U2 ~ Ireland

October (1981)

I'm pretty much drawing a line in the sand with U2. Their first three albums, not coincidentally all released while I was still in high school, are the albums I enjoy the most. After that, U2 lost me. Though to be fair, almost all mainstream artists lost me as I began my deep dive journey into the 1970s European progressive rock underground while in college. But even in reflection, I cannot relate to U2, starting with The Unforgettable Fire, on any level. 'Bullet the Blue Sky' from Joshua Tree is the only exception. 

One could make the argument that October is their most experimental work, or at least not self-consciously experimental.

You can read my history with U2 below, largely due to an influence of a friend. He's the same guy who inspired me to really appreciate Kansas and early Chicago. A wise fellow he was (and is, I hope).

Ownership: Island (CD). Early commodity pressing.

3/7/26 (review)  

Boy (1980)

I had a chum in high school - and still a friend I keep up with on occasion -  who was a huge U2 fan. He was a "Born Again" type and U2 was a great way to get authentic underground rock and still be with the Faithful. He'd play me this and October all the time in the car (dubbed cassette of course), and I remember liking them. But here we are close to 40 years later and I never bothered to own them - and haven't even heard them since! I really like U2 at this stage. I prefer them in upbeat punchy mode more so than their later moody works. Especially when they became way too self-conscious of who they were. Good memories.

Ownership: 1983 Island (LP). Slightly later US pressing (the first domestic release was 1981 incidentally).

12/2/21 (review)

12/2/21 (new entry)

Andwellas Dream - Love and Poetry. 1969 Ireland

I think one of the keys to appreciating 1960s psychedelic albums is to focus on the singles mentality of the era. The 45 RPM single that is. The short form track with bursts of fuzz guitar. While there are certainly very interesting long form albums from the era, from the likes of Pink Floyd, Group 1850, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Iron Butterfly, even the Beatles - most of the genre still has their mind on hard hitting and impactful short songs meant for fast recognition - and a quick high. Once you grasp that concept, then some of these 60s psychedelic classics begin to make sense. The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Blue Cheer, The Rolling Stones, and multiple others are essentially compiling a group of singles for your approval. As someone who grew up appreciating the side long progressive epic or the Krautrock atmospheric jam, much of this mindset was lost on me. But taking an album of individual components versus a macro concept can be just as interesting. Certainly as the 70s and 80s rolled on, this perspective is required and expected. It's not like 70s AOR and 80s heavy metal albums were mostly conceptual. But they tend to be more focused for certain. 1960s bands were writing the rules, even if they had no idea what the boundaries were. And with that, Love and Poetry remains an inconsistent listen, but the good stuff is exceptional.

Ownership: CD: 2018 Sunbeam. Digipak. Nice reissue with full liner notes and historical memorabilia from group leader David Lewis. Contains eight bonus tracks. Four of these are non-LP singles. Mostly subpar to the album with the exception of the excellent instrumental 'Michael FitzHenry' (1970), which catches the band in transition to renaming themselves Andwella. Otherwise, two tracks are alternate takes (nothing revelatory) and two modern live songs from 2008, which have little to do with the music of Love and Poetry. This version replaces the Japanese papersleeve edition that does not contain any of these extras. Since original LPs are typically in the four figure range, I'm more than content with this CD.

3/5/07; 12/13/13; 6/7/18; 8/21/23 (new entry)

Thin Lizzy - Johnny the Fox. 1976 Ireland

Thin Lizzy were one of those bands that were around just a bit too early in my music development. I started devouring FM radio in 1977 / 1978 and initially gravitated to harder edged AOR and prog rock (Styx, Alan Parsons, etc...). And the radio only played the same one song 'The Boys are Back in Town', which I think is a fine composition, but not extraordinary. I still feel that way about it. By 1979, I had adopted the early metal sound of Judas Priest, and Thin Lizzy were too lightweight for what was to come. In this way, they were to my ears the same as AC/DC. But as I look back, had I come around to music one year earlier, I could see myself being a huge fan of Thin Lizzy for the rest of time. I've been on the lookout for their albums in the thrift bins / garage sales for the last three years, but they have proven to be elusive in the wilds. When they do become available, people snap them up right away. Finally I landed this one - the album that came after their Jailbreak album that features their most known cut as noted above. And to my ears now, this is exactly the type of hard rock I got into later in life. It's mid 70s straight-to-the-point hard rock. The kind you would hear throughout the heartland of America. Cool riffs and better solos. Good tunes, and excellent vocals. Definitely will continue to pursue others.

Ownership: LP: 1976 Mercury (USA). Single sleeve with lyric insert. Cool cover. Found at a local thrift shop a few weeks ago.

new entry

Fruupp ~ Northern Ireland

Seven Secrets (1974)

Seven Secrets is the second album from Northern Ireland's favorite sons Fruupp. As you will often read, this album has something of a bad reputation and is to be avoided (even 1 star reviews, suggesting it's awful). But honestly I feel it's unwarranted. The first two tracks totaling near 16 minutes are great - very much in line with the 1973 progressive rock landscape. Certainly not as heavy as their debut Future Legends, but then again Fruupp never did go back to that type of sound, similar to Gravy Train and Jonesy in that way. I enjoy 'White Eyes' as well, a bit too orchestrated perhaps, but nonetheless a solid entry. Side 2 kicks off with 'Garden Lady' and yet another nine minute excellent progressive rock track is presented, following in the footsteps of 'Wise of Wisdom'. And then... it breaks down. But not terrible by any means, just more of an ordinary rock sound with folk and Baroque elements. To my ears, they were foreshadowing their next work The Prince of Heaven's Eyes, which in my mind is the weakest of the Fruupp quartet of albums. 'The Seventh Secret' is a throwaway closer, not that dissimilar from many a duff closing moment that talented artists felt compelled to do - for no known reason. As I have mentioned many times in the past, you will find albums that close poorly (and in this case the last 15 minutes), are more likely to receive a negative reaction than those that finish strong - no matter what the contents prior were (Tarkus anyone?). Last impressions I guess.

I see Seven Secrets as a solid effort, with close to 25 minutes of excellent material, and the other 20 as good to very good.

Ownership: 

1974 Dawn (LP). Textured cover. Acquired in 1990.

2004 Arcangelo (CD). Papersleeve. Part of the Disk Union box set. Acquired in 2004.

1990; 1997; 2004; 7/18/19 (review)

Modern Masquerades (1975)

There are a couple of ways at reviewing Modern Masquerades. The normal way would be to go down the path of saying it's the 4th album by the Northern Irish progressive rock band Fruupp, and they've run out of interesting ideas, Side 2 blows, etc...

Or... Or....

You could look at this as a pioneering album by about one or two years. The back cover of the album gives the game away, for all of you that actually own the LP or CD. 

Anyway.... Back in the 90's I called this style "High-Ball Rock". 20 years later, it turns out I was on the right track, but they (the ever present they) gave it another name. Yacht Rock. OK, I like that even better - same idea, but yea, Yacht Rock indeed. Checkmate on that. Sure, it's still progressive rock. Some Yacht Rock albums actually are. In fact, I'm now calling it Yacht Prog.

Me? I like it. It is in this scenario you discover that 'Sheba's Song' is brilliant. You can file this album right next to Kestrel's awesome one album, though it's not quite that good.

Ownership: 1975 Dawn (LP). Lyric insert. Acquired in 1990.

10//90; 1996; 10/22/07; 7/4/15 (review); 3/21/26

Also own: Future Legends; The Prince Of Heaven's Eyes

7/4/15 (new entry)

Joe O'Donnell ~ Ireland

Gaodhal's Vision (1977)

Joe O'Donnell's debut is a much unheralded album, but it's quite good. All instrumental fusion driven by O'Donnell's electric violin. There are smokin' parts offset by what could be best described as cinematic atmospheric pieces. Best tracks for my tastes include 'The Exodus', 'The Battle and Retreat Underground', 'The Fair', and 'The Great Banqueting Hall'. One of Ireland's best albums.

Ownership: 1977 Polydor (Ireland / Germany). Gatefold. Acquired in 1988.

1988; 1996; 6/6/14; 12/7/17 (review)

12/10/17 (new entry)

M-Opus ~ Ireland

1975 Triptych (2015)

It's about time my brethren in Ireland got into this prog rock thing (My last name is Irish for the record. Then again my Ma is 100% pure Kraut and my Pa was a Celtic mutt. But hey! I have a story brewing here...). Take away the Ulster based Fruupp and the book on Irish progressive rock gets thin in a hurry. So it appears M-Opus discovered Supply, Demand, and Curve did they? Oh - you don't know who I'm talking about? Well, then... In any case, M-Opus goes much further than either band mentioned above, way into the depths of creative progressive rock, as evidenced by the 33 minute 'Different Skies' with its different tones, colors, styles, shifts, and food groups. Much attention has been paid to period instrumentation (keyboards being the most obvious) and compositional style. I'll say this to every band who insists going back 40 years in time to prove some kind of point I GUESS: You have one fan right here. And... keep going! Please.

Ownership: 2015 Rude Chord (CD). Acquired in 2015

5/1/15 (review)

And M-Opus did keep going. I'm the one who didn't keep up.

5/1/15 (new entry)