Welsh Prog: 1st Album

Thanks to Essex Boy in Wales for the inspiration for this series of polls.

2007: 25 Yard Screamer - Cassandra - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mZoZZDpv_gAUlBryA0oHdIJXwnu4K-5jM
1970: Aquila - Aquila - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbAdW-qB7bI&list=RDVbAdW-qB7bI&start_radio=1
1969: Blonde on Blonde - Contrasts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCchCKqSFa0&list=RDSCchCKqSFa0&start_radio=1
1971: Budgie - Budgie - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k0Cdp2NrlqBnRwMrIaFC9NU7bTHOrlNaY
2020: Chimpan A - The Empathy Machine - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lKidY9ukttwY9DvXCTget5Whuz9nbU6Ys
1993: Cyan - For King and Country - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wacxgQvJe8A
1969: East of Eden - Mercator Projected - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nLnTXHIoyUo6vp2tiYdvsB18CWmlPEaNc
1974: Roger Glover - The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ktV8W_J2nkyxLbguZovRPLG8cWGOy997E
1972: Gnidrolog - In Spite of Harry's Toenail - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m3PXk-aXf626tUnu6i30qe5mtElt-khYk
2010: Godsticks - Spiral Vendetta - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nWggxZ5_Um4WB1j_tIDOq6gvqKFYsy1Wc
1998: Karnataka - Karnataka - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEYvW7Xq7JmbYt4ToQ9yhwRT
2012: Kompendium - Beneath the Waves - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNRU5JCuIkZQfBIJZ_-pG6_XIwJVIL90Q
1976: Lone Star - Lone Star - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAn6DdUzfGY&list=RDBAn6DdUzfGY&start_radio=1
2001: Magenta - Revolutions - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_TaS3ukydpIe3T-MrH1EqR942YNj9Pwr
1969: Man - Revelation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o6dEzsXl50&list=RD2o6dEzsXl50&start_radio=1
1985: Multi-Story - East-West - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lufg9zaykHe2R7ppZ253ZPR4Lc_I16M-8
1974: Neutrons - Black Hole Stars - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttwoRMG68u4&list=RDttwoRMG68u4&start_radio=1
1999: The Othello Syndrome - The Shadow of Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YgFkWDlxXw&list=RD_YgFkWDlxXw&start_radio=1
2008: Panic Room - Visionary Position
1980: Pererin - Haul Ar Yr Eira - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mIxH09xYoAgiRxw1Gewi-yVtYo6S9OAG0
1973: Quicksand - Home is Where I Belong - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l6edsW0JVi9cY9mGsIRrQdOKDOoZhFSCo
2014: Robert Reed - Sanctuary - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lEXFN-SNu_rgnMfkyMtR1OzwTemPOZS9s
2007: Sendelica - Spaceman Bubblegum and Other Weird Tales from the Mercury Mind - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJLVf6K6Md4
2007: Soft Hearted Scientists - Take Time to Wonder in a Whirling World - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k-h60CCU-a-r4Y6Ziu89rIgs0fcCpuAVM
1996: Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lC4DzU_8k-cduQZGom4lPlUOKUWiYPzb4

EBIW may have been the inspiration, but he’s pretty sure he’s not listened to any of these albums☺️

Now, where’s that series of Essex Prog polls?…..

😂


Actually the above is not true - I have the Kompendium album and I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty tidy, is it butt?!!!😉🫢

Edited by essexboyinwales - Yesterday at 03:50

Multi-Story – East-West

1. Magenta - Revolutions
2. Cyan - For King and Country
3. Robert Reed - Sanctuary
4. Kompendium - Beneath the Waves


Scottish Prog is coming up tomorrow with the following line-up:-

Abel Ganz
Ian Anderson (Och aye!)
Beggars Opera
Boards of Canada (Yes, really!)
Bodkin
Bread, Love & Dreams
Jack Bruce
David Byrne
Caedmon
Clouds
Cocteau Twins
Comedy of Errors
The Cosmic Dead
Crooked Mouth
Fish
Grand Tour
Incredible String Band
Marillion (Seriously? No!)
Midas Fall
Mogwai
Pallas
Roads to Damascus
Al Stewart
Sunday
Trembling Bells
Writing on the Wall

^ According to PA, Help Yourself were formed in London (with no mention of Wales), but you can Help Yourself to a review what I once wrote.


HELP YOURSELF (known as The Helps by their fans) were a London-based band with a unique sound that can best be described as Psychedelic Country. They recorded four albums during the early 1970's:- "Help Yourself" (1971); "Strange Affair" (1972); "Beware the Shadow" (1972); and "The Return of Ken Whaley" (1973). It seemed like Help Yourself may have been consigned to the annals of rock history after poor sales from their fourth album, but due to popular demand by their fans, they made a brief belated comeback with "Help Yourself 5" in 2004, which consisted mainly of 1973 recordings from an unreleased fifth album. It's time now to give Help Yourself's third helping a listen.
Upon hearing the "Beware the Shadow" album for the first time, you'd be convinced they were an American Southern Rock band. In fact, their first song "Alabama Lady", sounds like a typical song that the U.S. bands Alabama or the Allman Brothers Band might have recorded in their heyday. Help Yourself have encapsulated the American Southern Rock sound perfectly with "Alabama Lady". It sounds as American as a Stetson-wearing cowboy in a rodeo riding a bucking bronco. Next up is the real highlight of the album, the 12-minute-long song "Reaffirmation". The floating sound of a Mellotron in the opening gives the song a somewhat mystical air, but this is only a prelude to a long Psychedelic Country jam session that sounds very reminiscent of some of the Grateful Dead's extended jams, only Help Yourself are much more Alive and Kicking in this exhilarating number than the Grateful Dead ever were in their seemingly endless jams. Side One draws to a close now (already?) with the brief "Calypso", which turns out to be a hippyish campfire sing-along song.

The Side Two opener "She's My Girl" has the same happy and carefree sound of the summer as "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles. "She's My Girl" has Hit Song written all over it. It's a song that's positively aglow with passionate romantic love and optimistic hope for the future. Up next is "Molly Bake Bean", a song with childish innocence which sounds just as silly and frivolous as the song title implies. It's a perfect Country sing-along song to listen to and join in with whilst eating baked beans around a campfire with the kids. And now it's time for the BIG bluesy piano ballad "American Mother", another song that sounds as quintessentially Born To Be Wild American as riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle over the Golden Gate Bridge. "American Mother" sounds like a song that Big Brother & the Holding Company might have recorded and it brings to mind another great song, "American Woman", by the Canadian band The Guess Who. Both songs represent good old-fashioned Blues-Rock numbers with the same raw and earthy appeal. We're just "Passing Through" now for the final song, a gently laid-back slice of Folk-Rock Americana.

"Beware the Shadow" is unlikely to appeal to Prog-Rock fans generally, but if you're in the mood to listen to some good old country boys from the Deep South of London in England, then Help Yourself to this rather unique Psychedelic Country album.

Budgie over East Of Eden.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: ^ According to PA, Help Yourself were formed in London (with no mention of Wales), but you can Help Yourself to a review what I once wrote. ...

Hi,

I did say ... "related" and mostly it was because Ken Whaley and Malcom Morley were taken from them by MAN, and later they returned to Help Yourself. MAN did not exactly get better or more interesting with them. But they soldiered on with Mickey and Deke on the road to nowhere! (Deke's excellent, but sad, book)

Edited by moshkito - 6 hours 38 minutes ago at 06:34