Lagger Blues Machine's sole studio album is right in my wheelhouse for European instrumental progressive rock (there are some sporadic voices here and there, but hardly a vocal album). There's a jazzy base to the rhythms, with constant twists and turns, along with plenty of colors provided by the variety of keyboard, sax, and guitar tones. Nothing sits still too long, and all of the sections focus on composition and melody rather than on lengthy, or worse atonal, soloing. This is a must have if you enjoy the Canterbury bands like Soft Machine and Moving Gelatine Plates, along with Frank Zappa's Hot Rats and all its followers (which were usually Continental European). One of Belgium's best albums for certain.
Ownership: LP: 1972 CBS. Single sleeve. Online acquisition (2004).
Former ownership: CD: 1994 Mellow (as The Complete Works). Jewel case with Tanit Live as bonus tracks.
LP: 2012 Veals & Geeks. Single rough paper sleeve. The cover art is blown up too big, and it's out of focus. The vinyl is one of those bricks with very poor sound, and the mastering is worse than the Mellow CD. No history though apparently their CD version does have it.
My introduction to this album came via the Mellow CD.
My introduction to this album came via the Mellow CD.
My introduction to the band Lagger Blues Machine was Tanit Live (1970), a posthumous album released in 1988. It's a miserable sounding recording and isn't worth a separate release.
For those of you who have only
heard the reissues: They are all muffled and sound pretty horrid. The original LP (even in the VG condition that I own) is considerably clearer than any of the reissues. Like Soft Machine's Third, it isn't a great sounding album to begin with, but the
original vinyl absolutely destroys the Mellow CD, or even worse, the
Veals & Geeks LP.
1995 (first listen); 3/7/10; 1/16/14 (review / new entry)
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