THE ALCHEMIST

The art of making gold

"The Alchemist" was Home's third and final album. It was also by far their best and most progressive. While the line up is ostensibly unchanged from their previous offerings, two important changes are made. Firstly, David Skillin, who had co-written one track on the previous album, writes all the lyrics here. Secondly, guest musician Jimmy Anderson is brought in to play a variety of keyboards, including synth and mellotron (or Melotrone as it is referred to on the sleeve).

Skillen and Mick Stubbs came up with the concept after Stubbs had read a book which explored the spiritual side of alchemy. Jointly they wrote with the story which forms the album's concept, the band then setting Skillin's lyrics to music. The tale is set in Cornwall, UK in the early 20th century, revolving around a young boy who is befriended by a old man. As the old man dies, the young boy inherits his supernatural powers, which he subsequently uses to save the town from a mysterious natural disaster. In the process of doing so, he ages rapidly, and is unable to save the town when the disaster returns. For this he is reviled, and killed by a lynch mob from the town. The tale is played out over the 12 constituent parts of the album, which together form a magnificent whole.

While Home's first two albums are highly competent and entertaining, they did not bear any suggestion of the masterpiece of a concept album the band would produce here. The album flows seamlessly from beginning to end as the story unfolds. Wisefield contributes some of his most striking guitar work ever, while Stubbs vocal performance is simply outstanding. It is all but impossible to find reference points for the music here. To call it a blending of NEKTAR, KANSAS, THE MOODY BLUES, and WISHBONE ASH might give a vague indication, but the truth is the album is unique.

The music builds from the early soft scene setting tracks to the first "Disaster", a powerful, menacing, keyboards driven crescendo. This segues into "The sun's revenge" where Wisefield offers some of his hardest guitar playing. "The disaster returns" presents an even greater cacophony of sound, leading to a striking unaccompanied electric guitar chord introducing "The death of the Alchemist". The guitar work at this point is supremely atmospheric, not in terms of a solo, but as a dramatic interlude. The story concludes with a disintegration of the music and peeling bells before a final guitar chord lays the Alchemist to rest.

If that was it, we would be revering one of the finest prog albums of its time. The masterstroke though is a separate coda simply titled "The alchemist". This passionately atmospheric ballad acts as the most effective counterpoint to an album I have come across. The songs stand proud in its own right, but here it is quite majestic.

A truly awesome album which stands as a forgotten gem of prog. Nice sleeve to, with illustrations of the story-line.

Opinions seem to be split on the worth of this album. On the one hand, it seems to represent the best of Home's three studio releases. On the other, some pan it as lacking in focus, boring, even pompous.

I think it falls somewhere in between, with the pendulum swinging in either direction depending on what one is listening for. 'The Alchemist' is a well-defined concept album that tells the tale of a young lad who assumes the powers of a dying wizard and uses those powers to save his town from some sort of rather vague disaster, apparently suffering from the same fatal affliction as his mentor as a result. Because of his diminished powers he is reviled by those same citizens when he is unable to stave off the second wave of doom, and is murdered by an angry mob. The album closes with a kind of eulogy to the alchemist, although the lyrics don't quite match the album artwork so it's not completely clear to me which wizard is being eulogized. That's the concept part. As a tale the story line is a bit simplistic, so I can see where some would consider the musical accompaniment to be a bit pretentious in comparison.

Then again this was released in 1973, so some accommodation must be made for the time period, and the level of the story's complexity probably falls somewhere between Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' and 'Thick as a Brick' (both of which were released around the same time), and well short of 'Dark Side of the Moon' or even say, Jeff Wayne's 'War of the Worlds'.

But musically this definitely represents a peak for Home, particularly the guitar work of Laurie Wisefield. His playing is much more pronounced and complex than on the previous two albums, and is very close to what he would do for Wishbone Ash on 'Where's the Rub' a year later. But his playing is a bit one-dimensional compared to his later Ash work, where he would add the banjo and quite a bit of 12-string to his arsenal. Guest musician Jimmy Anderson adds quite a bit of useful filler with his keyboards, particularly the mellotron sections that help Home to shed a bit of their folksy/country reputation. Some of the various synth sound effects do seem a bit cheesy today, particularly the 'disaster' and crowd noises, but overall the music is more expansive than their debut and more animated than their rather staid sophomore release.

I would tend to lump this album historically and musically with Ash's 'Argus', Allman Brother's 'Eat a Peach', Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Pronounced.' and even ZZ Top's 'Tres Hombres', all released around the same time as this one. Of those only 'Argus' can also make the claim of being a concept album, although musically it far outshines Alchemist.

So this is a decent album, although not as deserving of the 'lost classic' label that some would suggest. Key tracks include the title song for its emotive instrumental work; the brief but keyboard-intense "Disaster"; and "The Sun's Revenge" for its strong guitar riffs. So three stars are where this gets placed, along with a modest recommendation for those who enjoy guitar- dominated early seventies tunes, as well as those who get a kick out of the many concept albums that found their way onto vinyl in the early seventies. If either of these types of albums appeal to you then you'll probably enjoy this one, but otherwise it will probably end up at the bottom of your playlist.

peace

After two disappointing studio efforts, 1973 saw the talented British quartet Home take up a much more overtly-progressive mantle and produce this finely-crafted concept album known as 'The Alchemist'. It would prove to be the group's final release, but it would also prove to be a true underground cult classic and a much-sought after album that would enable the name of Home to live on through the ages. Thanks to the excellent reissue label Esoteric Recordings, Home's defining album is finally released in all it's remastered glory for fans old and new.

Featuring Mick Stubbs(guitar, vocals), Cliff Williams(bass), Mick Cook(drums) and future Wishbone Ash member Laurie Wisefield(guitar), Home's 'The Alchemist' was a critically-acclaimed yet commercially-ignored album, the kind of album that could only have been made in the heady days of the late sixties and early-seventies when experimentation and creativity were, unbelievably, the recording industry watchword's. Home's label, CBS Records, had given the foursome all the time and space they needed to create their magnus opus but yet somehow neglected to advertise the album properly, leading to poor sales despite the group's constant live performances up-and-down the country and the small-but-loyal following these shows cultivated.

However, while the group might not have made any money out of their finest album, the did make a name for themselves amongst prog fans, with 'The Alchemist' now regarded as a stand-out concept piece thirty-plus years down the line. Stylistically, the album does, at times, invoke the feel of 'Trespass'-era Genesis or 'The Yes Album'-era Yes, but with a rich palette of instrumentation that is all their own, including acoustic-and-electric guitars, mellotrons, viola's, flutes and horns as well as Mick Stubbs soul-flecked vocals. As the songs flit from slow-and-serene folk to raucous, symphonic prog workouts, the carefuly-constructed story - that of a small boy befriending an old wizard in a small Cornish village - starts to slowly unfold.