POPOL ACE / EX POPOL VUH

The new album 'It Was 50 Years Ago Today' offers a collection of live-in-the-studio tracks (Sveriges Radio and Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Archives), as well as recordings made from a reunion concert in Oslo at Rebecca West (June 10th 1994). That's the main reason why this triple LP release contains a few songs that are presented in two different versions. Most of the tracks are deriving from the acclaimed first two 'Popol Vuh' albums. I actually do prefer those live in the studio outtakes. The prog component is way more dominant here, this provided with a simply perfect sound quality on top. The electric piano serves a jazzy note again and again. Diversified compositions presented by skilled musicians. I would say this is partially comparable to the band SBB from Poland. Jahn Teigen's vocal appearance is excentric somehow, multi-varianted in any case, probably a matter that needs getting used to for one or two.

This may surprise, but especially the cover Feelin' Alright makes my day. That original Traffic song, really getting famous later due to the Joe Cocker interpretation, sees them wonderfully jamming for a while. Let the music flow. The longest track Get Up evolves nearly in the same way. Other exceptional band compositions are Hunchback and Milk-White Satin-Dressed Departure. Performed by the same line up the last half of the songs chosen for this compilation unmistakeably are evolving under live circumstances. Additional keyboards are provided by Sven Ohrvik here. Obviously being motivated by the enthusiastic audience they are having a lot of fun. Anyway, it sounds more spruced up. Leavin' Chicago for example comes with a proper rock n' roll feel. I'm missing some edges and band typical characteristics here, exemplarily the strange vocal expression. Nevertheless, all in all 'It Was 50 Years Ago Today' is a really fine offer, gives the listener a proper view about the special POPOL ACE inspiration as well as the musicians' capabilities.

I'll be honest with you, this album is nowhere near as exciting as any of the three previous records but I wouldn't necessary call it terrible either. It's pretty obvious that the times were changing and the band tried to reinvent their sound after their previous vocalist, Jahn Teigen, had left for a successful solo carrier. What we have here is a mix of disco, pop and blues tracks that aren't exactly all that interesting but the great musicianship of the four instrumentalists in the band actually made it a decent spin for me. The new vocalist, Asbjørn Krogtoft, doesn't bring the same mighty personality nor vocal performance to the band as Jahn Teigen did in the past, but his effort is actually rather pleasant at times. The biggest problem with the album is its complete lack of direction with the band trying pretty much everything to reinvent themselves while leaving their glorious symphonic approach behind them.

If I had to pick any favorite track then it would be the ballad Love's Last Ballad, which is as close as the band comes to their glory days of All We Have Is The Past, Between You And Me and Sweet Tune. Mountain Man is probably the best example of the band succeeding in making their new direction work for themselves and I've honestly would have liked to hear a few more quirky tunes like this instead disco tunes like Tango For One. Overall, I can still imagine that fans of Popol Ace would find this release interesting even if just for the reason to brag that they have the record in their collection. Curly Sounds is nowhere near the first three Popol Ace albums and its complete lack of success brought the band's story to an abrupt closure. I would definitely recommend to start with their debut album or Stolen From Time if your not too familiar with the band's repertoire.

**** star songs: Bye Bye (4:35) Love's Last Ballad (4:09) Mountain Man (3:53)

*** star songs: Tango For One (4:13) Jay (4:03) Joe's My Name (4:02) California USA (4:55) Let The Music Turn You On (3:50) Northern Winds (3:49) Wonderland (4:45)

This was an album of mixed yet always progressive-influenced sounds with ''Hunchback'' being the absolute opener, fairly symphonic with great doses of Mellotron and a great nostalgic style reminiscent of early KING CRIMSON and ENGLAND.''Joy & Pleasure'' sounds quite funky, still has plenty of adventurous moments and is close to mid-70's PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI stylings with an enjoyable atmosphere.A CRESSIDA/FANTASY/GRACIOUS influence is present on ''All We Have Is the Past'', good combination of Mellotron, soft piano, acoustic textures and moog synths in a laid-back track with warm vocals.''Leavin' Chicago'' is very weak, a track seemingly written for promotional purposes, very funky with an evident American flavor, led by the piano of Pete Knutsen.

The British color of the band returns in the flipside with ''For Eternity'', soft Progressive Rock with a FRUUPP/CRESSIDA aura, nice psychedelic guitars, big Mellotron and flute sounds and a strong Classical influence throughout.''Sucklin' Pig'' sees the band turning into a more jazzy- oriented style, completely indtrumental with swirling synths and flute solos, very interesting stuff.The long ''Medicine'' is another fine composition.The heaviest track on the album proposes a good mix of guitar-based Heavy Rock with JETHRO TULL-like flute parts and GENESIS-like moog synth passages.

The album has been CD re-issued many years later again by Polydor and is sure to please all fans of Classic 70's Progressive Rock, despite lacking the killer track.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

"Hunchback" has a fantastic intro with mellotron as the vocals come in. The flute rips it up after 2 minutes then the vocals return. Marching styled drums after 3 minutes as spoken words join in. Good song. "Joy And Pleasure" is almost funky with Wetton- like vocals. Flute too and vocal melodies come and go. Nice instrumental interlude with guitar. Two excellent tracks to start. "All We Have Is The Past" opens with reserved vocals and mellotron. It starts to build but then settles back again. Not a fan at all of this one. "Leavin' Chicago" is a fairly bluesy number. Not a fan.

"For Eternity" has picked guitar and flute early on. It picks up some. Guitar before 2 minutes and vocals follow as it settles. It continues to change. Not a fan. "Sucklin' Pig" is much better. I like the rhythm here with flute. Electric piano before 2 minutes. I'm digging this one. It's my favourite. "Medicine" is nice and heavy with flute over top as the vocals join in. Nice guitar before 1 1/2 minutes that goes on and on.Vocals are back after 3 minutes. A drum/flute melody follows then synths and mellotron. Guitar after 5 1/2 minutes then it settles down. Vocals follow.

3 stars for this one. Maybe they tried to mix things up too much. It certainly has it's moments though.

This is the debut album from Popol Ace(then called Popol Vuh) from 1972. The first time I heard it, it really did not appeal to me, but after bying it some years later, the album have really grown on me, and have become a personal Prog favorite of mine.

For starters it's a great Mellotron album, and a great vocal album. Jan Teigen is one of the great Norwegian Rock-vocalists, and is relentless here. Great drama & power in his singing, almost singing in Opera-style sometimes.

The opening track "Hunchback" is a CLASSIC Progressive tune, blending Jazz and Classical into the rock mix, with fluteparts a la Ian Anderson. Many different tempo changes and timing in this awesome tune, which is my favorite track on the album.

"Joy and Pleasure" is the next song out, a typical 70's funk/Rock song. Not bad, but not so good either.

"All we have is the past" follows, and is a beautiful ballad a la Crimson's "Epitaph" and Genesis' "Seven Stones". Great lushing Mellotron, and excellent, emotional vocals from Teigen.

"Leavin' Chicago" is the weakest track on the album. A kind of Honky-Tonk Blues/Rock tune that's not particulary good.

"For eternity" is great, mostly instrumental parts and very little singing. Excellent Mellotron-Chello and flute here, in a very atmospheric piece.

"Sucklin' Pig" is a Jazzy, psychedelic rock instrumental in 7/8 rythm. Cool Fusion-drumming and psychedelic jazz playing on Rhodes piano and on flute. Great tune.

"Medicine" is the final track, and is a hard rock/Prog/Psych song with lots of atmosphere and cool psychedelic guitar solo to great effect. Awesome singing again from Teigen, and Mellotron on many of the parts. Epic.

I can only give this album 4 stars because the album is not excellent the whole way through, but the songs that ARE good, are really good ones. I recommend all Proggers to give it a listen.

This was the third out of the four Popol Ace albums and the first they released under the name Popol Ace. This occurred immediately after the band found out that another German band was baring the name Popol Vuh. The name change clearly brought out a new spark within the quintet, which is quite notable on Stolen From Time. Ambitions were set high not only in the songwriting and music arrangements but also in the long studio time that was demanded during the production of the album. Stolen From Time is a thematic piece of music where the nine different tracks are played out like nine chapters of the same story arc with smooth transitions between some of the sections.

The album features a wide range of sounds and direction, although this time it manages to keep the overall style distinguishable and unique, unlike the band's debut album which played a definite homage to blues rock of its time. Mr. Bigalow is probably the album's most eclectic piece of music with interesting guitar and keyboard arrangements but I wouldn't say that it's the most progressive moment that Stolen From Time has to offer. The opening three tracks is where the band shines the most while the rest of the material might take some time to get accustomed to. Still it's those exact compositions that make this album such a magical experience for me!

Sweet Tune is a gorgeous ballad that relies equally on Arne Schulze's guitar and Jahn Teigen's vocal arrangements, the result is beyond anything I can put into words! Sleepwalker is probably my least favorite of these compositions but it doesn't say much considering the high overall quality of this record. I Can See Tears is a haunting ballad which clearly was inspired by Genesis while the 8+ minute album closer Suicide mixes best qualities of ELP, Kansas and Focus all in one performance!

Stolen From Time is simply a gorgeous piece of Progressive Rock history that more people should take the time to experience! I'm honestly surprised by the current forgotten status of this album which makes me very sad. Stolen From Time gave me so much pleasure over the last year that I just have to return the favor!

***** star songs: Bury Me Dead (5:57) Today Another Day (5:39) Jester (3:58) Mr. Bigalow (4:13) Sweet Tune (5:02)

**** star songs: Soft Shoe Dancer (4:42) Sleepwalker (5:24) I Can See Tears (6:01) Suicide (8:20)

This was the the band's debut release under the name Popol Vuh. Released by Polydor in 1972, the album became a minor hit in Norway but that was as far as the popularity of the band spread. Quite unfair considering the great album that it actually was! Yes, the music can sometimes get into a blues sounding jam and the huge versatility between the different compositions does make this release sound highly uneven as a whole. Still, there's really no denying that Popol Vuh were at the right time, but unfortunately not in the right place with their musical ambitions. Compositions like For Eternity and Medicine bear a clear resemblance to Foxtrot, which was released by Genesis during that same year. Unfortunately this was before the time of globalization and Internet was around, meaning that the word of mouth had to carry the band's music to different regions in order for it to be acknowledged by a wider audiences and that just never happened for Popol Ace.

Tracks like Joy And Pleasure and Sucklin' Pig rely on groovy instrumental arrangements which some people will consider to be the most progressive moments of this album. I, on the other hand, consider the two ballads All We Have Is The Past and For Eternity performed beautifully by Jahn Teigen, to carry the magnitude that is required to be called prog. It's a pity that his voice is not exhibitioned in all of its glory throughout the rest of the album, but this would change over time.

A great debut album by one of the forgotten heroes of Progressive Rock-era of the '70s that should not be missed out on!

***** star songs: All We Have Is The Past (4:29) For Eternity (5:36)

**** star songs: Hunchback (4:08) Joy And Pleasure (3:32) Sucklin' Pig (4:22) Medicine (8:02)

** star songs: Leavin' Chicago (3:53)

In general the songs are good also today but "Mr. Bigalow", the more famous song of this album because a good radio hit also today (and that I have listen to radio various times), is a strange southern rock/ AOR. For the rest good POP as Fruupp or Beggars Opera with less Prog tendencies and more POP bluesy treatment.

So, if Classic Rock please you, I think that this album is an interesting album for your discography. But also for true Prog discography this is a good album.

"Music Box" is my best favorite track from the band. It reminds me to my childhood when this track was popular in my country. "Between You and Me" is a nice ballad with excellent piano, touchy melody line with powerful voice of the lead vocalist. "Queen of all queens" is an excellent classic rock song with distinctive guitar work. "Dark nights" is also not bad at all. It flows with piano as main rhythm section. "Mrs. Randalie" demonstrates he band's adventure into symphonic prog music. I like the bass lines for this track. Duration-wise this track is like typical prog tunes with 8 minute duration.

This band is good in combining various instruments to build a compelling nuance of the music created. "For Eternity" may fall into this category. With nice introduction of acoustic guitar and keyboard, this track moves in crescendo from long acoustic guitar - keyboard duets. The opening part reminds me to the psychedelic adventures, supported with ambient and nice melody. It also gives symphonic nuance that brings beautifully into lyrical verses. The first singing part gives a nuance similar to seventies music like Trapeze (Glenn Hughes band prior to joining Deep Purple). I like the interlude part with two guitars play intertwiningly with the support of mellotron work. Oh yeah, you might sense an influence of King Crimson as well right here with this track.

For those who have not known the band before, this compilation is recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!

"I'm sitting in a music box , I'm making songs - wanna know what for? Is there really more to tell , or haven't you really had before? Oh . uuuhhhh . who can tell? Oh .. in the end it won't make us different. - Music Box by Popol Ace

"Today Another Day" is composed in the same vein like opening track. In this song Jahn Teigen (vocals) demonstrates his quality voice with a firm accent that makes the music is quite enjoyable. Guitar provides its solo at the background and never been exposed as soloist. The song changes its style into bluesy one in the middle of the track - or minute 4:00 to be exact. The guitar portion is now quite apparent. "The Jester" is another classic rock tune combining guitar fills, keyboard and energetic voice. Jahn Teigen proves his voice which works well at high notes - followed with excellent keyboard work. "Soft Shoe Dancer" is good composition with bluesy style, nice vocal. This song provides good break for the album. It's an enjoyable song that represents 70s music. "Sleepwalker" concludes the album in medium tempo rock music combining guitar and keyboard and good vocal quality.

It's definitely a good album that suits those of you who want to make a complete collection of 70s music which typically called as classic rock.

"Nothing is useless. Even a spoilt clock shows the right time twice everyday!"