Greenslade – Greenslade (1973)

From progarchives.com

Review by Atavachron

Evidently the high-quality but sometimes sedate jazzrock of drummer Jon Hiseman’s Colosseum wasn’t enough for David Greenslade, the extraordinary keyboardist/composer, so after that landmark band dissolved in 1971 he began building a formidable unit of his own; the warm jazz basses of Tony Reeves, Andrew McCulloch’s totally freakin’ drums, and Dave Lawson’s accompaniment on keys and lead vocals. In an amazingly freethinking venture for the time – or perhaps a perfect example of it – David Greenslade succeeded in creating a near-masterpiece of rock theater by balancing what could have been a very unstable meeting of orchestrina fantasy, garage art, and deep lakes of inspired progressive rock. This was prog unmasked, stripped of most of the studio trickery and flash for flash’s sake in much music of the period. The real thing, a group that took up the challenge, seized the surely brief moment, put any notions of mass appeal aside and just let go with a brand of symphonic rock that was more raw and personal than their bigger siblings but still retained the intricacy and ridiculousness of prog. Unashamed, childlike but haughty, Greenslade was a special offspring of the era and gave us several jewels, this debut probably their finest.

‘Feathered Friends’ hits the floor with a mean groove, Lawson’s prepubescent falsetto screeches over big chords of organ, the band’s soundwall, David Greenslade’s mellotron a beauty of another age and the band’s production quite good if ancient. Instrumental ‘An English Western’ absolutely rocks the house with all sorts of blues, gospel-jazz and classical kitsch in a Wakeman vein, and churchly ‘Drowning Man’ is a somber condolence that jumps up with samba, drowsy acid and bassy late 1960s dance beats. Forgettable ‘Temple Song’ follows but 7-minute ‘Melange’ is another good instrumental that inhales deeply of space and jazz as it grows large, kicker ‘What Are You Doin’ to Me’ shows just how appealing this group can be with a successful fusion of pop and symphonette, and David’s piano slowly introduces nine-minute sprawler ‘Sundance’ that varies between soft and magisterial.

Entirely original though doses of everyone from Procol Harum and Morgan to The Nice and Supertramp can be heard, and urgently recommended to anyone who’s past their own expectations of what prog is, was or should be.

Review by Gatot

Phew . Finally, I feel relieved that I got the CD version of this classic album which in a way has colored my childhood. I have been thus far holding a cassette version until last week when I visited one of local CD stores in Jakarta, I saw this under “Rock Legend” shelf. Wow .!!! What a lucky man I was. Even though I have been hearing “Feathered Friends” through classic rock FM radio station down here but I still want to have the whole album as this band was one of progressive rock icons of 70s. I fully agree with most reviewers that have said it like that. When I got this CD, I asked the store keeper to play it LOUD while I was continuing my search of other CDs. The crowd in the store was wondering “Oh, what music is this?” as previously the store played jazz music (uuuugghhh .!!!!). I don’t really care about it as I am the customer and I know that this band is so damn great! Pity them if they are at the same age with me but they don’t know about GREENSLADE???!! Come on! Where have they been? For sure, they are definitely not my friends because they did not prog during their teenage. When the CD was played at the store, I really loved the “sound” – it’s a very capped sound, I would say. The treble is not crispy or transparent, the bass is not that solid, mid range was a bit dull.. But, hey .that’s exactly what I want: they sound of seventies! Of course it’s way less superior than the latest prog recording. But I do even enjoy it, very much. When I hit the road, I played it again outloud in the car. Oh man .. what a great drive that evening. What a truly classic prog album! For those who like 70s prog and has not got this CD yet, BUY NOW man ..!!!!

Feathered Friends (6:42) kicks off the album with relatively fast tempo style and very unique snare drum sound – it’s like Bruford’s or like other 70s prog band: ENGLAND. Keyboard dominates the melody as well as rhythm section, augmented with organ / mellotron. When vocal enters the music with “What’s your poison? Well here’s mud in your eye .” it has a killing melody especially when it’s combined with organ and mellotron sounds. The bass guitar also demonstrates its role with its dynamic sound especially during the singing part. I especially love the organ sounds with many catchy melodies found throughout this track. Also, the mellotron is performed excellently here. Vocal quality is top notch! Excellent composition. [*****]

An English Western (3:25) continues with a previous track style: energetic opening dominated by organ and dynamic drum work. The music represents an original Greenslade music: keyboard-based, floating melody with accentuation, weird drum sounds and good composition with some jazz rock influence. I like the combination of organ / keyboard work and dynamic drumming in this track. It’s an excellent instrumental track with relatively complex arrangements. [****]

Drowning Man (6:40) begins with a low register notes voice line – something unusual in Greenslade singing style. It even reminds me to the voice of Gentle Giant even though this track seems mellower than typical Gentle Giant song. The singing is augmented with excellent organ work and bass line. At the end of first lyrical part, the music flows in faster tempo and uplifting mood demonstrating excellent combination of organ sounds augmented with mellotron. Drums still demonstrate its Bruford’s sounds especially in the snare drums that keep the beats. The organ work really brings me back to the glory years of 70s music. Excellent. [****]

Temple Song (3:32) starts mellow with sort of jazz influence music, featuring ambient vocal and combination of great organ and solid bass lines. Vibraphone is used throughout this track. Keyboard / organ solo in the middle is backed up with some light orchestration. [*** ½ ].

Mélange (7:27) starts with an uplifting music with medium tempo/fast style and turns slower with mellotron sound and inventive organ work. Drums demonstrate its contribution with normal snare drum sound. What follow is a bass solo segment with its inventive play that forms a melody of the song. Other instruments fill the music to support bass guitar solo. Right before the middle of the track, the music turns quieter featuring bass guitar solo only. The other later half of the track demonstrates mellotron work by maintaining dynamic bass guitar play and the snare drums sounds return to Bruford’s like. [****]

What Are You Doing to Me (4:40) opens with organ work in relatively fast tempo style followed with high register notes singing. It’s very Greenslade, sound-wise! Structurally, it’s relatively a straight forward track – however, there are some nice transitions, e.g. the inclusion of mellotron between musical segments. [****]

Sundance (8:45) starts mellow with piano work with some influence of classic music.What follows is an upbeat music demonstrating great keyboard / organ. With dynamic drumming. Again, the bass lines are really great even during the organ solo part. This instrumental track offers some variation of styles and tempo changes. The ending part brings the music to piano solo work as its opening. [****]

SUMMARY

For those who want to explore the treasure of 70s prog music, you should not miss this one. But for those who’s got used to recent quality of sound recording, you might regret hearing the sonic quality of this CD. But, the content (the music) is great.