Record Reviews

COLOSSEUM II ~ STRANGE NEW FLESH (EXPANDED EDITION) CASTLE 1188 (Barcode: 5050749411884) ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1975 Released: 2005 1st album by the second incarnation of ColosseumFind albums by this artist. After the original band disbanded in 1971, leader and drummer Jon HisemanFind albums by this artist formed TempestFind albums by this artist (which recorded two splendid albums) and in 1974 formed the new Colosseum with guitar hero Gary MooreFind albums by this artist. The new band had a much “harder” sound than the original band, but still played a mixture of Jazz-Rock, which by that time was already called Fusion. The band also included the excellent keyboards player Don AireyFind albums by this artist and bassist Neil MurrayFind albums by this artist (GilgameshFind albums by this artist) as well as Mike StarrsFind albums by this artist on lead vocals. The combination of five first class musicians produced a band that could play anything between Fusion and Prog with ease and elegance, as this album proves. Although received coldly by the fans of the original Colosseum (probably due to the different sound and the fact that the strong presence of Blues elements was replaced with Rock elements), this is an excellent album in every respect and in retrospect surely deserves much more attention that it did originally. This beautiful new edition almost triples the playing time of the original album by an hour of studio material and a BBC live concert recorded in 1976, all previously unreleased. Highly recommended.

CD 2 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

EVOLUCION ~ LA ERA DE PISCIS MYLODON 025 (Barcode: 3426300045850) ~ CHILE ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1982 - 1986 Released: 2005 1st album by the excellent Chilean Prog / Fusion group EvolucionFind albums by this artist, which was active on the local scene since the early 1980s, but somehow never managed to release an album over the years. Only about 20 years later the Chilean Prog label MylodonFind albums on this label released their debut album, which collects their recordings from the 1980s. Formed in 1982 by keyboards player Pedro MoñozFind albums by this artist (who at this time was already a veteran on the local scene), the band went through several personnel changes over the years, gradually changing their style from instrumental Symphonic Prog to Fusion. The band members were all seasoned musicians with excellent instrumental abilities and Moñoz (who writes all the music) is an excellent composer, who is able to produce beautifully melodic themes on which the band members improvise. This album presents two lineups of the group: one from 1982-83 and the other from 1984-86 (which included a superb guitar player John ClarkFind albums by this artist). By the time the second lineup recorded their material, the group almost entirely left the Prog material behind and moved into Fusion. Fusion fans, who love Return To ForeverFind albums by this artist or Colosseum IIFind albums by this artist, will definitely enjoy this stuff immensely.

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend