THE CELLAR TAPES - 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Haze came to life in Sheffield, UK in 1978 by teenager brothers Paul McMahon (guitar, vocals) and Chris McMahon (bass, keyboards).Originally the band was a quartet, but they soon abandoned the idea of having a full-time keyboardist with Chris playing the keyboards along with his bass duties.The band changed some drummers over the years, from Andy McNaughten (who played on the band's 81' 7'' single) and Dave Kirkham (member circa 1982) they settled with Arthur Deas and with this core they recorded their debut cassette ''The cellar tapes'' in 1983, apparently captured in the cellar of the McMahon brothers.

There's no need to get out and search for the original cassette, the band made this album available in 2013 as ''The cellar tapes- 30th anniversary edition'' along with some demo and live tracks and the pair of cuts present on Haze' lone 81' single.''The cellar tapes'' is a great evidence of how desperate some young musicians were back in early-80's to produce refined, semi-symphonic music with influences from giants such as GENESIS and PINK FLOYD, they would do whatever it took to get their stuff exposed and Haze established their own Gabadon label to promote this first work.Musically it's somewhere between soft Symphonic Rock and the emerging Neo Prog sound, borrowing tunes from a handful of famous Rock and Prog tracks and throwing them into their own ideas, for example ''Turn around'' contains echoes from Genesis' sentimental ballad ''Afterglow''.The material contains the typical raw values of 80's British Neo Prog, it's played with honesty and passion and swirls around synth- and organ- drenched arrangements with full-blown electric guitars and some theatrical aspects during the vocal parts, while the more symphonic moves contain some light flute parts, performed by guests Jill Stoddart and Judith Copey.Some strong synth runs, some pastoral passages and even some New Wave aesthetics pop up here and there, the recording sounds very rough at moments, but there is a definite mood by the McMahon family to deliver elaborate and progressive tunes, even if at times they derail and sound more angular than needed.

This is a direct order by the band's website.The early days of Haze are exposed here in an amalgam of fading symphonic and emerging New Prog stylings with organ, synths, electric piano and electric guitars in evidence, mixing rockin' themes with 70's-styled lush arrangements.Recommended.