Jonesy ~ England

Keeping Up (1973)

---Sep 2005

The epitome of the kind of album I wasn’t into in my initial discovery of the obscure UK prog scene back in the late 80s and early 90s. If I scored it 2.5 stars, it would’ve been lucky. It struck me as a plain rock album at the time, and I didn't even bother to buy it. The bands that are like Jonesy (in this manner) are endless: Spring, Indian Summer, Czar, Gracious, Fantasy, Kestrel, Diabolus, Raw Material, etc… I was wanting more as in the bombastic Yes or the very progressive Genesis. And Italian prog was king for me then. So I didn’t want less. And all these bands are less – and that’s a positive thing. Focus is on songwriting, melodies, and sound. It’s all very subtle, but beautiful. It doesn’t hurt that there's gobs of mellotron here, an instrument that works for its warmness and depth of sound. And plenty of great ripping guitar as well.

---11/24/25

While I'm very familiar with No Alternative, I'm much less so for their next two, having acquired them many years later. And I often confuse those latter two in my mind. I didn't realize I had a pretty decent review from 20 years ago, buried deep on my hard drive. But my thoughts exactly. Some of the piano melodies remind me of the stellar Kestrel album. It's not quite that transcendental, but the talent is there. And, really, what a mellotron album. Yea, the band did tone down the heaviness on Keeping Up, though it forces the group to rely more on songcraft. B1 recalls same era Soft Machine, with the addition of psychedelic guitar, a departure for the group. They saved the best for last, as 'Children' is not only beautiful, but represents a kind of progressive rock that you only hear from the early 70s, never to be replicated.

Ownership: 1973 Dawn (LP). Gatefold.

9//05 (acquired / review); 11/24/25 (update)

  

No Alternative (1972)

Jonesy (named after guitarist and primary songwriter John Evan-Jones) were one of the finest of the Dawn label bands, providing a blue collar progressive rock sound - which was in deep contrast to some of the more hoity-toity bands coming from the UK at this time. Their debut No Alternative catches the band at their heaviest, and demonstrates a more bluesy proto-progressive sound. Perhaps a year past its prime, but nonetheless a good example of said style. Every track features mellotron, giving it the requisite dreamy contrast. In this way, early King Crimson becomes an obvious reference.

The CD features two very cool bonus tracks in Quad that sound magnificent.

Ownership: 

1972 Dawn (LP). Gatefold. 

2006 Strange Days (CD). Papersleeve gatefold.

1988 (acquired); 3/21/10 (review); 8/26/19

Also own and need to review Growing.

3/21/10 (new entry)