ELEGY

The Nice

Symphonic Prog

3.01 | 108 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

In spite of the dark sound which the remastered (?) version published by Virgin Records in 2005 presents, the music in this album can still hold its vibration and energy.

This posthumous work was compiled after the band's scattering by manager Tony Stratton-Smith on the last studio recordings The Nice made with materials both new and previously recorded live or studio. There is a new version -without chorus- of Tim Hardin's 'Hang on to a Dream' and a better one it is, with full of keyboard solo and improvisation with extends to over 12 minutes. A clear precedent of 'Take a Pebble' for the contemporary first E, L & P album. A new Bob Dylan cover is new material to finish the A side of the original album: 'My Back Pages'. Dylan was a favourite with The Nice (see 'Country Pie' stuffed with Bach's music; or the electrifying live rendition of 'She Belongs to Me' on different albums) and here they paid tribute to his music again with an energetic version of this Dylan standard which evolves from verses to solo to new themes and back to verse again in full progression.

On the B side there are studio versions of 'Pathetique' (Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony's 3rd movement) -impeccable, frantic, with an unbeatable Hammond organ sound and blues cadenzas which I'm sure it would have delighted the Russian composer- and Leonard Bernstein/ Steven Sondheim's 'America (2nd Amendment)', which also extends itself in pleasure over 10 minutes.

The Cd closes with two encores being two performances for BBC 'Sound of the Seventies' of Country Pie and Pathetique which add to the mythical live reputation of those pioneers The Nice were.

A certain completion of a short but meteoric career and a fine addition for the fan's collection.

ibnacio | 5/5 | 2012-1-25

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