Melody ~ France

Yesterlife (1977)

Don't overlook this one! Or rather - don't judge a book by its cover. Given the 1977 date, the band decided on - or were forced - to use the rather atrocious looking Earth & Fire styled disco album cover. But in the end, Yesterlife is a far more professional album than their debut Come Fly With Me, in both composition and production. There's a high level of sophistication beneath the gloss. In fact some of the songs are re-recordings of tracks from said debut. Sure it's mitigated somewhat by the ambition of its producers, but the end result predicted the best aspects of the upcoming neo prog movement. Recently I visited the superb Edge - Suction 8 album from my collection, and Yesterlife recalls that fine album many times over. Woody bass, complex rhythms, loud fuzzy guitar leads, Mini-Moog lines, and powerful female vocals.

Unbelievably - for those that already know the Tapioca mispress of Come Fly With Me - which contains half of the avant-garde Mahogany Brain album, would you believe that Vogue switched the first two tracks on this album? Yea, 'Welcome to Wonderland' is the opening track. Jeez, these guys got the same breaks as those trying to leave Gilligan's Island...

The older tracks that have been re-recorded include: 'Merry-Go-Round', 'Run Faster', and 'Yesterlife'.

Ownership: 1977 Vogue (LP). Gatefold. 

1990 (first listen); 12/10/17 (review)

Come Fly With Me (1976)

In short, Melody are a symphonic rock band with female vocals. The sound of Come Fly With Me seems more from the early 1970s, and wouldn't be out of place with albums by Mad Curry or Earth & Fire for example. There's also a psychedelic space rock undertone present throughout, that perhaps explains why one gets the feeling the album was recorded from five years earlier. Unfortunately the recording sounds like an unprofessional demo, and is fairly sludgy overall. Hopefully the masters still exist, and the sound can be brought out to its fullest! Musically the album is very interesting, especially if someone can possibly scrub away the grime.

It's also worth pointing out that most, if not all, of the Tapioca presses (the inheritors of the Pole label) of Come Fly With Me feature one half of the Melody album combined with one half of Mahogany Brain's Smooth Sick Lights, which is an avant-garde noise fest and is a completely different style to Melody. This version was my introduction to the band which left me confused about Melody for years. Fortunately I now own the Pole version on LP.

Ownership: 1976 Pole (LP)

3/9/14 (review)

Neither have been reissued as of 2/22/25.

12/10/17 (new entry)