ELECTRIC SAVAGE

Electric Savage had received little attention for me personally by the time it was released for relatively simplistic reason: it has no vocalist and not really rock. It's totally wrong assumption as I finally found that prog does not necessarily mean having vocals. I only enjoyed this album in great details about four years later when I first identified that the musicians involved in this album were really talented. In fact after I knew and could fully enjoy this album, I chased the albums where the musicians involved in this band at their future activities. This included Don Airey whom later visited my country to performed a live concert with Deep Purple replacing Jon Lord - three or four years ago, I guess.

The opening track "Put it This Way" (4:54) has no compelling name but the music demonstrates the kind of caliber the musicians involved in the band. Gary Moore whom I knew more in the arena of rock and blues, unexpectedly plays pivotal part in the whole composition of this track as well as the whole album. "All Skin and Bone" (3:49) starts ambient with the exploration of gong - I guess it's played by Jon Hiseman. The music features guitar solo with relatively steady rhythm section but with energetic and inventive drumwork by Hiseman. Really cool!

"Desperado" (5:58) delivers a music which blend fast speed jazz-rock fusion and abrupt music styles featuring great soloist: stunning electric guitar solo by Gary Moore and rapid fire finger punching keyboard by Don Airey. You can observe the virtuosity of drummer Jon Hiseman as well through this track. His work is not just augmenting the music flow and keeping the beats but it also includes giving the rich texture of the music. Definitely Desperado is one of the best tracks in progressive music vein! "Am I" (4:15) provides some sort of musical break from high speed music because the track starts with a slow tempo music featuring simple keyboard and guitar. The guitar enters the scene and brings the music into higher notes in a bit bluesy style. The electric guitar solo is really stunning - augmented with chopping chords of keyboard with jazzy rhythm style.

"Intergalactic Strut" (6:00) starts wonderfully with dazzling work by Hiseman on his drum set. It's an energetic opening because his style is truly dynamic and energetic. When the full music containing guitar, keyboard and bass enter the music, this song offers relatively fast tempo jazz rock fusion stuff with interlude part featuring guitar solo in medium tempo. But the music then turns out to be complex and speedy when the keyboard takes role as soloist in fast tempo style. It's a great tempo changes that combine diverse styles. It's one of my favorite Colosseum tracks.

If you love jazz rock fusion music, this album is highly recommended! You will find the virtuosities of musicians involved as well as energetic music with excellent composition. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW