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BADGER

Heavy Prog • United Kingdom


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Badger biography
Founded in 1972 - Disbanded in 1974

As Peter BANKS was ousted from YES to make place for Steve HOWE, Tony KAYE managed to produce his best effort yet in their following album the YES album but also got the boot to be replaced by Rick WAKEMAN.

As a natural reflex, KAYE and BANKS regrouped and founded FLASH that would record three albums. But, obviously KAYE was not happy with the result and left before the second album to create BADGER with drummer Roy DYKE ex-ASHTON, GARDNER and DYKE - sounds like a law firm but so does ELP - a band worth investigating also. BADGER recorded their first album live (probably cheaper way to make an album) and developed an energetic prog reminding us of YES along with the obligatory Roger Dean art cover. By their second album, only KAYE and DYKE were left and the were joined by pop-soul singer Jackie Lomax for a very confused album where Jeff beck makes a guest appearance and the band folded.

Tony KAYE, who had been ousted from YES was re-invited into the group for the 80's and part of the 90's.

: : : Hugues Chantraine, BELGIUM : : :

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BADGER top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

1.92 | 37 ratings
White Lady
1974

BADGER Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.35 | 109 ratings
One Live Badger
1973

BADGER Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

BADGER Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

BADGER Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 1 ratings
White Lady
1974

BADGER Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Review Nš 382

Badger was a British progressive rock band formed in the early of the 70's with a very short life. They were co- founded by keyboardist Tony Kaye after he left Yes. Tony Kaye did obviously have some problems with finding out what bands he wanted to play with in the early 70's. After leaving Yes when they really started to get the grip, he formed Flash with former Yes' member Peter Banks. Flash released three albums in the 70's, but after just one album, their eponymous debut, Kaye left Flash, obviously unhappy with the result, and then he formed another progressive rock band, Badger. For some strange reason, probably a cheaper way to make an album, Badger chose to record their album with original tracks, live in concert instead of in the studio. The Yes' connection via Tony Kaye is abundantly evident. The album was co-produced by Yes' singer Jon Anderson and as was usual on Yes' albums it has the obligatory Roger Dean art cover.

'One Live Badger' was recorded supporting Yes, another link with Yes, over two nights at the Rainbow, in December 1972. The quartet was exceedingly well rehearsed and played with a functional tightness which only the between songs the applause reveals as live. The drawback is that probably it lacks any of the sparkle some studio magic might have sprinkled. But the most important is that the songs are solid and so-so rather than inspired, and Badger comes across as a competent outfit, but much closer in spirit to blues rock than to the mountains that Yes was moving at that time.

The line up on the album is Brian Parrish (lead vocals and electric guitar), Tony Kaye (keyboards and mellotron), Dave Foster (lead vocals and bass) and Roy Dyke (drums).

On the album, Kaye's flourishes are often striking, and as a fascinating live document, this has a certain charm, really. The material is strong and the band's sound as if they have been playing and writing together for years. As expected, Kaye's signature Hammond organ sound is to the fore on most of the tracks, although the use of other keyboards to add different textures, like the mellotron, the electric piano and the Moog synthesiser, are evident on some tracks too. Guitarist Brian Parrish plays some great solos, although nothing too flash or overburdened with technical virtuosity. The solid and efficient rhythm section are quite prominent in the mix, as one would expect from a live recording, and the sound of Foster's bass is particularly clear and superb and probably that could only be possible on a live recording.

'One Live Badger' can be classified as progressive rock, but not overwhelmingly so. Yes, most of the songs are of an extended length and contain longer instrumental passages, plus Kaye's Hammond is prominently featured throughout. The themes on the album are around two focal points that are quite typical for the time, social issues and spirituality. That said, there is more of a straightforward early 70's rock vibe to be found in Badger. This isn't to imply that it's a bad album by any means. Quite the opposite, 'One Live Badger' is a very entertaining album. It showcases a band that had a lot of promise, which regrettably went unfulfilled. Badger's first and only studio album was released in 1974 with the disappointing 'White Lady'. But, by that time, the band's line up had changed as had their overall musical direction too.

'One Live Badger' opens with 'Wheel Of Fortune', a very energetic track with catchy melody lines and extended solos. It's quite representative for the rest of the album. 'Fountain' impresses with its entertaining instrumental guitar and keyboard solos. It includes some very tasty playing of Moog and synth solos of Kaye. 'Winds Of Change' is probably the most interesting track for a Yes' fan, and definitely the most progressive rock track on the album. It shines through his past on Yes. 'River' is a more basic and rocking track. It also has its progressive instrumental moments and is an infectious rocker. 'The Preacher' borders on blues rock territory. It features some muscular guitar riffs from Parrish and floating atmospheric organ and Mellotron from Kaye. I think 'River' and 'The Preacher' are the least interesting tracks on the album. 'On The Way Home' is one of the best tracks. The first part varies between a heavy riff and a wonderful melodic ballad before the track builds up to a very energetic finale with some Kaye's excellent organ playing.

Conclusion: I wouldn't rank 'One Live Badger' up there with the best of Yes in terms of overall quality, but their debut is nonetheless very good. It's a solid album, beautiful earthy and rocky with pretty jams of organ and guitar. The music is bluesy, partly soulful rock, which is spiced up by elongated guitar and keyboard solos. Prog rok is only available in homeopathic doses, and is then usually contributed by Kaye with his keyboards. What lacked to them was the visionary look ahead. But, they offer solid rock from the safe side. It isn't a classic album by any means, and it loses a few points for the less than perfect sound quality, but it still is a worthwhile addition to any progressive or hard rock collection. Containing great keyboard work from Tony Kaye, ripping guitar work from Brian Parrish, and above average vocals, this is an enjoyable slice of the 70's memorabilia. Plus, having one of the Roger Dean's best covers don't hurt either, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by hieronymous

3 stars One Live Badger is one of those albums that as a Yes fan I was vaguely aware of during the pre-internet days. I had probably seen the Roger Dean album cover in one of his album-cover-art books. It definitely is a cool cover, with a simple winter scene with actually existing animals as opposed to fantastic creatures or other-worldly landscapes. The album title/logo is cool but is a bit weak in comparison to the bold logo and title designs of Yes for example. It has a surprise though ' open up the gatefold sleeve and a badger pops out! I've only seen pictures of actual LP sleeves but my Japanese 'LP sleeve' reissue has it! Definitely part of the appeal of this album (unless you don't like badgers).

Inevitably this band will be compared to Yes, due to the presence of former keyboardist Tony Kaye, former songwriting collaborator David Foster (he co-wrote two tracks on Yes's Time and a Word album), production by Jon Anderson, and the fact that they were opening for Yes when this live album was recorded. So how about the music? It's good ' driving, mid-tempo heavily grooving rock for the most part. It is heavier and more groove-oriented than Yes, and also less virtuosic. It is often said that it's not particularly prog other than the mellotron and the aforementioned Yes connection. But it has some really nice aspects, like the dual-melody riffs from the guitar & keyboards. Speaking of. keyboards, I hear organ, mellotron, some kind of electric piano, and synthesizer. I point this out because I seem to remember reading that one reason Yes let Kaye go was because he wasn't willing/able to incorporate synthesizers within the band. Probably just a rumor that I probably shouldn't even repeat, but here Kaye shows himself to be able to play all four, though the organ and mellotron are probably strongest.

One of my questions about this album is ' WHO THE HECK IS SINGING? The album credits only list out the instruments people play, it doesn't say who is singing. Everybody? Just the guitarist and bassist? It sounds like one person is basically the 'lead' singer, though the kind of generic character of the singing could be considered a point against this album and band. There are times when it sounds like at least 3 people are singing, but who? Did Tony Kaye sing? Did the drummer sing? Enquiring minds want to know! Actually, I don't really care, I don't listen to singing and lyrics as much as the music, as I have written about elsewhere. After reading the liner notes, though, and finding out that a lot of this material was adapted from earlier material for a scrapped solo album by bassist David Foster, I wonder if it isn't Foster on lead vocals too?

Musically, I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that this almost has a motorik aspect. The drummer is really solid, he plays muscular grooves, very sympathetic to the music whether it's the vocals or the soloists. But it's combined with a compositional aspect as well. It's not improvisational in the sense that they're making things up as they go along, but rather during the solos in a more virtuoso blues manner. There aren't as many odd-time sections as one might expect from a band so closely aligned with Yes either.

The sound quality is good ' I remember the first time I heard Yessongs (the live album that may include material from the show that Badger was opening for) and I was really underwhelmed ' I'm not sure what I was expecting, but to me it didn't have the power I felt from the studio albums. The roominess of the sound was part of the problem for me. It wasn't until I saw the concert film that things clicked ' the sound suddenly matched the visual aspect of the band and the various aspects of the hall they were playing in.

This must have been a very cool concert! A reviewer at Prog Archives mentioned having seen them open for Deep Purple Mark III ' first of all, that must have been an amazing show! and I think this band might work for Deep Purple fans who don't necessarily need the masculine virtuoso aspect but instead appreciate songs with good instrumental sections.

The songs do start to sound kind of samey after a while. There have been several times where I was tempted to sell my CD, but the deep listening I did in order to do this review have me rethinking that. If I only had a normal reissue CD I might get rid of it, but the cool pop-up badger has me holding on to it for now. Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of Yes, or of live albums from that period, or like heavy, groovy rock with good soloing.

Before I wrap things up, I'd just like to share what the obi says. I started listening to rock music after my family moved to Tokyo in 1982, so I had a bunch of Japanese records with the obi. I used to hate them! They would get caught on the records next to them and I couldn't read them, they were just in the way. But now I have learned to love them, and sometimes they have interesting things to say. This is what's on the 2003 mini-LP sleeve One Live Badger obi:

"Debut release (1973) live recording of BADGER, formed with Tony Kaye (formerly of Yes) at the center. A masterpiece that captures a performance which is raw and overflowing with energy."

Works for me!

 White Lady by BADGER album cover Studio Album, 1974
1.92 | 37 ratings

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White Lady
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by Psychedelic Paul

3 stars BADGER were a short-lived, British rock band with a soulful sound. They were founded by ex-YES keyboard player Tony Kaye. Badger's first album was a Live album titled "One Live Badger" (1973) (the clue is in the title) and this album "White Lady" (1974) is their only studio album. Badger's first album was in the Hard Rock genre, but this album "White Lady" was much more bluesy and soulful, due to the influence of singer Jackie Lomax, who wrote/co-wrote all ten songs on the album. The band also featured drummer Roy Dyke, of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke fame. The album was produced by the noted American musician, arranger and producer, Allen Toussaint. Jeff Beck made a guest appearance on the title track.

The album opens with "A Dream of You", a bluesy and soulful number in the style of Blood, Sweat & Tears, with some charming harmonising from the female backing singers. It's rock & roll with a heart full of soul, because this song has got SOUL in abundance! The song has a romantically passionate appeal, as these lyrics reveal:- "All I have to give, I'd give it all away for just a dream of you, All I ever knew, It doesn't mean anything beside a dream of you, Without a dream, Life is just a broken mirror, Without a dream of you, The way ahead don't get no clearer." It's All About Soul for the second song too with "Everybody - Nobody". It's a care-free song with a laid-back mellow groove, so if you approve, make a move, and get down into the groove. You can do a slow-dance to this groovy and breezy ballad, preferably with a romantic partner for company. "Listen To Me" the singer implores us with the next groovy ballad. It's a horny song (no, not THAT kind of horny) with the brass section sounding in fine fettle and having a blast. This song is oh-so-soulful with the sound of those lovely backing singers, they're together in perfect harmony, just like ebony and ivory, side by side on my piano, Oh Lord, why don't we..... but that's another song altogether. Onto Song No. 4 now and "Don't Pull the Trigger", a swinging and upbeat Jazzy number rooted in the blues, so what have you got to lose, put on those dancing shoes. It's "Just the Way It Goes" with the next number. This song is mellow, and it's all about a lonely old fellow, who's been given the elbow, and finds there's no pot of gold, at the end of the rainbow.

Opening Side Two, We now come to the title track, "White Lady", which features Jeff Beck on guitar. It's a soulful bluesy number which features the requisite guitar solo from Mr. Beck, and very good it is too, so take it away Jeff! "Be with You" is another song in the British blues tradition, but don't let that put you off, because it's also bright and brassy, groovy and soulful with a feel-good vibe. We're getting all religious now with Song No. 8, "Lord Who Give Me Life". Now this is the kind of uplifting spiritual music they SHOULD be playing in church. The vicar and his parishioners would be dancing down the aisle to this lively Jazzy number. Hallelujah brothers! There's "One More Dream To Hold" before we reach the end of the album. It's another nice slice of bluesy and soulful music with these imploring and heartfelt lyrics:- "Moaning pains in aeroplanes, Who's to blame in losing games, I really don't care anymore, Can't put myself there anymore, I really don't care anymore, It all goes by so fast and cold, Can I have one more dream to hold?" ..... This is British blues in the tradition of some of Paul Rodger's and Free's slower numbers, when they weren't rocking and rolling with "Alright Now" and "Wishing Well". It's time to get down and get funky now for the final song on the album, "The Hole Thing". It's a funky syncopated groove all about getting down and getting with it with your soul brothers, so shake your booty and get funky!

We're very much in Blood Sweat & Tears territory with "White Lady". This laid-back album of smooth and sophisticated Jazz- Rock is not in the slightest bit proggy, or even heavy, but if you're looking for a smooth and soulful slice of good old-fashioned British blues, blended with some bright and brassy horns, then this might be just the album for you, especially if you're looking for fun and feeling groovy.

 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by patrickq
Prog Reviewer

2 stars According to the reviewers here, you'd think this was a R&B-influenced jam band that sounded somewhat like Traffic. And I agree. As to the debate as to whether Badger was really a progressive band, I can see it from two points of view: first of all, if (fill in blank with band) is listed on Prog Archives, Badger should be too. (Maybe Journey or Styx could fit here.) Here's a band that opened for Yes, was co-founded by Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye and Jon Anderson collaborator David Foster, and whose debut album had four 7- minute songs. Roger Dean even painted the cover!

On the other hand, if you had to classify Badger in just one subcategory of rock, it wouldn't be progressive rock. Other bands to which Badger has been compared (fairly, in my view) are the Allman Brothers and the Doobie Brothers. And while comparisons to Traffic are also fair, Badger lacks several elements of Traffic that make Winwood and company progressive, like their instrumental diversity and the subtlety and complexity of their arrangements.

Anyway, like a number of bands, both listed and not listed on Prog Archives, Badger has some prog aspects, and to a large extent these are delivered by Tony Kaye, who sounds better on some of these numbers than he did with Yes. His synthesizer solo on "Fountain" is the highlight here, although several organ solos, such as on "On My Way Home," are nearly as good. But I can only rate this album on its own merits - - it doesn't make sense to me to reduce its rating because it doesn't meet my definition of progressive rock. And on its own merits - - as an early-70s hard-rock live album by a jam band, One Live Badger is OK. If you like this kind of music, though, there are many, many better places to start: the Allman Brothers, Argent, Chicago, the Doobie Brothers, Procol Harem, Santana, Traffic, etc.

So I'm rating this two stars: a nice, though inessential, addition to the collection of a Yes and/or Tony Kaye fan, but probably of little interest to anyone else.

 White Lady by BADGER album cover Studio Album, 1974
1.92 | 37 ratings

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White Lady
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by Guillermo
Prog Reviewer

2 stars In late 1993, I bought Jackie Lomax`s first solo album from 1969 called "Is This What You Want?" (which was produced by George Harrison and released by Apple Records). I found it in a supermarket in the records section being sold at a very cheap price with also other albums by other artists from the Apple Records label (Mary Hopkin, Billy Preston, Badfinger, James Taylor, etc.) that were re-issued in 1991 on CD with bonus tracks. In fact the price was so cheap that I bought some of these Apple Records` CDs from these artists. I had the curiosity to listen to Lomax`s album because it was produced by Harrison and also because it has two tracks recorded with an all- star line-up (with three Beatles: Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney; Eric Clapton; Nicky Hopkins) and with one song composed by Harrison. Lomax was a friend from The Beatles and he was also managed briefly as a soloist by Brian Epstein, and when Epstein died and The Beatles founded Apple Records in 1968, Lomax was given then a recording contract with the label. He recorded only one album for Apple Records and several singles, all of which unfortunately for him were not very successful. He later recorded other 4 solo albums for other record labels during the seventies and a final solo album in 2004, without having much success, before his death in 2013. His only solo album for Apple Records is a mixture of Rock songs, Ballads, Pop Rock music from the sixties, with some psychedelic influences, and also with some Rhythm and Blues, Soul and Motown music influences. He was a good singer and composer.

BADGER`s first album ("One Live Badger", released in 1973) was recorded live in December 1972 and was produced by Jon Anderson. That first album is a good Prog Rock album well played and produced. But unfortunately that album was unsuccessful. I don`t know the full details, but for this second album from BADGER called "White Lady" from 1974, only keyboard player Tony Kaye and drummer Roy Dyke remained from their first line-up and their first album. The band also changed record label, and had Jackie Lomax as their new lead singer and rhythm guitarist, plus new bassist Kim Gardner and new lead guitarist Paul Pilnick . This, their second album, was produced by Allen Toussaint, who also plays some congas, piano and organ on some tracks. There is also a horns section added to most songs. The band also changed their original Prog Rock style to a new style which is a mixture of Rhythm and Blues, Soul, Rock Pop music, with even some Funky influences. With Lomax being the composer of all the songs in this album, it is not really unexpected that the songs sound influenced a lot from his work as soloist. It really sounds like BADGER became a vehicle for Lomax as a composer and singer, not really sounding very different from his first solo album (which is the only one album that I have listened from him as soloist), but with only updating his songwriting in sound for the commercial music of the mid-seventies. Jeff Beck plays a guitar solo on the title track, doing a good job. There are also some female backing vocals in some songs. The songs all sound in a similar style. As a whole the album is not bad. But this album is not a Prog Rock album. The musicians are good and they did a very professional job. Tony Kaye`s keyboard playing is good, adding some good organ and mellotron parts, but in some songs his keyboards really sound distant and more in the background. With this album, it seems that the BADGER`s band name was only used to give a commercial connection to a previous band with the same name and with a previous album in the market, but this new line-up really sounds very far from the original Prog Rock style the band had in their first album. There is not a real connection between both albums and line-ups apart from having Kaye and Dyke. Maybe they should have changed the name of the band for this second album. Maybe this album was even more unsuccessful than their first, so they did not record another album. Kaye later formed a new band in the mid- seventies called DETECTIVE which recorded three albums for LED ZEPPELIN`s Swan Song records label, with a more Hard Rock musical style, before they split in the late seventies, also without having much success.

A curious thing: apart from playing with Jackie Lomax in BADGER, Tony Kaye also played with another Apple Records` former band called Badfinger. But it was with a reformed Badfinger, playing with them between 1979 and 1981, and in fact recording with them their last album as a band called "Say No More", which was released in 1981. In 1983, while recording the "90125" album with YES, Kaye left YES for some months due to some problems with producer Trevor Horn and re-joined Badfinger for their last months as a band, returning to YES when he was asked to do it in late 1983. Kaye also played with Alan White in YES, a drummer who also had connections with The Beatles thanks to his work with John Lennon and George Harrison in some of their solo albums.

 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by GruvanDahlman
Prog Reviewer

3 stars The early 70's gave birth to a myriad of prog bands. Some bands grew to stadium acts while others lingered in obscurity. One such group was Badger. Funny enough, Kaye used to be a part of Yes, a band that really grew to immense stature and set the example for many musical aspirations for years and years to come. Still do, even. Badger, on the other hand, failed to make a lasting impression and left only two albums to their name. The first one was the live album "One live Badger" and the other a lacklustre affair called "White lady".

I love "One live Badger". I always have and will continue to do so for the rest of my life, I suppose. The cover is one of those that really intrigues me. Simple yet very beautiful, the badgers on the front seems to hook up just outside their hole in the ground. It is a friendly cover and I think it is one of prog's greater.

The music is a keyboard driven heavy type of prog. Being a live album it is very well recorded and performed. Every instrument and intricate piece of the music can be clearly heard, even though the music sometimes seems quite raw and intense. There is a clear focus on hard rock making this a hard hitting yet varied slab of prog with great sections of solo parts from both guitar and keyboards.

The songs are really similiar in length, around 7 minutes each, apart from "The preacher" which is the least interesting of the songs. "The river" is not one of the better either. Apart from those two the material is really solid and well written pieces of music with good lyrics.

The opening trio of songs are all very fine and I enjoy them very much. There is not much in ways of epics, prog's most loved expression. It is more in the way of hard rock with prog tendencies, like a Deep Purple less frantic in execution. There is no "Speed King" or "Into the fire", more like their more mellow and mid paced numbers. There is, however, a very potent and clear streak of progressive leanings.

The best track is "On the way home", which holds such a heavy opening with the organ leading the riff alongside guitar. The vocals are very emotional and heartfelt and the instrumentation is superb. I love this track and have always enjoyed it every time I hear it. The soaring guitar at 1.30 is lovely. At 3.30 there is some really nice organ fills as well, followed by a really frantic organ solo at 4.30. Really the best and most engaging of the six tracks.

The end result, though, is an album that really does not manage to uphold my interest all the way through. I skip "The preacher" and "The river", leaving me with only four songs. Now, the ones I skip aren't really worthless but I think they disrupt the flow and they are not as thrilling as the other songs. While "On the way home" is as close to a 5-star rating as it gets and the first three gets 4, the skipped ones are simply OK and that is not enough.

So, even though I love and cherish this strange album (not many bands would go about releasing a live album as their first testament) the end result is an okay album. There is plenty to thrill but in the end it is an album of varied quality, in the vein of early 70's hardrock with a splash of progressive tendencies. Do not travel around the globe in pursuit but do give it a listen, if you can. It is charming and at times really, really good (such as in "On the way home").

Three stars from me and a lot of love.

 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by ghost_of_morphy
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Some comets fade from view. Some roses wither on the vine. Some straights get trumped by a full house. That pretty much describes Badger, a heavy prog project that made it out of the gate in good time but stumbled early.

If you have heard of Badger, you probably came to them in one of two ways.

1. You saw Roger Dean's striking cover art in the record store and bought this album on that basis. 2. You were exploring the amazing amount of projects that ex-Yes members were involved in and followed Tony Kaye to this album from Flash.

So to mention the hoary chestnuts about this album first. Yes, Kaye helped form this group after leaving Flash (which was probably not entirely his own idea, btw.) Yes, this was recorded live, with the same equipment and at more or less the same time that Yes recorded Yessongs. Strikingly, this album actually has a bit better sound quality.

So what does the music soumd like? 'it is most definitely heavy prog belonging to it's era (the early 70's.) Looking at the other reviews on here, i saw two comparisons that seemed cogent to me. The first was to Manfred Mann's Earth Band. While there are not that many similarities to their more progressive stuff, i could definitely hear Badger covering a rocker like Davey's on the Road Again. The other comparison was to Traffic, which is fairly close and which I wish I could claim I had thought of.

For me though, when I think of Badger's sound I think of two more obscure groups, T2 and Fantasy (which is somehow categorized as symophonic here.) These are not earth-shattering, revolutionary bands, but then neither is Badger. The first album is fun though. Live, energetic and interesting it is. I'll give it three stars because it is likeable even though there are many better things worth searching out.

Don't waste your time with Badger's other release, White Lady. This is the one to get.

 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by Guillermo
Prog Reviewer

4 stars This album was recorded in December 1972 at the Rainbow Theatre, London, during a concert on which BADGER supported YES, in one of the concerts which YES recorded for their "Yessongs" album and for their film of the same name. It was also co-produced by BADGER, Jon Anderson, and Geoff Haslam, who also was the recording engineer of the "Yessongs" album. But, curiously, for my ears this live album by BADGER sounds better recorded and mixed than "Yessongs". Particularly the sound of the drums is more clear and better than in "Yessongs". Maybe it also had to be with the different tunings of the drum kits. Roy Dyke`s drum kit sounds better than Alan White`s , particularly in the sound of the snare drum.

BADGER was a band that Tony Kaye, as he has explained in several interviews, formed after he left YES. He was writing songs with David Foster, a former member of THE WARRIORS with Jon Anderson in the mid sixties. Anderson and Foster also wrote some songs, two of which appeared on YES`s second album titled "Time and a Word" in 1970. Apparently Foster also participated uncredited in that album playing a bit of acoustic guitar and singing some backing vocals on the title track (a thing which Peter Banks, YES`s then guitarist, said in one interview that he did not like it very much). Anyway, Kaye and Foster became friends and started writing songs together. By late July 1971, Kaye left YES and formed BADGER with Foster. Kaye was invited by Banks to become FLASH`s keyboard player (a thing which also their record label and producer wanted), but as Kaye was working with BADGER Kaye only appeared on FLASH`s self-titled album as guest (with his name appearing on the credits in that album with "appears by courtesy of Atlantic Records" a thing that maybe indicated that he was signed with that record label with BADGER for a planned album).

BADGER recorded this debut album in a very atypical way, because this is a live album. They maybe had the support from Jon Anderson, who co-produced the album, and maybe from other sections of YES related personnel, because the cover was designed by Roger Dean.

The album has very good songs, which now unfortuately sound a bit dated. The musical style of the songs are a mixture of Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Soul Music and Rhythm and Blues. The musical style of the band sounds to me with some similarities with NEKTAR, PALADIN and URIAH HEEP. There are even some Christian Rock influences in the lyrics for the last song titled "On the Way Home". The vocals are good, but it is clear that none of the singers (Foster and Parrish) were more musicians than full time lead singers. As a whole the band sounds very well rehearsed, giving a very good performance as a band and as individual musicians. Tony Kaye shines on keyboards with the use of organ, piano, mellotron and synthesiser, even playing very good solos (a thing which now seems to me that in YES he never had full freedom to do ).His keyboards interact very well with the guitar arrangements.

In my opinion, the best songs in this album are "River", "The Preacher" and "On The Way Home", with the first two that I mentioned having very good Prog Rock arrangements. All the songs in this album were credited as written by BADGER, except "The Preacher" which was only credited to Parrish. As a whole the band sounds as a more balanced band, with all the musicians having a more equal role than in other bands like YES. In my opinion, on which the guitar has a more prominent role. Kaye sounds in this album like playing with more enthusiasm, more confidence and maybe feeling more happy than with YES. It was more his own project, after all.

 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by maryes

3 stars After his meteroric passage in Peter Bank's FLASH ( only in Flash's first albun, with a very discreet performance ) , the keyboardist Tony Kaye be formed BADGER and releases only two works White Lady (studio albun) and this live albun One Live Badger. The band's sonority is very close to a mix of GRANDFUNK RAILROAD and NEKTAR. At this time Kaye's performance is more prominent and incorporate other types of keyboards, such moog aside to their tradional hammond organ and eletric & acoustic pianos. Although, the band not reachs the same quality of their olds bands, presents some very interesting moments like in the track 3 - "Wind of Change" with a captivating melody and a hammond solo in Jon Lord's style, and the track 6 - " On the Way Home" with another great Kaye's hammond solo. My rate is 3 stars !!!
 One Live Badger by BADGER album cover Live, 1973
3.35 | 109 ratings

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One Live Badger
Badger Heavy Prog

Review by Vibrationbaby

3 stars One Live Badger was one of the many albums that emerged from the early seventies art rock effusion that owed a lot to the creative talents of Roger Dean. In the early seventies his sureal concepts and paintings began to adorn the covers of albums such as Uriah Heep's Demons & Wizards and Fragile by Yes where the music contained as much allure as Dean's canvasses. Unfortunately this is not the case here despite some lively moments from ex-Yesman Tony Kaye's keyboards interacting with Brian Parrish's respectable rhythm and lead guitar licks. The association between these 6 enlogated Three Dog Night meets Grand Funk Railroad spiritual rave-ups and the hyperboreal image of two ( rather cute ) little Badgers weathering out a storm has always eluded me. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad record and the live enviroment certainly compliments the energy and spontaneity of the pieces which get into some cool jamming moments but it lacks the substance ( unless you want to consider the religious overtones in the lyrics ) that you would expect from an album embelished with Roger Dean artwork. Original vinyl editions had a pop-up badger which confused things even more. But at the time I guess kids were just thrilled with the novelty of having a record with a Roger Dean cover.

Invariably, someone who picks the CD edition up for the first time in 2010 will be overcome by the Dean artwork and will be further thrown off by the knowledge that Tony Kaye was the original keyboard player for prog leviathans Yes and swayed further still by the fact that it was produced by Yes guru man Jon Anderson. The best preparation for this anamoly would be to forget about the two cuddly badgers and think of the album as an extension of Yes' 1970 album Time And A Word when they were still in a sixties groove. Things started to get too serious on the subsequent Yes Album after which Kaye was given his pink slip and One Live Badger sort of de-mystifies at least some musical reasons for this departure with it's bluesy, upbeat and sometimes funky compositions .

Not a monumental catastrophe by a long shot but an album that will come under scrutiny by hard core fans of Yes music with Roger Dean covers from the same period. Proceed with caution and beware of badgers.

Thanks to ProgLucky for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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