SONGS FROM THE BLACK BOX

After Woolly left BJH he embarked on a 'solo' career, initially releasing debut album Mæstoso and embarking on a couple of tours. The follow-up to Mæstoso was to be named 'Black Box' and recording sessions were undertaken by his band. Sadly, those recordings were never completed as his record company, who had failed to adequately support or promote the band, decided not to invest any further and pulled the plug. As guitarist Broomhead jumped ship at around the same time, the band was finished as a going concern and Black Box was shelved.

Some Black Box material was issued on a limited edition fan club tape, but it wasn't until 1994 that Voiceprint finally made it available on general release on Songs From The Black Box. Essentially this album is the whole of Woolly's debut album Mæstoso, together with nine Black Box tracks some of which remained incomplete. While Songs From The Black Box has long been deleted, all material is now available on current albums - the original Mæstoso album is still available [on Brimstone] and is about to be re-issued by Eclectic with bonus tracks, while the Black Box material is now contained on Black Box Revisited, also with bonus tracks.

Full reviews of this material can be found under those other albums. In summary these songs represent Woolly's vision of how he would wish his career to develop, using his former band as a stepping off point. There is clear reference to the trademark BJH sound, an eclectic mixture of melodic 'symphonic' structures and simpler soft-rock songs with strong guitar based themes not unlike the approach of John Lees. Some tracks could be considered essential, Patriots and Deceivers All in particular are BJH-style classics, but the whole album is a joy.

NB - the material here is worth 4 stars, but as the album is no longer available, I am rating it as 2 stars simply to reflect that, while fans/collectors might wish to spend a lot of cash obtaining it, others can readily obtain the material on Mæstoso and Black Box Revisited.