FLAME DREAM

I am still wondering why this talented band from Switzerland got no CD reissues (official ones I mean!)... They created beautiful symphonic prog and released thier productions on a big label, Vertigo (but paradoxically this may be a reason why when you know the versatile politics of those majors). Even at the peak of their glory, it was hard finding their LPs in Lyon, which is very close to Switzerland as you know. I like all their records especially "Out in the Dark" (1981) but this one, released the following year, is my preferred. Sure the 80's rhythmic may seem a bit outdated now but I do like the vocals (very close to Peter Gabriel's and Phil Collins'), the gorgeous keyboards. It features more accessible music than in the previous records but it is still excellent: think of Genesis' "Duke" or "And then they were 3". You may regret the lack of guitars except on the wonderful 'Paradise Lost' suite but there is never a dull moment thanks to the syncopated structures, rich melodies and instrumentation, expressive vocals and lyrics. Highly recommended then!

The second album found the band to be more original and spend more focus on songwriting as evidenced by the first track - the delicate "Sun fire"with majestic mellotron and synths. Later on, we hear very playful electric piano with moog arpeggios and Yes-like bass. "Sea monsters" has a rip-off Genesis Hammond motive and more customized synth solo coupled with irregular rhythm but it still the keyboardist who shines on be it on elegant classical inspired piano. "Earth song" has a bit of Van der Graf Generator saxophone feeling and it is quite a loose song with a tiny bit of Canterbury thrown in. Overall, this is the most avantgarde song on the album with further elements from Happy the man. "A poem of dancing" is a gem, very elegant composition with advanced piano runs and the end reminiscent of Genesis' "Afterglow". The band sounds very convincing and natural on their second and best album.

Calatea was an amazing Swiss band that entered the world of progressive rock quite late, in 1978. It took them some time to develop their own sound and the first album is an evidence of that. From the very first tones, you hear the Yes-like vocals and bass. The keyboard player was attracted closer to Genesis. This is one of the few bands with more dominant keyboards and guitar in the defensive, which would contrast even more in the subsequent releases. We have quite pleasant and versatile instrumental playing, mainly kudos to the keyboard and rhythm section. In addition, flute reminds of Genesis and brass instruments add a jazzier undertone. Two standouts are the long "Volcano" with extensive keyboard showcase and the more emotional "Gate out of Calatea" that has a symphonic solemn ending.

Overall, instrumental performance is above any penning skills and the band had yet to add more of their ingredients into the mix.

When enduring a sleepless night, few albums provide a more dreamy albeit also eerie mood than swiss band Flame Dream's third album.

American guitar player Dale Hauskins joined the quartet surrounding keyboardist and principal songwriter Roland Rockstuhl for this offering, adding jazzy melodic textures reminiscent of Allan Holdsworth and Steve Hackett best shown on his song-ending solo on the Genesis sounding 'Nocturnal Flight'. The keyboards are still the dominating instruments here with Rockstuhl providing plenty of synths, piano (the 'Duke'-piano as I like to call it) and sweeping mellotron choirs.

'Full Moon' starts the album off strong with Urs Hochuli's dominant bass backed by jazzy keyboard lines, wobbly synths and Peter Furrer's slick drum breaks. Vocalist Peter Wolf provides a subdued saxophon. The title track is another great one that starts slow and slightly ominous with a very deep sounding bass, while showcasing the band's jazzy playfulness in the more uplifting second half of this ten-minute epic. I have to mention that although the band was based in the german part of Switzerland, Wolf has next to no accent. His voice (some vage similarities to the likes of Gabriel and Hammill, but mostly very distinctive and original) is certainly not for everyone though.

'Wintertime Nights' opens the second side picking up the general music themes of the side one opener albeit in a more uplifting and poppy way. Rockstuhl's keyboad solo in the middle of the song has again a strong Genesis influence to it, not too dissimilar to Tony Banks' wild soloing on 'In The Cage'. Flame Dream have often been accused of plagiarism and even the major fan that I am, I can't deny the obvious bits and pieces ('Volcano' from the debut having an obvious 'Cinema Show' touch and parts of 'A Poem Of Dancing' from 'Elements' sound very 'Afterglow'-ish) on this album though, while a general Genesis touch is evident (mixed with a bit of Van der Graaf), there are no outright copy parts.

The majority of the second side is occupied by the majestic three part 'Strange Meeting'-suite. The first part sounds like a more rocking continuation of the title tracks' second half before 'Caleidoscope' pulls us back in into the darkness with a sudden menacing melltron choir. Wolf carries this instrumental part with his sax while Furrer gallops along on the drums perfectly timing the use of this cymbals to Rockstuhl's nervous synths. A riff from Hauskins draws us to a sax-dominated section very reminiscent of fellow countrymen 'Island'. We at last emerge from the darkness in the short and sweet third part as a more uplifting mellotron choir draws this piece of art to a close.

Flame Dream's first four albums are all excellent sadly vinyl only progressive tour de forces. I often flipflop between the adventurous 'Elements', the clinical dryness of 'Supervision' and this atmospheric beast as my personal favourite. As 'Out In The Dark' also saw a wider release in Germany it is still quite affordable and comes highly recommended. It is a very strong fourty-minute progressive tour the force, something seldom archieved in the year 1981.

[3 - 3,5 stars]

I've been listening to Flame Dream for a long time now, and ever since I knew them, I enjoyed their music very much. Their musical style may not be the most original out there - the Genesis and Yes influences are obvious, but the band's music (especially on Elements and Out in the Dark) was still very well written and catchy, and surely would make for a great addition to any 70's prog lover's collection. Those who run short on Genesis and Yes material to listen would definitely be satisfied with Flame Dream's style.

I've been wanting to give Supervision a listen for a long time, but this album is not easy to come by. Judging by Progarchives ratings, I was expecting it to be much more pop-rock oriented, but I do enjoy good pop-rock from time to time, so I wasn't prejudiced against it at all. Now that I finally listened to the whole thing, I have to say I'm positively suprised, as the songwriting here isn't all that bad, and some tracks actually get pretty proggy and interesting. I think Supervision to Flame Dream is what ...And Then There Were Three... was to Genesis - both bands have lost their main guitarist at that point, and continued with more accessible, yet still not soulless music. At times, both of the records, in terms of the atmosphere, sound quite similar to each other. I'm also happy that, despite changing the style a bit, it still feels like a Flame Dream record.

Blackmail is a very good opener, with a groovy bassline and some great keys to go along with it. As much as I enjoyed Peter Wolf's vocals on previous FD recordings, unfortunetely I don't think they mix with this type of "hit" song very well (imagine Peter Gabriel singing the material from Duke!). But since I dig Wolf's voice, they don't ruin the song for me all that much. Overall, the song might be just a tiny bit cheesy, but I still like it quite a lot.

Dancing into Daylight is a short intrumental piece, which sounds like it could be a leftover from any of the band's 70's albums. A pretty generic, folky little tune with melodic flute and light acoustic guitar. At least the synths aren't too bad.

The title track - Supervision - is actually a pretty good, mysterious song. The intro is so atmospheric! I absolutely love the quirky main riff and saxophone on this one. Lots of weird, playful synths too. This is Flame Dream at its best on this record! Really great stuff.

Signs of Solitude is a mellow ballad, and not a bad one. It has a nice, romantic atmosphere which reminds me of Genesis' Wind & Wuthering period. The instrumental passage in the middle is not bad either.

Tragedy is a slower, sad track, pretty much something you'd expect to find on any FD record. Unfortunetly, I don't find all that interesting.

Time for a Change is an alright song, with an instrumental part in the middle which is more interesting, but sounds uncannily similar to UK's The Only Thing She Needs.

Woman's Art? is the obvious elephant in the room here. It is absolutely atrocious! The main theme sounds like generic children's music or merry-go-round music. And the dreadful wordplay, ugh. It's not catchy, nor good, nor interesing in any way. Why the hell it is on this record? Good thing it's only three minutes long.

Paradise Lost is the longest song on the record, divided into three parts. It is also closest to the band's previous, more progressive style of writing. The first part is basically a short intro, pretty bare, but still somewhat climatic. Part two is definitely a highlight, and it is among my favourite Flame Dream songs in general, with the band delivering the musical awesomeness that made me like the previous records so much. Not extremely complex, yet more challenging than the rest of the album. Great drumming, thick basslines and wacky keys - it's amazing! I just wish there was some saxophone in it. The closer - part three - presents that "romantic Wind & Wuthering atmosphere" yet again. Unfortunetely it actually doesn't feel all that conected to the previous parts. It's nice, but a bit old at that point.

So, overall it's not a bad record. Blackmail, Supervision, Signs of Solitude and Paradise Lost are the highlights here, and definitely deserve to be checked out - the rest of the record is decent I would say (apart from Woman's Art? obviously). If you are that kind of proghead who enjoys the Genesis material from around ...And Then There Were Three... or Yes' albums past Tormato, there is a big chance you'll find some great music on this album. I woudn't recommend it strongly otherwise though. Also, if you like Flame Dream as much as I do, Supervision should definitely be on your "to-listen" list. So give it some love!

Favourite tracks: Blackmail, Supervision, Paradise Lost

Least favourite tracks: Woman's Art?

In a very short time too much went on in Flame Dream's bedrock.Firstly came the departure of guitarist Urs Waldispuehl, while the remaining members decided to move on as a quartet without a guitarist.Second came the change of label with the band leaving Phillips and signing with Vertigo.Nevertheless most of the compositions were written by keyboardist Roland Ruckstuhl, who wrote all of the material of the band's sophomore effort ''Elements''.The album was released in 1979, this time not only in Switzerland but also in Italy.

The new album of Flame Dream offered four long and sophisticated arrangements (along with a nice sax/organ-based short outro), obviously more keyboard-driven than on their debut without any guitarist in the line-up anymore.Additionally the role of sax/woodwind player Peter Wolf became more significant and dominant.The result is an album that recalls the best moments of CARPE DIEM, totally uncommercial and following the best Prog traditions.The music remained very much symphonic-oriented with huge piano preludes, fascinating synth acrobatics and old-fashioned Hammond organ runs in the style of TONY BANKS with little personality but an incredible performance.This keyboard-driven style is often accompanied by some elegant flute parts and heavy sax interventions, like if GENESIS and YES were jamming with VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR.The abscence of guitars is hardly detected, as the sound of the band remained rich and melodic, full of professional interplays, very tight orchestrations and impressive shifting climates.The vocals are pretty mediocre, without being annoying, seems the group was aware of it and ''Elements'' contains mostly extended instrumental parts with evident Classical inspirations, blended with some Fusion touches, characterized by numerous technical still memorable passages.

Very strong effort during Progressive Rock's twilight zone.An instant purchase for all fans of demanding Classic Prog, which is sure to reward anyone going after it.Highly recommended.

3.5 really

Out in the dark is their third album from 1981 and to me at least their second best after Elements. They incorporated again a guitarist in the line up , the american Dale Hauskins , and the sound even has many similarities with previous two albums in places is quite diffrent. Already by the time they had Elements in 1979 , progressive rock music was still looked with little regard for the prevailing winds of disco, new wave and punk, and by the 1981 prog rock was almost dead in many parts of the world, but still lurking in the shadow ready to show the final battle witht the rest. This release gone unnoticed, even has some very good moments, again rich keyboards parts, but because of the guitar the sound is no more so bombastic as on Elements, in some parts it sounds to me like Anyone's Daughter same period or Stern Combo Meissen, not bad at all for sure in the end. The Tony Banks kind of aproach on keyboards are still present specially on opening track but aswell developed on the rest of the pieces where together with the guitar the result is a pretty good one for sure. For instance on Caleidoscope an instrumental pices where Ruckstuhl's synthesizer are top notch, what a great unsung keyboard hero is this musici, awesome and intrsting, I've never heared or see very much talking about this musicn among the very worthy keybordist from prog music, is a shme because is one hell of a great player and aswell composer. So, all in all another worthy Flame Dream album, that needs attention togeher with Elements, two of the unfairly unnoticed albums fro dark days of prog. 3.5 stars to this one.

Flame Dream with their second offer from 1979 Elements is without question one of the best and yet unfairly unnoticed prog rock albums from late '70. I can't complain about anything here, the japanese Tachika Records re issue the album on CD in mini LP format and the sound is pretty great. The guitarist from thir first album is gone, the sound now on this album is similar with let's say Genesis from Wind and wuthering era or Duke, elaborated keyboards passages where Roland Ruckstuhl really shines in places he has some escapades that remind me of Wakeman solo albums. Also the voice reminds me of the guy from Fruupp with some Peter Gabriel tones here and there or Steve dane from Druid. So, the music is excellent to my ears, is a keyboard dominated album, little more keyboard orintated then their previous album, but that is not a bad thing, every musician done a great job, specialy the keyboradist and drumer. The mellotron, moog sound is top notch, very diverse passages , very well played with lot to offer, the passages are colourful, complicated, where the soinic wall offers , at least to me one of the best albums from late '70 in symphonic prog realm. All four pieces are top notch, a concept album about the 4 elements, with a plus on second track from A side Sea monsters , absolutly killer tune, where Roland Ruckstuhl manage to offers some very intresting and inventive parts, the keyboards here are wesome and of the highest calibre, very diverse and very solid. All, in all this album is quite underrated for sure, this Elements album sounds better then more then half albums and bands from same period from progressive rock realm, and yet quite unnoticed in prog circles. 4 stars easy and recommended for sure, top notch release and cover art aswell. Love it and one of my fav albums ever aswell.

Late-70's produced still some quality Progressive Rock and Flame Dream were among the bands that did so.They were found in Luzern, Switzerland in 1977 and the original crew were guitarist/singer Urs Waldispühl, keyboardist Roland Ruckstuhl, drummer Peter Fuhrer, bassist Urs Hochuli and woodwind player/singer Peter Wolf.Their debut album ''Calatea'' was originally released on Phillips in 1978.

In ''Calatea'' Flame Dream delivered quite complex Progressive Rock with numerous breaks and time signatures akin to masters YES, GENTLE GIANT, GENESIS and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR.From these influences YES should be the more evident, as the style of the band was full of the Englishmen's ethereal breaks with multi-vocal harmonies, Classical-inspired piano and harsichord intros, WAKEMAN-ish bizarre synth parts and STEVE HOWE-like guitar hooks.The melodic moog synth parts though are closer to the style of GENESIS.Among this mainly symphonic material Peter Wolf found plenty of space to offer endless sax and flute attacks, some of them are quite melodoius, others are very sharp and edgy.The arrangements of the album are pretty tight, filled with very complicated instrumental themes and demanding interplays, definitely a prog fan's heaven.The instrumentation is nicely balanced as well.What is not really consistent is the above average songwriting and of course the very strong YES resemblance is not exciting either.

Pretty solid material in Classic Prog vein and it is a crime there is no legit CD reissue still around.The only CD version I am aware of is a bootleg release by Tachika.Very good and complex Prog for fans of YES, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, CATHEDRAL or YEZDA URFA...3.5 stars.

Flame Dream´s second efford came in a time when prog was becoming increasily unfashionable. Still the music on this concept album (about the four elements, like the tile implies) is remarkly symphonic in essence, which I guess, it´s good enough credentials for this swiss band. Even more so if you consider that guitarrist Urs Waldispühl was gone, leaving the sound even more keyboard-oriented than the first, which is not bad at all for Roland Ruckstuht is a brilliant musician. Peter Wolf´s role as wind player was expanded too, and his were much of the parts supposed to be performed by the guitar player in a ´normal´ band.

I´ve always heard of them as a kind of Yes clone group, but I hear nothing like that here, nor in their debut. In fact, early Genesis and Gentle giant are much easily identified as their main influences, at least on Elements. Ok, some Jon Anderson-like vocals can be found here and there, but that´s about it. The extensive use of saxophones also takes them closer to jazz-rock/fusion than anything Yes has ever released. All the songs are quite good in general, even if none is really exceptional. My CD had a fifth track, a very short instrumental track that adds nothing to the original vinyl LP. Production is quite good. Vocals are only average, but they are not that intrusive overall.

While not an essential masterpiece of prog music in any way, it was still valiant and valid work of progressive music in a time so many other acts were giving in.

Final rating: 3.5 stars.