This was a band I’d wanted to hear long before I actually did. Formed in 1975, when Hatfield and the North imploded (just before I’d ever heard of them), I’d loved the Hatfield LPs and was longing to hear what this successor band sounded like.
Unfortunately, during 1976, record companies weren’t exactly queuing up to sign the remnants of unpopular and financially unviable Canterbury-style prog/jazz rock groups, and until this album all I’d heard was one song I’d caught on a John Peel session in October 1976 (he didn’t only play punk, you know) and kept on cassette for many years after. I stumbled on this LP quite by accident in the record section of a small department store in Durham soon after release, not knowing it has been released, since this really wasn’t something the music press was wanting to review in 1978.
The album starts with the catchy theme of Tenemos Roads, which after a five minute intro surprises with Amanda Parson’s vocals (“from the cradle to the grave” – get it?). After forty years, I’m still not sure if the lyrics and Parsons’ vocals add much to the band, especially the la-la bits. The musicianship is, as you’d expect, flawless and accomplished – Dave Stewart’s keyboards working with Phil Miller’s guitars to create the mood, while Neil Murray’s (later to tread the high decibel route with Whitesnake) bass and Pip Pyle’s drumming hold everything together, despite the convoluted time signatures. Brujo lacks the same impact, and Parsons’ vocals really do intrude here on an uninspiring jazz-rock noodle, while the two parts of Borogoves present some interesting themes and solos without ever engaging. The final track Elephants features an extended Phil Miller guitar solo before ending with a reprise of Tenemos Roads.
This debut shows the virtuosity of the players, and has some lovely moments, but the overall feel lacks the playfulness and whimsy which these musicians had shown in Hatfield. It’s not a bad album, but not what I was hoping for. I eventually saw the band about three months after buying this album, supporting Steve Hillage at Newcastle Polytechnic, by which time the personnel had changed significantly (Parsons had left, and Murray replaced by John Greaves) and I don’t remember them playing anything familiar from this album!
3* - This still works forty years on, but fails to capture the essence of the band.
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