ESSENTIAL

Triumvirat "Essential" is the third Compilation that has ever been devoted totally to the band, and was released by EMI Germany in March of 2012. It features tracks from all of Triumvirat's seven studio albums, as well as a few singles tracks.

For the uninitiated, Triumvirat were a seventies, German, Symphonic Prog band, starting out as a Keyboard based power trio influenced by The Nice and early ELP. The band went through numerous personnel changes over the years, and their sound evolved into something less progressive,and more pop oriented.

Below is a break down, track by track, of the songs on this compilation:

Be Home For Tea-this is an excerpt from the Suite "Across The Waters" comprising Side One of the band's 1972 debut album "Mediterranean Tales". Though it would have been nice to have had a larger excerpt, it is good to see this included. Some great keyboard dominated music.

Broken Mirror-this is my favorite song from the debut album, real classical rock, with a stirring intro of piano, and a rousing conclusion-this is Triumvirat at their very best.

Ride In The Night-this is from the band's first single-it is a great traveling song, complete with the sound of a motorcycle at the beginning. I don't think this was given a big promotional campaign, and it should have, as it is both catchy, and cerebral in that inimitable Triumvirat way.

Dancer's Delight-this is from the group's second single, and features for the first time Vocalist/Guitar player Helmut Koellen, who had joined the band recently, replacing previous member Hans Pape. This is another catchy song, that i think should have been a bigger one than it was. Helmut's presence is a blessing, as always.

Dimplicity-this is an excerpt from the Side One suite "Illusions On A Double Dimple", from the album of the same name, Triumvirat's best studio record, recorded in '73 and released in '74, also featuring Helmut Koellen. Again, it would be nice to have had a longer excerpt, but in fitting everything here onto one CD, there are space issues.

Million Dollars-this is an excerpt from the Side Two suite of the Illusions album called "Mister Ten Percent", and is some of Triumvirat's best music, with Helmut Koellen's vocals and bass playing doing a great job along with Jurgen Fritz's keys and Hans Bathelt's tight drumming.

The Capitol Of Power-this is the opening song from 1975's "Spartacus" album, and also a concert opener for the band at times. Great to see this included, as Triumvirat are in fine form, with Fritz's keys especially to the fore-a totally instrumental track.

The Sweetest Sound Of Liberty-this is from Side Two of Spartacus, and features some great vocals from Helmut-very moving.

Spartacus-the title track from that album, and a must for inclusion here-an exciting tour de force, with a stirring finale-again, the band in top form.

Old Loves Die Hard-the title track from the group's 1976 studio album, and the lp featuring vocalist Barry Palmer for the first time. A very emotional song, and full of meaning, without being trite.

Take A Break Today-the group's stab at a radio friendly, mainstream single. Quite a catchy number. This also features the Old Loves lineup.

The Hymn-the only song included from 1977's concept album "Pompeii". There is some nice singing by Barry Palmer, and also beautiful instrumental work from Jurgen Fritz and guest musicians Curt Cress and Dieter Petereit from Passport, though the song, unfortunately, has been edited.

Waterfall-the first song from Side One of 1978's "A La Carte" album. This is lighter, more pop-oriented, and less progressive than previous Triumvirat music, but is nice, all the same, and features Barry Palmer.

(Oh, I'm) Late Again-the same can be said for this A La Carte number, though Palmer is absent. Still far from the band's signature sound.

Jo Ann Walker-a song from A La Carte about a "Madame"-not much to it, really.

I Don't Even Know Your Name-from the same album, featuring vocalist Barry Palmer, and somewhat more up tempo-nice.

Party Life-the only song from Triumvirat's last studio album from 1980, "Russian Roulette". A catchy, almost new wave/punk flavor here, and the Russian Roulette album's best track. A fun way to end things.

I give this CD four stars, not five, because i think EMI should have made this set a two CD affair, which would have given room for more songs, and less song editing. Nonetheless, there is a cross-section of some great music here. More suited for someone needing an introduction to Triumvirat, though.

Review Nº 755

"Essential" is a compilation of Triumvirat and was released in 2012. It includes songs from all their seven studio albums that go from 1972 to 1980. It comprises tracks that belong to their progressive musical period as well as tracks from their pop rock phase. All Triumvirat's studio albums have been remastered on CD with bonus tracks and almost the tracks on this compilation are taken from the remastered editions. Many of the tracks are extracts or edited versions, smaller than the originals. Some are also taken from single versions, which are obviously also shortened versions.

"Essential" has seventeen tracks. The first track "Be Home For Tea" is an extract of a song originally recorded on "Mediterranean Tales "Across The Waters". This is an edited version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The second track "Broken Mirror" was originally recorded on "Mediterranean Tales "Across The Waters". The third track "Ride In The Night" is a non album's track. It was the first single of the band. It was included as a bonus track on "Mediterranean Tales "Across The Waters". The fourth track "Dancer's Delight" is also a non album's track. It was the second single of the band. It was included as a bonus track on "Illusions On A Double Dimple". The fifth track "Dimplicity" is an extract of a song originally recorded on "Illusions On A Double Dimple". This is an edited version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The sixth track "Million Dollars" is also an extract of a song originally recorded on "Illusions On A Double Dimple". This is also an edited version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The seventh track "The Capitol Of Power" was originally recorded on "Spartacus". This is the version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The eighth track "The Sweetest Sound Of Liberty" was also originally recorded on "Spartacus". This is the version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The ninth track "Spartacus" was originally recorded on "Spartacus". This is also the version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The tenth track "Old Loves Die Hard" was originally recorded on "Old Loves Die Hard". The eleventh track "Take A Break Today" is a non album's track. It's the A side of another single of the band with "The Capital Of Power" as the B side. It was included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The twelfth track "The Hymn" was originally recorded on "Pompeii". This is an edited version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition. The thirteenth track "Waterfall" was originally recorded on "A La Carte". This is an edited version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The fourteenth track "(Oh I'm) Late Again" was also originally recorded on "A La Carte". The fifteenth track "Jo Ann Walker" was also originally recorded on "A La Carte". This is an edited version included as a bonus track on the remastered edition of that album. The sixteenth track "I Don't Even Know Your Name" was also originally recorded on "A La Carte". The seventeenth track "Party Life" was originally recorded on their last album "Russian Roulette".

As we can see by the track list of this compilation, it features tracks from all of Triumvirat's seven studio albums, as well as a few singles' tracks. The tracks were all placed in their correct chronological order. So, we have two tracks from "Mediterranean Tales (Across The Waters)", two tracks from "Illusions On A Double Dimple", three tracks from "Spartacus", one track from "Old Loves Die Hard", one track from "Pompeii", four tracks from "A La Carte", one track from "Russian Roulette" and three non album's tracks released as singles. However, and as I wrote before in the track list, many of those tracks are edited versions of the original tracks that were shortened to be commercially interesting to can be put on a compilation album. Despite this compilation be well enough representative of Triumvirat's career all over the yers, we can't say that it's very well representative of their music. Listening shortened versions isn't the same.

Conclusion: I don't like this compilation mainly because of two reasons. In the first place, Triumvirat was essentially a progressive band that essentially created long suites of music, which is particularly evident on "Illusions On A Double Dimple". So, it's incomprehensible to me that Jürgen Fritz and his record label only were bothered to include on this compilation extracts and edited tracks shorter than the original versions, what is, in my point of view, quite badly. In the second place, about one third of the compilation is filled by tracks that belong to their two last albums, which have clearly a very questionable musical quality. I can understand that a compilation that seeks to represent all the musical career of a band must include tracks from all their studio albums. However, the quality standards must always be kept very high, which isn't the case. It's true that fortunately only one track was chosen from "Russian Roulette" but is completely inexcusable to include six tracks from "A La Carte" and only include one track from "Pompeii", which is undoubtedly a much better album than "A La Carte". So, I can't consider "Essential" a true essential compilation, really. So, I advise you to check their five first albums instead of this compilation. This is only useful to collector's fans only.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)