Skin Alley ~ England

Skin Alley (1969)

One of the more unheralded progressive rock albums, Skin Alley's debut laid down the blueprint for what the English scene was to sound like for the next three years. For the subtype of music Skin Alley is doing here - namely flute, saxophone, mellotron, maudlin vocals, guitars, and jazzy rhythms all weaving through complex compositions - one could argue they were first. One year later and bands like Marsupilami, Indian Summer, T2, Goliath, Cressida, Raw Material, and many others would follow suit. Every track here is excellent, not a dud among them. One wonders how this album has fallen through the cracks when lesser others have been elevated. An historical breakthrough and a thoroughly enjoyable listen, this album is long overdue in receiving any kind of recognition. 

Ownership: 2011 Esoteric (CD). Part of a 2 CD compilation called Big Brother is Watching You that also includes their second album, a 1970 single, and an unreleased album entitled Stop Veruschka. Comes complete with full liner notes.

First copy: 1996 Audio Archives (CD). Acquired in 1998.

4/3/98; 1/15/21 (review)

Two Quid Deal? (1972)

For years I passed over this one in the bins. The US Stax copy was a regular buck bin special, and with that ridiculous cartoon rat and cheese cover, it never occurred to me this would be anything worth pursuing. Years later I discovered their brilliant debut and very good followup, but maintained (for no good reason really) that this must have been their sellout album.

And I was right. Except.... Skin Alley were no good at it! You can tell this album is pandering to the early 70s US Billboard charts. You can hear popular bands at the time like Rare Earth in these grooves. But even so, they cannot seem to stop themselves from a full helping of a mid song progressive rock break. It's in their DNA. So while the first three tracks all start out with a bit of concern, it doesn't take long for the band to find their sea legs, and create music similar to their debut, especially on 'Bad Words & Evil People'. I wasn't too keen on 'Graveyard Shuffle' nor 'So Glad', but 'A Final Coat' takes us back to the opening trio of tracks. And 'The Demagogue' is similar. For my tastes the best track is the instrumental 'Skin Valley Serenada' that seems to be the model blueprint for a band like Rousseau for example. A gorgeous flute melody over a happening jazzy rhythm pattern makes this one special. In my opinion, Two Quid Deal? surpasses To Pagham and Beyond in quality. Yes, that surprised me too.

Ownership: 1972 Transatlantic Germany (LP). With poster. Acquired in 2022.

First copy: 2005 Strange Days (CD). Papersleeve. Acquired in 2018.

6/9/18 (review)

6/9/18 (new entry)