Ah, the early seventies. The peak of the era we all lovingly
called progressive-rock. During that time there were the releases of some
classic albums, which have all stood the test of time. ‘Doremi Fasol
Latido’ by Hawkwind, ‘In the Wake of Poseidon’ by King Crimson,
‘Tarkus’ by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, ‘The Debut Album’ by Flash and
countless others, still sounding as fresh and relevant as they did over thirty
years ago.
Some, on the other hand, have rather fallen from their
illustrious heights. Greenslade’s debut album is a point in case. This
‘teenage’ Dog can recall clearly nodding along sagely in an attempt to look
very knowledgeable when this was first thrust upon his ears. He was taken in by
a rather smashing Roger Dean Cover (the artist, who became famous for his
artwork for ‘Yes’ amongst others), the fact that here there was a band that
was a little bit unique (dual keyboards and no lead guitar), and that they
indeed had a fine pedigree. Dave Greenslade (who humbly gave his name to the
band) on one set of keyboards had plied his trade for the previous three years
with the magnificent Colosseum. On the other keyboards was Dave Lawson, who had
been in ‘Samurai’ (never heard of them, but they sounded impressive).
Bassist Tony Reeves had been in ‘Curved Air’. And drummer Andrew McCulloch
had been in ‘Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come’, ‘Manfred Mann’, and
‘King Crimson’. However, his presence in each band was only a short one,
which perhaps should have given us some form of clue.
While we were all with great pretentiousness listening away
in our bedsits, I think actually we were all pretending to be listening to the
next big thing, not wanting to seem uncool by blurting out that it was actually
very ordinary and a second division ‘Yes’ or ‘E.L.P.’ Second division
(just above the relegation zone) was where they stayed throughout their career.
Most of the songs are very mid-paced with very little to
differentiate one from the other. Sure, the keyboards intermingle very nicely,
but if truth be told they sound like a very average lounge act with an over
ambitious, dominating keyboard player stuck with a bad singer. Although there
can be no doubt that Dave Lawson was great foil for Dave Greenslade’s
keyboard playing, a singer he was not, nor could he write lyrics, his other
primary job within the band. Try this little sonnet from ‘What are you doing
to me’:
‘’You murdered the love that I once had for you,
When you put in the boot cos the shoe wouldn’t do,
Well if that’s how you feel, woman, I love you, too.”
I think it would perhaps have been a good idea to not have
written the lyrics on the inside sleeve of this album as there are many more
just as cringe worthy moments. Worst of all is his impression of the Lord’s
Prayer on ‘Drowning Man’. It is so awful that it wants to make you snicker.
There is a time and place for everything and that was neither the time nor the
place. I believe Dave Lawson is no longer in the music business. I cannot say
that I am totally surprised.
Tony Reeves plays bass guitar with great enthusiasm
throughout, if a little bit repetitively. However, at no point on these songs
does he seem to be playing the same song as the other members of the band. His
most embarrassing moment comes during ‘Melange’, where the bass is very
dominant. That’s surprising for a dual keyboard band. Reeves gets by
definition a bass solo, but it actually sounds as if the rest of the band gives
up playing for a minute and without realizing it, Reeves just carries on in his
own sweet way.
Andrew McCulloch drums are thankfully mixed way down in the
production, which I think is a kindness to the skins man, same as saying he had
rudimentary skills would be a kindness. How he managed to stay in King Crimson
under the critical eye of Robert Fripp for three months before being booted out
will always remain a mystery.
The staple of any Greenslade concert was always the final
song on this album, and throughout their career the last song of their live
set, ‘Sundance’. Now this is not actually a bad piece of music and at over
eight minutes (longer on stage), it represents a fair portion of the album. But
I’m afraid it is too little too late. The first thing that you notice is that
the song is an instrumental, so already the song is ahead on points as there is
none of Lawson’s yodeling in it. And for the first time the band actually
seems to gel together and play with some fire in their bellies. The interplay
between Lawson and Greenslade fair sparkles at times with the great controlled
violence, mingled with light and shade only a rock keyboard player can bring to
his music. A bit more of this and less of the lyrics and the vocals and they
might of had something.
All I can say is that if you have fond memories of
Greenslade, leave them in the past. You may be very disappointed if you try and
listen to your past memories today. These days Dave Greenslade writes scores
for television and movies. He also released a solo album of songs inspired by
the disc world based on the Terry Pratchet books, which was rather good and
plays with the reformed Colosseum. I don’t know what the other three are
doing and don’t care, as long as Dave Lawson is not singing.
Author
Ian Quartermaine must be having many sleepless nights. After his update of
Sleepless in Bangkok, we had For King and Country only a few weeks ago and this
has been smartly followed by From Other Worlds (ISBN 974-8303-74-8) in the same
package as another book entitled Cybernaut. The accompanying letter suggested
that From Other Worlds be read before Cybernaut, so as a dutiful reviewer I
have done just that.
2
Stars **