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Greenslade - Greenslade CD (album) cover

GREENSLADE

Greenslade

 

Symphonic Prog

3.70 | 268 ratings

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Warthur
Prog Reviewer
4 stars Greenslade's debut album underscores what the Greenslade project was all about - namely, Dave Greenslade and his sidemen tackling symphonic prog. I'd previously not been too keen on this album, but I've mellowed on it since then - in part because the remastered Esoteric rerelease (available by itself or as part of the Temple Songs boxed set) is a notable sonic improvement on previous CD reissues.

The overall approach is reminiscent of ELP jamming with Genesis - specifically, you have the pastoral atmosphere of Genesis in the quieter moments, and in the faster and louder moments you have a lot of showboating and classical flourishes, as well as pinches of jazz fusion harking back to Dave's past in Colosseum. It's also notable that the band has a similar configuration to the first two Rare Bird albums - namely, you have bass, drums, two keyboardists for the price of one, and no lead guitarist.

Whilst Colosseum played a crucial role in the early days of prog, especially the jazz fusion end of it, I'd say Greenslade is a bit less critical to the "golden age" of prog during which they were operating. That said, as far as solid bands who hit the second tier (in terms of commercial and critical recognition) go, they aren't half bad. I particularly like that they are able to throw in some lighthearted, boisterous moments in without crossing the line into outright novelty music, something which ELP were often much more clumsy at.

Don't go in expecting a staggeringly original missing piece of the 1970s prog landscape - but if you like the sort of groups I've cited above, do expect something which will tickle your fancy whilst not sounding so derivative as to be an outright clone of any of them.

Warthur | 4/5 |

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