ARTICLE ABOUT Deep Purple FROM New Musical Express, December 20, 1969

A very good review for this ambitious and highly original project done by Jon Lord and the boys in the Deep Purple.
Read on!

Deep Purple`s classic and pop get-together

Record review:

Deep Purple & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Concerto For Group and Orchestra
(Harvest stereo only SHVL; 33s 6d)

This is the LP recorded live at that sensational concert last summer, when Deep Purple combined with The Royal Philharmonic, under the energetic baton of Malcolm Arnold, to try and prove that pop and classical music need not be poles apart. The reaction to the concert at the Albert Hall was one of immense satisfaction and admiration, but it met with luke-warm receptions from the `heavy` critics.
So, it is not unreasonable to suppose this album will go the same way. In three very varied movements, organist Jon Lord, who wrote the entire work, takes the group and orchestra through the stages of combatants, touch-and-run lovers and finally a rousing, spirited free for all.
The evening was fun, and the album can`t hope to capture the incredible atmosphere, but to the thousands who loved the music, this very fine LP will be a must. And for those who didn`t attend, you`ll be able to find out exactly what you missed.

ARTICLE ABOUT Steve Howe FROM Sounds, November 8, 1975

Just a so-so review for Mr. Howe. Still, the album reached No. 22 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 63 on the US Billboard 200. So he couldn`t be too disappointed.

Howe`s about that then

Record review by Phil Sutcliffe

Steve Howe: ‘Beginnings’ (Atlantic K50151) 38 Mins ***

THE FIRST of the queue of Yes solo albums — at the end of which I suppose the question will have to be ‘was it worth it or should they have combined the best of each into one group creation as before?’ No verdicts yet of course but ‘Beginnings’ is the sort of devotedly-made yet patchy effort you expect from privateering band members.
I would say four of the tracks are thoroughly pleasing to listen to and three of those are the instrumentals, all of them couched in fairly easily-listenable terms rather than bearing forward the Yes banner of experimentation.
As a whole, both verbally and vocally, it’s not too strong. There’s too much philosophising (the first word of the album is `Life’ with a captial L — a bad omen).
Alone, Steve’s voice is high and thin. Singing the opening line of ‘Will 0′ The Wisp’ its plaintiveness is right (Break the chains is that keep us here’). Otherwise it wavers once or twice but he generally has the good judgement to build up the harmonic layers into a richer texture – particularly enhancing ‘Pleasure Stole The Night’ which otherwise tends towards a dreary hymnal quality.
The first side is much the weaker, only redeemed by the instrumental `The Nature Of The Sea’ where the delicacy of so much of Yes’s work gets a look in – a calm-ripping mandolin, a guitar leaping around it like the sun sparkling on a flying fish. Perhaps for a moment I sensed inspiration rather than work.
`Doors Of Sleep’ is overproduced round a not too distinctive melody, while the other two tracks on the side fall away after promising acoustic openings. In fact ‘Lost Symphony’ features the unlikeliest sound on the album — rugged brass riffs which don’t seem suited.
However, turn it over and you are greeted by seven and a half minutes of pleasure: the title track. Chamber music I guess, nothing to do with rock but I trust we are long past arguments against that. It’s sweet sound. Melancholy strings, flute just beautiful, oboe and bassoon officious and jaunty in the faster movements, while Howe weaves amongst them picking some lovely acoustic. Patrick Moraz orchestrated it to flow and charm and delight and it does.
`Ram’ is ‘The Clap’ revisited and again it’s nice to hear a well-played acoustic ragging around. But you have to wait till the last track before you can grab some really successful rock. One of the reasons is Bill Bruford who I reckon the most pungent drummer to emerge from the Progressive era. He doesn’t follow the guitar hero, he whips him along. The result is Howe in a lather tearing an enflamed solo across the crackling skintight beat and for a few minutes sounding as hot as he is live.

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

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ARTICLE ABOUT Deep Purple FROM SOUNDS, October 25, 1975

Time would definitely tell for this record. A very interesting perspective from the time it was released here. Do you agree with Mr. Barton?
Read on!

Purple: tastes good, but…

Deep Purple: `Come Taste The Band` (Purple TPFA 6715) 39 mins.

Album review by Geoff Barton

Deep Purple have undergone personnel changes in the past and have always successfully pulled themselves through. Happily, `Come Taste The Band`, featuring guitarist Tommy Bolin in Ritchie Blackmore`s stead, brings the band out of their most recent crisis – although not as thoroughly nor as completely as you may have hoped.
This is a particularly fine rock album – but is that really enough? Although `Come Taste The Band` is on a rung above both `Burn` and the jaded `Stormbringer`, it`s not quite up to the required height. To justify their position as one of the world`s top bands and to quell the somewhat cynical rumours that they`ll never be able to fully recover from Blackmore`s departure. Purple needed to come up with a killer LP, something that would stand up proudly alongside the likes of `In Rock` and `Machine Head`. This isn`t it.
Tommy Bolin is an accomplished guitarist; of that there`s no doubt. He`s slotted into the band as neatly as a well-worn key into its lock. He`s injected a heavy dose of fresh energy – I haven`t heard Purple play with such boyish enthusiasm in a long time. His guitar work is succinct, immensely fluid, but never overbearing – indeed, `CTTB` displays a much freer, give-and-take musical attitude than even several early Purple albums.
The problem lies with the quality of the songs. Bolin`s songwriting prowess (he`s contributed eight numbers) is OK – yet he`s a long way from being able to write numbers of the calibre of `Space Truckin“, `Smoke On The Water`, or even (to switch to `RB`s Rainbow album) `Man On The Silver Mountain`.
Even so, they`re not appreciably different from the band of old, here – if anything, they seem to have consciously adhered to tradition, with numbers like `Comin` Home` (even though it has brief `Quadrant Four` guitar) and `Drifter`.
There are snatches, however, that may serve to betray the direction in which Purple may move in the future: the initially punchy `Love Child` has an incongruous funky section, together with what could well be Billy Preston`s moog. `Gettin` Tighter` and `I Need Love` have brief funk passages, as well.
Still, before I get too tied up in (minor) criticisms, let it be said that there is a lot to get excited about, here: notably the rampant `Dealer`, with its `Purple Haze`- like opening, timely ballad section and Hughes` meaty vocals more than making up for its hackneyed lyrical theme, and `Lady Luck`, a potential single.
`Come Taste The Band` is an album that stands head and shoulders above your normal mundane rock release, but at the same time the question must be asked: does it show enough potential and promise to ensure the new Purple a safe passage into the future? Time will tell.

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

1. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Send it to: geirmykl@gmail.com
2. The offer should be 20 $ (US Dollars) to be considered. (This includes postage).
3. We conduct the transaction through my verified Paypal account for the safety of both parties.

 

 

ARTICLE ABOUT Pink Floyd FROM SOUNDS, September 6, 1975

Now, this review is a surprise! First hand reaction to this album is baffling, seeing as it today may be counted as one of rock history`s greatest albums ever.
Read on!

Album review:

Pink Floyd: `Wish You Were Here` (Harvest) (35:30)

Is two and one half years too long for any rock band to spend between albums? Was Rome built in a day? Architecture is, after all, as important to the Floyd as music. Not that they`ve lain idly around since `Dark Side Of The Moon`. There has been steady touring to consolidate their new-found position, the abandoned recording of an album that did away with all musical instruments, and the composition of songs – some have ended up on this platter. But two and a half years? This album is light years better than `DSOTM`. That album was patchy, a first attempt to formulate all the bits and pieces of ideas from previous works into one coherent whole, presenting an album rather than a series of songs. It was also a bit light in inspiration. This record achieves all those aims, synthesising nearly all their post-`Umma Gumma` thinking into one melange, from `One Of These Days` to `Atom Heart Mother` to `Alan`s Psychedelic Breakfast`. The record opens with an almost Mahler like overture, all sounds courtesy of Rick Wright, sequelling into a long, guitar dominated intro to `Shine On Crazy Diamond`. At times Gilmour repeats himself from `Echoes` and he is never unpredictable, though I don`t mean to belittle his limitations – with the exception of Wright, virtuosity isn`t important within the confines of the Floyd. Like good architects they`re concerned with form, with structure. That`s all this album is. `Diamond` is a measured homage to Syd Barrett, the spectre they can`t shake off, a (lack of) presence that seems to be felt more and more as they continue to add increasingly refined arabesques to the niche they have carved since his departure. The lyrics aren`t the most inspired, but fit the bill. A boozy sax solo undercut by a nicely juxtaposed repeating guitar figure takes us out to the corridor, through a series of doors, into the engine room and `Welcome To The Machine`, which is downright weird.

Apart from a 12-string, Wright is the only man present, providing great sound effects throughout, perfectly punctuating the lyrics. This is his showpiece, though his work throughout makes him the hero of the platter – no idle fingers on his hands. The lyrics could almost be about Syd again. `Have A Cigar` is a conversation from manager to group. The one track that sets no higher pretension than to boogie down, in three short verses its scalpel sharp lyrics expose the exact philosophy of Seventies rock. Certainly the chorus deserves to become this decade`s anthem. The tune is cut short by a blast of synth, reappears on a radio, someone twists the dial and then we`re lifting into `Wish You Were Here`, all multitracked acoustics and French horns and piano. The scouring pad vocal is back, singing Dylan via Ian Hunter. Cosmic wind moves into a long passage that could be either the outro to the previous song or the intro to a reprise of `Shine On Crazy Diamond`. Building from a bouncing synthi bass line we soon find ourselves, engulfed in echo, in a typical Floyd construction. Mason and Waters hold down a remarkably funky rhythm line while Wright and Gilmour go quietly crazy. Although Gilmour`s lead work is fairly standard his rhythm is terrific, constantly weaving and interacting with Mason-Waters Overdrive. From `Shine On` they move into another instrumental piece which features a moderately funky clarinet solo – you can even bump to parts of it – and then the epilogue leaves us much as we entered. There isn`t the grandiose pomposity of `Moon`, nor is there the same bombastic power. Things have been tightened up, surfaces smoothed, interfaces blurred. That there are only four skeletal songs is irrelevant; we`re not dealing with songs on a record anymore but environments, creations of mood through specific textures of sound. Ultimately, this album forces the question: where do they go from here? Although slow, are they moving into a new realm of music? Or are they just running out of ideas?

The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!

1. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Send it to: geirmykl@gmail.com
2. The offer should be 20 $ (US Dollars) to be considered. (This includes postage).
3. We conduct the transaction through my verified Paypal account for the safety of both parties.

 

ARTICLE ABOUT David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Kansas and Argent FROM BILLBOARD, March 15, 1975

I thought that these record reviews from Billboard would be fun to share with you. It is especially interesting to read these because of their recommendations to dealers. You`ll see what I mean.
Read on and enjoy!

Record reviews

DAVID BOWIE-Young Americans, RCA APL 1-0998.

David Bowie is back with his latest musical look, this time an excursion into the land of soul. It works well. The key here is that Bowie’s sophisticated soul sound (with strings, big arrangements and lots of soulful backup voices) does not sound the least bit put on. He sounds as at home here as he has in all his other musical changes, and in parts, more so. The vocals do not sound nearly as strained as they have on some of his more raucous rockers, nor do they sound as camp. Guest artists John Lennon, Willy Weeks, Andy Newmark and Jean Millington add a fine touch to the set, which should not only endear Bowie even more to his current fans but should open up an entirely new avenue of fans for him. Expect soul play on this set, for he is truly handling the music, not copying. Some non-soul oriented cuts are also included.
Best cuts: “Young Americans,” “Fascination,” “Right,” “Across The Universe,” “Can You Hear Me.”
Dealers: Bowie is one of the major superstars in pop. All you have to do is display the set.

ALICE COOPER-Welcome To My Nightmare, Atlantic SD 18130.

Solo set from Alice is by far the best musical project he has yet undertaken. LP is soundtrack to upcoming TV special, and is vastly different in parts from his group efforts, but similar enough to retain old fans. Fine use of horns and strong arrangements throughout, as well as the powerful metallic sound (Dick Wagner on guitar) and razor sharp vocals Alice is associated with. More universally appealing than previous LPs, with the vocals simply better than on recent LPs, the arrangements more interesting and sophisticated and the package more commercial. There’s a John Lennon type song here that is beautifully arranged and sung, some material reminiscent of “School’s Out,” and a variety of other things. Alice has always been recognized as a masterful rocker, but we see here there is far more to him than that. He proves himself able to handle many kinds of music, though the rock is still dominant. A truly superb effort.
Best cuts: “Devil’s Food,” “Some Folks,” “Only Women Bleed” (the Lennon styled cut), “Department Of Youth” (like “School’s Out “), “Cold Ethyl.” “Steven” (a truly frightening piece of rock theater), “Escape.”
Dealers: First new product in over a year from this superstar, and he and his group are set for an 80-city world tour this spring.

KANSAS-Song For America, Kirshner PZ 33385 (CBS).

The group whose debut LP caught a lot of people by surprise with strong sales offers a much stronger effort this time around, mixing the kind of synthesizer oriented /harmonic vocal sounds that characterize groups like Yes with some more standard sounding blues-oriented rock and a touch of country added to both, courtesy of an electric violin. The long, electronic cuts lend themselves best to FM exposure. The mix of electronics and more familiar rock is a clever one which should broaden the base appeal of the band, and while there are touches of several other groups here, the set is undoubtedably the property of Kansas.
Best cuts: “Song For America,” “Lamplight Symphony,” “Lonely Street,” “The Devil Game.”
Dealers: Band built a loyal and strong following with first effort and this is a musically superior set. Expect this to be a big album.

ARGENT-Circus, Epic PE 33422 (CBS).

Back within several months of their charted live LP, veteran British rockers change format a bit and move from the metallic rock they are best known for to a concept type LP that is dominated by Rod Argent’s work on a variety of keyboard instruments and solo and harmony vocals that dart in and out of long instrumental solos. A general feeling of “flow” throughout the LP featured by the Yes school of bands. The change for Argent works well, for they are skilled musicians and vocalists, and the concept is present without being overbearing. Set should surprise fans, but will not alienate them. Several ballads help break up the LP’s general focus. FM should be the launching pad here.
Best cuts: “Highwire,” “Trapeze,” “Shine On Sunshine,” “Clown.”
Dealers: Another band with a strong following. You might want to display this with first solo effort of departed guitarist Russ Ballard, also on Epic.