Biography
In looking at its
member's former bands, Greenslade was clearly something of a
proto-prog super group, featuring as it did Dave Greenslade
and Tony Reeves of Colosseum, Dave Lawson of The Web/Samurai
and Andy McCulloch of Fields. However, Greenslade itself was
formed in late 1972, and was firmly entrenched in the symphonic
progressive style of the time. The band's line-up was unique,
relying on the dual keyboards of Greenslade and Lawson to make
up for the lack of guitar. This resulted in a highly melodic,
keyboard driven sound that for the most part emphasized the
instrumental side of things. The band broke up after four albums,
but has recently regrouped, with Greenslade and Reeves as the
only holdovers from the original lineup. After discovering this
band, I find it strange that they are still rather obscure in
prog circles. Their sound is sure to please fans of traditional
symphonic progressive rock.
- Mike Prete [March 2001]
Greenslade
(1973)
Greenslade's debut
shows a style that was similar to most symphonic bands of the
time, but also incorporated leanings towards the earlier sound
of the British proto-prog bands. Incidentally, every member
of this group had been in a proto-prog band of some sort. The
lineup featured dual keyboards, no guitar and a strong rhythm
section. As can be expected, the music here is highly melodic
and symphonic, dominated by the keyboards of Greenslade and
Lawson, which produced a predominately instrumental sound. The
vocals here are sure to rub some the wrong way, with Lawson's
shrill and whiny vocals delivered in a fairly overwrought style.
Thankfully, all the vocal songs have extended instrumental sections,
and there are a few totally instrumental tracks.
The keyboard work
is fairly reminiscent of early ELP and Egg, particularly in
terms of the Hammond driven sound that dominated many early
progressive groups. The rhythm section is quite strong too,
with Reeve's bass taking the place of the guitar nicely, and
McCulloch's strong, somewhat jazzy percussion creating a nice
backdrop for the keys. The two standout tracks on the album,
the instrumentals "Melange" and "Sundance" showcase this combination
best. The former has some nice multi-tracked bass, and great
keyboard playing along with a nice sense of dynamics. The latter
is a great show of keyboard work, with plenty of beautiful piano,
driving Hammond and powerful mellotron.
After a few listens,
the vocals become easier to handle, and are not nearly as distracting.
There is plenty of great, keyboard dominated, instrumental work
here to recommend to any fan of symphonic progressive rock.
- Mike Prete [March 2001]
Click
Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info
Bedside
Manners Are Extra (1973)
Bedside
Manners Are Extra
is a slightly more focused work than its predecessor, but still
contains all the components that made the first album successful.
There's plenty of great keyboard work here, and especially appreciated
is the added mellotron presence, which increases the overall
symphonic sound. There are also passages where the keys are
distorted to sound like guitar, most notably on "Time to Dream".
Lawson's vocals are much more restrained on this effort, and
much less irritating, so much so that I actually enjoy them
most of the time. The tracks here are generally half-instrumental,
half-vocal, with the instrumental passages standing out in particular,
as usual for this band.
"Drum Folk"
is pretty much the bane of most prog fans, containing not one,
but two extended drum solos. Despite this, there is some great
drum, mellotron and synth work in between. Many of the songs
have a darker edge, with a more aggressive and heavy bass sound,
such as "Sunkissed You're Not" and the aforementioned "Time
to Dream". Also featured are trademark instrumental songs such
as "Pilgrims Progress", another great keyboard dominated track,
and the closer "Chalkhill". Bedside Manners are Extra
would make an excellent introduction to the band, and is an
easy recommendation for those who already enjoy the group's
work.
- Mike Prete
[March 2001]
Click
Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info
Live
(2001)
When Greenslade reformed
in 2000, their head honcho Dave Greenslade set about trying
to recreate the magic that surrounded their infamous style
of keyboard driven progressive rock, one which had much
of England and Europe talking during the early 70s. On board
with this incarnation are the keys man himself, Dave Greenslade,
accompanied by John Young, also on keys and vocals, Tony
Reeves, the original bass player and John Trotter, capably
handling the skins department. Although the original sound
of the band was very intelligent and comprehensive, there
seems to be something missing from this live 4 track mini-album.
The
songs lack the punch that was prevalent with their original
albums. In particular, the opening track "Cakewalk", taken
from their 2000 release, Large Afternoon, is pretty
lackluster. It is not until the third and longest track,
"Joie De Vivre," that we are given any real indication of
how good a player Dave Greenslade really is. The arrangements
that have been made to this song help it to stand out from
the original that was first released many years ago. Given
that Greenslade and Reeves must both be well into their
50s, the sound on the first two songs sounds more like a
couple of lounge lizards doing their thang in a rather casual
fashion. They just don't get up and grab the listener enough
to guarantee a large level of sustained interest.
Although
I have owned all of the material originally released by
this band on vinyl and enjoyed just about everything they
did, including Dave's much maligned double LP solo extravaganza
Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony, I must confess to preferring
their originals much more than their latest live affair.
This is one for the completists only, or for those hankering
for some more golden magic from the past. For me, I'd prefer
Time & Tide, Spyglass Guest or Bedside
Manners Are Extra. Oh, and if you're adventurous enough,
try Pentateuch. -
Greg Cummins [December 2001]
