Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed (1967)

Lush and beautiful from start to finish the Moody Blues Days of Future Passed is possibly the very first progressive rock album, not to mention one of the first successful concept albums. Ambitious, adventurous, and symphonic—while a product of its era Days of Future Passed has, for the most part, aged remarkably well.

The album is a delightful mixture of late sixties psychedelia and symphonic rock. The symphonic pieces performed by the London Festival Orchestra which was conducted by Peter Knight. Knight wrote most of the orchestral pieces around musical themes that had been written by Moodies Justin Hayward, Ray Thomas, Mike Pinder & John Lodge.

Admittedly some of the rock pieces are moderately dated but with new mixes they have also remained relatively fresh.

Initially Deram Records approached the Moody Blues to record a rock version of Dvořák’s New World Symphony. Little did they know that the Moodies had already started writing Days of Future Passed around a live stage show. The basic concept, a musical journey of the passage of time from day to night was nearly doomed to failure before recording even started. A combination of symphonic music with rock had never been done before, at least not to the extent that the Moody Blues were planning. Understandably the executives were wary—properly executed Days of Future Passed did have tremendous potential, but improperly executed the album had the potential to completely alienate fans of both rock and symphonic music. The risk of failure was tremendous.

Despite the odds stacked against them, the Moody Blues made it work. Days of Future Passed was a commercial and critical success thus paving the way for bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson, and Emerson Lake & Palmer to release similarly musically adventurous albums in the late sixties and into the seventies. Had Days of Future Passed failed chances are record label execs would have been reluctant to bankroll the musically adventurous albums of the aforementioned prog rock bands and thus deprived the listening public of some truly fantastic albums.

While the Moody Blues didn’t quite get it perfect, they got it right and they were the first to do so successfully. The Beatles may have had Sgt. Peppers and many may consider that as the first concept album. But it could be argued that Sgt. Peppers concept only bookended the album whereas the Moody Blues remained true to the concept from the start to the finish of Days of Future Passed making it truly the first concept album.

Days of Future Passed can also be considered part of a trifecta of albums that really motivated the shift from singles-oriented to album-oriented releases. Prior to 1967 many albums were merely collections of singles with filler material. On the first handful of Beatles and Beach Boys albums the songs were largely inter-changeable. That is to say any singles from any of their albums would just as easily have fit on any of their other albums. With the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, and the Moody Blues Days of Future Passed there was a definite shift to individual songs being pieces of a greater whole—the whole being greater, not equal, to the sum of its parts.

Related Links
Days of Future Passed (allmusic.com)
Days of Future Passed (wikipedia)
Moody Blues (official site)
Moody Blues (allmusic.com)
Moody Blues (wikipedia)
Justin Hayward (official site)
Justin Hayward (wikipedia)
John Lodge (official site)
John Lodge (wikipedia)
Mike Pinder (official site)
Mike Pinder (wikipedia)
Ray Thomas (wikipedia)
Peter Knight (wikipedia)
London Festival Orchestra (wikipedia)
Deram Records (wikipedia)

Forgotten Music Thursday: Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield - Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68

While this show was recorded in December 1968 with the full intention of being released shortly thereafter, it instead sat long forgotten and presumed lost until 2001 when Al Kooper was going through some old tapes in his possession stumbled upon this show. He cleaned it up a bit and finally almost thirty-four years after it had originally been performed and recorded it was finally released.

Sometimes when musicians team up there’s an undeniable, unmistakable, and absolute electric chemistry between them, such was the case with Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper. Teaming up initially for the SuperSession album, a series of concerts were scheduled on both the East and West Coasts at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East and West venues.

While that chemistry is certainly enjoyable in the studio, it’s even more tangible in a live setting. In addition to exhibiting Bloomfield’s virtuosity on guitar, Johnny Winter also guests on It’s My Own Fault. Hearing Bloomfield and Winter playing side by side is an enjoyable treat in and of itself.

The electric energy of Kooper and Bloomfield I’d argue rivals the considerably more famous Steve Winwood/Eric Clapton/Ginger Baker collaboration, Blind Faith. There’s an honesty and a respect between Bloomfield and Kooper that is evident on each song. Rather than rival egos challenging one another as was the case of many supergroups since then, Bloomfield and Kooper play homage to each other and do a tremendous service to one another’s talents—because of, not in spite of their mutual respect and apprectiation of one another.

Perhaps the weakest link on the album are Al Kooper’s vocals and the sub-amateurish drumming of Johnny Cresci. While his voice is enjoyable when he remains within his range, on 59th St. Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) Kooper attempts to sing outside of his range with less than enjoyable results. This is a minor quibble as the concert was largely instrumental and was more a display of Kooper’s talents on keyboard and Bloomfield’s undeniable abilities as a blues guitarist firmly in tune with Chicago’s brand of urban electric blues. Johnny Cresci was woefully under-talented compared to the talents of Kooper and Bloomfield whose playing was strong enough to overshadow much of Cresci’s drumming—unfortunately not quite enough to completely eclipse his sub-par playing.

Forgotten for thirty-four years this concert was well worth the wait and it’s a blessing to fans of Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, Johnny Winter specifically and of great music in general that once found by Kooper he had the good sense to share this release with the listening public.

Related Links
Al Kooper (official site)
Mike Bloomfield (official site)
Al Kooper (wikipedia)
Mike Bloomfield (wikipedia)
Johnny Winter (wikipedia)

Chocolate Watch Band - No Way Out (1967)

While they were fixtures of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene of the late sixties, time has not been kind to the Chocolate Watchband. Today they remain largely forgotten by all but the more avid listeners of music from this period.

For those unfamiliar—close your eyes and imagine the Rolling Stones… now picture a runaway freight train ramming the Stones through a mushroom clouded prism of psychedelia. That sound is the Chocolate Watchband.

Their music has not stood the test of time as well as some of their contemporaries largely because, other than a very small handful of bands from that era, psychedelia burnt out (like many of the musicians who performed it) within a relatively short span of time. Its popularity was not sustained and the spaced out trippy keyboard sounds remain relics of the bygone era in which the music was originally recorded.

There was a definite Stones influence that was especially evident on songs like Come On (which sounds so reminiscent of the Stones you might even check the liner notes to make sure it’s NOT Mick Jagger singing). And speaking of the Stones, these guys had a rather huge pair—it takes a pair to tackle music as diverse as the aforementioned Stones influenced Come On to the Wilson Pickett staple In the Midnight Hour to the spacey Pink Floyd-esque instrumental Dark Side of the Mushroom (which predates PF’s Dark Side of the Moon by several years).

If these guys had adapted and changed with the changing times they likely would today be mentioned in the same breath as guys like Jimi Hendrix, the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, Pink Floyd, and other bands that today get name-dropped like jelly-beans into a musical Easter Basket. The talent was there, but perhaps the vision was not. As quickly as they appeared and were noticed, they had disappeared.

Today No Way Out is a time capsule of the Summer of Love—and it’s one of the better (if lesser known) capsules of that era. The most dated of their songs Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love In) is catchy upbeat and features more of those Mick Jagger-esque vocals that the band was known for in their prime. The album is enjoyable from start to finish with not a weak track on it not to mention a seminal album of its era and of the psychedelic genre.

Related Links
The Chocolate Watchband (official site)
The Chocolate Watchband (wikipedia)
The Chocolate Watchband (allmusic)

Marc Hunter - Communication (1985)

There’s an inexplicable comfortableness and familiarity with Marc Hunter’s Communication. It’s the long lost friend you’ve met for the first time. Even though you’ve never seen each other before there’s an instant ease as if you’d known one another your whole lives.

From start to finish Communication is that friend. It’s that album I listened to incessantly when it came out in 1985… except it was never released in the United States and now it’s 2010 and it just leaves me feeling like this is the album I would have been listening to incessantly in 1985 had I been aware of its existence at the time.

There’s not a bad track on the album, Hunter’s voice is as I’ve discovered continually enjoyable whether it’s within the context of his solo material or singing lead with Dragon.

Speaking of Dragon Communication is also the more laidback mellow younger brother to Dragon’s 1984 album, Body and the Beat.

Admittedly the programmed drums keep this album firmly planted in the decade in which they were recorded but the songs are well crafted and the material is strong in spite of the dated sound that the programmed drums give the material.

Urban Tribal has a haunting quality to it and is one of Hunter’s better vocal performances either as a soloist or with Dragon. The Empty Beach is a snapshot of a day alone at Bondi Beach. Lyrically it’s to Australia what Jimmy Buffet’s songs are to the Caribbean. Simple Words feels like a single although, the title track remained the only single released from this album (and it did enjoy moderate success in Australia).

The laidback relaxed but at times melancholic vibe permeates the album from start to finish. But there’s honesty in the music that gives it the aforementioned familiar feeling. Even if you aren’t personally in touch with what Hunter is singing about, you know the type of people of which he sings. They are the characters in the movie of our lives so sit back relax and get to know these ten new friends.

Related Links

Marc Hunter Communication (YouTube video)

Marc Hunter (wikipedia)

Blood Sweat & Tears - New Blood (1972)

Aside from their self-titled sophomore album Blood Sweat & Tears struggled under the vocal leadership of David Clayton-Thomas. While largely forgotten, the Jerry Fisher era of Blood Sweat & Tears was an all too brief breath of fresh air at just the right time. 1972’s New Blood marks Fisher’s first foray on lead vocals for BS&T.

His vocals are more on the soulful and less on the crooning end of the spectrum. And while New Blood exhibits the classic BS&T sound Fisher’s vocals give their material more of a New Orleans/Dixieland jazz vibe than Clayton-Thomas’s vocals did.

While there are no big hits and much of the material would largely be unrecognizable to all but the most seasoned of BS&T’s fans the music is quite enjoyable from Down In the Flood to I Can’t Move No Mountains to the amusing take on aging, Over the Hill, to the melancholic So Long Dixie. While the material still is not as strong as on the band’s debut, Child Is Father to the Man, it’s easily their best material since then.

The album closes with Snow Queen/Maiden Voyage an eleven and a half minute musical adventure allowing Fisher to stretch out his vocals and giving the horns plenty of time to show what they’re capable of. Despite it’s length it remains one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album.

While compared to other Blood Sweat & Tears albums New Blood certainly stands up well, perhaps its greatest flaw is that it has not aged as well as other material from the early seventies. The sound is so dated that if you close your eyes and just listen perhaps you might open them to find yourself in 1972. Which, depending on your personal proclivities may or may not be a bad thing.

Related LinksNew Blood (allmusic.com)
New Blood (wikipedia)
Blood Sweat & Tears (official site)
Blood Sweat & Tears (wikipedia)

John Petrucci - Suspended Animation (2004)

As far as guitarists go, John Petrucci is a master of his craft. While not quite as well known as some of his contemporaries (Steve Vai and Joe Satriani come to mind) he’s more than proven himself as the guitarist for Dream Theater.

Given Petrucci’s level of talent it could be easily argued that a solo album from him was long overdue. But in 2004 he finally released Suspended Animation. Much of the material that appears on Suspended Animation was written for and performed on many of the G3 tours which Petrucci participated in with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani through the mid 2000s.

The album is completely instrumental and reminiscent of the material on the Liquid Tension Experiment albums recorded in the late nineties with bassist Tony Levin and his Dream Theater bandmates Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess. The big difference being that those albums were musical collaborations that at times allowed all members of the quartet to shine either collectively or individually—Suspended Animation focuses, and rightly so, on Petrucci’s guitar playing.

Perhaps what is most striking about this release is Petrucci’s strong sense of melody. While this is also noticeable on his work with Dream Theater, when the focus is more strictly on Petrucci that strong sense of melody is considerably more noticeable.

Petrucci’s playing also dispels the myth that progressive metal lacks emotion. Every song on this release displays a depth of emotion and a genuine love of the guitar.

Each song brings a little something different to the table Glasgow Kiss has a traditional Scottish vibe to it with Petrucci’s guitar replacing where one might expect to hear bagpipes.

Tunnel Vision features some excellent multi-tracking and the intro is reminiscent of some of the more experimental material from the Liquid Tension and Liquid Trio Experiment releases.

Wishful Thinking is essentially an instrumental power ballad. It has all the elements a hair metal power ballad minus the lyrics and vocals. It further displays Petrucci’s versatility on guitar. Where other tracks on the album display Petrucci’s sense of melody, much of Petrucci’s fretwork on Wishful Thinking is more a demonstration of his skill at harmony. Vocals aren’t really necessary as Petrucci does an excellent job of making his guitar “sing.” The song is also a welcome respite after the relatively hard driving musical onslaught of the first 3 tracks. It allows the listener to catch his breath before launching back into a more metal oriented onslaught on Damage Control.

Curve is another example of Petrucci using his guitar to play “vocalist” much like on Wishful Thinking the guitar is played where one might normally expect the vocals. Curve is considerably more up-tempo.

Lost Without You is another ballad. This one has been around awhile as Petrucci was playing it live at Dream Theater concerts off and on for a few years before it finally has seen official release on Suspended Animation. It has less a metal and more a jazz fusion feel at first but with occasional metal-oriented rhythm guitar work added as accents to Petrucci’s leads. The most apt description would be metal/jazz fusion an interesting combination of musical styles that isn’t traditionally explored (kind of like Icelandic/Vietnamese fusion food).

The album closes with the longest track, Animate-Inanimate in which all of the musical elements and styles Petrucci explored on the previous seven tracks come together like a delicious stew.

Unfortunately, this album has not, to date, been released domestically in the United States. While it’s certainly worth the price of a traditional domestic CD, I wouldn’t recommend it to casual listeners at the rather steep import price tag of $34.99. Not releasing the album domestically is doing Petrucci fans a tremendous disservice as the music certainly is enjoyable and should be heard. The import price tag just makes it a bit too prohibitive for more casual listeners

Related Links
John Petrucci (official site)
John Petrucci (wikipedia)

Suspended Animation

Collective Soul - s/t (1995)

I'm not sure whether or not it's a glitch in my musical wiring but unlike many of my peers, grunge music never really spoke to me. I tried to get into it, I really did. But I just never connected with the likes of Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, or any of the other bands that were spawned by the influence of those bands.

I just didn't see what white suburban kids had to be so pissed off about. Our standard of living was generally comfortable we weren't mired in an ever escalating police action half a world away, there was no draft.

So, between 1992 and 1995 I stuck my head in the sand and tried to pretend that musically the 90s didn't exist.

As a freshman in college my roommate had Collective Soul's s/t sophomore release. He'd play it from time to time and bloody hell, wouldn't you know it, I had a reason to remove my head from the sand. I had reason to acknowledge the music of the 90s.

From start to finish this album is (pardon my French) fucking brilliant. While there are other albums that I enjoyed bits and pieces of in this era. This one grabbed me by the cojones and my heart and mind followed eagerly. It took the best aspects of classic rock and hit the fast forward button to the nineties to give a then modern spin to a classic sound and Collective Soul pulled it off in spades.

Whether it's Smashing Young Man, December, Where the River Flows, The World I Know, or the perpetually catchy Gel this album has a little something for everyone. And if you were to only ever purchase one album per decade, I'd argue that this would be a serious contender for THE album to purchase for the nineties.

And while Collective Soul has released a few other decent albums since this one, none of them have quite matched up to the musical brilliance of their sophomore release. All of the pieces just fell into place in just the right way-- like throwing a jigsaw puzzle into the air and having it land with all of the pieces fitting together as it landed. Lightning in a bottle is usually only captured once in a musical career. This is Collective Soul's lightning. Uncork it and intoxicate yourself already!

Related Links
Collective Soul (wikipedia)
Collective Soul (Allmusic)
Collective Soul (official site)
Collective Soul (wikipedia)

Steve Hackett - Voyage of the Acolyte (1975)

Released while he was still in the band, Steve Hackett’s debut solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, is the Genesis album that wasn’t. Even the cover art is reminiscent of the style used on the covers of Foxtrot and Selling England By the Pound. Following Peter Gabriel’s departure from the band after the over-indulgent The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Hackett released this hauntingly beautiful album in which his remaining Genesis bandmates Rutherford, Collins & Banks contributed to in various ways shapes and forms.

The album at different times offers glimpses into what the post-Gabriel Genesis would sound like (at least initially) and at other times shows glimpses of what Genesis COULD HAVE sounded like following Peter Gabriel’s departure had Hackett been granted more creative control on the first two post-Gabriel studio albums (A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering). Instrumentally the Genesis influences are so unmistakable that one might be left wondering if some of this material might have ended up on a Genesis album had Peter Gabriel NOT left.

Hands of the Priestess Pts. 1 & 2 features some beautiful flute solos reminiscent of Peter Gabriel’s solo in Firth of Fifth (from Selling England By the Pound). And throughout, Hackett dares to defy the stereotype that progressive rock lacks emotion. There’s a poignant beauty throughout both pieces that leaves the listener wanting for more.

A Tower Struck Down is more a preview of the musical offerings that Hackett would release following his own departure from Genesis a few years after Peter Gabriel than anything Genesis might have recorded during or after Gabriel’s tenure in the band.

Star of Sirius features guest vocals by Phil Collins and would not have sounded out of place on A Trick of the Tail. Hackett’s guitar is gentle and understated allowing Collins vocals to carry the song and at the same time providing a gentle accompaniment to those vocals.

The album closes with Shadow of the Hierophant a nearly 12 minute epic that starts softly and gradually crescendos with increasing intensity and volume before fading to silence in a gentle anti-climax.

For fans of the classic Peter Gabriel era Genesis this is a must have. It’s largely a musical bridge between The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and A Trick of the Tail. While predominantly instrumental the musical themes have a distinct Genesis sound.

Related LinksSteve Hackett Voyage of the Acolyte (Wikipedia)
Steve Hackett Voyage of the Acolyte (Allmusic.com)
Steve Hackett (Official Site)
Steve Hackett (Wikipedia)

INXS - s/t debut (1980)

In 1980 long before they hit it big worldwide, INXS released their self-titled debut album. While most of the material on this album would be unfamiliar to all but the most die-hard of INXS fans there is something about the music that makes unmistakably INXS. There’s a cohesiveness and chemistry in the band and you can even hear the beginnings of Michael Hutchence’s self-assured front-man swagger in his vocals.

What is perhaps most remarkable about this release is the strength of the material. While INXS hadn’t yet found their sound, indeed they seem to be trying a handful of different musical styles on this release to determine which they were most comfortable with. It’s perhaps that adventurousness that the album owes its strengths.

On the flipside, the greatest strength of this debut is also one of its greatest flaws. Because the band was trying so many different styles they never fully invested themselves in anyone of those styles. And while you can hear the band’s cohesiveness on each individual track, as an album the material is so varied there’s a lack of that cohesiveness spread out over the album as a whole.

This album is a definite testament to INXS versatility and musical ability and just about any of these songs could have been released as singles but without a commitment to any specific direction the album lacks any direction at all. Thankfully the band would later find that direction and become a pop music juggernaut worldwide a few years later.

Generally this release would only find fans either in the most die-hard of fans or with those truly curious of the band’s evolution. If you’re one who is familiar with INXS’ hits there are glimpses of that kind of material in songs like In Vain, Roller Skating, or Body Language but for the most part the material on this album is considerably different from the INXS you’re likely familiar with.

Related Links
INXS debut (allmusic.com)
INXS debut (wikipedia)
INXS (official website)
INXS (wikipedia)



Inxs (Self-titled 1980 AUS Import)