GREENSLADE
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Albums reviewed:
1973 - Greenslade (5)

Greenslade was born from the remnants of another band, Colosseum, which was apparently quite good. I haven't heard Colosseum though... All I know is that mister Greenslade made this self-titled band and a first self-titled album and got Roger Dean (from Yes album covers fame) to draw the album's art... And honestly, I'm sure the Dean art for this and the next album has a lot to do with the fact that some people are still interested in this band. Frankly, I only have this first album by Greenslade, and judging from it, I'm really not pushed to investigate further... It is badly produced, the focus is on unimaginative and un-rousing keyboards, and... yeah, "unimaginative" and "not original" are the key words here. In my music collection, that album ranks among the most derivative 70s releases, even worse than say, Eloy, who actually managed to be rousing a bit more often. Feathered Friends, An English Western, Drowning Man, they're nothing but showcases of derivative keyboard sounds. They're not offensive, they're just, well, boring and completely unnecessary. There is so much more to discover in the world of prog-rock, and I'd only come here once you've exhausted all the classics. 'Greenslade' should be in the "italian prog" bunch, you know, those hundreds of "italian prog" albums that came out and all sounded the same? Basically, "italian prog" was virtually one big band. Well, believe me or not, this self-titled debut by Greenslade is actually less fun to listen to than an umpteenth italian prog album, simply because it's just not EXCITING. And if you're going to make keyboards the center of your music, could you please make those keyboard sound GOOD? What are those sonorities? Seriously? Sounds like a lame version of the band Goblin (if you know Goblin). Yeah! I mean, listen to the relatively interesting Mélange, one of the faster songs here (where others are so drawn out...), there are badly produced keyboards or modified guitar sounds popping on top of one of the only enjoyable things here (mellotron). The best part comes when you get a bass solo melody accompanied by mellotron chords, hell, that's half short and it's the highlight of the album. The second half of the album is significantly better than the first, thank god (starting with that bass part in Mélange). What Are You Doing To Me? is a simple rocker backed by cool keyboard sounds that are FINALLY shoved in the background, the jazzy chorus is fun, and when there IS keyboard, at least it sounds BIG and not petty as on the first half of the album... Still 'Greenslade' is always relatively predictable and doesn't add much to my legacy with music. Yeah, really not essential, although a few parts at the end are good... To buy if it's very cheap and if you absolutely want to buy something on that day and there's nothing else in the store (Gee, I can already here you all rushing out the door to get 'Greenslade').

Simon Lac, February 28th 2006