(3 / 5)
A newly re-mastered and expanded double-CD edition of the 1973 debut album by British prog’ rockers Greenslade.
This set includes a bonus disc of previously unreleased BBC session recordings made between January and April 1973.
Formed in 1972 by former Colosseum keyboard player Dave Greenslade, the band also featured former Web and Samurai member Dave Lawson (keyboards, vocals), former Colosseum bass player Tony Reeves and drummer Andrew McCulloch (formerly with King Crimson and Fields). Note there was no guitarist in the band.
First issued in February 1973 on vinyl LP, “Greenslade” was a well-received debut album, featuring a clutch of classic compositions such as “Feathered Friends”, “Melange”, “Drowning Man” and “Sundance” among the seven tracks in total.
Their fans lapped up their recordings, but it was live that they were considered to at their best, and so the bonus live album here, from recordings made for BBC Radio One between January and April 1973, is a real treat.
The first three tracks of the seven on CD 2 offer live versions of “Temple Song”, “Feathered Friends” and “An English Western”, from BBC Radio One “Sounds Of The Seventies” session, recorded 10th January 1973, and first broadcast on 29th January 1973.
The other four live tracks were part of a BBC Radio One “In Concert” recorded at the BBC Paris Theatre in London on 5th April 1973. The live tracks are released for the first time. The package’s booklet includes an essay by music writer Malcolm Dome, with his exclusive interviews with Dave Greenslade and Dave Lawson from the band.
Most of the material and recordings offered here, stand up well to the tests of time after 45 years, and most of it sounds relevant and mostly “in vogue”; when you consider the resurgence of interest in prog’ rock, reflected in some of those bands from back in the day, reforming in recent years and entire magazines and documentaries dedicated to the genre.
By Sally Fox
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’ (3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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