The Old Man & The Sea - 1972-75. Denmark

Denmark's The Old Man & The Sea released one killer and highly respected heavy prog album in 1972, and then disappeared... into the sea apparently. Sometime in 2003, the excellent Karma label out of the Christiana district of Copenhagen - who had been in touch with original organist Tommy Hansen (who later became more famous in the 1980s and beyond as a heavy metal producer) - released a fine set of archival material that more or less remains under the radar. I missed it initially myself, and I'm just now catching up as I picked up the CD recently.

While the debut was clearly in lockstep with the northern European trends of the early 1970s, it becomes obvious that The Old Man & The Sea were anxious to tie itself closer to the UK style. At once the album could be a hard rocker, and then this is quickly followed by an obvious love for none other than Yes. There's some extraordinary organ and guitar work throughout. The idea of a hard rocking Yes is quite welcome in my world anyway. While some of the songwriting could use improvement, the instrumental sections are almost always of the highest order. Most of the album falls into the "great" category and there are no clunkers. Two major highlights are 'The Sea of Green' which is probably the most overt of the songs emulating Yes. The other eye opener is 'The Jam' which truly sounds like an instrumental Krautrock circa 1971, and is very energetic.

The CD is interesting in that it's not presented in any kind of order. There are no dates listed per track, and the sound quality is varied but always excellent (no doubt Hansen's influence). It's not chronological, nor best sound to worst, nor most excellent tracks to worst. Which is great for the listener as it remains interesting from beginning to end. Well worth seeking out the CD for the collection.

Personal collection
CD: 2003 Karma

The CD also features a poster cover insert with a large amount of biographical data, photos, etc.... Excellent package on the whole.