Embryo - Embryo's Rache. 1971 Germany

Embryo's second album demonstrates a great leap forward from their more psychedelic debut. I do feel it's an album that remains unheralded, as to me it represents the perfect meeting of Krautrock angst, edgy jazz rock, and thought-out progressive rock composition. Embryo were clearly moving the valve from rock to jazz, and Embryo's Rache captures the band in transition, and it's absolutely perfect. I think any band would have a tough time recreating a sound like this, because it represents an evolution verse a greenfield. The opener 'Tausendfüßler' pretty much sums up the contents within considering it's staccato flute, driving bass, and wild keyboard solos. The latter is featured often, mostly from American jazz veteran Jimmy Jackson. Xhol Caravan alumni Hansi Fischer provides the flute, and long time Embryo collaborator Edgar Hoffman adds violin and sax. It's here that Roman Bunka and Christian Burchard layout the blueprint for Embryo's future. Every single note here is perfect for my tastes. Not too many people would claim Embryo's Rache to be the band's best effort (Steig Aus will generally stake that claim), but it certainly is mine. And to take it further - it's one of my all time favorite albums, period.

Ownership: LP: 1971 United Artists. Gatefold. Like many original LPs I own, I was fortunate to obtain my copy in 1988 from a local store (a short-lived place in Carrollton (Dallas area) known as Seldom Scene). The gatefold cover is super, with the jester and violin overlooking what one presumes to be a Spanish landscape (referring to the controversial anti-Franco track that opens side 2).

CD: 1993 Materli Sonori (Italy). Oddly the CD is the sole property of the Italian label Materli Sonori, and it's been repressed many times. Most of the other Embryo albums have been reissued by specialty labels, but one presumes Materli Sonori owns 100% of the rights to this album (good choice by them!). The CD is OK, with minimal information and tape hiss noise, though it does include a reunion effort from 1991 (that sounds every bit like some lost recording from 1971). I would certainly upgrade if the opportunity presents itself.

1//88; 10/11/19 (new entry)

Harmonium - Les Cinq Saisons. 1975 Canada

Harmonium's second work is quite simply one of the most beautiful albums ever made. Though almost entirely acoustic, save some electric bass and mellotron, it never occurs to me to label this album anything but progressive rock. One would presume it to be part of the multiple folk genres out there, and yet the compositions are complex and they unravel similar to our favorite bands in the progressive genre. As most folks will point out, the only blemish is the short 'Dixie'. It's not a bad track at all honestly, but it doesn't fit the mood of the album. One listen to the opus 'Histoires sans Paroles' should hook you on Les Cinq Saisons for life.

Ownership: LP: 1975 Celebration. Gatefold. Acquired brand new at - once again - VVV Records in Dallas (1988). You would be hard pressed to find an album that better represents the contents within than the gorgeous gatefold of Les Cing Saisons. It also comes with a fold out lyric insert. Really a great package overall. It was also a tremendously popular album in Quebec, so originals are still affordable to this day. As such, if you are looking to build out an original progressive rock LP collection, this should be one of your first purchases. 

CD: 1991 Polydor. Jewel case. All the CDs are pretty basic (and it's been repressed many times), but gets the job done, taken from masters, and include the original lyrics and artwork.

1//88; 10/11/19 (new entry)

Splash - 1970-1979 | Samtliga Inspelningar. Sweden

2019 has proven to be quite the year for CD collectors. Not so much in quantity, but rather quality. It's ironic in that everyone it seems has moved back to the LP. Yet arguably the greatest CD package of them all was released this year - at least for my tastes - and that was the Tangerine Dream In Search of Hades box. At some point I'll get some words down about it here, but I'm sure most of you had already heard about it. We've also had the incredibly great box set from Group 1850 - Purple Sky (something they should have done years ago, but OK, they did it now and I love it). And some real obscuros came out this year like Firyuza, Atila - Reviure, some of the Lloyd McNeill's, the Tom Nehls, Grodeck Whipperjenny, the list goes on. Yea, it's not 2005, but are we seeing the roots of the CD renaissance that I'm certain will happen at some point? As you all know, I love collecting original LPs through the 1980s - that won't change, but I never did jump on the LP-only bandwagon. For modern releases and reissues - I want CDs! And I know many others out there who agree with me.

All of that prelude leads me to this most magnificent box set - released completely under the radar. I received a tip from an Italian friend on RYM, and now that I have it in my possession, I can only say WOW! The fact this was put together by one of the members of the band, is really quite extraordinary. Because it seems like something a major label would put out. I had a chance to hear the second album last night, mainly because it's the album I'm most familiar with, and we've written about it here on UMR. The sound is absolutely fantastic, and I cannot wait to hear the rest!

So what's in the box - well pretty much what you see in the photos, but I'll elaborate a bit.

Disc 1 has their first album Ut På Vischan.  Ah, but it turns out the original LP was supposed to be issued in English and the recording still exists! So Disc 1 actually opens up with Back to Nature, a complete first album in English. Judging by track times, it appears the two will be pretty similar (not exact), but with different languages. I'm personally glad they went forward with the Swedish version initially (which is also here of course), but it's great to have the original intended English version now too. (Update: Ut På Vischan! is taken from vinyl with light background noise. Guessing the masters were lost, and this is the best copy they could find. The English version is taken from a master tape the band had).

Disc 2 features their entire second album plus one single that was originally released in 1974 (quite good I might add).

Disc 3 features their 3rd and final album Splash 2 (still not sure about why this is the title, more on that below). There's also two bonus tracks, of which I'm not quite sure of their origin. One indicates possibly a 2015 recording and the other 1974.

Disc 4 and beyond is all bonus material. For the 4th disc you get their 1973 released single, 4 unreleased tracks from 1973 and 1974. AND a full radio show from 1975.

Disc 5 has two back to back live shows from 1975.

I have yet to hear these, so cannot comment on the sound quality. Though I'm guessing they are pretty good, because then comes...

Disc 6 which is for your computer. Here is where they placed their first 1972 single (probably from vinyl then?) along with two more full live concerts (1973 and 1976 respectively).

Holy moly, that's a lot of Splash! The "clamshell" box is awesome and they were wise to use the excellent second album painting (which I also feature on my LP wall at home). The booklet is superb with extensive liner notes and vintage photos. Plenty of detailed track information. Now most of the booklet is in Swedish, but there is an annotated English section as well. It would be really great to get the Swedish notes translated, as I suspect some of my questions are answered there. If anyone wants to do that, I will publish them here for perpetuity.

If you are interested in obtaining this box set, I can put you in touch with Thomas. I'd rather not drop his e-mail here. Just follow the Purple Peak Records tag below to the contact e-mail page, to get in touch with me. Or drop me a note on RYM via my Ashratom page. The cost is very reasonable considering it includes postage. There's one for sale over at Discogs now (some kind soul added the entry just a few days ago) - but the direct cost will be cheaper than that one.

Zior / Monument - Before My Eyes Go Blind: The Complete Recordings. 1971; 1973; 2018 England

Zior have something of an image problem. One cannot read about this band without hearing terms like "super heavy", "Black Sabbath", and "people were afraid of us". With that sort of prelude, anything that falls short of the heaviness that Black Sabbath provides is likely to disappoint. And they do... at that level.

That's not to say that Zior doesn't rock out. In fact, they can be at times like a proto Judas Priest - perhaps like Rocka Rolla, but with more urgency just as Priest would later do themselves. If it were only that, then I'd submit Zior would be held more in high esteem today. But they had that gnawing bad habit of throwing in boogie and pub rockers - crowd pleasers as it were - though to be fair that was the expectation of the time. Bands like Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, and Deep Purple were wise to steer clear of that temptation, thus adding to their reputation today.

Grapefruit's (a sublabel of Cherry Red) 4 CD collection gives the buyer everything you could possibly want from this band - and more. The debut - with the negative image cover, and yet another try for Black Sabbath fame - is the album that disappoints the most, though it's still very good in aggregate. Every Inch a Man (there's a title that doesn't play well in these feminine times) is actually their 3rd album, and not released until 1973 (Germany only), unbeknownst to the band for many years! The music here is similar to the debut, but a bit more consistent and heavy.

Monument - the second Zior effort - is the pick of the litter here. Basically the band found themselves on hard times, and the owner of the Beacon label offered them some fast cash if they would make an album the very next day. It was an above board deal, and the band delivered as promised. Since they were under contract elsewhere, the group all took on pseudonyms plus a new band moniker. The music here places the organ more up front, and the compositions (for a lack of a better term) are less commercial and heavier on the whole.

And that was pretty much it for Zior. Until 2018, when half the band reformed for a new album. Spirit of the Gods is a weird reformation album. It's not retro, but it's certainly not modern/commercial either. The album opens with a church organ, so it would seem they were going to be earnest in their attempt to recreate the past. But not really... there's quite a bit of modern electronics here, almost ambient at times. I expected the guitars to be metal, but they avoided that temptation sticking to an early 70s hard rock tone. As a 4th disc to a box set, it's an excellent addition. On its own, one should probably take a pass.

Ownership: CD: 2019 Grapefruit. The box set itself is really great. There's a full booklet with historical liner notes, original artwork, photos, posters, the whole bit. Every Inch a Man had only been reissued prior as a "gray area" pursuit, so this is the first definitive reissue of that album. Which makes sense since the original was released under the cover of darkness as well. And though Spirit of the Gods appears to have been privately released on CD, I could not find evidence of it anywhere. But as noted above, this box set would be the best way to obtain it in any case.

Solstice - Mirage. 1978 Canada

Solstice's debut is a typical dime-a-dozen instrumental fusion with all the ingredients expected. Hard to avoid albums like this in the late 70s. The gimmick here is the lead clarinet. The only thing this album has in common with Camel is the title of the album.

Asahi - The Rising Sun. 1978 Netherlands

Apparently this was sponsored by the Asahi Optical Company for a multi-vision show presented throughout The Netherlands. It's in effect a proto New Age music with flutes, piano, percussion, organ, etc... Like most 70s albums in this field, it's much rawer than the slick gloss that followed throughout the 1980s and beyond. As would be expected, the flow is very much like a soundtrack album. At its best, one can hear the pastoral folk sounds of Quebec (Connivence, Harmonium). At its worst... well it's borderline easy listening music honestly.