CATAPILLA
Eclectic Prog • United Kingdom
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CATAPILLA were an English band from the early 70's who released two interesting albums of experimental jazz rock, without symphonic traces as in other bands of the moment such as AFFINITY, CRESSIDA, or SPRING. The band had a line-up of six to seven people performing on saxophones, keyboards, bass, guitar, vocals, bass, and drums.
In "Catapilla" perhaps the production is not so strong as it was necessary. The album consists of four tracks with extended, instrumental passages where guitar, saxophone, and keyboards get lots of solo space. Far superior to their first album, "Changes" is a very atmospheric piece of music. Their sound is more ethereal and spacey, but still a terrific blend of jazz rock/brass rock with an occasional psychedelic edge. This is another essential album you must hunt down and add to your collection.
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Buy CATAPILLA Music
![]() | Catapilla/Changes Double CD Click Record Productions | $29.99 |
![]() | Changes Remastered Repertoire 2008 | $12.91 $10.95 (used) |
![]() | Changes (Japanese Mini LP Sleeve SHM-CD) Belle Antique | $44.99 |
![]() | Catapilla Green Tree Records | $21.99 $20.00 (used) |
![]() | Catapilla (Japanese Mini LP Sleeve SHM-CD) Belle Antique | $39.99 |
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CATAPILLA discography
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CATAPILLA Reviews
Showing last 10 reviews only
Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
Menswear
Prog Reviewer

It's like they heard my feedback (back to 1972?) and changed what grinded my gears! In this tasty second delivery, Catapilla threw out the 'I'm-going-to-frighten-you-Dario-Argento-style' screams of Anna Meek and told her to calm the hell down. It worked in the first one, but I frankly thought it was still over the top. Exit the crazyness and enter sexy/harmonious lyrical chant to our most pleasure.
Yes, now it's complete: the formula works to it's full potential. The almost muted singing is really going well with the jam and brass, releaving you of the dissonant and abrupt moments of violence of the first one. Meek is heading more towards Kristina of Curved Air (meeow!) and it's certainly with pleasure that I will revisit their albums. Talking about albums, the Vertigo press of this record is still fetching some sky high dollars and this time, the caterpillar is eating the corner of the LP. Clever and original!
New and improved Catapilla with more active ingredient: 'Calmex'
Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
Menswear
Prog Reviewer

Life is too short to listen to Yes and Marillion clones, have a real taste of something TRULY original. I had to dig deeper into this band: weird name, obscure LP with abysmal sales and even weirder art cover and even weirder singer.
Everything is here to give you a real challenge: long (but stimulating) rock jams of guitar-bass-drum-saxes and a singing style I never heard outside an asylum. Just by listening, you could think Anna Meek is the scariest woman you've met. The kind who would seduce you but stab you instantly after. I'm not joking: her style is atonal, dissonant and bordeline insane; a nice walk hand in hand with a woman raised by angry wolves.
Have you what it takes to tame this beast? Can you go through and come out sane? Can you find the conducting thread in this record and even...enjoy it?
A truly original experience, a solid sonic challenge and a FUN one at that.
Classic I-don't-give-a-crap record!
Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Special Collaborator Rock Progressivo Italiano Team

Arriving with droning sax before a filthy blast of heavy snarling guitar, the almost sixteen minute opener `Naked Death' slugs the listener in the face right from the start. A heady brew of thick and purring upfront bass, a battery of rumbling drumming with sax sultry and sweaty one minute, maddening and unhinged the next. The bookended voice of Anna Meek is anything but, instead she's a gutsy tornado of Janis Joplin-esque howling that resembles a witch and a banshee violently making love! She's really there to introduce and close a lengthy jam of funky breaks, jazz-fusion embers and fuzzy acid-rock blaring electric guitars, making for an epic full of great foot-tapping, head-nodding power throughout. The groovy `Tumblewood' is almost poppier in comparison with a sweet reflective lyric and Anna's voice taking on a cooing, motherly warmth in between constant little bluesy soloing from the fellas, and `Promises' slinks with funky danger and plenty of If-like call- and-response honking sax blasts.
But best of all might be the twenty-four minute second side `Embryonic Fusion', a whirling and unrelenting storm of dual-sax demolition, drifting ruminative clarinet, pumping distorted bass, brooding organ, a battery of rambunctious drumming and scuzzy acid-rock guitar-slinging. Anna's deranged voice drifts ethereally then erupts with foaming acid back and forth, the epic seamlessly transitioning in and out of sprightly up-tempo pounding jazzy runs, sombre and noisy Soft Machine- flavoured breaks and break-neck dying assaults. Constantly reprising musical themes worked in reign all the constant jamming commotion in cohesively without sacrificing intensity and vigor, and it delivers a fiery and dynamic conclusion.
Singer Meek's mostly roaring vocal may be a divisive issue for some listeners, but there is just so much great playing squeezed onto this lengthy 49 minute album, and while the follow-up album may offer a bit more subtlety and variety, this debut makes for an addictive and raucous blast of power all its own.
Four stars, but add an extra half star if you can handle the vocals!
Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
stefro
Prog Reviewer

Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
b_olariu
Prog Reviewer

Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
b_olariu
Prog Reviewer

Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
stefro
Prog Reviewer

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012
Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
Gatot
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

The second track Charing Cross (6:45) has jazzy style with, again, beautiful vocal of Anna Meek. The music was statretd with an ambient segment with saxophone at background. But then the music moves in faster pace with improvised saxophone work and powerful voice of Anita. There is a Foydian (stunning!) guitar work at the later part of the song. It's really a good composition. Thank Christ For George (12:07) sarts something classic in its intro part with sax provides its fills at first. There is a progressive jazzy style when Anna starts to sing. But still the nuances are still dark. The concluding track It Could Only Happen To Me (6:45) is mellow in style with sax still providing its solo.
Overall it's a good album that features traditional symphonic prog combined with the dominant work of saxophone. Keep on proggin' ...!
Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW
Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
EatThatPhonebook
Prog Reviewer

"Changes" is a warm, sensual, intriguing, effort that closes Catapilla's brief career.
Catapilla give themselves a last chance before giving up on releasing albums, with their sophomore and last work, "Changes", a noticeably more mature album, that ends up keeping the same quality as the first LP.
The band on this one adds keyboards, makes the mood much mellower, makes all the instruments flow fluently. As a matter of fact, the flow of the instruments almost sounds like the streaming of a river, it's so effortless sounding and continuous. This sort of smoothness gives a strange sensuality to the whole, especially thanks to Anna Meek's at times soothing but ironically at times harsh and rough vocals. Much more atmospheric and Progressive, (replacing the heavy Psych roots the debut was attached to) the musicianship also is a bit toned down, despite there being good and very frequent solos along the whole LP: the sax, the keyboards, the guitars, are all together layered in this thick yet relaxing wall of sound, that almost gives the chills because of it's mysterious sensuality richened with Anna's dragging voice.
Changes is an extremely brave piece of work in a way, because of it's so original sound. However, maybe some songs were just not memorable and impacting enough, unfortunately. The shorter song "Charing Cross" doesn't do anything for me melodically, while the longer tracks like the opener "Reflections" and "Thank Christ For George" are very enjoyable for the most part, even though exceptions are made when the band goes through too much cold complexity, definitely contrasting the fact that "Changes" is sonically a warm album. The closer instrumental "If Could Only Happen To Me" has also great moments alternated with more boring ones, where the band almost feels lost in their own sound.
"Changes" is a nice experience overall, despite the few flaws it has. It's sonic characteristics makes Catapilla a unique and underrated band that truly had talent, and deserved another chance; I'm sure a masterpiece would have come next.
Catapilla Eclectic Prog
Review by
EatThatPhonebook
Prog Reviewer

Catapilla's self titled is a brave album full of desperate atmosphere and tons of character.
Catapilla are an obscure London act that back in the day released two little albums, this one being their self titled debut. The music they brought to this world is creative and somewhat innovative, with interesting moments and ideas.
The music itself is, very roughly, a mix between a very original sounding Blues Rock and Jazz Rock. The resultant piece is a radical and kind of heavy, at least for 1971, Progressive Rock album, with evident Hard Rock and Psychedelia influences as well. One of those vintage, classic albums, extremely visceral and fierce in some moments, due to the instrumentation also: we have guitars, bass, and sax that are accompanying the vocals, without any keyboards anywhere. This gives, like I said, a more fierce touch to the overall sound, which can truly be beastly.
The visceral feel in these four tracks have a somewhat dark, desperate tone in many parts, while in others it turns out to be a more fun and light listen, especially the shorter songs. But singer Anna Meek has such a strong and powerful voice, she almost sounds like a prophet of death in many pieces, evoking almost nightmarish tones, especially in the fifteen minute 'Naked Death'. Two thirds of this intro of the album basically are composed of soloing, which starts after the two minute mark and ending at almost the end of the song. This is why I found myself in a bit of difficulty in enjoying it as a whole, but the sung part is absolutely priceless. The next two songs are more forgettable and happen also to be more cheerful: 'Tumbleweed' and 'Promises' both could have been written more enthusiastically in my opinion, although even here Anna Meek shows her undeniable talent. The monster track is 'Embryonic Fusion', almost twenty five minutes of madness, featuring a lot of variation and it doesn't feel at all like 'Naked Death', it's multi parted nature makes it the most interesting and worthwhile song of the entire album.
Overall Catapilla's debut is enjoyable, however not the most essential album of this kind of music. The following album 'Changes' is considered even more Progressive because of the adding of the keyboard, but this debut has no question character, and quite a large one too.