LUCIFER'S FRIEND

That's the story of the band and let's talk about the music. Despite the change in musical direction, the Lucifer's Friend name had already big when this sixth studio album was released. I was so fortunate could buy this album in the year of its release even though I lived in a small town, Madiun of Indonesia East Java. To me this cassette meant so much as everyday I always visited the cassette stores in town to check new release of rock band at that time. I purchased the cassette of Good Time Warrior without asking how the music was because I trusted that something from Lucifer's Friend must be good. Overwhelmed by that big name I forced myself to like it. In fact one of the radio stations kept playing track number 2 "Meet You in L.A." (4:03) and also the third track "My Love" (5:57) was featured in compilation cassette well known and popular in my country at that time called Dream Express 2. What a great time.

Of course, this album is for collector or die hard fans of Lucifer's Friend. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

The band never really convinced me (except their first two releases) and in terms of prog this one rates below zero. This is a pure and poor AOR stuff from start to finish. There are NO needs to write a long and detailed review about this crappy work.

Lawton can't help either: the vocal department is OK but gosh!!! What about the songwriting? Just poor I am afraid. The band should have called it quit a long time ago already.

I guess that no progheads could bear this sort of treat: poor & basic FM music. This is all you are going to get. No more. Avoid it by all means! On top of all, this album is damned long as well!

One star of course.

Anyway, what one gets here is straight forward hard-rock music with little angle for sophistication ("One Way Street To Heartbreak"). And I am not even talking about prog of course. To compare this album with the giants of the genre (Led Zep, Purple or Sabbath) is quite daring as far as I am concerned?

It holds much more the comparison with second or better said third tier bands and it definitely leans on AOR sounds for most of the time ("Fire & Rain"). The best song from this work is undoubtedly "Cool Hand Killer" which is a real ? killer for sure: a superb beat, incredible guitar and great vocals. In one word: solid.

The poppish "Action" also features some great guitar lines and a frenetic beat. The more diverse track is "One Night Sensation". It holds some nice rhythm changes, powerful vocals and fine synthesizers.

Globally, this is not too bad an album: zero on the prog scale but five out of ten in terms of good old hard rock. Still, it lacks something to reach the three star levels.

It would be daring to say that this work is remarkably progressive but I have to say that it shows some good rock songs with powerful vocals ("Goodbye Girls", "Foxy Lady"). It has been ages since the band didn't propose something as close to rock as this album. No more brass, no more orchestrations: thank god!

Of course, there are some pop-rock tunes available which are not of the best level ("Stardancer") but the global feeling is rather pleasant. "Indian Summer" shows some links with the Heep (keys and vocals). It is one of my fave from this album (good guitar break) even if it also sounds AOR at times (on the contrary of the title track which is far too much AOR oriented)

One of the most attractive elements of the band at this stage is the vocal department. They have pretty well digested Lawton's departure (after "Mind Exploding"). Their new singer (who joined already for "Good Time Warrior") is leaning towards Mercury and this is not bad at all!

The most melodic, crafted and passionate song of the whole is definitely the closing number: bombastic, skilled and powerful. It could have sit on a "Queen" album. What a pity that not more of this type of song was available! I would rate this album with five out of ten but reduced to two stars for its obvious AOR orientation.

Ever wondered how that would turn out? Maybe BANQUET isn't the best representation of a ''prog musical'', but I hear a lot of theatre music that sounds so campy it works. Listen to ''Our World Is a Rock and Roll Band'' and try not to imagine ''Chicago'' (the musical, although the band might also come to mind). I also see the high octane dance number in ''High Flying Lady-Goodbye'' and the cheeky finale in ''Dirty Old Town''. Then again, I've performed in numerous community theatre productions so I have that kind of bias.

But with three campy musical numbers, are we still dealing with prog rock? To an extent. ''Thus Spoke Oberon'' is the big prog track both in sound and development. The beautiful piano and orchestra parts bring the pomp while the faster paced middle section most closely depicts the Lucifer's Friend of old; one that can let a mean guitar solo go.

There's also two longer numbers that are more jazz fusion with a good Broadway vibe to them. You can easily dance to the vocal sections, yet there's plenty of space for the musicians and brass orchestra to breathe. Bassist Dieter Horns makes great use of the space; listen to some of the licks in ''Spanish Galleon''. And I have not once mentioned how powerful and dominating the vocals of John Lawton are. Rarely matched in the rock world, Lawton is a terribly underrated vocalist that brings life to the whole album.

It's a ton more enjoyable if you get a mental picture of a Broadway show while you spin BANQUET. Lucifer's Friend as a band came from a heavier rock sound earlier in their career, but they seem to have stripped most of it away for BANQUET. Not head-banging but toe-tapping, and certainly one of the most unique prog rock experiences. I have to restrain the rating though, because the showtune-y sound many of the numbers have might be off putting to many prog fans.

Totally AOR and FM oriented, there are hardly anything great to retain from this work. Some nicely rock balanced song of which the best one is "Meet You In L.A." ("Sweet Little Lady" is another good old rock track to be fair).

Some superb guitar intro is featured during "My Love" but it is totally ruined with the predictable vocals. Of course, Lawton is not there any longer but neither him could have saved the bill of the former albums; so?

To listen all the way through to this work is not of a great musical reward to be honest. Most of the songs are quite dull and are quite "press next" oriented ("Good Times", "Gaambling Man").

The best piece of music is probably the long closing "Warriors". It holds some fine instrumental sections (the middle "Bolero" type is good). Superb guitar all the way through and for once, decent vocals are topping a rather convincing track.

Still, the whole of this album sounds quite weak. I wouldn't think of a higher rating than two stars for such a work.

The problem is that a song as "Blind Boy" shares too much with their previous album and this is really bringing the quality of the work lower. OK: there are some fine background fluting?so what? The riff is also a rip off from the Fab Four.

If you like funky tunes, you might be charmed with "Fugitive". Needless to say that is at the opposite of my taste and that the only action I can recommend is to "press next" to avoid this nightmare. So far, so bad: not one great song to describe.

The most average song from this album is the great rocking "Natural Born Mover". It is quite lost within the maelstrom of the whole offering but it offers some relief at least. Unfortunately, it is followed by the lousy "Free Hooker". Some mix of soul, jazz and potentially rock music. But I can't sand this mix of genres. By no means.

Some Oriental touch for "Broken Toys" is just there to be closer to the model I have just mentioned. This might have been original in the late sixties; but not any longer in 1976 when this "Mind Exploding" was released. My mind was not exploding at all while listening to it? Do we need to fall apart for some table sound? I guess not.

This is just a below average album: two stars.

The long opening song ("Spanish Galleon") holds some good (but so damned short) guitar moments à la Carlos but it paves the way for the whole. Namely: a brass section that I can't stand. But these instruments were never too much a passion of mine (and never will).

Where did the great and heavy rock from this band go to? Not on this album, that's for sure! If you thought that the weak opening song was a mistake, it was not. Unfortunately: the awful "Thus Spoke Oberon" is a perfect confirmation of this feeling. A short guitar solo (soon covered by these stupid brasses) is the only good moment. Some thirty seconds out of almost seven minutes. Big deal!

It was quite a disappointment to listen to this work but as I have said, the creativity / originality declined seriously after their debut. A good option would have been to call it quit after such a great piece of music; as many, many Italian bands did. But they decided to go through. Unfortunately.

The bottom low and almost ridiculous "High flying Lady ? Goodbye" only highlights this feeling. How is it possible to release such a song? Just bear in mind that the band was categorized in the heavy prog style? We are far, very far away from the genre with this "Banquet" album.

Don't expect the second long song from this offering to save the bill. "Sorrow" is just another soft jazzy number with little appeal as far as I am concerned. Excellent vocals (but this can be experienced throughout the album) are really the only positive point.

This has NOTHING to do with heavy prog. Two stars is my maximum rating. Below average music it is. No prog and little rock. What else???

This album is just pure AOR, which means poor to my ears.

I can hardly find one interesting song to outline: no highlight at all, unfortunately. The bluesy- gospel "Closed Curtains" is rather disgusting to say the least. Gosh! What is this? I guess that this can only be experienced while you try to review a whole band's discography. Shame on me! Actually not: shame on them!

The great and heavy prog experiences from their debut are alien from this album: at least this is my opinion. Some good guitar during "Born On The Run" is probably the best of your experience on this work? And it is not the jazzy "Blind Freedom » that will change my mind about this album. The title track is just a below average rock'n'roll song. Poor it is ?

To keep a long story short: this album is useless (apart some excellent guitar breaks) and no prog lover should worry about this poor offering. Their debut album was great: let's remember that. This rock'n'roll stuff is just below average and the closing "Song For Louie" saves the bill for this album.

This is the only prog moment that you can expect. Dark and tenebrous: the middle and instrumental portion is extremely good and scary. As if some other band was in charge of this short section?

Still, only two stars for this flat work.

The opening number is a funky piece of music with little flavor to my taste. Things change with 'Rose in the Vine' who is quite diversified: piano intro, heavy / bluesy part with strong vocals, dynamic but totally loose instrumental sections (almost eclectic and a bit noisy). It is very difficult to get into this track. Very complex indeed.

The same complex mood prevails during the excellent 'Mother'. Some sort of jewel made of symphonic prog (mellotron), powerful vocals, and heavy passages. It sounds as if it was a mini-opera on its own. Brilliant, really.

Keys are extensively used throughout this album (mainly piano), but during the title track there is even sweet and delicate fluting displayed. This is truly a great combination and again some eclectic accents are felt IMHHO. This is the second highlight from this album. Great rhythm changes, solid beat (great drumming by the way) are ingredients which are peppering this excellent track.

The other highlight is the long 'Summerdream'. It is a scary and dark track full of violin, macabre mood and musical maestria. It could have been named 'Summer Nightmare'! There are long instrumental passages, with piano again and some orchestrations as well. Another mini rock opera actually! Not as excellent as 'Mother', but still very good.

Two to three average songs prevent me to rate this album with four stars: 'Hobo', 'Prince Of Darkness' and 'Burning Ships'.

Still, this is quite a good album. Seven out of ten. It really deserves more reviews.