THE FIRE SERMON

The Fire Sermon is the first and only album released by UK outfit The Violet Hour, a band that imploded due to lifestyle and musical differences just as they had started to aquire a fanbase back in 1991. Almost 20 years later their CD is nearly impossible to get hold of, and long suffereing fans will be pleased about the recent reissue of this disc, with a few bonus tracks attached for additional value.

Dreamy, atmospheric music venturing back and forth between art rock and mainstream rock is what's served up here, with the former the most notable efforts. Opening track Dream Of Me in particular, but also the Beatles-tinged venture The Spell and the Joplin-goes-arty take of Better Be Good are all brilliant tracks, efforts that has withstood the test of time and comes across as true classics.

The rest of the material isn't half bad either, showcasing a talented act that sadly never got the chance to evolve, but first and foremost the amazing vocals of Doris Brendel. Not yet fully developed as a singer at this stage in my opinion, nevertheless a truly skillful performance from her on this production, singing with a raw passion that makes it easy to understand the comparisons made with one of the greatest female vocalists ever: Janis Joplin.

Overall a recommended album, and highly so if you have a soft spot for skilled, powerful female lead vocals.

Better be good

With such an intriguing album title, such a gloomy sleeve picture and such a strong opening track, I just had to check out The Fire Sermon by The Violet Hour. Vocalist Doris Brendel is a truly gorgeous woman with an absolutely gorgeous voice and the eight minute plus opener Dream Of Me is a simply wonderful piece of mellow, progressive music. The exquisite flutes, the haunting violins, the atmospheric ambiences, the emotional and distinctive vocals and a strong melody make Dream Of Me a wholly satisfying experience. The rest of the album is, however, a disappointment after this strong opening. Apart from Dream Of Me, very little here can be considered progressive. Rather, we have here a collection of Beatles-esque Pop tunes, dreamy Pink Floyd-ish vibes and melancholic, piano-based ballads with folky touches. The occasional song approaches the more rough Rock of the likes of The Who, all with a contemporary 90's feel. Most of the tracks run for four to five minutes and they stick rather closely to conventional song- structures. The occasionally raspy voice of Brendel has been compared to that of Janis Joplin and that is not at all out of place.

The band toured with Marillion during its short existence and they are about as interesting from a Prog perspective as Steve Rothery's own side-project The Wishing Tree which also featured female vocals and folky Pop. The association with Marillion is probably what put The Violet Hour in the Neo-Prog category, but Prog related or, at best, Crossover Prog would probably make a better fit for this band. The high quality of the material is what pushes this album up to a three star rating for me.

Recommended for those who can enjoy good music that is not necessarily Prog

This intriguing band sounds to me a lot like a mixture of the approach of All About Eve with various prog giants such as Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Marillion. This fusion was not quite unique to The Violet Hour - at around this time, All About Eve were slipping some awfully Marillionesque motifs here and there into their sound - but The Violet Hour lean heavier on the prog side than their goth-folk side, though that's present enough to give them a unique sound.

Lead singer Doris Brendel's vocals sound a lot like All About Eve's Julianne Regan, with a bit of Kate Bush popping in here and there, whilst lyrically the approach ranges from fashionable indie slice-of-life stuff to more esoteric fare. In particular, when things creep into realms of fantastical allegory, the lyrics suggest Peter Gabriel's Genesis-era approach. With a musical backing that combines the best of the prog and goth-folk scenes, the album becomes a unique treasure which is well worth hunting for.