THE OLD MAN & THE SEA

This band just made one sole hard-prog-rock album back in the era where Denmark had a lively prog scene (bands like Burnin'Red Ivanhoe, Coronaria Dans, Secret Oyster, ACHE and many more).

They took their name from the Old Tale (seems to be quite popular one around the Baltic Sea) and made their album based on that. All of the songs on the album has been awarded an icon image of this tale on the booklet of the CD. Thge songs are definitely hard rock with a predominent guitar but KB are also quite present . We are also gratified of a few flute interventions. The vocals are in English and quite apt. The Monk Song is the highlight and cut into two section with the first part showing all of the possibilities of the band.

All in all , with this album, we are hovering around Zeppelin, Purple , Heep, Rooster and a few more bands of the genre but this album is far from derivative of those cited here.

"The Old Man & The Sea" is the eponymoustly titled debut full-length studio album by Danish progressive rock act The Old Man & The Sea. The album was released through Sonet Records in December 1972. The Old Man & The Sea experienced moderate success with the album and played quite a few live shows in the following years. Most notable on the Roskilde Festival, Denmark in 1973 and 1974. During the same period they have also opened for both Led Zeppelin and Ten Years After when those band´s visited Denmark.

The music features Yes influenced vocal harmonies and Kansas like hard rock parts. There are lots of Blues oriented guitar solos but also some soul inspired vocals. "Princess" is especially in the Yes mold and "The Monk Song, Part 1" is also in that vein. "The Monk Song, Part 1" also includes some great flute playing. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Atomic Rooster, and Deep Purple have arguably had an impact on The Old Man & The Sea as the music is very organ laden.

The musicianship is excellent on this album. Lead singer Ole Wedel is a very skilled singer with a distinct sounding voice and the remaining part of the band really know how to rock but also play more subtle when that is needed. Organ/piano player and main composer Tommy Hansen is today one of the most famous Danish producers of rock and metal and owns his own sound studio called Jailhouse Studios, but on this album he is a driving force with his great organ playing.

The production is powerful, detailed, and organic, which suits the material perfectly. Upon conclusion The Old Man & The Sea released a good quality album featuring influences from both hard rock, jazz/rock, and a few symphonic progressive rock influences too making this album a relatively eclectic listen. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

I intended to give five star only to those, which caught me instantly (like Scenes From a Memory), or offered me great deal of music when I understaned them (like Goldbluff). I like absolutely everything on this record. But most prominent of them all is keyboard. And vocals. Music is good in general and instruments are just wonderful. I'm afraid I can't rate lyrics so much, because I wasn't listening. Just flying away in a great prog airplane. This "Princess" track reminds me another rock band, much more famous one (name of the song is Lady, I forgot the band. Could it be Uriah Heep?). This is probably my least favourite. I want also mention the last track. Great ending.

OK, second five star today. First one was The Dear Hunter (we understand each other, righ ?)

The Old Man and the Sea, taking their name from the novel of the same name, is another one-and-done band, a curse that often befell numerous prog bands of the 70's! Originally pressed in small numbers, frequently boot-legged and eventually reissued on CD, it's much easier now to track down their self-titled album and finally appreciate this terrific band. Probably playing interesting and adventurous hard rock instead of full-fledged prog, their sound was accessible and melodic yet still providing extended instrumental passages between exquisite vocal melodies. Think bands like Tonton Macoute, Skin Alley and Maelstrom for a lazy instant comparison, and maybe a touch of Atomic Rooster with the constant presence of the Hammond organ. Despite being very talented musicians overall, the band had two secret weapons in the confident and powerful vocals of Ole Wedel, and the searing electric guitar playing of Benny Stanley.

The deeply funky `Living Dead', the tale of a heroin junkie, is filled with thick rollicking upfront bass, spiraling Hammond runs and scorching hard electric guitar soloing in the extended middle instrumental section. `Princess' is a sweet country rocker with classy group harmonies before an extended instrumental break in the middle with a long extended guitar solo that highlights the heartfelt lyric. `Jingoism' is a wild and delirious rocker with lots of call-and-response vocal passages with a jazzy run of piano and loose drumming in the middle.

After the short organ solo `Prelude', several sections of the first part of `Monksong' have such beautiful lilting Jon Anderson-like sighed harmonies, dreamy acoustic strumming and chunky bass that it could easily have come from that wonderful first Yes album. The darting flute and Hammond duel in the final minute really goes off, while `Part 02' turns into a grooving heavy stomping rocker with spiky electric guitar and super-thick melting Hammond. Very foot-tapping and addictive, it could have easily been on any of the first three Atomic Rooster albums, if only the lyrics were a little darker and more occult themed! The dirty and brooding finale `Going Blind' is a serious slow-burner that lets all the players unwind and go out on a high. Lots of bluesy guitar soloing, hellfire Hammond, punishing bass and aggressive drumming, an uplifting and joyous piano-driven middle before the band literally goes into raucous meltdown attack mode in the final minutes.

The latest CD version comes with a bonus track, the multi-part strident rocker `Circulation' has a very melodious vocal and swaps back and forth between bluesy electric soloing, lengthy group jamming and a catchy repeated chorus. It's strangely placed at the start of the album on this current edition.

Now given an official reissue by the band themselves (admittedly with the confession in the CD booklet of a few polished vocals here and there!), it's a great opportunity for new listeners to look into this wonderful album for the first time. It's hardly essential, but if you enjoy classy and sophisticated 70's rock with big instrumental breaks, you'll have a great time with this.

Three and a half stars.

3.5 really

The Old Man & The Sea from Denmark made one album selftitled in 1972 and then disappeared untill they disbanded in 1975. Denmark has some quite intresting prog bands in early to mid '70s like Ache, Secret Oyster, Burnin Red Ivanhoe and others with good petential in prog scene around that time. The Old Man & The Sea offers a heavy prog type of music quite typical for that era, organ laden with similarities towards british school of that time like Uriah Heep, Purple or Atomic Rooster. The name of the band is take from the novel with same name, a quite popular tale among nordic peoples I might say, danish band find intresting and opteining for the name. The sound is accesible and melodic but also are some more hard rock parts that is well integrated in the overall prog atmosphere. The opening Living Dead or the ending Going Blind are quite more then ok, hammong melted with bluesy guitars but under prog flag. Nice vocal arrangements, Ole Wedel has a very good tone for such music. So, 3.5 stars, better then average , but not fantastic, still worth some spins from time to time.