels more like the band knew that they wanted to capture that prog sound from around '76 to '78 and stop just shy of an eighties' production sound.

Lugassy's vocals are warm and hit the notes just right. But sometimes it seems like he's holding back. Perhaps it was the studio, or perhaps because he wasn't an official member of the band but was asked to be the vocalist, I don't know. I get the impression that if the moment called for it, he could really let rip. Perhaps it's to his credit as a professional that he restrained himself in order to suit the music of BunChakeze.

A couple of my favourite songs are "Phoenix" and "Long-distance Runner". Both stretch out a little more and one can infer some of the Genesis / Pink Floyd influences with the latter also having a strong Yes-sounding opening. I can almost hear Jon Anderson's voice come in. The music gets a little close to metal near the end of "Phoenix" but basically sticks to "A Trick of the Tail" Genesis range sensibility without the theatrical and classical inclinations of early seventies Genesis. Perhaps there's more of an early Marillion feel here and there. Tench makes use of a wide range of guitar sounds and playing techniques and there are some tasteful synthesizer and pretty piano passages as well. One is surely to make the Pink Floyd connection with that "Brick in the Wall" guitar playing on "The Deal", which ends with a synthesizer part reminiscent of "Welcome to the Machine".

If there is a weaker point on the album then for me it is the track "Midnight Skies", which is about the white man's takeover of the Americas, or more precisely what is now the United States of America. I feel the message in the lyrics takes precedence over the song itself and as such I don't find the music or melody very captivating. However, the rest of the album is so well done that I feel it deserves a strong rating.

The final track, "Whose Dream? (reprise)", doesn't bear much resemblance to the original track. It's a short, upbeat instrumental with a classic prog feel that has me thinking of Gryphon or Yezda Urfa once again. The ending has almost a hint of Deep Purple or Ritchie Blackmore, a suggestion of things to come with Corvus Stone?

If there's anything missing from this album it's a full-on 5-6 minute instrumental. These guys proved that they could make exciting and engaging music in a time when it was considered passé. Record company interest, the lack of it, proved that BunChakeze were out of date for the general public. Thankfully, we can now listen to this audio gem that was never lost, but rather just never properly shared until 2010.

Imagine an album being recorded in 1985, and being released only 25 years later, in 2010. Sounds crazy? Well, this is exactly what happened with BunChakeze album Whose Dream?. The four people involved were Odin of London members Colin Tench (guitar, synthesizer and vocals), Gary Derrick (bass), Cliff Deighton (drums) and Joey Lugassy (vocals). The former three founded the band, helped build a studio in exchange for recording time and then hired the Lugassy to fill in the role of the until then missing vocalist. Studio owner Alex Foulcer fulfilled a guest role on piano.

After recording the album, the four disbanded. In 1992, they the album was remixed, but only in 2010, Colin Tench took the lead in releasing the album on CD, encouraged by Pasi Koivu, with whom he later founded Corvus Stone.

The album contains 9 tracks, which clearly show how these four men were influenced by late 1960s and early 1970s progressive rock . Music that was wanting air play and certainly of no commercial interest at the time of recording. However, times have changed again in the mean time, and this album is no misfit in the 21st century revival of progressive rock.

The opening track BunChakeze is an energetic, short instrumental with 'swirling' keyboards and matching guitar, to warm up for the rest of the album. Once this is done, the band slows down for the first part of title track Whose Dream? Keyboard and piano guide the fitting rock voice of Lugassy, in what sounds like a melancholic ballad until the guitar and drums come in to make it into a more powerful, almost marching track. The circle closes when we go back to the first line of the intro, which is also the last of the song, once again only accompanied by the piano: Whose dream are you dreaming?

Walk on Paradise then is a more guitar oriented track, although the synthesizer is quite present in the opening. Initially, this doesn't feel like paradise music at all - but when the rhythm becomes more stable and prominent, the feel becomes more positive. Briefly only though, the instrumental midsection removes the happiness again - in line with the lyrics ('I am a prisoner who lives alone, chains hanging from the walls'). After a quite heavy guitar solo the song takes a more melodramatic turn, in music as well as lyrics, as the main character is looking for a way out.

After this, the album gets to what I think are its four best tracks, starting with Handful of Rice. The music is carried by a staccato guitar riff (by some referred to as latin or hispanic, but I don't fully see that reference). This is haunting in a way, especially in the mid section where it is accompanied by a droning synth and metallic sounding drums. Near the end the track speeds up a bit, maybe signifying new hope? New hope that certainly belongs in the next track, Flight of the Phoenix, after all, a phoenix always rises from the ashes in which it perishes. This is a track that opens with wonderfully played acoustic guitar, accompanying a well performed vocal melody. It's not a happy tune, matching the darkness of the lyrics. Halfway, the electric guitar comes in and the song becomes melancholic. After a nice, melodic guitar solo, the music speeds up and when the phoenix rises, the 'Clock stops!' and so does the music.

After this, the band takes us to 19th century North America, with Midnight Skies, telling us about how the young United States dealt with the natives. On this track, which starts out with almost jazzy guitar and bass, the 1970s influences of the band really show. While the bass and guitar build a rhythm, the keyboards go into Genesis like patterns, and a Pink Floyd resembling guitar solo follows. All of this build up to the request to let the native Americans take back the prairies and run free under midnight skies....

With Long Distance Runner, the direction changes once again. With two vocals (both by Lugassy as far as I can tell), singing a sort of dialog, this track starts with a musical like feel. After this it speeds up gradually and a slightly staccato guitar seems to imply the runner is really running. The drums on this track are not continuous, in various places only fills and breaks are played, which really gives an unusual effect to the music. At the end, the piano comes in for an the music becomes a bit more. What keeps me wondering about this one is the question whether the line in the lyrics 'A Cinderella Boy becomes a Marathon Man' is a reference to Rush: they have Cinderella Man and released Power Windows including Marathon while BunChakeze were recording.

And then - it is time for The Deal, yet again a track in which the 1970s influences return. There is a guitar riff underneath this whole track that is so close to something (go hear for yourself) on Pink Floyd's The Wall that coincidence is impossible. It's not a rip off though, the track works perfectly by itself, and it may be the easiest one to get into on first listen. After this, all that's left is dessert, a short instrumental reprise of Whose Dream, which is mainly a slightly folky electric guitar tune.

I got this album almost 5 years after it was released, after missing it completely in 201o - and I'm happy to have it now. It's by no means perfect, certainly production wise a few things could be improved (hollow vocals here and there, slightly sharp drums), but given its history that is something I can live with. I really like the last four tracks (not including the far from bad Whose Dream reprise), even if they are not as original in style in 2010 or 2015 than they were in 1985 I guess. Recommended for checking out for sure - and added to the regular plays a while ago over here.

(also published on my blog - www.hulshout.nl/rfm)

BunChakeze'.Strange name indeed. Where to start? Well I guess Odin of London should be the 1st place. Considering 3 members of that sextet are now joined for this project. Colin Tench who happens to be part of the 'genius, weirdness and overall chaos of CORVUS STONE is the only one I really have any inkling about. Drummer Cliff Deighton and bassist Gary Derrick at this point round it out. This is 1985, btw. Close to the end of recording Joey Lugassy (vocals) joined the group. From the liner notes all these fellas have made their ways in life exceptionally well. This band was pretty much dead as record deals were not knocking on anyone's doors. So the tracks sat and sat until 2010 when it was released. Now comes the task of the music itself. 9 tracks and only one over 7 mins..Is this PROG? How dare a prog cd carry songs less then 7 minutes. I wont mention all the tracks as most reviews often do. I am not a reviewer, just a fan of good prog rock. A few tracks stand out more then others for me and some are somewhat difficult for me to listen to.this not being a bad thing just not my cup of tea. No one can truly like an entire cd,can they? Yes and no I assume. Anyway..THE DEAL.. one of the better tracks in which could be part of a demo from Pink Floyd's The Wall. Long Distance Runner, another fav of mine is quite possibly a Rush type track. Lyrically at the very least in my opinion. Wonder how geddy Lee himself would sound doing this track. Midnight Skies is probably the strongest track on the cd. Whose Dream is a very difficult song for me to listen to..its just to 'all over the place' for my liking. The Tilte track cioyuld have been about 5 mins longer for me. I love Colin Tench's work. I think he is an exciting addition to the prog world. He himself has said he is more melodic then prog..Bring over here Colin. The guy has talent beyond words and I expect good things from this gent. Ocerall I think the cd is 'dated' as it would be from 20 plus yrs ago but I also feel it fits nicely into todays market where long epic tracks rule the landscape. It's a 'light' prog cd and Even tho I am 2 yrs behind in this review I hope it will induce some further enthusiasms into relooking into this band. Again I am not a writer I don't know anything about what it takes to make a cd let alone give it the real justice it deserves in my words. Im simply a fan and like what I hear.. I rate this 4 stars

' Tim Correll o Review of BunChakeze Whose Dream? Sound: Overall. After reading the liner notes I feel your pain brother! I was going through about the same thing at the same time! 1985 you must have recorded on 16 track and of course tape! Probably not in a million dollar studio either. For what you had available to you, I think the sound is excellent! Music: Overall. Reminiscent of early Genesis and Pink Floyd with a latin twist at times. Chord progression is out of this world, awesome! Well written lyrics. Overall mixed right on the money!! Musicianship: All players. Very diverse, all talented musicians. vocals are some of the best I have ever heard from a prog band. Everything tastefully written and played. Vocals: well written, well phrased, well sang and at times sounds a little like Peter Gabriel with Genesis, Steve Walsh and Geoff Tate in the lower register (which Geoff Tate is a vocal god to this day)! Great job on vocals. Joey and Colin both vocals are excellent! I would be very proud to have done this work!! Drums:Cliff Deighton. Sounds like Genesis Live Album, which still to this day is one of the best drum sounds ever! Just my opinion. Mix on drums is spot on!! Playing kind of reminiscent of Phill Collins and Neil Peart and Nick Mason! But even more diverse than these guys. Bass: Gary Derrick. Sound is rich and full of low end and punch the whole album. Another great mix. But I will say it again very diverse playing. Piano: sound excellent, mix excellent, playing excellent. Great job!! and great add!! Synthesizer: sound excellent, mix excellent, playing excellent. Alot of the sound is reminiscent of Pink Floyd, ELP & Genesis. And last but definately not least Guitar Mr. Tench AKA G.G. I'm a drummer and singer at heart, but I am also a guitar fanatic!! I like many guitar players some of which are Hackett, Livgren, Gilmore, DeMeola, Fripp & Belew and I heard all of them in your playing! Again totally blown away!! You are an extremely talented muscian. I am humbled and honored to know you! I love the way you blend the guitar in and out with vocals that is a true art that many people (listener & musician) miss! The acoustic guitar work something that no one does anymore very refreshing to hear! The only cons is the mix is not loud enough, the album is not long enough. The fact that you guys did not continue on is such a huge loss to the music world! I don't think I could write enough words to express what I feel for this album. It is much better than I expected, I was totally blown away by it!! You guys were behind the time and before the new prog scene. It's all about timing! And it is definately the time for a rebirth of this band.

This album resembles a story, circling within a cycle between "Whose Dream?" theme, and flowing passionately forward as a logical musical concept. As the band started to create this material in the eighties, I think it is logical that flavors of that time are present in the sound philosophies on some level, maybe most strongly in compositional structures, delicate arrangement complexities and powerful feeling of the melodic forms, associating with some symphonic neo prog bands. However the instrumental sound style relates very strongly to older vintage analogue tones of heyday of progressive rock and psychedelic music, Thus the music has personal and interesting appearance, and fusions good elements from the past to more modern day concepts, doing something both innovative and familiar. Also the compositions are well considered, not focusing to only evident playing skills, but creation of solid album entity which is pleasant for the listener. Overall feeling is very emotional and delivering honest human presence forth, and long production time has ensured there are no filler tracks included, sonar tales flowing according fine quality line.

The album's intro carrying the group's name has loads of happy positive energies, and introduces quickly but in definite spectrum the stylistic palette and musical abilities of this group. The theme cycle and album title theme "Whose Dream?" has dreamy hopeful acoustic guitar and piano, painting really pretty and calm nocturnal ambiences. "Walk in Paradise" uses some vintage electronics, leading to waiting feeling, which are relieved by strong guitar maneuvers leading to more vividly altering compositional parts. The magical anticipation continues in "Handful of Rice", now with more concerned emotions prevailing. "Flight of The Phoenix" is one of my own favorites here, as I'm quite open to calm acoustic tunes, this one opening later with the driving of drums. "Midnight Skies" is a ballad with mighty guitar solo reminding bit Pink Floyd mid-70's days, and "Long-Distance Runner" returns to more emotional levels. "The Deal" creates tension dramatically to the conclusion of the album, where the "Whose Dream?" theme is treated in a more powerful instrumental manner.

I admit I have not listened extremely much to this kind of post-1970's symphonic-oriented progressive rock music, but one association I got from the overall sound as a Finnish listener was the group Ageness, maybe due the strong presence of feeling in the singing and also richness of musical content in slightly similar stylistic frames. From fine performers most memorable for me are the personal singer and skillful guitarist, and sympathetic keyboards reminding slightly Camel. Diversity of musical elements are merged as compact and smooth well working entity, and it is difficult to find reasons not for recommending this album for the fans of classic progressive rock music.

'Whose Dream?' - BunChakeze (8/10)

Here is an album with quite a unique story behind it. From the ashes of an early '80s rock group Odin of London, a handful of aspiring Brits decided to take their music in a new direction, akin to that of the classic prog rock scene that had since died down years before. Through ample determination and perseverance, the band that would call themselves BunChakeze finally started making sense of their ideas and music, finally finding an American singer by the name of Joey Lugassy to sing for them. Due to the lack of interest and energy in the prog scene during the 1980s, what transpired during those BunChakeze sessions in 1985 were kept under tight wraps- that is, until 2010. Having finally seen a revival of prog rock in more recent times, guitarist Colin Tench and company have seen fit to release their album to the public. An album that would no doubt be a cult classic to spark heated discussions among many prog afficionados now had it been released at the time of recording, BunChakeze's 'Whose Dream?' feels very much like a product of its time, but as fresh to public listeners as any other album released during the year, the album proves that such music of uncompromising integrity is indeed timeless.

Much like a fine wine, it feels as if 'Whose Dream?' has gently fermented with time. While many albums released during the earlier decades of progressive rock have now been subject to following decades of listening and critique, BunChakeze gets the charm of the 70's/80's symphonic prog scene without the familiarity, making the album a very unique case even simply based on that. Musically, we are granted a meticulous and warm stream of music that is short of an hour, delicately performed and composed. While the album and band have certainly crafted a successful possible classic out of this one however, BunChakeze's influences wear down heavily upon them.

A general criticism concerning prog is that the majority of it tends to emulate a few great artists who got their kicks out during the early '70s; Genesis, Yes, and Pink Floyd being chief among them. 'Whose Dream?' seems to take elements from these three bands (and others) and cut-and-paste different stylistic innovations of these bands into their own tapestry of music. Here, we can hear Joey Lugassy's strong (yet sometimes inconsistent) voice often sounding very close to that of Peter Gabriel's, Colin Tench's multiple guitar tones either taking a note from Hackett of Genesis, or David Gilmour of Floyd, for the lead solo sections. All of these is done very tastefully and skillfully by the band, but the fact that this sound would already be very familiar even as the 80's came about adds little to BunChakeze's credit.

Criticism of an original sound aside, the album is musically very strong; very close in structure and sound to Genesis' 'Foxtrot', and generally on par in terms of quality as well. Beginning and ending with a Spanish-tinged instrumental named after the band itself, these added parts gives the album a feeling of being a complete work, although they do feel like add-ons to the body of the work, as opposed to being an integral part of the album. Next is the title track 'Whose Dream', which is a beautiful and warm way to kick off the more complete songs, and capped off with a rocking solo from Tench.

Among the others, one of my two favourites from 'Whose Dream?' is the somewhat melancholy 'Handful Of Rice', which while taking a while to grow on me as a song, does tend to be one of the most complicated and effective compositions on the album. The other personal highlight is 'Long Distance Runner' which gets a surprisingly upbeat feeling going for it. Other tracks include 'Midnight Skies' where the bands tries their hand at storytelling through music, and 'The Deal,' which begs the Pink Floyd comparison, especially to that of 'The Wall' album.

Put simply, the album is generally very strong in its performance and writing. The production is organic, although flawed in sections as an inevitable result; at times, it feels as if the vocals are mixed too loudly over the rest of the music. Technical issues aside, 'Whose Dream?' seems to be an album that begs to be heard. After being a locked in a vault for many an unfulfilled year, 'Whose Dream?' is sure to appeal to the broader prog scene the new millennium enjoys as opposed to the '80s, and while one can certainly not expect a would-be revolution in the style, if it's solid, emotive, warm and organic symphonic progressive rock you're looking for; you'll find it here.

1985 and a young band Bunchakeze can't get a record deal for an album of Kansas-inspired Prog rock. 2010 and times and tastes have changed, and with the internet as the ideal promotion tool these guys made quite a buzz for these demos that were not deemed fit for release in 1985.

The recording quality and playing are quite good generally, for demos at least. Most people will enjoy there's little 80s sounds here. Everything sounds clear and natural. The music resembles Kansas quite a bit but it's less AOR. Especially the vocals will sound familiar. The songwriting quality is rather average, certainly not measuring up to Kansas, with lots of half-finished ideas and few memorable tunes. Some tracks (Flight of the Phoenix, The Deal) betray a Wall-era Floyd influence, but they are of minor importance.

I could give a flattering 3 stars for the instrumental parts but the Kansas-y balladry style of the vocals are a turn-off for me. I can imagine Kansas fans read a lot more into this. Quite frankly, I wouldn't have given them a record deal neither.

UK band BUNCHAKEZE was formed of the remnants of London-based outfit Odin back in the early 80's, and is one of numerous examples of bands active at that time which never got to release any material prior to folding. But as luck would have it, these guys actually recorded material, as they got free studio time in return for helping to build the studio in question. The record labels didn't find the material interesting though, and the band soon came to an end. But in 2010 their debut album appeared, some 25 years after it was made.

A few weak aspects aside this is a good album that should appeal to a wide audience. Prog purists will most likely sniff at this creation, but those merely looking for good music made in a progressive vein and who generally enjoy the gentler parts of the art rock universe should find plenty to enjoy here.

Bunchakeze

Jings! This is an album! Before you go on to say "Well, obviously it's an album", I say "It's not just a collection of songs, it's an album. It should be listened to as such, not just a collection of tracks. Once it gets going, it feels like it has been written as a whole work, a suite (which to my mind is how albums should be). That said, I'll make points about the individual tracks as they come up.

Another thing, you have to listen to the lyrics: none of this going for the whole sound and forget what's actually being said. Reason being that, for me, one of the joys of this album is how the "breaks" continue the emotional story of what is being sung by the excellent Joey Lugassy: they're not there purely to show off what a great guitarist Colin Tench is (though there's occasional touch of that - he's a lead guitarist after all!)

Other reviewers have referenced Pink Floyd. I'd buy that, but mainly on "Whose Dream part one" (except that, to my mind, BunChakeze are better players). On occasion, there are flavourings of Deep Purple and Van der Graaf generator (that's to my ears. It may not have been intended, even subconsciously), but fundamentally, they are their own band.

The album starts off with Bunchakeze, a chompy, cheeky, joyous opening, which sounds almost like an overture. Full of changes of feeling, excellent twin guitar sounds. This leads on to

"Whose Dream" The Floydish track. I would almost say this is the track which is the one which could be taken out of the albun as the single, were it not for the fact (or should that be opinion?) that it, lyrically, sets up the rest of the album.

"Walk in Paradise" Touch of the Deep Purple, interjections of Van der Graaf, with a fantastic instrumental break which, if anything, I would wish a tad longer (I can see that, live, it would be). Smashing bass work from Gary Derrick . Handfull of Rice/Flight of the Phoenix Great instrumental sections, the latter I wanted to go on an on at the end

Midnight Skies About the Indians (The American Indians) ? a terrifying middle break and lyrics which left me thinking ? My God, are we that close (temporally) to all of the stuff that happened to them?

Long distance runner This links to the last in the running theme. It starts with a jolly, cheeky, joyous chord sequence. And the break, like the others, carries the story on. Great work with a chanking ending which I wanted to go on and on!

The Deal Feels like a finish, but links, lyrically, to "Long distance runner" (There is stuff like this all over the album: things which hark back to other tracks: that's why you have t listen to it as an album) with a terrifying break????it's the end, but not quite

Bunchakeze Brings us back to what brought us in, an instrumental version of "Whose Dream", and back to Earth.

You may conclude from this that I'm mighty keen on this album, and you'd be right. In spite of the fact that all the players are probably on their bus passes by now, I'd like to see them live. This is a good album (my opinion only perhaps) with a lot to say. Lyrically, it's hopeful. Listen to it, again and again.