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OCTOBER

Jazz Rock/Fusion • United States


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October biography
One of the most obscure United States acts from the 70's, OCTOBER were based in Detroit and released two albums with the same line-up on which they showcased an unique mix of symphonic rock and fusion; symphonic elements often realized from the use of diferent keyboards and both acoustic and electric violins. These original privately pressed LP's were made in very small numbers (the album After The Fall in 50 copies or less even had hand painted covers), so it's no surprise that there are a few re-releases on CD where their legitimacy is doubtful. Until an official release is made though, this might be the only way to hear this interesting band.

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OCTOBER discography


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

3.64 | 5 ratings
October
1979
3.86 | 9 ratings
After The Fall
1980

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 October by OCTOBER album cover Studio Album, 1979
3.64 | 5 ratings

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October
October Jazz Rock/Fusion

Review by aglasshouse

4 stars Late 70's jazz with mid-60's flair.

October's a band that aren't well known at all, only releasing two albums in the span of two years. They use a fairly standard jazz fusion sound with dollops of experimentation. Something that I noticed was a hint of Krautrock, mainly like Neu! or Can in their earliest incarnation. Pat Carson has a style extremely similar Jaki Liebezeit, especially on the track 'Mainspring'. At times the instruments fumble and start to trip over each-other in a haphazardly sort of way, causing for awkward segues that sometimes don't even come, causing for a song that is mainly flat and uninteresting. The production as well is rather...bad. When there are vocals they are incoherent and practically not there, and some of the background instruments can get lost in the hubbub. This little gem however is a pretty interesting look at the jazz fusion genre when it was on the cusp of a new decade, and I would suggest forthright. A 3.5/5 rounded to 4.

 After The Fall by OCTOBER album cover Studio Album, 1980
3.86 | 9 ratings

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After The Fall
October Jazz Rock/Fusion

Review by GruvanDahlman
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Why I bought this unrated album to begin with I do not know. Well, that's not excactly true. In part it was due to the magnificent cover which caught my eye but the main reason was the track "Charisma" Iheard on Youtube, by the way the only track I managed to hear from the album. And what a marvellous track it is!

1979 is a year not wildly associated with prog, or so one might be lead to believe. The end of the seventies and beginning of the eighties have quite a few albums of great worth, among them Camel's "Nude" or Genesis' "Duke", to name but a few. I find the end of the seventies in som aspects as thrilling as the beginning. There's a lot of quality stuff out there.

So, "After the fall", then... It's a quite jazzy, affair, for sure. Fusion, yes, but not so much that it's pure fusion. "After the fall" is prog with a fusiony edge. The first five tracks are all quite nice. There's dreamy parts, aggressive playing and a spacey feel that's really nice and enjoyable. The main piece, though, the prize of them all, is the 12 minutes long "Charisma". The track really stands out, not just because of it's length but because of the elements within. The bass i wild and leads the music forward, relentlessly. I get thet feeling of being in space, floating around looking up at the stars, enjoyibg the dance pf the northern stars.

As a whole the music is really enjoyable bringing to mind equal parts Weidorje, albeit a bit more melodic, and more symphonic bands like Atoll or Ange, perhaps even Harmonium's "L'heptade". There are very sparse vocals (just one track and not much of it) but the album as a whole would have benefitted from being completely instrumental, in my opininion.

Conclusion: October's "After the fall" is a great symphonic, jazzy album of great worth. I really think it's worth a few quid and several spins. Maybe not quite a 4 star-album but I'll give it just that because of the track "Charisma" and the very enjoyable muscial landscape it paints.

Thanks to andy webb for the artist addition.

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