PROTO-PROG

I know that this is hard to find music but thankfully in this case it is because not enough albums were pressed and people wanted to hear the music instead of collecting just because it is rare. Although it is very dated, the music on here is very interesting. There were no keyboards, but Andromeda would have fitted in quite happily with the prog explosion that was going on at the time. In fact, I have to say that I enjoyed this more than the album of solo material that was released by John through Angel Air recently. If prog/psyche is what you want then look no further as the authentic stuff is here. A goody.

Originally appeared in Feedback #57

Tommy finds The Who exploring longer, more connected and more ambitious themes in a double album concept that never really takes off and soars. It often aims for the grandeur and bombast of classic progressive rock, but end up feeling slightly powerless, flaccid (and in my view a bit silly) in the process.

And it is charming and pompous pseudo-classical motifs, horns and epic organ that together with the regular rock instrumentation confidently set the album in motion (this will be back now and then, like some other themes ' it's a concept after all). Restless, kinetic and energetic drumming from Moon as per usual, as he dances around the kit. The atmosphere is mostly warm, bright and kind of frisky, with a steady confidence and a perpetual drive forwards - an air of childlike and optimistic expectancy, if you will. And even in the decidedly darker songs, the tone doesn't really change all that much. Despite some valiant tries, a little more bite and a little more menace wouldn't hurt. Even if this makes the album very cohesive, it dynamically cripples Tommy. Part of this problem can also be found in the instrumentation and vocal arrangements. There is a lot of acoustic guitar on the album, and even if it's mostly playing riffs or being strummed it brings with itself a certain airiness. The electric guitar is often rather polite and unobtrusive, rather than gritty and rocking the way I expect it to be in the hands of Townshend. And then there's the orderly, pleasant background melodiousness of the keys. And the beautiful, tidy and harmonic vocal arrangements. All in all, it is a pleasant psych-infused 60s rock sound, that doesn't really rise to the occasion. This is especially clear since it is a proper rock opera, where songs are composed rather theatrically. Music tend to follow text on Tommy; in sudden exclamations, choruses, different characters, moods and so on. And for some reason, I think the style of the music is overstretched in such a compositional framework. It's just too light, pretty, stilted and square. It limits the available space for expression. And since Tommy goes on for a while, you have time to notice this disparity on several occasions. It's just a bit unwieldy and rarely as intriguing as it is made out to be.

But...and this is a big one, there are enough of great songs here to make most fans of classic rock very happy indeed. Especially the more naked and emotional pieces that doesn't feel as meticulously constructed are highlights. When Daltrey is allowed to live out the emotions properly and with a bit of zing and bite from Townshend and Entwistle, the magic seeps back in, both in rock form and atmosphere. And some of the tighter, more prog-and-psych-infused songs really do work in a feisty, non-apologetic and joyfully adventurous classic rock way. They sound as fresh, unique and vibrant today as they must have sounded in 1969.

3 stars.

//LinusW

Ah Deep Purple, the lead guitar magic of Ritchie, the majestic keyboards of Jon, the screams of Ian G.... that takes me back. Wait a minute, you say the band is still going, you say this is a new album? Surely not?! Alas, Ritchie Blackmore has long since gone back to the future with Blackmore's Night (new album coming soon) and John Lord is now entertaining his namesake, but Ian Gillan is still belting them out, driven on by the powerhouse duo of Ian Paice and Roger Glover. Steve Morse has actually been lead guitarist with Deep Purple for longer than Ritchie was and Don Airey's Purple credentials are enhanced through his time with Rainbow.

So what can we expect from the 2013 Deep Purple. Well 12 brand new songs for starters, featuring such Purple-esque titles as "Weirdistan", "Blood from a stone" and "Hell to pay". Fans may be a bit concerned by the first minute or two of the opening "A simple song", beginning as it does with acoustic and soft electric guitar introducing a reflective vocal from Gillan. Have the band gone soft?? Of course not! Before you can say "Child in time" the song burst forth in its "Perfect strangers" type, riff driven magnificence. Airey pays tribute to the late Jon Lord with his swirling Hammond sound, the track immediately reassuring us that this is most definitely a Deep Purple album.

While there is a definite feel of the band's classic years to "Now what?!", and I include in that the fine reunion album "Perfect strangers", things do not stand still by any means. The melodies are strong, the musicianship excellent (of course) and the production top notch. On the other hand, here there is a modern sound, swirling synths, and quasi- orchestration. The pace (Paice!) is relentless, the band are clearly intent on making a record to be heard standing up. Indeed, it is only when we get to "Blood from a stone", a title you might expect to bring with it a belting rock number, that we find not a ballad but a slow blues. The following "Uncommon man" has us checking that this is really still Deep Purple. This seven minute guitar led piece builds from a "Wish you were here" like intro through a mid- song fanfare to a "Knocking at your back door" style latter section. "Apres vous" continues the surprises, offering a well rehearsed instrumental jam with a brief concluding vocal.

The bonus track "It'll be me", written by Jack Clement, was originally a single B side by Jerry Lee Lewis, then a hit single for Cliff Richard (never though I'd mention his name here) and was more recently covered by Tom Jones. The version here mirrors Jones' interpretation.

Everyone will have their own favourite from this album of course and for me there are a couple of songs that make up the numbers. There is though a general consistency and every so often, songs such as "Above and beyond" or the delicious "Vincent Price" will jump out as being yet another highlight. Deep Purple fans will not be disappointed with "Now what?!" (although the title is about as good as "Bananas"). This is a first rate DP album.

Folks...and I say this without hype...this album is a classic Deep Purple album. Ian Gillan once said in an interview with Big Red on a Sarnia, Ontario rock radio station: "If the ladies are moving their bums to your rock record, you know you've made a great album!". There's some "boogie" and "groove" back in Deep Purple. They called it "Now What?!", but they should have called it "Don Airey UNLEASHED!" or "Steve Morse kicks your arse!".

This album is that good. Ian Gillan has never sounded better. Paice & Glover are at their swingy best. Without hesitation, this is Deep Purple taking risks and not boxed in like their previous albums with Morse and Airey. I liked those albums(shaky 3 stars at best), but I was irritated often enough and wished they'd stretch out and jam. There's evident jamming on this album and plenty of it sounds like it was recorded live like in the old days. Spontaneous is the word. There are things on this album you can't write - they just sort of happen. This a progressive hard rock album...not merely hard rock like the previous ones. There are solos and tradeoffs on organ and guitar like Lord and Blackmore in the '70s. "A Simple Song" is anything but. It starts off pastoral for the first 2 minutes with Ian Gillan in a contemplative vocal, then kicks in like nothing I've heard from this band since 1984. "Weirdistan" and "Out Of Hand" flow into one another and Don Airey is unleashed here. I will not reveal anything else on the album as it may be a spoiler. However, there is one more track on here that channels Deep Purple going into the Pink Floyd and Ozric Tentacles territory. There's hints of jazz fusion, as well. I imagine that had a lot to do with Bob Ezrin producing this (however unintentional). It's worth repeating that this is a progressive rock album with heavy hard rock overtones. Not the other way around. Perhaps a je ne c'est quoi feel to it. Someone's spirit was looking over this session. That someone was JON LORD. If the Purps are going to top off their studio output with "Now What?!", they've certainly ended it with a classic modern progressive rock album..

Basically their eponymous album was created with bluesy psychedelic / heavy pop songs, that were deeply veiled with weird old-fashioned electronic blows. Their electronic sounds were not so precise nor experimental but amazingly innovative for the end of 1960s ... in a different sense from other progressive prototypes.

Not all stuffs are interesting as honestly I say, but each track has definite eccentricity through electric mind waves. The very first shot of "Oscillation" is peculiar enough for icing our brain really, regardless of its basically "pop" feeling. In the third one "Program", just like the title, lots of dramatic / classic samples are featured here and there, that reminds me some touches like John Lennon's "Revolution No.9". "Dust" is another bulky experiment launched by them with horribly unstable synthesizer-oriented atmosphere and floating (and cheesy) voices. For me this track can be called as progressive indeed.

Progressive electronic really? No for me. But cannot be avoided as an innovator for this subgenre. Silver Apples would have been shining for progressive rock freaks I imagine?

I really wanted to like this one, a double vinyl concept album with an extra photobooklet and one of the highest rated albums on the archives. Yet, even The Who, who did an excellent job on the 2lp 'Tommy' (1969) in my opinion, couldn't help but loose themselves in their second 2lp.

Now the songwriting of this album is pretty strong and on par with other strong records. The band chose to continue the art-rock/heavy-rock style of 'Who's next' (1971) stylisticly, whilst rejuvinating the conceptual songstyle of their first rockopera 'Tommy'. A golden marriage, or so it seems. The catchiness of some parts is beyond what most progressive rock groups can achieve and the riffs and rhythm-sections are all well written. Still I can't help getting the feeling the band just doesn't reach the momentum of earlier effort Tommy, which sometimes makes Quadrophenia sound like a poor rendition.

The production. When the music starts, after some sea noises and musical promises of what's to come, one can't help but getting the impression the producer of the album wanted to create rocked fuel; such loudness, fullness and directionless intervening sound- spectrums. Like every musician is giving a solo at the same time. This I can accept for a short album, but I just can't listen to this kind of production for long. The opening-track turns into halve song and halve bass-solo by John Entwistle, the meaning of it all is a riddle to me. The album continues to have extremely overenhanced sounding arrangements, though the synths sound pretty good indeed. During many moments The Who actually sounds like a symphonic prog group. During supposed to be quieter moments the production still attacks the listener its eardrums with ugly loud piano passages (recorded way out of pace by the way). Other pace and rhythm-anomolies continue to down-grade the band's perfect reputation and what for? Just clumsiness in a studio. A band not having its mind on the matter, which is of course the great risk of the ambitious progressive undertaking. The concept of the album gave rise to the idea to have each member sing vocals on different tracks, which again results in amateurism that could have easily been avoided with such a talanted lead-singer (and his brothers who joined in on Tommy). After the second side I'm so tired of the sound of this album, I just can't get myself to put on side three most of the time. Now I don't want to get all negative here, but I can understand that albums like this one have contributed to the downfall of prog.

Conclusion. Though I'm in minority here, I must admit I think this is yet another one of progressive rock's misguided double lp concept albums. A pitty, because the album has a big 'what could have been' feel to it. It might have been quite good had it been given a more delicate and subtle recording by a producer who can stand up against a band that is most certainly on fire here. Two and a halve stars.

Discussing individual tracks, I'll get my least favorite out of the way. "And Your Bird Can Sing" just doesn't float my boat; I think it's a little ridiclous. "Got to Get You Into My Life" is fun; it has to be one of the loudest songs the Beatles ever recorded. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is George Harrison in a Middlle Eastern mood. Others have said it, but I think it's an important point worth repeating; one of the most "progressive" things about the Beatles is their experiments with the recording technology available to them. "I'm Only Sleeping" is another favorite; I love the atmosphere of the song.

Then there's "Eleanor Rigby". It shows the level of ambition at which Paul and the others were working. "Eleanor Rigby" is practically an Art Song in the classical sense; its my favorite song, ever. As I was finishing this review I was looking at the lengths of the songs and the running time of the album. Has anyone else done as much in 14 songs lasting a little over a half an hour? I intend to use 5 star ratings very sparingly, but this is without a doubt one of the most progressive records in history.

SGT. PEPPER seems to have its own mythos surrounding it, almost as big as the band itself. It's one of the easiest picks music experts hoist as the ''greatest album of all time'', but more than that, there's the notion that this album alone opened the doorway for artists to exploit entire albums more than hit singles which, by extension, created part of progressive rock. Neither statement I can fully come to terms with. For 1967, it had to be groundbreaking, but that was a year that the world heard DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED, ABSOLUTELY FREE, SAFE AS MILK, SURREALISTIC PILLOW, STRANGE DAYS, the debut of the Velvet Underground, et cetera. SGT. PEPPER wasn't the only album stretching rock music's limitations, but it's the most recognized probably because of the brand name of the Beatles.

With that bit of crabbing out of the way, is SGT. PEPPER a good album? Yes it is. Is it a good progressive rock album? That's debatable, but it has to be the Beatles album most closely associated with the genre. Does it still have flaws? Yes.

If there's one thing I have yet to give the Beatles credit for, it's their strong sense of composing melodies. In a sense, the melody of the song is the bread and butter of the Beatles' work. On SGT. PEPPER, we get every level of tolerability in terms of the melody. ''She's Leaving Home'' (believe it or not) is actually quite strong and tearjerking, ''Fixing a Hole'' isn't bad, but completely unmemorable, and all apologies, but ''Mr. Kite'' is sheer annoyance. The bells and whistles added to give a circus atmosphere is nothing more than a goofy novelty.

That's my big problem with SGT. PEPPER; it has the potential to be great, but the material is inconsistent. One of the more popular tracks in ''Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'' has major transition issues from the verses to the chorus, meaning that there's no warning between the two, and what results is what I like to call ''music whiplash''. There are songs such as ''Getting Better'' and ''Fixing a Hole'' that are voids in that I have terrible difficulty in remembering what they sound like. And maybe it's the vinyl I have, but several Beatles albums I have heard via vinyl are unnecessarily loud to the point where I can't wear my headphones without turning the volume down.

All of that said, and yet I still feel this is a good album. Strangely enough, two of the cuter pop songs in ''When I'm Sixty-Four'' and ''With a Little Help From My Friends'' are strong enough in the melody department to the point where the songs are carried because of them. Somehow, I get the feeling that Ringo isn't as bad a vocalist as he is perceived to be (from ''Friends'') to the point where I wish he had more lead singing opportunities. While it's not up to usual George Harrison writing standards for the group, ''Within You Without You'' does work in the ethereal raga atmosphere.

A special aside does need to go to the last track ''A Day in the Life'', where every potential and rumour around this album is justified, even if for only 5 and a half minutes. There are two distinct sections, one with Lennon rehashing news events (thankfully, the political nature is kept to observational) while McCartney assumes control of the second act with a whimsical yet relatable tune about preparing for work. Unlike on LSD, the transition between the two sections is flawless despite mood differences. Best of all, the melody is spot on, particularly in Lennon's section. It's instantly memorable and makes me wish the rest of the album was up to this type of quality.

SGT. PEPPER is quite a good album, especially if you're looking for fancy production, emphasis on melody, and something that's meant to be taken as art. There's a lot of good within this album, but it has a lot to answer for being constantly tagged as the greatest album of all time.