SPLASH

3.5 stars. SPLASH were an eight piece Swedish Jazz Rock band who released 3 studio albums before calling it quits after a ten year run. This is the middle album released in 1974 and recorded in Oslo, Norway that same year. By far the majority of fans pick this one as their best. Three of the guys play horns and a variety of them. I understand their debut was more horn rock than this one but we certainly get multi horns blasting a lot or so it seems. Just not big on it. Two of the musicians play violin including the guitarist and keyboardist. The latter plays organ, piano and mini- moog. Flute, bass, drums and bassoon are some the other instruments in play.

I like the creativity on this album as we get three songs over the 42 or so minutes. The opener alone is almost 21 minutes long. We do get vocals after 2 minutes and they sound kind of rough but certainly have character. Not big on them though. Lots of piano and blasting horns on this one. Of course changes in tempo and mood abound on a track this long. Quite a few spoken words late. I do like the shortest track the most. Bassoon, horns, drums and piano stand out early then violin around 2 minutes as it turns catchy. It kicks in before 4 minutes with some nasty organ, horns, drums and bass. Violins and horns lead late. Not big on the closer with that ethnic vibe including the spoken words. We get guest percussion and maracas on this one as well. The guitar is at it's best though on this one.

A pretty good album that just doesn't deliver when it comes to my taste in music.

Progressive/Jazz-Rock act coming from the city of S'derhamn in Central Sweden.Splash were formed in 1969 as an eight-piece group - some of the members played in the Pop band Why [SWE] in the 60's - however suffering from some line-up changes during their early years.In 1972 the band released the debut ''Ut P' Vischen'' on Polydor.By the time they had two sax players Christer Holm and H'kan Lewin and two trumpet/horn players, Leif Halld'n and Lennart L'fgren.The line-up included also drummer Jan Erik Westin, bassist/singer Kaj S'derstr'm, guitarist/singer Christer Jansson and keyboardist G'sta Rundqvist.

Splash were greatly influenced by bands lile CHICAGO and BLOOD,SWEAT AND TEARS,so their sound was much driven by the band's horn section, including refined sax attacks, melodic horns and bluesy trumpet parts, especially in the instrumental parts.The keyboard work of Rundqvist still played a major role though, filling the tracks with organ preludes and calm jazzy piano passages.Unlike many Jazz/Blues-based Progressive bands, Splash focused on producing some lovely and melodic tunes,moving far from the Jazz improvised structures, creating thus memorable and delicate song-based material.Vocals are all in Swedish with an excellent color and become real highligh throughout the listening.The style overall is quite rich, polished and elegant.

Good early-70's Jazz/Blues-Rock with nice balance and melodic arrangements, far from being too complicated.A bit dated for today's standards but definitely well-played and recommended.