JONESY

Album of 1974

So, this is not 2002 year album as you can think. It's true authentic sound from the beginning of the 70s (sometimes even late 60s), but with some defect or reverberation effect. Not very annoying and notable, maybe even this was planned by the authors.

"Dark Room" the most proggy composition of the album with powerfull jazz inclusions. There are some places with polymetres. In the middle there is slowly, quiet and gentle moment, it's beautiful. "Running" - cool action and fast song, very catchy and not so plain chorus, also good instrumental part. "Bad Dreams" has not trivial structure, psychedelic vocals - sounds atmospheric. "The Lights Have Changed" - the sound is very reminiscent of the early YES and for me it is rather a plus, love vocals like this. But this song has many repetitions, elongated ending - i don't like this pop character. However, there're drums syncopation, very like it! "Old Gentleman's Relief" - interesting couplet/chorus bundle: gloomy and unattractive gives way to melodic, captivatingly pleasant BEATLES-style vocal. Which is remarkable - there aren't last chorus at the end! A matter of respect. "Anthem" again BEATLES-sound vocals farewell song. Lovely piano and flute duet which replaced by bass and guitar and all this in permanent repetition. A bit dullish and it's not the strongest ending of good album, but it's not a failure.

So, it's pretty not bumpy album, there are not surprises. Also there aren't really complex prog rock things and really masterpiece dizzy parts. But it's enjoyable album who like proto/early-prog or some prog-related bands from late 60-s/early 70-s. There are not really filler moments, all time sounds organically and it's really nice. Even some top albums cannot can't brag about it. I would like to pay special attention to fact, that album is strictly "English-sound" without cheery and identical blues/rock 'n' roll filler songs. This is really a big plus, the album is listened holistically without some irritate parts. Good addition to JONESY discography, do not skip it, give a chance!

Almost 4 stars (about 3,75)

As the story goes, the master tapes of Jonesy's would-be fourth album got stolen by some nasty scoundrel disappearing in the night. That theft left Jonesy in rather dire straits, with the record company reluctant to givet hem a new go in the studio. As the band lacked sufficient funds aswell everything ground to a halt and Jonesy disbanded. All that seems true enough and it left us wondering how that album would have sounded like. Well, we can get a glimpse of what was to be expected by listening to this album of raw and unpolished recordings, supposedly some kind of demos, I gather.

Jonesy was a good, sometimes brilliant prog band from the UK. Not entirely groundbreaking they still managed to fuse jazz, folk and hard rock into a very agreeable blend of progressive music. I think their second album 'Keeping up' is a glorious piece of British 70's prog and their finest hour at that. While the third album lacked somewhat it still delivered high quality music to enjoy.

This demo-like album gives us hints of what to expect from Jonesy. The sound quality is below average, as is to be expected by some 40 years old reels of plastic. It sounds as though someone recorded a concert and released it as a bootleg. Quality wise it can be compared to your average soundboard recording. The sound is, however, not something to be bothered by. It is what lies beneath the dust and wrinkled plastic that is the real treasure.

The opening 'Dark room' is a fantastic piece of eerie progressive music. Very dense and powerful it delivers in spades. There is a frantic saxophone solo that is great. The vibraphone is amazing and provides a spacious rest amidst all the frantic instrumentation. I get a kind of Family-vibe in the vibraphone but apart from that it is all Jonesy.

'Running' is an okay track. As the title suggests it is a fast paced number and quite alright. The flute is terrific. 'Bad dreams' is a sort of slow song with some Beatles influences to be heard but in all it is a great track, actually. Dark and dense. '

'The lights have changed' is a jazz-rock song with good keyboards and is really a very good track. I love my jazz-rock so this track gives me great pleasure. In the middle there is a vocal part that I do not fully agree with but it is soon over, leading into a keyboard playing a nice tune. Good stuff.

'Old gentleman's relief' is a Beatles-ish/ late 60's type of song and really the weakest track. It is not bad but it is average. The ending 'Anthem' is quite a beautiful ending to this album. It sort of sums it up.

All in all this is really amazing to be listening to. Just think, here I sit listening to an album that really should not have been in existence. Yet here it is, like a blue print for something that really didn't happen. The thivieng bastard managed to grab the final product and how wonderful wouldn't it have been to be listening to that one, to hear it as it was supposed to be. As things stand this is all that remains and for me that is quite enough. Just like Cromwell tried to smash and destroy everything that did not agree with him, the thief failed in erasing these songs from the slate of time. Just like Cromwell failed. This album is good but not essential to proggers in general. If you like Jonesy I think you ought to listen, though. It is a great and quite moving testament to one of Britain's most underrated bands.

As reviewer gr8dane mentioned, there's a lot of Pink Floyd elements in this album. While Pink Floyd were excellent craftsmen of songs, melody and harmony, this album feels like a disjointed collection of short musical ideas. You know how musicians will often carry a recorder with them to capture short musical phrases that they come up with? They'll often refer back to these recordings when composing to pick up ideas for riffs, melodies, etc. that they then craft into full songs. Well, on this album, it feels like Jonesy just took the entire "tape" of all the short snippets and fully produced them into an "album".

On a positive note, the production values are stellar and some of these short musical bits were quite good, even beautiful. I wish Jonesy would've taken some time with some of these ideas and fleshed them out as there is some truly promising material here. They just weren't made into full songs.

The third and final installment of Jonesy is their (last to be) album Growing. Though released in the same year as Keeping up it differs rather alot. Keeping up is clearly the stronger one, in my opinion, but this is a really good album aswell.

I love british prog and Jonesy was one of those numerous bands playing high quality, visionary and exciting music. Unfortunately they fell through for one or several reasons. The point, however, is that they made three wonderful yet very diverse albums. The first one being really a hard rock/prog affair, before they ventured into more symphonic territory on Keeping up (though with a very jazzy edge) and heading straight into jazz-rock on Growing.

Starting off with "Can you get that together", a rather harsh and energetic piece of jazz-rock. Slightly askew and bordering on free-form, just enough to keep it on track, it is an interesting track which I enjoy all the way through. It is a great way to start off an album. Energy, stamina and power. The two coming tracks are a bit on the mellow side. "Know who your friends are" is probably my favorite track on the album. It boasts a great first section, heading into a spacious and jazzy middle part before heading straight back into the sound which opened up the song. "Hard road" is a jazz-rock piece with distorted trumpet and energetic, almost funky feel to it. The track "Jonesy" is an instrumental affair which is a fitting testament to one of the great forgotten bands of the 70's. It leaves them hanging on a high note. (The fact that their fourth to be album got cancelled due to someone stealing the master tapes, really makes Growing their final achievement.)

To me the first album and Keeping up are the very best of the trio they made. Growing is good, there is no doubt about it. However, there is some things missing resulting in the album missing the mark ever so slightly. While it is well produced, played and full of vision I cannot feel the love for Growing as I do for the other two. Maybe I find the songs to be slightly to similar to each other? Anyway, my doubts leads me to rate this album with three stars. Good, but non essential.

Whilst their first album showed great promise and vision, this second album by Jonesy really allowed them to blossom. From the sort of humble origins, as dsiplayed through their crude yet impressive sound on "No alternative", to this, fully fledged progressive album, the steps taken is something to be marvelled.

The omnipresent mellotron gives me associations to King Crimson and Spring but whilst "No alternative" seemed to rely more on the sounds of others, this album is a far more personal affair. I would not claim that "No alternative" boasted overly complex arrangements, relying more on the hard rock side of prog. That notion, however, is eradicated on "Keeping up". Sure, there are hard rock passages on here aswell but the overall complexity and diversity is more to the fore, making "Keeping up" a much more entertaining affair. The mellotron is also augmented by brass and strings this time around, which also adds to the emotive side of the music. It is dreamy, yet not sleepy. All in all things fall into their places and the canvas is filled with the most delicious colours.

The most complex piece on the album is "Critique (with exceptions)" which is avant-garde, free-form and jazzy. The trumpet of Bown sounds as though they'd invited Miles Davis to play some spooky, off beat passages. I think that this track is interesting as an experiment and gives prrof to the fact that Jonesy was as elaborate, inventive, daring and unpredictable as any of the greats.

The other tracks are less complex but by no means inferior. I think, actually, on the contrary. From the opening "Masquerade", to the ever so beautiful and emotive "Sunset and evening star" and onward "Keeping up" is filled with great music. Inventive, bustling with ideas and visions. The jewel in the crown is the last track, the most epic and to my taste the most fully realized piece of music: "Children". The presence of brass, stabbing and hitting with extreme precision, and the lyrics in conjunction with the shifting sections of music means that this track is one of almost perfect progressive pedigree.

"Keeping up" is Jonesy's best album, as far as I am concerned. It may be that they never broke any new boundaries or travelled to far into the musical horizon but they made albums of great progressive music. Some critic once wrote that Jonesy was the best progressive band you've never heard and that is true enough. Their music, especially on "Keeping up", is just as great as other bands of the era and anyone with an interest in the origins of prog would do well to listen to them.

Jonesy was never meant to play any role of significance in the history of prog. Just like many bands of whatever genre they played, sometimes got the chance to record and perform live but in the end it all fell through. In many cases it is understandable, in others a shame. Why is that, you wonder? Simply because, must be my reply, the music really is deserving of more attention. Jonesy is one of those bands whom Fate simply walked past, though they really ought to have become something of a household name in the world of prog. Not in Genesis or King Crimson kind of way but maybe in the same league as Gentle Giant or Nektar.

This, the first, of the bands three (if you do not count the fourth album made up by demos and rehearsals due to theft and lack of money) is really the crudest of them all but shows their potential. The recordings are not crystal clear and are not perfect but then again, what matters is the overall feeling and quality of the music itself. Me, not being an audiophile, thinks that that proof of the pudding is in the tasting, not the looks, and jonesy tastes delicious.

I think that jonesy may be best known for their extensive use of the mellotron. Just like Spring (and many of their contemporaries) the mellotron was used to great effect. The crude, distorted sound of this first album is to me heavenly. The fact that the mellotron sounds distorted at times makes it even more appealing. The interplay between the mellotron and fuzzed out and sometimes screaming guitar is excellent and bridges the early progressive rock with the early type of heavy metal, making it heavy and complex.

It is true that echoes of King Crimson are quite in abundance, especially on the epic and emotive "Heaven", one of the highlights of the album. The use of mellotron evokes KC aswell. There are other sources of inspiration on here aswell, or similarities to other groups. I mentioned Spring but I could add Tonton Mocoute, Skin Alley, Gentle Giant and others. Whether it is by chance or by intention these similarities occur I do not know but being from the same country and operating in the same era i guess influences and ideas changed hands quite often. This is not to say that Jonesy lack in personality. They do possess one of their own and that personality is truly enthralling. The sound of this album is dated and very much of it's time but that is not something to dread. This is part of progressive history and as such it is magnificent.

While the albums is very much on the hard rock side of things, there are mellow exceptions such as "Heaven" and "Pollution". These are epic, long tracks with beautiful mellotron and very emotive soundscapes. The track "Ricochet", also released as a single, is a tremendous track. Really rough, crude and blessed with wah-wah guitar. Superb.

I think this is a great album from the pioneering days of prog and konesy needs to be heard and recognized. A great but forgotten/ overlooked gem. Four solid stars from me.

Jonesy may sound, by just looking at the name, to be just about any 70's pop band playing streamlined tunes for teenagers struck to the ground by boredom and suburbian hopelessness. Yes. But they aren't. They are nothing like that. In reality Jonesy were a highly skilled and cometent bunch of people, welded together by a common vision of how Music ought to be performed This compilation gathers all the output of the band. Three albums and a single. That's it, folks! Though it may not sound alot the sum of it's parts is very impressive indeed.

The music of Jones is an appealing mix of hard rock, folk and some avant garde. I dare say that it sounds vintage but that is to me only charming. Some people argue that there are hints of King Crimson in there and it is but not in any overpowering sense. The music is however very British sounding and holds similarities to other bands of the day,apart from King Crimson. I hear Tonton Mocoute, Ben, Spring and others in that field. The really heavy use of mellotron gives the music that particular sound of early prog, which I adore. Just like Spring, Jonesy makes emotive prog which i both epi and melodious. Jonesy is, however, rawer and oriented towards hard rock of the day. At least that is true in many of the tracks. "Heaven" and "Sunset and evening star" are examples of the mellow side whilst "No alternative" is one of those heavier tracks.

I will not bother to review this compilation track by track. Instead I will say this, that if you are interested in (British) prog of the early 70's this may be something for you. It may not be the boldest of all prog recorded but is certainly very good and Jonesy deserves to more recognized than they are. They were a great.band and I think many a prog fan would find this enjoyable.

Inner tensions among Jonesy's leader John Evan-Jones and the rest of the band continued, resulting the departure of Jim Payne and David Paull, who went on to play with Ken Hensel.Their replacements were Richard "Plug" Thomas and Nicholas Greenwood.Meanwhile John asked his brother Trevor "Gypsy" Jones to consider rejoining the group, as it eventually happened.Even so Greenwood's stint with Jonesy was brief and a fresh reformation included Alan Bown on trumpet and percussion.With Ray Russell (future guitarist of Chopyn) helping out on string arrangements Jonesy recorded their second album ''Keeping up...'' at Escape Studios in March 1973, released the same year on Dawn Records.

Members abandonded the band, but the return of Gypsy Jones helped Jonesy retain the inspiration of the debut, combining elements from Jazz, Orchestral and Pop Music into an attractive progressive amalgam, which is maybe not groundbreaking but comes as warmly recommended.The first few pieces with the dominant Mellotron, the well-crafted vocals, the smooth string/piano lines and the mix of calm and more passionate material showcase why Jonesy were fairly compared to KING CRIMSON.Discreet psychedelic touches, jazzy guitar and trumpets and symphonic Mellotron offer a consistent blend of different influences.The long and rather experimental ''Critique'' comes as a dissapointment, showing Jonesy in a relaxed mood, flirting with Lounge Jazz, theater acoustics and hypnotic, Psychedelic Rock, but things will get back in shape with ''Children'', another long but interesting piece of early-70's Prog Rock with KING CRIMSON vibes and light Horn Rock touches: Dreamy melodies, strong psychedelic guitars, omnipresent Mellotron and dramatic atmospheres.Great cut.

A typical example of diverse and well-executed British Prog of the 70's.Orchestral/jazzy Prog with a wide spectrum of different images.Warmly recommended.

One of British progressive rock's best kept secrets, Jonesy issued three excellent albums during the mid- seventies all in the space of two years. Sadly, however, success would elude Jonesy as the same way it did for many of their peers and they would be terminally overshadowed by he big boys of the era such as Pink Floyd, ELP and Yes. However, despite a relatively small profile, Jonesy managed to build up a small-but-loyal following attracted to the group's eclectic style with the album's 'No Alternative', 'Growing' and 'Keeping Up' each displaying a broad range of sounds and textures indicative of seriously adept musicians. Released in 1972 on the Dawn imprint(also home to the likes of Gravy Train) 'No Alternative' featured a genuine mixed bag of musical tracks, with sombre ballads ('Every Days The Same'), technically tricky rockers ('1958'), maudlin mid-tempo epics ('Pollution') and even jazz-tinged heavy-prog fusion ('Mind Of The Century') peppering an extraordinarily complex selection of tunes. Jonesy's music also featured a series of trademark affectations that would carry on into both of their following releases, with rip-roaringly stretched guitar solo's, soothing mellotron washes and incisive lyrical observations(the environement, politics etc) showcasing a highly-talented outfit who really did deserve better from both the record-buying public and the musical critcs of the day. That said, Jonesy are one of a number of relatively-unknown mid-seventies prog outfits to reform in the 21st century thanks to the rising interest in all things progressive, and as a result the group's trio of fine albums are now being discovered and re-discovered by fans old and new. Of the three, 'No Alternative' features possibly the broadest stylistic range, with the beautifully-executed 'Pollution' , the anthemic title-track and the funky mellotron-soaked corker 'Ricochet'(a track sliced down to size for single release) proving the stand-outs selections. An excellent debut that demands multiple listens, 'No Alternative' is a fine slice of strangely- undervalued prog from a finely-tuned British outfit. In a word: Groovy! STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

Jonesy makes a Pink Floyd album.

Did not know that this had been released,but came across it on I-Tunes.After listening to the samples a few times,decided to spend the $7 .The thing with I-Tunes you don't get any info about the album,so I don't know who is left from the old days.A few years ago I bought the first 3 albums on the 2 cd package,and quite liked the mellotron drenched easy flowing music.

This album doesn't sound much like the old albums,though.Here it's like they make a tribute to Pink Floyd making all original Floyd sounding tracks with the exception of the last track.Some 'Wish you were here','Division Bell and 'Momentary lapse of reason' combo with plenty of sound effects,like waves,kids playing,birds chirping and so on.There is also some Hawkwind flawors here specially some Calvert sounding vocals here and there.

So,as there are no new Pink Floyd albums on the horizon,you may get a nice little fix with this one.For me a nice solid 3 star album.Thanks Jonesy,nice one.