Cressida ~ England

Cressida (1970)

The main thing to consider when listening to the debut by Cressida, is that they were all about the song. In essence, it's short form sophisticated pop music. But given the era's wonderful analog instrumentation, and the underlying culture of psychedelia, the band were able to pack a lot of ideas into the confined structure. All the while displaying some incredible tonality (the guitar sound is divine). Certainly a band like The Moody Blues played a role in their development. As did early King Crimson. One could compare Cressida to Czar, and not be too far off the mark. 

Ownership: 2009 BGO (CD). Includes Asylum and features extensive liner notes. Acquired in 2015.

First copy: 1992 Repertoire (CD). Acquired in 1995.

1995; 2009; 8/16/13; 1/16/15 (review); 2/19/22

Asylum (1971)

Asylum, naturally enough, took things to the next level for Cressida. I think for folks looking for more traditional progressive rock that would be in their listening comfort zone, Asylum is the more naturally likeable album. Here, Cressida seem to be consciously aware that they are a progressive rock band and have provided longer and more dense compositions. The good news is they never lost sight of the song.  And blessed with a dynamic singer, Cressida by all rights should have been one of the big names from the English scene. It wasn't meant to be, and for many years were only known to the LP collector world. But they have been discovered again, and have now rightly been considered one of the great bands of their era.

Ownership: 

1971 Vertigo Germany (LP). Gatefold. Acquired in 2024.

2009 BGO (CD). Complete album along with their debut. With extensive liner notes.

First copy: 1987 bootleg (LP). Acquired in 1988 and kicked out many moons ago.

4//88; 1/16/15 (review); 3/5/22

1/16/15 (new entry)