PRE-FLIGHT

ROOM were an obscure five-piece, British Jazz-Rock outfit who released this one amazing album and then promptly disappeared without trace when their plane vanished off the radar. The female lead singer (Jane Kevern) sings in a bluesy style with the accomplished musicians providing a solid bluesy Jazz-Rock feel to the music. This long-forgotten gem should appeal to fans of Big Brother & the Holding Company and Stone the Crows. Having done the pre-flight checks, It's time to take a seat inside the plane now and prepare for take-off. Chocks Away!

Buckle up tightly because it's going to be a bumpy ride. "Pre-Flight" opens with the title track, a 9-minute long barnstormer of a song, with many dramatic changes of pace with Jane Kevern's bluesy vocals sounding smoothly appealing. It's probably the Jazziest of all of the Jazz-Rock songs on the album with complex changes of time signature and with a lively brass section. The song plays out in style with some heavy guitar riffs. Reaching altitude, we now come to the second song on the album, "Where Did I Go Wrong", an out-and-out traditional heavy Blues-Rock number. Jane Kevern imploringly asks "Where Did I Go Wrong" but she certainly didn't go wrong with this song. It's flying high at 35,000ft in the jet stream of great British blues. At cruising speed now, we come to "No Warmth in My Life", a powerful rollicking number that rocks along at impressive speed, before taking an unexpected Jazz break midway through the song. Continuing our flight, we come to "Big John Blues" - a typical early 1970's Blues- Rock song. No surprise there. Jane Kevern gives it all she's got and more besides in this lively number. "Andromeda" maintains the impressive speed with an up-tempo and uplifting number. If you were left feeling blue after the last song, then this is the song to lift up your spirits into the stratosphere again. Warning! The next song begins with an air raid siren, so prepare for "War", a political song with a strong anti-war message, not to mention another great Jazz/Rock number to keep the feet tapping and the heart pounding with its dynamic ever-changing rhythm. Coming in to land now, we have the final song and highlight of the album, "Cemetery Junction", an eight and a half minute powerhouse of a song which closes the album in triumphal and grandiose style, featuring dramatic tolling bells, Jazz-Rock flourishes, classical motifs, and a heavy pounding electric guitar steamrollering its way through to the end of the song. This song has it all. A magnificent finale to a superb album.

If you have Room in your record/CD collection for some stimulating bluesy Jazz-Rock from the early 1970's, then fasten your seat belts and prepare for take-off with "Pre-Flight", because this is the album for you. You won't be disappointed.