BLACK HOLE STARS

Formed with members of the Welsh Progressive Rock band "MAN", a drummer from "GENTLE GIANT" and a string player from "The INCREDIBLE STRING BAND" , The NEUTRONS were a brief stint but left behind 2 fine albums with "Black Hole Star" as the debut in review. The NEUTRONS were the genius of Phil Ryan (Organs, synths) and Will Youatt (bass, guitars) and featured GENTLE GIANT's John Weathers (drums) and "The INCREDIBLE STRING BAND's" Stuart Gordon (Strings). The end result is a mix of music which sounds a lot like a fusion of GENTLE GIANT with RENAISSANCE with 10CC tossed in. This brilliantly recorded album shines thru with a high degree of progressive emotions and prowess never getting too over the top. The fine folks at BGO Records have remastered and combined their only 2 albums on 1 long play CD which I would highly recommend you invest in.

I had no big expectations for this band, since it's almost completely forgotten and ignored. But what a charming album! First some obligatory band info: the founding members, keyboardist Phil Ryan and bassist 'Will' Youatt had a vision of a band of their own when the latter had joined Pete Brown's Biplokto! for gigs, which group broke soon after. But before NEUTRONS started life, they both joined MAN for a couple of years/albums (and Ryan returned to MAN in 1975 when NEUTRONS broke). But this is quite a different band than the guitar-oriented MAN! More emphasis on keyboards, either organ or MMEB-style playful synths. Singer-songwriter Martin Wallace was thought to be a frontman but the album includes only one of his songs because Ryan's and Youatt's ambitions got bigger. Wallace's Eastern-flavoured 'Feel' is a folkier song than the rest, but a fairly good one, like all tracks actually. GENTLE GIANT drummer John Weathers and INCREDIBLE STRING BAND violinist Stuart Gordon were added to the line-up and they brought just the right ingredients to the whole. Gordon brought also his girlfriend, 17-year old Caromay Dixon, as an additional vocalist.

'Living in the World Today' rocks deliciously, reminding distantly PINK FLOYD's 'Run Like Hell' for the guitar riff and two male vocals singing in turns from different speakers. It and the last track were recorded before the line-up was complete and they are the most rocking ones. Elswhere you hear some psychedelia. Some tracks sound a bit like NEKTAR. Quirky 'Mermaid and Chips' is fantastic, sort of a cross between Gentle Giant and 10CC, showing in full bloom the lovely sound and style of the band. 'Dance Of The Psychadelc Lounge Lizards' is as interesting as the title! Very charming 'Going To India' sounds a bit like early (Prologue-era) RENAISSANCE, but with more tongue-in-cheek hippie feel. 'Doom City' is a bluesy song, maybe the least interesting but nice nevertheless.

So, to say that NEUTRONS were just a spin-off of MAN is a bad understatement. Their second album (still good if not as great as this) was made under worse circumstances and it sadly doesn't share the same cheerfulness, the joy of playing, as this one. They both are released as a single CD in 2003, which is very recommended.

A short-lived British supergroup, formed by ex-Man Phil Ryan (keyboards, vocals) and Will Youatt (bass, guitar, vocals) along with Gentle Giant's drummer John Weathers at the end of 1973, all of them played together in Pete Brown & Piblokto! in early-70's.The three of them actually recorded Neutron's first couple of tracks (''Living in the World Today'' and ''Snow Covered Eyes'') at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth, before being joined by Martin Wallace (guitar, vocals), Taff Williams (guitar, bass), ex-The Incredible String Band Stuart Gordon on violin and female singer Caromay Dixon.The rest of Neutrons' debut ''Black Hole Star'' was recorded in mid-1974 at Chipping Norton Recording Studios and the album was released in September 1974 on United Artists.

The debut of Neutrons was a mixed bag of MAN-like artistic Classic Rock and Classic 70's Progressive Rock, apparently sounding quite charming but a bit incosistent.There are some very good tracks like the opening bluesy Progressive Rock of ''Living in the World Today'' or the instrumental ''Dangerous Decisions'', which is beautiful, high class Progressive Rock with dominant piano and synth deliveries, short but great guitar moves and impressive keyboard solos in the vein of GENESIS.''Dance of the Psychedelic Lounge Lizards'' is another piece reminiscent of GENESIS' offerings with GABRIEL-esque vocals, highlighted though by Gordon's extraordinary violin drives.''Going to India'', ''Mermaid and Chips'' or ''Feel'' are soft but not equally impressive pieces with somesort of RENAISSANCE/YES/ILLUSION feel, but while they create a very deep atmosphere, they do not seem to have something new to add to an already saturated prog scene.''Snow Covered Eyes'' and ''Doom City'' is another pair of decent pieces, good organ work strong bluesy guitar parts, drawing heavy Psych/Prog influences in the vein of MAN.

Neutron's music is well-played and executed, while some moments on this album flirt with the grandiosity of the biggest prog acts of the time.On the other hand the lack of a strong personality and the shadow of MAN's music that covers the release prevent ''Black Hole Star'' from being a trully shiny star.Still recommended if you like all kind of 70's Prog.

Neutrons is one of those bands I've known for years, ever since I got into Man. Neutrons included future and past members of Man, like Phil Ryan and Will Youatt, Martin Wallace and Ray Williams, plus Gentle Giant drummer John Weathers (who'd join Man in the 1990s). Non Man-members included Stuart Gordon of the Incredible String Band (he was very briefly with them around 1972) and teenaged Caromay Dixon on additional vocals (she did make a guest appearance on Man's The Welsh Connection). I have been of two minds with Man, as their music seems to be that in general. I really could do without that bar band boogie stuff, but they really shine when they explore more adventurous psych and prog rock. Neutrons, at least on this, their debut albums tend more to the adventurous side of Man's sound, "Living in the World Today" could pass for something Man would do, a nice jam feel to it while "Feel" is more acoustic folk with Caromay Dixon providing additional vocals. "Mermaid and Chips" seems to be Phil Ryan's show and it's just him on keyboards and vocals, although Caromay provides additional vocals. This is nothing short of incredible, I can't get enough of this! There is a choral approach, probably influenced by the tradition of Welsh choral singing, but make no mistake, this is full-on prog. I particularly dig the organ passages. "Dangerous Decisions" is another piece that wouldn't be out of place on a Man album, particularly Back into the Future. I'm most fond of the synth solos on it. "Going to India", like "Feel" is more folk-oriented and not my favorite. Only the last piece "Snow Covered Eyes" is more in line of the Man music I don't like, the boogie-oriented material. Black Hole Star (not Sun, don't know why I have Soundgarden on my mind even I'm not a fan of theirs) is not a perfect listen but there are some great stuff to be heard and well worth hearing.