King Crimson, Khan, Khatsaturjan,Keith Caputo og Karnataka

A sublime and a superbly crafted piece of music from start to finish. Trust me and read on. This is pure quality.

The band started life in 2001, when drummer Ivar de Graaf parted ways with Within Temptation, just as they made their breakthrough with the Mother Earth album. Together with classically trained vocalist Judith Rijnveld, Ivar started writing new music ‘without being bound to a specific genre or musical style’. Former Orphanage bassist Eric Hoogendoorn, guitarists Daan Janzing and Edo van der Kolk and keyboardist George van Olffen were recruited to make Kingfisher Sky a full band. Three months in the studio last summer saw the album recorded in several studios, under the inspired guidance of producers Jochem Jacobs (Textures) and Bouke Visser. The resulting album has been well worth all the time and trouble.

With diverse influences such as Clannad, Lacuna Coil, White Willow, Tori Amos, Leaves Eyes, Jethro Tull, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and Porcupine Tree, this album is impossible to categorise. One moment dreamy and atmospheric, then heavy and pounding the next. Hallway Of Dreams is a unique, forward thinking and superbly executed album that encompasses progressive rock, pop, metal, folk and atmospheric moods. One moment sophisticated pop/rock, the next aggressive alt-metally guitars. One refrain the haunting piano and voice of Tori Amos, the next a folky violin and tin whistle.

I know I’m throwing the glowing adjectives around a bit, but to say that Rijnveld’s performance is perfect is actually an understatement. Just sit back and listen to her voice across these eleven songs. The subtle variation of tone, style and emphasis is superbly executed, thus giving each song its own identity. Equally worthy of note is drummer and bandleader DeGraaf who cleverly underscores each piece with an array of different beats and rhythms. He really is the musical driving force behind each song.

It is an over–used phrase, but there really are no standout tracks on this record – they are all of an equally high standard. The simply-contructed opener, The Craving encompasses White Willow, Lacuna Coil and Tori Amos across a simple refain and heavy guitar. The voice and acoustic guitar of November sees the band in singer/songwriter mode. The Celtic theme to Her White Dress shines with some delicate harmonies, whilst the African drum rhythms gives Persephone a very Kate Bush feel. The heavy guitars and forceful vocals to be found in Brody brings to mind a more polished Ebony Ark. However this is no musical hotch-potch. Each element is carefully placed to enhance the central melody and mood of the song. Throughout, the crystal clear production allows every element to have enough space to be heard.

There is an increasingly muddled musical jungle out there, and I think all reviewers thrive on uncovering little unexpected gems like this. It is the sort of album that I’d never have come across without the contacts I’ve made through DPRP. It’s certainly not the sort of album I would pick up and look at in a record shop. Thankfully Hallway Of Dreams did find its way onto my CD player – and has not spent a day away from it since.

Dear reader, if the above has pricked your interest, then if you take no other risk with a new band this year, take the plunge and try something new in the shape of Kingfisher Sky. An utterly absorbing musical delight. Album of the year so far.

(Strangely this album doesn’t appear to have a label in Europe. Retail links are available from the band’s website. I got my copy from the ever–reliable Lasers' Edge, which has licensed the album for North America.)

Tracklist: The Craving (3:42), Hallway Of Dreams (4.17), Balance of Power (4.22), November (4:20), Big Fish (3:29), Through My Eyes (5:08), Seven Feet (4:13), Persephone (3:23), Her White Dress(4:09), Brody (4:37), Sempre Fedele

Klassisk musikk

Mozart

En musikksjanger som bygger på vestlig kunstnerisk utforming med nedskrevne og videreførte tradisjoner. Tilknyttes gjerne den gresk-romerske kultur. Betegnelsen begrenses noen ganger til å gjelde musikk komponert i perioden fra barokken til wienerklassisismen.

Forbindes ofte med musikk fremført av et symfoniorkester eller musikk laget for ett eller flere av dets instrumenter. Siden musikken er ferdig nedskrevet av komponisten benyttes det sjeldent improvisasjon.

Sjangeren karakteriseres ellers av og deles gjerne inn i overlappende kunsthistoriske stilepoker (vanligvis inndelt i epoker fra middelalderen og fremover i tid):

Nyere klassisk musikk (etter 1900) har stort sett utviklet seg mer parallelt. Samme stilart har i tillegg gjerne forskjellige betegnelser. Her finner du derfor en liste ordnet i alfabetisk rekkefølge:

Kontrapunkt

Melodi bestående av to eller flere selvstendige og samtidige melodilinjer, som harmonerer både vertikalt (samklang) og lineært (melodiføring).

Kanon

Den strengeste form for kontrapunkt. En flerstemmig sats der eksakt samme melodi imiteres (gjentas) tidsforskjøvet parallelt med hovedmelodien. Imitasjonen kan være på samme eller forskjellig tonetrinn. F.eks. brukes ofte sangene, "Fader Jakob" og "Ro, ro, ro din båt" som kanonlek.

Kaos Moon

The Circle Of Madness

I've been putting off reviewing this album for weeks now and for the life of me I have no idea why. I elected to do the album, I liked it from the very outset and each time I've put the CD on to start reviewing it I've not managed a single word. This isn't a criticism of the music, far from it, as for each time I've played The Circle Of Madness, I've just sat back and enjoyed the music. In the end, and so I can remove this CD from my "pipeline", I have reviewed it in total silence.

The Circle Of Madness is the second release from Kaos Moon, with a gap of some ten years since their debut After The Storm. Having not heard their first album a little investigation was needed - the consensus suggests that band have changed direction slightly, which is not too surprising as the only original band member remaining is Bernard Ouellette (vocals, keyboards and drums). Ouellette has assembled what appears to be a tighter band altogether, with Norman Lachapelle (bass), Sylvain Provost (guitar) and Magella Cormier supplying additional (drums & percussion). With this nucleus in place a number of other musicians swell the ranks adding sitar, violin, cello and soprano saxophone to some of the tracks along with supplementary percussion, keyboards and guitar. The overall sound is therefore varied without ever becoming cluttered.

The album opens fairly gently with Bernard Ouellette's voice accompanied with some sparse keyboards, percussion and spiced up by Jean-François Bélanger sitar playing. From here the track follows a fairly standard verse chorus format, latterly featuring a brief but melodic solo by Benoit Chaput, before the tempo is picked up with some lovely fluid bass playing from Norman Lachapelle. This with the keyboards and guitar give a Camel-like flavour to the fade out. Next track is the delightful ballad Say to Me, again Ouellettes vocals are splendid this time complemented by classical guitar. Once again the track builds with numerous turns and twists, with the vocal arrangements becoming more detailed and intermingling with the more complex arrangement.

Crawl is a grooving track (yes, prog can groove) - Lachapelle's bass is wonderful, as it is throughout the album, pulsing the song along, which is then countered by the soft Hammond organ, sustained guitar and expressive vocals. This is followed by another ballad-like track, the soft and dreamy The Waves, with Robin Boulianne adding violin interludes as well as taking the solo passage. Again the track has numerous pick-ups and tempo shifts thus making the overall arrangement interesting and elevating it above a "standard" ballad.

One thing which becomes more apparent about The Circle Of Madness is that although most of the material is relaxed, the arrangements are far from being bland or uninspired and after a couple of run throughs these intricacies become more obvious. An excellent example can be found The Wall of Silence, where the jaunty feel of the track initially camouflages the busy backing. The inclusion of the violin, punctuated rhythms and instrumentation in this track, and the following piece, did conjure thoughts of earlier Kansas.

Presidency opens with narration from, well I'll let you guess from who, and for me is a little tacky. If I was to offer any criticisms on the material it would be with the lyrics, which at times didn't fully support the material, and some of the repeated chorus lines were a tad weak and a little predictable. But for someone like myself who tends to let the "deeper" intricacies of the singing drift by, this did not present a major problem. It certainly did not detract from the strong melodies or Bernard Ouellette's splendid voice and delivery. No better displayed than here in Presidency, which is so infectious it has lived with me for weeks. The album concludes with the title track - lyrically much more attuned to the music which percolates along and forms a fitting conclusion to the proceedings.

Many albums I review take a little time to get into - not so with this one. All the tracks are instantly catchy, the arrangements show an imaginative interpretation of what are well written songs, although it took till the second listening, remarkably sung with a distinct and pleasant voice. Ouellette's relatively high voice reminded me at times of Jon Anderson but with the added raspier lower end did give greater variation to the melody lines. So by the second run through of the album I had warmed to the vocals - the fact that all the material is written by Bernard does benefit the songs as his voice flows with the music rather than merely fitting in with it.

So who might this album appeal to - well, given that I have awarded it a DPRP recommended - ALL presumably ! But that will never be the case, however I would say that if I had got my finger out earlier, The Circle Of Madness would definitely have ended up in my top 10 albums for 2004. I can't particularly single out any track that was inferior or let the album down, so consistently strong was all the material. So if you enjoy well crafted melodic progressive rock songs, played with style and flair whilst encompassing just enough technical and instrumental passages to make the songs interesting, but without destroying the overall concept - then do yourself a favour and buy this album. Or at least have a listen to the track samples on the Unicorn site.

Tracklist: Eternal Light Avenue (5:04), Say to Me (7:05), Crawl (3:43), The Waves (5:19), The Wall of Silence (6:50), SOAB (4:28), Presidency (5:10), The Circle of Madness (3:18)

Karma Depth

Resilience

I realize that categorizing, classifying, and labelling are natural human activities: when we try to understand something new, we consciously or unconsciously sort it, classify it, put it into a context. I find myself doing so all the time as I review CDs, both for myself and to help readers understand just what kind of thing I’m talking about. But when I get a CD for review by a group described as “Belgium’s newest emo-prog band,” well, all sorts of questions spring to mind – the most obvious of which is “How many ‘emo-prog’ bands really are there in Belgium so that Karma Depth has to be set apart as the ‘newest’?” But that’s all promotion, of course, and whether the band’s responsible for it or not, we oughtn’t hold such a description against it.

And I’m glad I didn’t, because this is a very good album. I’ll admit that I can hear what’s supposed to be the “emo” in the band’s sound, and what there is of it – the sensitive (I guess you’d call them) vocals, for example, in a few places – I don’t much like. But the band’s sound is far more progressive than it is emo, and it’s that sound I’d like to concentrate on here. The four musicians (bassist/singer Hans Berten, keyboardist Dieter Cailliau, drummer Hans Mahieu, and guitarist Lorenzo Petralia) might well have found the current emo fad congenial, but from the sounds of the album, their hearts are in old-school progressive rock. I suppose the nearest I can come to describing the most interesting elements of their songs is to compare them to post-Hackett-pre-We Can’t Dance-era Genesis and mid-to-late-eighties Rush, but that’s only a rough analogy, giving you an idea more of the band’s ambitions than, strictly speaking, of their sound.

But some of the sounds are there, too. Petralia often essays a Lifeson-like guitar tone, and the tight Berten-Mahieu rhythm section handles tempo changes fluidly. Try to keep from thinking of Duke and the locked-in charge of Rutherford and Collins as you listen, for example, to See How I Glow (and Cailliau’s Banksian synths hardly undermine the comparison, I’ll add). But in other places – even in that same song – jazzy piano and bass breaks set this band apart from its influences. And the album-ending acoustic-guitar track, Nuweiba, might briefly call to mind Foxtrot’s lovely Horizons, but only for a moment, as Petralia’s Spanish, even remotely flamenco, soloing soars above his dextrous finger picked arpeggios.

I ought to devote a paragraph to the album’s concept piece, Heal. It’s much, much stronger musically than it is lyrically, though it may be that the fact that the lyrics consist almost entirely of New-Age-y clichés can be blamed on the band’s perhaps imperfect English. I don’t know. In any case, the seven parts of the song essentially reiterate and confirm the assertion of the first part, that “Where there’s hope there is life / And that love resolves your inner strife” – good news for all of us, I guess. The suite is, so far as I can tell, intended to take us, lyrically as well as musically, from a state of uncertainty and pain to a state of, well, healing – The Healing is the title of the suite’s second-last song. And if the lyrics are pretty lame, the music is anything but. The first few songs alternate between peaceful piano and aggressive guitar riffing, with the occasional synthesizer solo; by the time we get to the last two parts, The Healing and The Learning, the music is (predictably but also satisfyingly) triumphant and even anthemic. The playing of all the musicians throughout the suite (as it is throughout the album) is simply superb, thankfully drawing the listener’s attention away from the lyrics, which are nonetheless sincerely delivered by Berten.

Berten’s voice, incidentally, is a wonderful instrument in itself – full, powerful, capable of the delicacy needed for the emo moments on the album (which occur, mercifully to my ears at least, mostly in the first few songs) and also of the soaring needed in those anthemic moments I just mentioned. The timber of his voice is not miles away from that of Michael Sadler, and it’s more than distantly related, too, to that of Neal Morse; but I make those comparisons only to give you a rough idea. The vocals are perfectly matched to the music in most of the compositions, and one can’t ask more than that from a vocalist.

I think that anyone who likes either earlier or later progressive rock will like this album. Ignore, as I mostly did, the emo elements: they don’t significantly damage the album, and it might well be that the band will not only drop but perhaps actively avoid the emo label next time around, since what they are is a solid, talented, progressive-rock band – period. This is a more than creditable debut album, and I recommend it with only those few and minor reservations I’ve noted.

Tracklist: Ask Yourself (10:35), Hope (5:53), The Price (12:19), The Ring (15:58), See How I Glow (12:19), Heal: [I] The Twilight, [II] Enter Reality, [III] The Dilemma, [IV] The Choice, [V] The Awakening, [VI] The Healing, [VII] The Learning (22:06), Nuweiba (2:47)

Konsertrekorder

Minst mennesker på en konserter skriver seg fra Melbourne i Australia i august 1980. På scenen var den rumenske folkesanger Joan Melu i to timer med konsert med tilhørende ekstranummer. Det spesielle var at tilskuerantallet var uslåelige 0 tilskuere.

"Litt" mer vellykket var tilskuermengden angår var Jean Michel konsert i Moskva i 1997 i anledning Moskva`s 850 års jubileum. Denne utendørskonserten samlet pene 3 500 000 tilskuere, og antakeligvis var det litt mer sus over klappingen her enn Melu`s konsert i Melbourne 17 år tidligere.

Krautrock

Krautrock refers to the legions of German bands of the early '70s that expanded the sonic possibilities of art and progressive rock. Instead of following in the direction of their British and American counterparts, who were moving toward jazz and classical-based compositions and concept albums, the German bands became more mechanical and electronic. Working with early synthesizers and splicing together seemingly unconnected reels of tape, bands like Faust, Can, and Neu created a droning, pulsating sound that owed more to the avant garde than to rock & roll. Although the bands didn't make much of an impact while they were active in the '70s, their music anticipated much post-punk of the early '80s, particularly industrial rock. Kraut rock also came into vogue in the '90s, when groups like Stereolab and Tortoise began incorporating the hypnotic rhythms and electronic experiments of the German art-rock bands into their own, vaguely avant-garde indie rock

Krautrock can also be considered as 70's "acid" rock from Germany. A majority of bands experiment long instrumental improvisations with an important use of psychedelic effects, weird electronic sounds.

Krautrock 20 key studio albums

Interview and review with Kamelot

This is the kind of tacky statement that labels use in their promotion sheets. Sometimes we should take these statements with a lot of scepticism but in case of Kamelot I’m inclined to agree with the label. The band that was founded in Florida back in 1992 keep on making records that seem to be getting better every time. Ever since in 1997 the excellent Norwegian singer Roy Khan (ex-Conception) joined the band things are going upwards with increasing success. Their music is described by guitarist Thomas Youngblood as a mixture of power, gothic and progressive metal. All of these elements are present on their new album Ghost Opera which is their eightieth studio album. DPRP could catch up with singer Khan to reflect on this new release and some other novelties.

Ghost Opera seems to be a darker and more experimental album yet very straight forward. Was it deliberate to go for this kind of sound?

Well the thing that was deliberate is that this time around it’s no concept album. The last five years we have been busy working with the concept of Faust by Goethe for the albums Epica and The Black Halo. This time the approach was refreshing as we did the song writing without having to go by a predefined lyrical context. But the way the music and the atmosphere of the album turned out wasn’t really deliberate. Ghost Opera has a somewhat darker feel but I think it’s more of a live vibe. It is just the way it turned out to be.

I think your albums keep getting better and better. Did you feel any pressure to top the great The Black Halo?

No, there is not really any pressure. Of course it’s great when an album turns out very well but whenever we start with the whole procedure of a new album we try to look forward and not look back. We just give our best each time without comparing it to our other efforts.

Can you tell me some more about the way Kamelot’s music is created? Who is responsible for the lyrics?

Usually the music comes first. It was different with the last two albums as I mentioned but Ghost Opera started out with the musical ideas. We focused on the more essential parts of the songs. We also stayed in the format of short songs this time. All songs are under the five minutes and more straight to the point. I’m the main person in Kamelot to come up with the lyrics. And I can count on the help of Thomas (Youngblood) who as Native American speaker can assist me if there are some English language problems in the lyrics.

When we are making the demo’s I sometimes come up with all kinds of phrases. Just little things that sound interesting to me. Usually that evolves in some lyrical lines that work as a foundation or framework for the song. Then the other words have to match with these lines to create the lyrics.

This time around it is no concept album. But is there a theme of some sort that connects the songs?

Not really a theme but the whole vibe of the album is a bit melancholic. The lyrics have some sad topics. These are some of the heaviest lyrics I have ever written. So there is a whole of a darker mood on the album. It also shows through in the way the orchestration is done in some of the songs. For example how the deep trombones give a darker vibe. And there are certainly progressive elements. But some are more subtle on this album.

I get asked a lot for that! haha Blücher was the name of a German ship that was involved in the invasion of Norway at the beginning of the Second World War. The ship’s purpose was to invade the Norwegian city Oslo. At the starting of the war it was the newest ship of the German navy but the ship got destroyed on its first journey. It was shot down in 1939 by two torpedoes and sadly most of the crew died.

Love You To Death is a very captivating song with interesting lyrics. What is it about?

It is based on a Japanese legend about the sad tragedy involving a young couple in love. The girl dies at the age of 15 due to an unfortunate disease. But she comes back to life in some strange way to guide her love through his suffering.

Amanda Somerville! She also sung on the track Abandoned from The Black Halo. She is an excellent singer. Amanda is also known for her participation on Aina: Days of Rising Doom.

You are planning to shoot ten videos for Ghost Opera. Very ambitious! What is the reason behind this?

Ah, like you said it is in a planning stage. I can’t say too much about it now. Of course the costs are enormous so we have to work things out with the record company. But we only want to really do this if we can do it right so we have to see.

Kamelot is a band with a very strong image if you think about the videos and the artwork of the albums. How important is image for Kamelot?

The image is very important. But we spend not too much time on it. It’s just that it comes with being in a band like ours. In some way the whole image thing becomes a part of us. It gets part of our personalities. It is almost like playing a role. But more importantly is that we love what we do and that is the image we portray.

You did a photo shoot for Nocturnal Model's Yearly Calendar! How did this come about? Did you like the experience?

Well some friends of mine contacted us if we would be interested to participate in a photo shoot. They do this every year with different bands. So it was no big deal. It was like a normal day of work really…haha Just posing for a couple of hours.

You have a very distinct, dramatically way of singing. I think almost theatrical. What are your main influences for singing?

A lot of different influences and people really but I have to mention Geoff Tate (Queensryche) and Morten Harket (Aha). And Elvis Presley! I mean subconsciously I got influenced by his way of singing. My father and especially my mother were big fans of his so it’s kind of in my upbringing. It was a big part of my life so I’m sure he has influenced me. When it comes to the song writing I’m influenced by the great names for example The Beatles and Pink Floyd. And I would name TNT as an influence. This is a fellow Norwegian band.

Not really. I just try to live healthy. Not too much smoking and drinking. And I’m warming up my voice every time I have to sing. Warm up for the studio recordings and warm up for the concerts. But there is not something extraordinary that I do.

Rock opera’s in which various musicians / singers contribute are very popular nowadays (like Ayreon, Avantasia or Genius). Have you ever been asked to participate? Would you consider participating?

Yeah, I have been asked. But the thing is I’m not interested if I don’t have complete freedom, artistically, with my contributions. I don’t really do this as I don’t feel the need. I can say what I have to say creatively with Kamelot. And also I’m very busy with this band. There have been some offers and at one point I had some dealings with someone who was involved with Ayreon. But this didn’t result in any firm offer.

Well I thank you for the interview and I wish you all the best of luck in the future.

16 Jun 2007 - Fields of Rock Festival Biddinghuizen, NL
18 Jun 2007 - Club Tochka Moscow, RU
23 Jun 2007 - Monsters of Rock Festival Zaragoza, ES
07 Jul 2007 - Evolution Festival Firenze, IT
14 Jul 2007 - Kvinesdal Rock Festival Kvinesdal, NO

17 Aug 2007 - Jaxx West Springfield, Virginia
18 Aug 2007 - The Chance Theatre NY, New York
19 Aug 2007 - B. B. King New York, New York
22 Aug 2007 - Le Medley Montreal, Quebec
23 Aug 2007 - L'Imperial Quebec City, Quebec
24 Aug 2007 - The Opera House Toronto, Ontario
25 Aug 2007 - Peabody's Cleveland, Ohio
27 Aug 2007 - The Pearl Room Mokena, Illinois
28 Aug 2007 - Station 4 St. Paul, Minnesota
30 Aug 2007 - Bluebird Theater Denver, Colorado
01 Sep 2007 - Galaxy Theatre Santa Ana, California
02 Sep 2007 - Key Club Los Angeles, California
04 Sep 2007 - The Clubhouse Tempe, Arizona
05 Sep 2007 - Launchpad Albuquerque, New Mexico
07 Sep 2007 - White Rabbit San Antonio, Texas
08 Sep 2007 - Ridglea Theater Ft Worth, Texas
09 Sep 2007 - Meridian Houston, Texas
28 Sep 2007 - Mean Fiddler London, UK
29 Sep 2007 - Podium Hardenberg, NL
30 Sep 2007 - Waerdse Tempel Heerhugowaard, NL
02 Oct 2007 - Transbordeur Lyon, FR
03 Oct 2007 - Rock School Barbey Bordeaux, FR

10 Oct 2007 - Shibuya O-East Tokyo, JP
11 Oct 2007 - Shinsaibashi Club Quattro Osaka, JP
12 Oct 2007 - The Bottom Line Nagoya, JP
14 Oct 2007 - Yokohama Blitz Yokohama, JP

Review “ Black Halo”:

Tracklist: March Of Mephisto (5:28), When The Lights Are Down (3:42), The Haunting (5:40), Soul Society (4:18), Interlude 1: Dei Gratia (0:57), Abandoned (4:06), This Pain (3:59), Moonlight (5:10), Interlude 2: Un Assassinio Molto Silenzioso (0:41), The Black Halo (3:43), Nothing Ever Dies (4:46), Memento Mori (8:54), Interlude 3: Midnight – Twelve Tolls For A New Day (1:21), Serenade (4:33)

American based Kamelot released their debut (Eternity) in 1994 and the press praised that album as one of the most promising debuts ever and when the band “found” former Conception singer Roy Kahn, the band got better and better. The Fourth Legacy set a new standard for this melodic progressive rock band and when Kamelot released Epica in 2003 the band proved that they were still able to top their former albums. DPRP has only reviewed just one Kamelot album so far (Expedition), which is really a shame, because I think that a lot of our readers would love the old as well the new Kamelot CDs.

The new album The Black Halo was mainly recorded at the Gate Studio in Germany, but additional recordings were made in Florida and Norway. Sascha Paeth (Angra, Rhapsody, and Aina) produced the album and among the guest musicians you find “notorious” artists like: Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir), Simone Simons (Epica), Mari (Masquraid) and Jens Johansson (Stratovarius). Furthermore the band used a choir (with a.o.: Herbie Langhans (7th Avenue), Thomas Rettke (Heaven’s Gate), Miro and Amanda Sommerville and the complete Rodenberg Symphony Orchestra to give this album that extra classical and bombastic touch.

Although Kamelot is an American band (except for the singer), the music has always been rather atypical for an American band. They play a kind of melodic metal that is mostly associated with Europe and on their new album they come close to perfection; in other words, The Black Halo marks the highlight of Kamelot’s career so far and it will be in my top five of best albums in 2005! The album opens with a classical bombastic overture of 45 seconds before March Of Mephisto really comes to life with great guitar riffs, mysterious serene vocal parts and a howling keyboard solo of Jens Johansson. After 5:28 you are bewildered as a listener and you long for more….. And although the album consists of 14 tracks there are no fillers on The Black Halo; it is a complete album with lots of diversity, out of this world guitar playing, superb song writing and most of all world league vocals and even a few sing-a-long choruses.

A typical classic Kamelot song is, for example, This Pain, filled with staccato guitar riffs, spacy vocals, but most of all lots of melody. Moonlight again has a breathtaking melody, a fabulous guitar solo and a guitar riff that makes you want to get up and do some serious head banging (just kiddin’ there)… But the absolute highlight of this album is Memento Mori, an almost 9 minute melodic epic which cannot be described in words, just listen and enjoy and you will be amazed.

The Black Halo is a concept album that deals with the battle between good and evil (a story which began on their predecessor Epica) and it is adapted from Goethe’s Faustus. It really is about political, cultural and religious events at Goethe’s time, with many cross references relating to Kamelot member lives and political opinions. The Black Halo deals with love, wonder, life and death seen through the eyes of Kamelot and it adds another exciting chapter to the band’s brilliant history. Truly recommended.

Review ”Ghost Opera”:

A lonely and desolate violin preludes an avalanche of moody progressive metal. Solitaire is the introduction to an album that is drenched with a sad melancholic vibe and loaded with heavy lyrical substance. No concept album this time around, but an overall dark and gloomy atmosphere connects the music of this disc. At first listening the album sounds much more stripped down than what we are used to from Kamelot. This more direct approach seems to leave no place for flirts with other musical styles or complex progressive adventures. But first impressions can be deceiving as this album does carry a lot of progressive essentials in a subtle manner.

The first time I got acquainted with the music of Kamelot was with their The Fourth Legacy album from 1999. Their mixture of audacious power metal and progressive elements with some gothic tendencies has me hooked ever since. Even though The Fourth Legacy remains my favourite because it was the album that got me into Kamelot’s music in the first place their following studio records Karma, Epica and The Black Halo are all masterpieces. To top the amazing The Black Halo album would be very daring so I think it is smart Kamelot changed their approach a little with Ghost Opera. So this is not an ambitious concept piece with over the top bombast but a collection of short power metal songs with the focus on very strong hooks. And I have to say this approach succeeds, as Ghost Opera is an excellent record.

Singer Roy Khan names Geoff Tate from Queensrÿche as one of his influences on his dramatically way of singing. So it’s no coincidence that some of the songs on this album remind me of 80’s Queensrÿche. Especially the experimental nature of tracks like The Human Stain and Blücher bring up that reference. Then Edenecho starts out with a piano intro that is very Savatage-like. But mostly Kamelot sound like themselves, as by now they found their own niche in the progressive metal scene. Big part of their sound is production tandem Sascha Paeth and Miro who again are responsible for the excellent audio and orchestration of the songs. The progressive and gothic elements are less dominant but still all of the songs are flavoured with a moody atmosphere. In some songs Roy’s vocals are a bit computerized which, even though I don’t like this in general, isn’t really disturbing. In Mourning Star it works very well especially with the startling chorus with dubbed female vocals. And the track shows that guitar player Thomas Youngblood has no problem to keep coming up with these interesting guitar riffs. This is one of my favourites on the record next to the beautiful ballad Love You To Death. This love song dealing with a Japanese tragedy shows Kamelot at their sensitive best almost outshining their already impressive back catalogue of ballads. Amanda Somerville is the vocalist responsible for the tasty female lead vocals. The typical speedy Kamelot songs with the ‘happy’ guitar melody and double bass drums are missing on this album. Only Silence Of The Darkness is a fast-paced track. Some fans might be disappointed with this but I don’t object, as I was never that fond on the speedy songs. As I am more into tracks like for example Lunar Sanctum from The Fourth Legacy the overall experimental nature of this album is fine by me. And songs like Up Through The Ashes and Edenecho shine with their effectively pleasant choruses.

Keyboard player Oliver Palotai is welcomed on this album as full-time band member. And even though Ghost Opera isn’t very symphonic the contributions of the keyboard player are evident. Apart from the above-mentioned names Kamelot consists of long time members Casey Grillo on drums and Glenn Barry on bass. The beautiful artwork of the album comes again from the hands of Swedish artist Mattias Norén. Watch out for the digipak version of Ghost Opera with extra bonus track The Pendulous Fall and a bonus DVD with the video of the title track and ‘the making of’. A tasteful package for a superb album!

Kamelot’s eighth studio album is again surpassing its predecessor The Black Halo, mostly in terms of song writing and production. Their musical mix of progressive metal, gothic metal, power metal and mainstream hard rock is almost second to none on this new album. The eleven new tracks are all filled with double bass rhythms, progressive elements, orchestral parts, walls of keyboards, addictive guitar riffs and amazing vocal passages. I would say that Ghost Opera is truly dominated by the great voice of Roy Khan, especially in songs like Anthem or Love You To Death, his singing really “make” these songs come to life.

The CD opens with the short Solitaire which could also be the overture for a real opera, as it is filled with strings, violin and keys. It has a real touching, sad melody, setting the tone for the rest of the album, which is lyrically rather dark, sad and gloomy. This rather short intro is followed by a bombastic, mid tempo song called Rule The World, featuring some Eastern influences and mysterious vocal parts by Khan. The first wall of sound can be heard in the title track as it is packed with strings, guitar licks, heavy drums and amazing vocals. This song is so bombastic that it even reminds me of Rhapsody on fire... The Human Stain features a head banging riff, great emotional vocals and a rather cool Marty Friedman-like guitar solo. The first real musical highlight is Blücher, a Queensrÿche-like track with lots of classical, orchestral parts and especially some truly breathtaking vocals.

The longest track is called Love You To Death and it has a nice piano/keys intro followed by strings, vocals and a great melody. This is a song that also could have been on their former album The Black Halo, mainly due to the astonishing female vocals of Amanda Sommerville and the sparkling guitar solo by Thomas Youngblood. Up Through The Ashes is again a Rhapsody-like song with dark and mysterious vocals and lots of orchestral parts. Mourning Star starts with keys and a choir intro (sung in Latin), followed by some heavy riffs and the female vocals tend to make this song very gothic like.

The only "real" ballad is called Anthem and it features an orchestral classical theme, a background choir, lots of piano and some really emotional and dramatic vocals by Khan. Actually this song is a bit too “sweet” for me, as it sometimes reminds me of musicals played in the West End of London... The album ends with a typical Kamelot track called EdenEcho, which is again rather bombastic, also featuring some gothic choir parts and a rather speedy, but melodic guitar solo.

I would say that the new songs are heavier and more complex than ever before, but they are still extremely catchy and also rather accessible. The production was again done by Paeth, Miro and Reitmeier and the album sounds truly contemporary and alive, so you could say that Kamelot’s third SPV release is again an album to look forward to for the fans. Listening tip: Blücher!

The album will also be released as a limited digipak, including bonus track and a bonus DVD.

Tracklist: Solitaire (1:00), Rule The World (3:40), Ghost Opera (4:06), The Human Stain (4:01), Blücher (4:03), Love You To Death (5:13), Up Through The Ashes (4:59), Mourning Star (4:37), Silence Of The Darkness (3:43), Anthem (4:24), Edenecho (4:13)

Ken Hensley

Ken(neth) Hensley was born in London, 24th August 1945 and started his musical career by teaching himself to play guitar at the age of 12. Although he played in several bands, things got more serious when Ken formed a band called The Gods around 1965. In the line up a.o. Mick Taylor, well known later for his work with The Rolling Stones. Ken wrote most of the material, sang and played the Hammond B3 organ. The Gods' line-up included, at one time or another, vocalist and guitar/bass player Greg Lake (later of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer), bass player Paul Newton (who would be later the first Uriah Heep bassist), drummer Lee Kerslake (later also of Heep), bassist John Glascock (later of Jethro Tull), and guitarist Joe Konas. The Gods recorded 2 LP's and several singles. A few years later, in 1969, Paul Newton asked Hensley to join forces in Spice, since they were looking after a keyboard player to make their sound less bluesy and more progressive at the time.

In January 1970, Spice changed its name into Uriah Heep. Also on the line-up were guitarist Mick Box and vocalist David Byron. With Uriah Heep, Ken Hensley found a place to develop and show to the world his songwriting and lyrics abilities, keyboards and guitar playing. The major success came, and Heep is now acclaimed as one of UK's most legendary rock bands. The chemistry of the most classic line-up including Hensley, Byron, Box, Kerslake and bassist Gary Thain, plus the management provided by Gerry Bron (Bronz Records), were the launching points of their tremendous capability of making great music. During his time with Heep (1970 - 1980), they recorded 13 studio albums, and one of the most acclaimed live albums of all times: "Uriah Heep Live - January 1973" (not to mention lots of compilations and singles. With the departure of Thain (died in 1975) and Byron, other excellent musicians also got into the Heep family: John Wetton (Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, later of UK and Asia), Trevor Bolder (from Spiders From Mars, later of Wishbone Ash, before coming back to UH) and John Lawton (Lucifer's Friend), among others. The chemistry, though, wasn't the same anymore...

After ten years of major success, Hensley left the band in 1980, and moved to the USA. There he played a few gigs in North America with his own Ken Hensley Band and released his third solo LP, "Free Spirit" (1980). In 1982 Ken joined Blackfoot, a hard rock Florida-based band. With them, he recorded 2 albums and achieved again some success, but he left after former manager Gerry Bron told him about Byron's sad death in 1985 and has been almost in retirement since then, in St. Louis (USA). Surprisingly though, after years of silence, in 1994, "From Time To Time", a collection of lost recordings, was released featuring rare songs recorded by Ken between 1971 and 1982, as well as some very good early versions of Heep's classic songs, played by Ken and his room-mates at that time, namely guitarist Paul Kossof and drummer Simon Kirke (both of Free). Other musicians on the songs were bassist Boz Burrell (King Crimson and Bad Company), guitarist Mick Ralphs (Bad Company), drummers Ian Paice (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) and Kenny Jones (The Who), amongst others. In 1999, Ken recorded an album, "A Glimpse Of Glory", together with his band Visible, besides his work with St. Louis Music.

During the 4th Uriah Heep Annual Convention in London, May 2000, plans were made for a one-off concert by the so-called "Hensley/Lawton Band". Ken was joined by former Heep singer John Lawton, for the first time 21 years after John's departure from Heep in 1979! With them were Paul Newton (Heep's original bassist), and two members of John's band, Reuben Kane on lead guitar and Justin Shefford on drums. They played a sort of old Heep classics and some of Ken's solo songs and the concert was recorded for a CD release, followed by a tour in Europe culminating with a concert in Hamburg, Germany, featuring a full orchestra and a new rendition of Heep's old classic "Salisbury"! Running Blind" (2002) was his first effort in 21 years, was released worldwide and followed by a world tour with his band called "Free Spirit", including Dave Kilminster (guitar), Andy Pyle (bass) and Pete Riley (drums). After moving to Spain, Ken released "The Last Dance","The Wizard's Diary" and "Cold Autumn Sunday". Originally billed as “Adios Tour” with the Viking All Star Band, Ken was invited to Apeldoorn (Netherlands) on October 21st for a fan meeting and a concert with the German UH Tribute band “Circle Of Hands”. There he unfolded his current activities and why this adios tour wasn’t adios for now ...

During the fan-meeting all attending had the opportunity to ask Ken questions. The first question was obviously to find out what happened to the originally planned tour….

KEN: I’m working really hard on my next solo-album at the moment and I haven’t finished it yet. Because this tour was supposed to support the new album “Blood On The Highway” we had to postpone the tour to march 2007. I promised Louis (Rentrop) however I would be here, so here I am! You will be hearing some of the new songs and of course tonight I will play with my friends of “Circle Of Hands” later on. At the moment you are watching part of the new live DVD scheduled for release in February 2007. Another exciting thing in the lives of Monica and me is that after this trip, we will become foster-parents. You know, in Spain there are a lot of abandoned children and since we can’t have children ourselves, we went to school for 5 weeks last year to learn how to become foster-parents. Next week we will have ourselves a 12 year old boy called Juanito, abandoned by his Gypsy-family at the age of three. Now he’s ready for the outside world and by living with us during the weekends and the holidays we hope to give him a chance for a decent life. Last thing I wanted to share with you is that Monica and I will start a foundation and we will be raising money to help people in need anytime, anywhere. For this purpose we will open a little shop in a village near selling CD’s. other musical stuff and children’s books. The people running the shop will all be handicapped people who wouldn’t be able to work a normal job. The first fundraising will be tonight when we do the auction Louis has set up for us. Another thing about this foundation will be total transparency. Everyone involved will be given access to the information where the money is coming from and where it is going to. (At this point Ken is given a special gift by one of the fans for making such great music: a wooden miniature guitar!)

Q: On your album “Eager To Please” you wrote the song “How Shall I Know”. I always wanted to know where you got the inspiration from?

KEN: I’d have to set my mind back because it’s such a long time ago, 1972 was it I believe. To tell you the truth I haven’t got the faintest idea!! Some songs seem to come out of nowhere while others like “Lady In Black” have a very detailed story as to where the song came from.

Q Do you remember the PINKPOP concert from 1976? For me it was a very important concert but the sound of UH was terrible that night.

KEN: During 1970-1976 we played so many concerts that I only remember very few of them like Mannheim Germany where a crowd of 100.000 sang the chorus of Lady in Black, those things you never forget! But ’76 Pinkpop, no I don’t recollect that particular show at all and I must add I wasn’t in too good a physical shape at that time….

Q: You were dressed in black ... everything! The crowd were 40,000 and it was the first ever TV recording of Pinkpop and the UH roadies were threatening the cameramen to throw their camera’s off the stage!

KEN: I was dressed in black? That’s really unusual, but maybe because I was feeling black ... but I feel ashamed of the conflicts but the band wouldn’t notice these kinds of things.

KEN: I’d have to go back a little further. I left Uriah Heep in June 1980, and at that time I was a drug addict and a complete mess. One of the reasons why I moved to the US in June 1981 was to re-gather myself, get rid of my drug addiction and get my feet back on the ground. The life of a young musician playing in a major rock band, well known throughout the world is something that is very hard to describe or to imagine, but with my time in Uriah Heep my whole identity was vanished into the band. I was completely lost, had no idea who I was anymore. At first I went to Denver but I ended up in St Louis thinking it would take me 2-3 years to get back on my feet again, but in fact it took me twelve years to recover!! When I was in St Louis I worked for a company called St Louis Music who manufactures musical instruments (guitars, amplifiers, PA systems). In those days they owned AMPEG (bass amplifiers) and ALVAREZ (acoustic guitars). This was a great thing for me because it was a stable situation, having a job, which I hadn’t had my whole life. Furthermore it was perfect because it was a connection to the industry I loved the most and knew the most about and I worked there for 15 years, travelling all over the world, most of the time visiting friends in the business and offer them a free guitar and have their picture taken for endorsement purposes. The last three years, when their export-manager left, I handled all their export-business because I speak three languages (English, Spanish and German). It really helped stabilizing my life and I consider it a blessing. Eventually I felt strong enough to make records again and I wanted to perform live again. In St Louis I had my own studio but the music-business had changed so much that at the time I was ready to play and record, I had to re-adapt.

KEN: Actually it didn’t in the early stages, because I became a Christian in 1993 and it was 1987-1988 when I was finally clean from cocaine and stopped taking any kind of drug. My faith did help redirecting my life and gave me the strength to make a new start. It still gives me strength day in day out!

Q: When did you become aware of the impact Uriah Heep has (had) on the people and the importance of the lyrics?

KEN: That’s a really good question and you’d have to ask that question to the other boys in the band, but for me that moment came some 5 years after I left the band. When you’re in the middle of this, it feels like a huge adventure, like an ongoing party. Only when Rodrigo started the website and I started to read emails I realised the impact of UH. As a sort of prehistoric band without internet, security or anything I didn’t realise that specific songs meant specific things to specific people and I started to realise how important the music and the lyrics had been for different individuals after I read their emails. It was only then that I realised, that as a musician you have a certain responsibility, which during the heydays was practically the last thing one would worry about. I met this man in some supermarket in St Louis (I used to meet fans in the bar, now I meet them in supermarkets!) and he came up to me and said ‘hey I have been following your music for some 25 years’ and I realised that it wasn’t just a party. It made me fully aware of my responsibilities as a normal (or almost normal) person with an abnormal gift. Surely my faith also taught me to be responsible to what lyrics I write because people do listen to what I’m saying.

Q: is the name Ken Hensley bigger than the name of Uriah Heep because you make a record every year and it takes Heep 8 years ...

KEN: I can’t be the judge of the first part of your questions because I don’t think I’m bigger than anything. We all have specific gifts and we should use them appropriately. Uriah Heep will always be important to me because without Uriah Heep I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t make a record every year. I don’t want to speculate why it takes Uriah Heep so long to make a new record but it’s kind of sad because then they would have the opportunity to make new songs based on the old things but also bring in some new things and bring out something new into the market place! But people know me because of Uriah Heep so it will always be a part of my history and that’s something I have to accept.

Q: We’re gonna hear Salisbury tonight and what always interested me how that song came to be with an orchestra and all while all the other songs are plain rock ‘n’ roll ... who came up with the idea?

KEN: In those days, the early Seventies, as a band you could do almost anything you wanted and you were allowed to experiment. If you listen to the first and the second album you can appreciate the band did a lot of different things. There were no restrictions and the record companies just took what you gave them… in those day there were a hundred bands, now there are tens of thousands and the record companies tell the bands what to do. Although it was a collaboration in the end, the original idea came from me, inspired by Jon Lord’s concerto for group and Orchestra (Deep Purple 1970). When I heard that I knew it was possible to combine rock music with an orchestra and I decided to try that.

Q: When you decided you wanted to make rock music again, did you consider joining Uriah Heep again?

KEN: When I decided to make records I didn’t know if I was able to do it so I wanted to try this really gently. I knew I could write but looking back I think the first record was a bit dodgy, the second one was a little better and now I’m beginning to get the hang of it again! I was never asked to rejoin the band and I guess there good reasons for that. Some of them would be personal, some of them would be philosophical and maybe some of them would be prejudice. I can only tell that if they ever would ask me I would definitely say ‘no’ coz’ I don’t want to go backwards….I’d rather sell 10 new records than spend my life playing only songs I wrote 30 years ago. In my live shows we only play 5 or 6 songs from those days, partly rearranged as you can see on the new live DVD. So rejoining for me would mean a giant step backwards. I think the band would have been together now if David and Gary would have been still alive, because there wouldn’t have been reasons not to. I had the best years of my musical life with the band and I want to keep those memories positive but leave them as they are.

During the break Ken shared a couple of his newly recorded songs with us, amongst others with Jorn Lande on vocals. After that it was my privilege to have Ken for myself for half an hour!

Q: What interested me in your biography was the impact the death of Gary Thain had on you as a person. Was he that close a friend?

KEN: No, not that, but it was simply that when you are young you feel indestructible and death seems so far away. When an older person dies you expect that to happen, but when a young person dies, someone you know and whom you worked with, it’s quite a shock. Although I knew Gary had a problem with drugs, especially heroine I just didn’t expect him to die!! It didn’t change me and my habits though. Furthermore Gary was the best musician in the band and when he was gone for me it was the beginning of the end. Although Gary’s replacement was John Wetton, a great bass player, singer and arranger, still it was not Gary… the chemistry was completely different.

Q: The material you wrote for Heep, was it arranged by the band or did you tell them how to play? Did you compose your songs on the guitar or rather on the keyboards?

KEN: I brought in basic songs, and all songs were arranged by the full band. A song was taken into the rehearsal room and eventually came out as a Uriah Heep song. Most of the time I composed on the guitar because we were travelling so much and in those day there were no small portable keyboards you could use. Without exception the words came first and often in some hotel room I started writing the music to go with the words. I only started to play an instrument because I wanted to make my poems into songs so I taught myself to play the piano and I taught myself to play the guitar and that is why I play in a such a different way compared to a real musician. I never learned how to play keyboards properly and I could never do the things Keith Emerson does or play like Rick Wakeman but still nobody plays like me and it’s the same with slide guitar. I loved the sound so much and I wanted to play. Just like playing the B3 I just said to myself you can do this, so I bought a slide and there I started to play. Only some years later to find out I did play it the wrong way…. most players play the slide guitar tuned in an open chord but as I didn’t know that I learned how to play the slide guitar tuned normally. My friend Mick Taylor told me to try the open chord like an E or a G and I’ve tried it but couldn’t play so I got back to my ‘normal tuning’ again.

KEN: The simple answer to that question would be ‘alcohol’. A more complicated answer would be what effect David’s drinking had on the band. You know it’s one thing the bass-player is a little drunk, or the guitar-player is a bit stoned but if the lead-singer is completely drunk, can’t speak, falls all over the place and misses out on any communication between the audience and the band, then you have a real problem, because he is the front-man! He was drinking sooooooo much and we talked about it a lot but nothing changed. Ultimately I gave the management an ultimatum and I said either he stops drinking, or we get a new singer or else I’m going! Normally the management doesn’t get involved, they usually only care for the money but I decided to quit halfway the tour in America and flew home and I insisted on speaking to Gerry (Bron). At the time Gerry was somewhere in the Bahama’s having his holiday so I left a message ’if David’s there I’m not, I can’t bear this any longer’. So Gerry flew home and we agreed on giving David two months to clean up or else he was to leave the band. In that period it got even worse so at the end of the American tour we decided to replace him. But in fact that was the end of the band because without Gary and without Dave it just wasn’t THE band, it was just a band…

KEN: Yeah, fact is he had stopped drinking at that time! When they found him there was no trace of alcohol in his blood, no alcohol in his house, but his liver was completely destroyed so in that respect I’m very lucky to be here!

KEN: No, it’s the songs I’m writing now, or at least these are as good as the best songs I wrote in the Seventies. I admit it took me over 20 years to recover my strength as a writer but I really feel I’m writing my best songs ever and if you listen to the new record complete you’ll know what I mean. It’s like writing for a movie because there a story there and I have to pin point a certain part of that story in a particular song, a sort of a subject within a subject so I have to write very focused to capture that subject with good melodies and good lyrics. Q: did you use other older material for the new album except for “The Last Dance”?

KEN: yes there’s one song from the “Running Blind” album called “You’ve Got It”. It’s a drugs-song, about the American preoccupation with cocaine. Since drugs are an important part of the story of rock in the seventies, I’m also using a song which I hope Tina Turner will sing called “Think Twice”, actually that might be on “Running Blind” as well. It’s a song about a relationship. The question is ‘is she in love with the music or the man., with the lifestyle or the person’. It’s about the dedication to music that is so intense that you really can’t have a relationship. Just like in other forms of entertainment or football: you have to give so much that there’s not much left. We offered the song to Tina, who is a Seventies-artist herself and if she’s not available it will probably be sung by Eve Gallagher. This lady used to work with Boy George, and although she’s white she’s got a very black voice that would be able to create the impact I’m aiming at. By the way I want to keep things focused on the concept and the story, this is not be an all star record!

KEN: I needed a rhythm section as flexible as possible and I wanted guys who were able to move and adept to different moods. In Spain I found a drummer and a bass-player who are exactly perfect. They’ll play on the whole album. Most of the guitars will be handled by one of the top five guitarists around Europe: Ovidio Lopez. There’s another guy with a seven string guitar and I’ll do some slide guitar. For the vocals we have Jorn Lande on three songs, John Lawton on one, either Tina Turner or Eve Gallagher and I’m doing the vocals on the two last songs myself. No one understands better than me what it’s like to have a huge career and at present a minor career so I don’t think I would like anyone else to sing those songs coz’ I’ve grown quite attached to them.

KEN: well, you know my whole live band (The Viking All Stars) are from Norway and Jorn joined us for some jamming sessions several times when we rehearsed. Once I decided Jorn had the perfect voice for those songs I called him up and he came over and sang them just perfectly. Then there is the symphony. The Alicante Youth Orchestra, a student orchestra performs on that song and I chose them because they’re young and willing to break rules, go outside the book, and that’s what I wanted to achieve. I’ve got some help from an American arranger who lives in Spain. I’d like to add that the record company gave me total freedom, so no interference whatsoever. The director is a former record-producer, he is 59 years old and he is very helpful because he’s got a house in Spain nearby where our studio is and every month he comes down and we have a fresh pair of listening ears and his input is well appreciated. Besides, the bottom line is, I have no addictions in the way now and I ‘m able to enjoy what I’m doing so much more than I used to!

Q: How did you end up in Spain?

KEN: my wife is Spanish, but the two of us met in the US but we decided to leave. At first we moved to England because I wanted to be close to my family, but we hated the weather and we found the UK to be very expensive. The solution was moving to Spain: good weather, good food, good wines, just perfect! The costs of living are fairly low also because we live in the middle of nowhere with all our animals. So we have total peace and we’re still only two and a half hours away from my family.

KEN: we do have electricity but we don’t drink the water, we buy bottles for ourselves but we use the water for irrigation, laundry and also for the animals. We have eight dogs, pending what day it is seven to nine cats, chickens, rabbits and as soon as we have the fencing done (our land is approximately 14000m²) we’d like to introduce cows and horses too. It’s a great life because I work in the studio from 11 am until 6 pm and when I’m home, especially in the weekends, I look after the animals, play with them, clean them etcetera and set my mind to something else completely!

KEN: at the time the tour was planned I wanted to focus on doing charity work only and make records and stop touring. I thought I’d ask the Vikings one more time and do some 20 to 30 shows and that would be it. I would rather concentrate on the business, studio-work and the farm. But then this deal with Membran Records came along and we decided to do this concept-album. So in 2007 we will have something to promote and that tour will not be called “Adios Tour” but “Live Fire” coz’ that’s the name of the band. Still, I enjoy playing live but I don’t particularly enjoy doing long tours, apart from the fact there’s a lot of money going out and there’s very little coming in, so it’s hard not to lose money on it. Because I will have two products to promote, the record company will support the tour and that will make it work financially as well.

Ken talked some more about all Ken & Monica’s animals and their problems, the sad stories and the wonderful stories and the help they get from their vet Salvador and the local pet shop, but those tales of caring & loving animals are a totally different subject.

As Ken was asked to go across for the sound-check we parted ways and I saw Ken later that evening, rendering a great performance with Circle Of Hands. Go see the legend live if he comes to tour Europe!

Kontrapunkt.

Kontrapunkt stammer fra det latinske punctus contra punctus, d.v.s. note mot note. Dette er en teknikk innenfor komponering hvor musikken består av selvstendige stemmer som samspiller med hverandre. Denne teknikken benyttes av nesten all klassisk musikk, og nåtidens såkalte kunstmusikk er kontrapunktisk, da med kanon og fuge som spesielle former. Innenfor rock og pop er stemmene ofte uselvstendige idet de er bundet av hovedmelodien, men det er en tendens mot at komponeringen bruker mer kontrapunktisk teknikk her også.

Fra 1500 tallet var det Palestrinia som utviklet kontrapunkt teknikken, og Bach 200 år senere videreførte dette. Studier av disse to komponistenes uttykksformer er obligatorisk for nåtidens komposisjonsstudenter. Teknikken anvendes i dag i (de vi anser som enkle musikkformer) synth-, techo- og chip-musikk. Brukes derimot kontrapunkt i en rocksetting vil det være god sjanse for et spennende resultat).I roman ”Point Counter Point” av Aldous Huxly fra 1928, beskrives teknikken mer inngående.

King Cimson

King Crimson er faktisk eksisterende i sitt 30 år som band. De har ikke eksistert kontinuerlig i alle disse årene, men heller kommet og gått med ujevne mellomrom. King Crimson kan på mange måter kalles progrockens gudfedre i den forstand at bandet var tidlig ute med alt som ble trendy innen progressiv rock: stilige covere, mellotron, ufattbare tekster, lange låter , korguttvokal, utallige besetningsbytter, referanser til klassisk musikk, komplekse rytmer og melodier og mange oppløsninger og gjenforeninger.

I spissen for alt dette står gitaristen, komponisten og eksentrikeren Robert Fripp. Han har styrt bandet gjennom storm og stille i alle disse årene, og han har vist en utrolig evne til å få det beste ut av sine medmusikanter. I begynnelsen var bandet veldig symfoniske og storslagne, men de stadige besetningsbyttene tok på. Etter en litt ujevn og stilforvirrende periode rundt 1971/72, kom de sterkt inn igjen med en besetning bestående av bl.a Bill Bruford (ex-Yes) på trommer og perkusjon. Nå var de over i en tyngre og mørkere musikk med plass til både strengt arrangerte ting og improvisasjon. Men de kunne også være ufattelig vakre, og mye av bandets beste musikk skriver seg fra denne perioden.

Robert Fripp begynte å gå lei av dinosaurustendenser og turnéliv, og oppløste King Crimson i 1974. Dette sparte King Crimson for de verste angrepene fra punken og beslektede stilarter som etterhvert slo spikeren i kista til progrocken som en kommersielt vital sjanger. Robert Fripp innledet samarbeid med bl.a Brian Eno, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Blondie og Talking Heads, noe som gjorde at han ble eksponert for en rekke nye strømninger innen musikk som de andre progbandene unngikk. Med denne basisen i bagasjen gjendannet han King Crimson i 1980 med bl.a Bill Bruford på trommer. Nå var musikken mer minimalistisk og sangorientert, men stadig spennende. Men denne besetningen viste fort kreativ stillstand og gikk i oppløsning i 1984.

Nå gikk det ti år før King Crimson så dagens lys igjen. Denne gangen ble det en seksmanns- besetning med to trommeslagere, to bassister og to gitarister. Stilmessig blandet de utrykket fra 73/74-skivene med 80-tallssoundet og viste at King Crimson ikke bare kunne være intellektuelle og dyktige låtsnekrere, men at de også kunne rocke tyngre og slå hardere enn de fleste yngre band bestående av musikere med mord i blikk og volumkontrollen på 11.

Denne utgaven av bandet holder det fortsatt gående og beviser at progressiv rock ikke trenger å være en retrogreie for musikkelskere med stadig økende hårfeste og nostalgibehov, men at det kan være en vital og slagkraftig sjanger for et bredt sammen- satt publikum.

Power To Believe

Helt klart den hardeste skiva deres noensinne. Likevel overholder den alle krav til eksperimentering, variasjon, intellektualitet, klangestetikk, polyfoni og tekstur. KC bruke her mer elektronikk enn vanlig, uten at det hemmer kreativiteten. Her finner du vakre "Eyes Wide" og saftige instrumentale "Level Five". Komposisjonene bindes sammen av porøse intermessoer som er mesterlig utført. King Crimson lever i beste velgående, og dette verket anbefales på det sterkeste.

Red

Kanskje er dette King Crimson beste øyeblikk noen sinne. Låtene er litt mindre komplekse i sin oppbygging, men stemningene er mer maniske og stemningen så fortettet at mangelen på musikalsk kompleksitet blir oppveid av et helhetlig sound som skjærer inn til beinet og etterlater ingen uberørt. Men skiva rommer også bandets vakreste øyeblikk i form av låta Starless som oppsummerer bandets alle epoker fram til da på en enestående måte.

B`Boom

Dobbel liveskive med den siste besetningen av bandet. Her levere de låtene fra 1995 gjenforenings-albumet Thrak og låter fra både ‘70 og ‘80-tallet i overbevisende og spennende versjoner, som særlig de nyeste låtene nyter veldig godt av.

Discipline

Den eneste gjennomførte skiva fra ‘80-tallsutgaven av bandet. Minimalistiske låter med en imponerende instrumentvev som gir bandet et sound som låter som en krysning av Talking Heads, balinesisk gamelanmusikk og samtidsminimalisme som Steve Reich og Philip Glass.

In The Court Of Crimson King

Her gjør de absolutt alt riktig og skaper et av rockens beste debutalbum (eller album for den saks skyld) noensinne. Symfonisk storslagenhet, folkelig nostalgi, vanvittige avantgarde eksperimenter, ufattelig presise jazzrockinspirerte passasjer- trenger jeg friste med mer...?

Lark`s Tongue In Aspic

Her gjør de nesten alt riktig igjen og introduserer oss for en tyngre og mer avantgardepreget utgave av bandet med masser av vanskelig rytmikk og harmonikk pakket inn i presise arrangementer og sinnssvak god instrumentbruk. Men de vakre, melankolske og vare øyeblikkene får også sin plass på et ufattelig spennende album.

Khan

Steve Hillage was originally the guitar player in the pre-Egg band Uriel (a/k/a Arzachel), but left them when - unlike his colleagues - he decided to continue his studies, eventually ending up... in Canterbury, needless to say! However by late 1970, he decided he'd had enough, went back to London to form his own band, Khan, having written a lot of songs while at college. He recruited Nick Greenwood on bass (formerly in the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown), and subsequently two former colleagues of Greenwood's (featured on his 1972 solo album "Cold Cuts", which was actually recorded before the Khan days, in California) : Eric Peachey (also ex-Dr.K's Blues Band) [that's the one with the huge beard !], and organist Dick Henningham. Interestingly, Khan's original drummer was none other than Pip Pyle, but he decided to join Gong instead.

Through his friendship with Caravan, forged while a student at the University of Kent, Hillage signed a management deal with Terry King and joined the Deram roster. By late 1971, the band were preparing to enter the studio to record their first album when Henningham left. Hillage summoned his old mate Dave Stewart and asked him to play on the album, which Stewart of course did on the spot. It's amazing how good our favourite keyboard player plays on this album, given the reduced amount of prior rehearsal. As a matter of fact, the music on "Space Shanty" is quite complex, and the four performers absolutely shine. It can be described as progressive rock rather than typical Canterbury music, but in any case this album is a definite classic of, let's say, 'cosmic-jazzy-progressive' rock.

It is not known over what period of time Hillage wrote these songs, but many bands would be happy to have so many good ideas in their whole career. Quite simply, the music changes all the time, yet it flows effortlessly. There is definitely an exceptional band interaction here, and it can be argued that Hillage never found such a fruitful context to express himself, and this probably is his most consistent and groundbreaking work ever. The tracks are all in the 6-10 minute range, each would deserve an individual review, so all I can recommend is to LISTEN to it! You'll never regret buying this (unfortunately, the CD versions are currently out of print but an enhanced reissue with bonus tracks is expected in the near future.

Following a tour promoting the album in June 1972 (with one Val Stevens taking over keyboard duties), Greenwood left, eventually releasing a solo album which has become one of the most expensive item on the used vinyl market. He was replaced by Nigel Griggs (later of Split Enz). Following the split of Egg the previous month, Dave Stewart also joined as full-time member, but this line-up would prove shortlived. After a few gigs in the Autumn (including one as part of Chris Cutler and Dave Stewart's Ottawa Music Company), Hillage decided to join Kevin Ayers' band for a tour of England and France, and eventually Gong.

Would this be the end of Khan? Well, not completely. A substantial amount of the material on Steve Hillage's first solo album, "Fish Rising", was actually considered for the aborted second Khan album (Dave Stewart guests on organ, by the way). It's really too bad the band didn't last longer...

Khan is formed, with Steve Hillage, Dick Henningham, Nick Greenwood and Eric Peachey

[02] London, Marquee Club [supporting Steamhammer]
[09] Oxford, Town Hall [supporting Caravan, also Gary Wright]
[10] Guildford, Civic Hall [supporting Caravan]
[11] London, Lyceum Strand [supporting Caravan, also Gary Wright]
[17] Liverpool, Philharmonic [supporting Caravan, also Gary Wright]
[18] Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley Victoria Hall [supporting Caravan, also Gary Wright]

[07] Watford, Kingham Hall [supporting Gnidrolog]
[10] Fulham, Greyhound
[22] London, Roundhouse (Implosion) [also: Steamhammer, If, Brotherhood of Breath, Crocodile, Jeff Dexter]

[01] High Wycombe, Town Hall [supporting Lindisfarne]
[02] Kingston Hill, College of Education [supporting Audience]
[14] London, Lyceum [also: Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator]

[01] London, Speakeasy
[12] Crewe, College of Education [also: Steamhammer]
[13] Bromley, College of Education [also: Steamhammer]
[14] London, Black Prince
"Space Shanty" recorded mainly at Decca's Tollington Park studio
Dick Henningham leaves, and Dave Stewart plays keyboards on the album

[12] Farnborough, Technical College [supporting Lindisfarne]
[26] London [Battersea Rise], Emanuel School [also: Egg, Spirogyra, Henry Cow, Come To The Edge]
Val Stevens joins as new keyboard player

[04] Bromley, Technical College [also: Van der Graaf Generator]
Khan joins the Ottawa Music Company alongside Henry Cow and Egg for its last series of performances

[14] Swindon, Wyvern
[--] Frankfurt (Germany), Zoom Club
[--] Montreux (Switzerland), Jazz and Pop Festival [also: Caravan]

[05] Chaltham, Central Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[07] Aberystwyth, King's Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[08] Plymouth, Guild Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[11] London, The Lyceum [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[13] Birmingham, Digbeth Civil Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[15] Guildford, Civic Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[16] Preston, Public Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[17] Middlesbrough, Town Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[18] Oakengates, Town Hall [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[22] Buxton, Pavilion Gardens [with Caravan and the Parlour Band]
[24] Reading, Whiteknights Hall (Students' Union) [with Lindisfarne]

Following the break-up of Egg, Dave Stewart joins a new incarnation of Khan for which Hillage retains the services of Eric Peachey, adding bassist Nigel Griggs (later in Split Enz)
New material, most of which will be revived on Hillage's "Fish Rising" album in 1974, is written and rehearsed

[27] Kensington Town Hall (Cabaret Voltaire) [also: Henry Cow, Ray Smith, Bob Berry]
The new Khan breaks up after only a few gigs when Hillage decides to join Kevin Ayers' band

Khatsaturjan

Often found to be talking up their Artists, Musea for once are selling Khatsaturjan short – Their press release says “ ….the album often recalls Yes, Genesis or Gentle Giant” but whilst this young (they are in their 20’s) Finnish band clearly finds much inspiration in the classic Prog bands of the 70’s, their biggest selling point is the surprisingly original and distinctive musical identity they have managed to create on this, only their second release.

The first (mini) album was a private release (it may be hard to come by now), and featured a few classical adaptations including the Prog staple Night On A Bare Mountain. As far as I can tell, the band has developed at an alarmingly quick rate, eschewing covers for their own material (though there is a quote from Handel on one track) and Aramed Forces.. is a very mature, fully realised example of symphonic rock, heavily featuring sophisticated vocal /choral arrangements, which combine with delightfully varied and richly colourful instrumental backing, performed by a tight knit combo of multi instrumentalists, and achieving fantastic results. All four members play keyboards, and there is also cello, violin and melodica to be heard as well as guitar, bass and drums..

The album flows beautifully as a single piece of music, but is divided into many sections including two lengthy ones, Scenario Triangular and The Mass. The latter of these two is particularly impressive, building to a considerably powerful conclusion. The music is full of intricate twists and turns, with many surprising and delightful moments. Skewed dance rhythms pop up often and acoustic passages collide with full on symphonic sections. The emphasis is on the vocals and its here that their strengths lie.

The vocal arrangements are slightly eccentric in places – in fact if I had to make a comparison to another band, it would not be Yes Or Genesis, but The Enid. The vocals do occasionally remind me of those on The Spell for instance, but Khatsaturjan are better singers, and not quite so quirky as Robert John Godfrey, in case this comparison was putting you off. Overall, the vocals are really striking and memorable. There are a lot of lyrics but not being given to lyrical analysis, I can only say that the lyrics describe some sort of philosophical/ spiritual quest, and may well hold up to greater in depth inspection than I had time or inclination for.

I was very impressed with this CD, it’s hard to believe quite how different it sounds to most other 70’s inspired Prog Acts – there’s no need to play “spot the Genesis riff”, or “Name that Yes tune” here.

If I have a criticism, it is that the title is rather contrived and pretentious. Apparently the group intend to include Aram in the title of all their albums, as it is the first name of Khatsaturjan (or Khatachurian as he is known in England), but I’d drop this clumsy gimmick if I was them – but they are only young so this affectation is forgivable, I think

I can see that Khatsaturjan’s unique style may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s such a refreshing take on the symphonic genre, confidently delivered, that I heartily recommend you give it a try – they are surely a band with a lot of promise.

Tracklist: Prelude (0:38), The Grand Pariah Lament (5:14), Oh, Cosmic Pearl [No Return To What Never Has Been] (8:35), Advent Rise (4:23), Scenario Triangular: [i] No Integrity [ii] Babylon Taxi [iii] A Short Dance With The Melodyman (11:57), The New Masters Of My Body (2:38), I’ve Got Your Daddy’s Phonenumber! (4:00), Guidance Of Blinded Light (4:16), Chromatic Movement (7:02), The Mass : [i] Self Prior To Insight [ii] Qualm / To Measure the Given [iii] Venture My Own Road (15:09), Upon The Plummeth (3:50)

Keith Caputo

Hearts Blood On Your Dawn

The name sounded familiar when I heard it a couple of months ago... Indeed, checking it out on the web I discovered Keith Caputo was/is the ex-frontman of Life Of Agony, that did not go "kaput" but set out on a solo career. Then, what I do remember of Life Of Agony (beware: I am not familiar with LOA!) is not very inviting: it is a band that started out in the spirit of Korn, Limb Bizkit, System Of A Down etc. Not exactly my cup of tea, and I guess the average prog fan will not bow down in front of these bands either. So it was with a raised eyebrow that I gave this CD a chance. Before putting the disk into the player I had a fast look in the informative leaflet usually accompanying releases for review. Songwriter. Wow. Now THAT is a big word. Everybody playing "minimalist" music with just a guitar calls himself a songwriter nowadays, especially in the indie music genre. Then again, something looked strange and beautiful, and beauty did reveal itself. Soon, even by the first listen. It should also be mentioned that this is the second personal album of Keith Caputo, after 2000's Died Laughing.

So is it a "songwriter" album? Yes it is, but this does not imply empty songs or lack of ideas and music. Obviously the songs are composed by Keith himself, they have a really strong personal touch and feeling but they are extremely well performed, with a lot of imagination, inspiration, variety and surprises. Keith stands completely naked in front of us all and exposes his soul, expressing love, sweetness, views, ideas, social beliefs, but also nerve and anger. Concerning the band, it is composed by Keith that sings and plays acoustic guitar and a guitarist, bass player and drummer. The singing is apparently in the spotlight, sometimes revealing a sensitive-fragile man, sometimes a warrior or an activist. Whatever it is, it is always honest, intelligent and highly professional.

The music bears no resemblance to his Life Of Agony past - in fact it has nothing to do with metal. It ranges from Lennon inspired ballad-like tunes (Mother), to Floyd-ian acoustic tracks, like the heartbreaking I Wanna Fly and the almost cathartic Our Moon Our Stars. The southern/blues influence is very evident in Droom Kleuren which brings Cave's Let Love In era to mind, or alternatively Cash meets Calexico, but also in the political Kill With God. More variety in the influences to come though; U2 meets Elbow, Radiohead meets Pearl Jam, in either happier mid-tempo tunes like Monkey, or in the full of rage and passion Lamb To The Slaughter. Buckley seems to smile somewhere in the back of the stage with Ramshackle. -"Let's just get out of this mess...". Overall, if I had to describe what the album sounds like with one word, my closest hit would be Grace. Rather ambitious comparison, but still I can't avoid it! Not that the music sounds the same, but something in the ambience and the feeling...and the soul. Always is a very simple ballad, with a coolness reminiscent of Starsailor. However, I wonder how can it sound SO good. - "If my plane happens to crash know that I'll always love you...". So simple...

This album has everything. Simple moments, grandiose moments (see for instance the catchy super-track Livin The Blues), moments when the thoughts inside you drown you (Hearts Blood Part 2), versus moments when they burst out and you explode (Hearts Blood Part 1). You start, and you drink it bottoms up. No skipping tracks, no getting bored, no valleys, no hills. It's pages torn out of a personal diary talking about loss and love but also about the author's view of the world, converted to audio by a magic wand. Do not miss the experience as I missed Caputo's concert back in May, in my city, not knowing him back then. What more can I say? Touched me a lot. Absolutely in the top 5 of 2006. Keith will summarise it all better: "and the pain sure brings out the best...".

Tracklist: Departure Into The New Affection And New Noise (0:27), Mother (4:14), Monkey (3:59), Ramshackle (4:16), Droom Kleuren (4:07), Lamb To The Slaughter (Hearts Blood On Your Dawn Part 1) (4:14), How Happy Is This Heart of Mine? (1:11), I Wanna Fly (Hearts Blood On Your Dawn Part 2) (4:40), Always (3:44), Fix Pop Bang Shot (3:53), Kill With God (3:24), Livin The Blues (7:28), Our Moon Our Stars (The Shakes) (6:08)

Karnataka

KARNATAKA will be appearing at the Vibes From The Vines festival which will be held on Saturday 12th August 2006.
The headliner of the festival will be Gary Moore & Guests.

Karnataka also announced two new additions to the band with Louie Palmer (drums) and Adam Fox (guitar).

It's been an eventful few months during which time Ian has relocated from Swansea to London.

"...It's an exciting time for the band and the move now means we can spend much more time working together as a unit. It has been exceptionally busy (even by my standards!), with a lot of time being devoted to Chasing The Monsoon (news updates coming soon) moving home and studio up the M4!

The move to London earlier this year and the time out from the band has been an opportunity for all concerned to reappraise the situation.

Nick and Alquimia are talented musicians with distinct styles, however over a period of time we all felt we were pulling in different directions. It was mutually agreed that Nick and Alquimia would no longer play a role in Karnataka and instead focus on their solo careers. Due to Bob's commitments he has had little opportunity to play an active role in the band and with Karnataka ready to move forward and Bob unable to devote time, we had no option but to audition for a new drummer."

"The result of this frenetic activity is we now have two great additions to the band. Introducing on drums Louie Palmer and on lead guitar Adam Fox!...." Ian

Kaipa

Before the seeds of the Flower Kings were planted, Kings' guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt was working in the band Kaipa. The band was originally formed under the name Ura Kaipa by Hans Lundin (keys) and Tomas Eriksson (bass) in 1973. The duo had worked together previously in San Micheals and for this project recruited Thomas Sjoberg on drums. Illness forced Sjoberg to leave the group the following year, though. His replacement was Ingemar Bergman. Stolt joined the band in 1974 also, shortly after they had cut the "Ura" from the name of the band. Their self-titled debut release, with a cover adorned by a picture painted by Stolt, was released the following year. Their sophomore offering, Inget Nytt Under Solen, was recorded and released in 1976. Late in 1977, Eriksson left the band, but that was certainly not to be the last lineup change for the year. Indeed, the group chose to add a lead singer in the personage of Mats Lofgren. They also replaced Ericksson with Mats Lindberg before the year was over. Their next disc was 1978's Solo.

By this point, forces were working to pull the band apart, and in 1979 Stolt left the group. His replacement was Max Ahman. This lineup of the band recorded their next album, Hander, late in 1979 for a 1980 release. Throughout 1980, the group went through many problems, though. First they added Torkel Thyrell on bass, but the lineup suffered a serious blow when Lofgren left the group. His replacement came in the form of a female, Anne Chaaban. However, neither of the two new recruits was to remain with the group past November of that same year. In an unusual turn of events, the group recruited Mats Lindberg to replace Thyrell. However, this Lindberg only bore the same name as their previous bassist, but was not the same man. Before 1981 was through, Bergman would leave the group. So, Kaipa was looking for a new drummer. They found the replacement in Pelle Andersson. That grouping released the album Nattdjurstid late in 1982. It would prove to be the last for a long time. In fact, the band decided to take a break from all the hard work, but that break very nearly became a permanent one. They would not work together again until the year 2001 when they re-formed to record their Notes From the Past album. That disc (released in 2002) featured a lineup composed of Lundin, Stolt, Morgan Agren, Patrik Lundström, and Jonas Reingold (who Stolt works with in the Flower Kings).

Kino

John Mitchell’s face was almost completely covered with his scarfe. All you could see was a glimpse of his eyes. His voice sounded hoarse as he spoke to Pete Trewavas. One cigarette after the other was necessary to calm him down. ‘I’m dead nervous. Next week we have a gig in Germany which is to be filmed for the famous Rockpalast series so we definitely needed at least one tryout before that important date. Today was the only possibility and although it all went so quickly that probably few people will turn up, I really feel very nervous indeed.’

In order to put John at ease and whilst people were looking to locate John Beck maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to go through the when’s and why’s of Kino. ‘The idea for Kino started quite a while ago when the project didn’t even have a name. Inside Out’s Thomas Waber told me he liked my band The Urbane and especially my way of songwriting and asked whether at all I could be interested to try something more progressive. After I said I was keen to do it he asked me who I wanted to get involved with. So I said I always wanted to get together with John Beck as It Bites had always been one of my favourite bands. I had no other names on my list so John Beck was the one to go for. I ended up playing for John Wetton on a tour in Japan which also had John Beck in the line-up. So I asked him there and then if he wanted to get this project together to which he provisionaly agreed. However certain things came in the way so nothing happened for some time. At around that time Transatlantic had come to what I would call a ‘hiatus’ so when Thomas asked Pete what he wanted to do next Pete said he wanted to work with John Beck. So there was a common interest there. Then Pete and I started writing together whilst Beck was still on a different planet around that time. John was extremely busy as always and I think he was touring with Alan Parsons back then. The original plan was to work together with Ray Wilson so he could be our singer. Initially he agreed to do it and we even had a date in our diary but in the end he opted for his solo career.’ At this time Pete Trewavas mingles in the discussion. ‘I think Ray didn’t find it right that he would have his solo material and the music from the new project out on the same label.’ ‘I think he had it with bands’, continues John Mitchell. ‘Although we went through a list of other names in search of a singer in the end I decided to do it myself. So all that was left was finding a suitable drummer.’ ‘Richard Barbieri had given me Chris Maitland’s number’, says Pete. ‘I know Richard and Steve Wilson quite well and as Porcupine Tree once supported Marillion I knew how versatile Chris was.’

‘From the moment ‘go’ we knew we needed a real band as opposed to a studio project. What happens in the studio can be seen as a mission but a real band going on the road is the actual pay off. Playing live is like a reward in a way.’ Pete couldn’t agree more. ‘The good thing about playing live is that you naturally become more of a band, the understanding of eachother’s playing is hightened. You have to work twice as hard to make everything work. This most certainly helps us a lot in time for the second Kino album which we intend to do. We’re certainly looking at a longterm project here.’ ‘As we were offered this great opportunity in Cologne for Rockpalast we felt we had at least to do one gig as a warm up regardless whether people showed up or not. After our tryout Pete and I are returning home whilst John Beck is actually on tour with Chris Norman (remember the band Smokie ?). Believe it or not but he’s playing guitar on that tour ! John is ever so talented playing all kinds of instruments. It Bites to me had like pop sensibility whilst also having clever musicianship. To be honest I do think it’s their “Once around the world” album which got me interested in progressive rock in the first place. I went to see them live in Reading when I was sixteen. John Beck is such a charismatic guy on stage you know. He wore the vicar’s outfit, is very flamboyant when he plays keyboards and simply is a fun guy and a fantastic musician.’

Although it’s Kino’s very first live appearance long before the band’s debut album is even due, drummer Chris Maitland is not present. ‘After he left Porcupine Tree he did a lot of session drumming such as playing for westend musicals so he’s currently on tour doing that. As his shedule didn’t match ours we sadly had to replace him for these gigs. We didn’t go for a German name as a band only to please our recordcompany. In fact we only recently found out that somewhere in the eighties there must have been a Russian band also called Kino. We only found out about this once our album was ready and all the promotion was well and truly working so there was no turning back. We were sitting in my frontroom browsing in dictionaries together with Pete making a shortlist of possible names. Then one day Pete came in and said : ‘what about Kino ?’ In the beginning not everyone liked it but now they all love it. John Beck wasn’t too sure but really loves it now. It’s like naming your first child : you don’t know what to call it but after a while it grows on you.’

People who don’t get the necessary background information might think that the album contains filmmusic what with the name of the band being Kino, the title being “Picture” and the sleeve showing a cinema. ‘There’s one song on the album called ‘Picture’ which sounds almost like a mini soundtrack. It’s just piano and voice but it gets the same vibe as Twin Peaks. It’s John Beck at his very best. We know that it’s a big gamble for the people turning up because other than the four minute teaser on our website noone has ever heard the Kino music. We locked ourselves in the studio for the last five days so that we can deliver our music in the best possible way. With only one album under our belt we knew that the concert would be rather short. We thought of including some material by our other bands but decided not to in the end (they did however when they performed during the Marillion fan convention in Utrecht performing ‘Fading out’ by The Urbane, ‘Plastic dreamer’ and ‘Still too young to remember’ by It Bites before settling for a version of the Marillion song ‘Made again’ as performed between Kino and Marillion !) . We ran through an It Bites song, we did a Marillion song. We didn’t get around into doing an Urbane song as I feel it’s too much of a different style. The main task was to get the material from the debut Kino album right. Meanwhile life goes on and you may be interested to know that It Bites is back together again. They have been together on a couple of writing sessions, they even have hired the local school hall up in Cumbria where they rehearsed when they were little just to get the vibe back together. They have written a bunch of new stuff and I believe the studio has been booked for early 2005 (John Beck later on would inform us that drummer Bob Dalton let him know that february was impossible due to Dick the bassplayer being unable to make it as he’s on tour with Ray Davies and Frank Dunnery can’t do it because he’s studying psychology in New York).’

‘What Kino is concerned Pete and I had demoed around seven songs but put all of them aside when we started writing some new material together. So who knows how the next album will sound like. “Picture” already is a varied album and we like it that way. We like to put fragile songs back to back with harder material. The stuff we write for Kino most definitely is not the kind of material I’d use for Arena or Pete would use for Marillion or John would use for It Bites.’ Right now John Beck enters the room so why not ask the man a couple of questions such as whether at all his setup and/or his sounds have changed over the years. ‘I now play with a different rig but soundwise I pretty much use the same sounds now as when I used to be in It Bites. I still have the same sampler that I used with It Bites which I still use for various bits’n bobs. Definitely no mellotrons on board !’ John Beck is rather surprised that I know he’s a great fan of Jacques Brel. As Brel was a Belgian just like me, of course I’m interested to know whether at all he sees it possible to sneek in some intimate material within Kino as kind of a tribute to Brel ? ‘I definitely want to reach out for those things at some point but I don’t think Kino would be the right setting to do it in.’ John Mitchell suddenly has a confession to make. ‘I once went out with a girl from Belgium who was heavilly into Brel and she sat me down one evening and played a lot of his stuff to me.’ Then it’s back to confessions from John Beck. ‘John let me hear some stuff he’d been working on together with Pete and I really liked what I heard. There were some keyboards on the demo as played by John and Pete together with a horrible drumcomputer which John had on his computer. But it clearly gave me an idea.’ ‘I have to confess that none of those songs made it on the actual album’, says John Mitchell. ‘In fact I’m lying as one song did made it onto the album being ‘Room for two’. At home I have a full CD with Kino material we haven’t used. Amongst them is this 16 minute long track that Pete and I did so who knows maybe we’ll use it on the second album ? I can also tell you that we contributed to a Kevin Gilbert tribute album which is quite nice as also Julian Lennon and Andrew Gold’s did a track. To be honest it wasn’t recorded as Kino but simply something me and John Beck did. Later on Pete added some bass and strangely enough Steve Hughes, who steps into Chris Maitland’s shoes on this first gig, put some drums on it.

Throughout their careers the various paths of the Kino members crossed many times. ‘That’s true. Both John’s toured together with John Wetton. John Beck opened for Marillion when he was in It Bites. Porcupine Tree supported Marillion. I supported Marillion a couple of times on my own with an acoustic guitar and also with The Urbane. Basically everyone supported Marillion (loud laughs all around !).’ Does this make Pete Trewavas the ‘granddad of prog ?

Kraftwerk

Plata ble sluppet på markedet i november 1974, og man kan godt si at den skilte seg radikalt ut fra det som ellers foregikk på den musikalske fronten i det året. Abba vant Grand Prix, og glamrocken begynte å gjøre seg gjeldende for alvor. Synthesizeren var fortsatt et instrument forbeholdt de få, mest på grunn av pris. En synth kostet; i følge Kraftwerk selv, like mye som en folkevogn, og instrumentet ble vel fortsatt sett på som et redskap for spesielt interesserte.

Det hadde vært eksperimentert med elektronisk musikk i mange år allerede, men noe stort kommersielt gjennombrudd for denne måten å lage musikk på hadde det ikke blitt noe av foreløpig. Noen få enkelttilfeller var det dog: Walter Carlos fikk stor oppmerksomhet for sine "Switch on Bach" plater. Den første tror jeg kom i 69. Hot Butter fikk en hit med Pop Corn i 72, og Tangerine Dream ga ut den kritikerroste Phaedra samme år som Autobahn kom ut.

Synthesizeren ble prøvd ut på mange forskjellige måter. Band som Hawkwind brukte den til å lage ganske spacet atmosfære i sine låter. Chicory Tip lagde små pop låter med synth som et morsomt innslag i sangene. Japaneren Isao Tomita lagde sin elektroniske versjon av Claude Debussys musikk med "Snowflakes are dancing", og Rick Wakeman beviste at han var en virituos trollmann på keyboard både i Yes og på etter hvert på sine mange soloalbum. Og progbanda brukte den til å skape ofte rene episke stemninger i sine til tider eviglange låter. Men ren elektronisk popmusikk var det vel heller fint lite av. Instrumentet ble fortsatt sett på som et musikalsk "leketøy" som man kunne lage rare lyder til låtene med.

Kraftwerk som band hadde eksistert siden slutten av 60 tallet. Først som "Organisation" som ga ut et album; "Tone Float" i 1970. Senere forandret Florian Schneider og Ralf Hütter både navn og "line up", og Kraftwerk var et faktum. Og om Organisation kan nevnes følgende: Synth bandet Orchestral manoeuvres in the dark kalte sitt andre album fra 1980 for Organisation som en liten hyllest til Kraftwerk. De gjorde en cover av Neon lights på Sugar tax albumet fra 1991, og som ikke det var nok så gjorde Andy McCluskey vokaljobben på Karl Bartos bandet Elektric Musics låt Kissing the machine på skiva Esperanto fra 93. Men tilbake til det vi egentlig holdt på med. Kraftwerk ga ut Kraftwerk 1 og Kraftwerk 2 i 1970 og 71. Med i besetningen den gang var blant annet Klaus Dinger som senere ble medlem i et annet klassisk tysk band, NEU!. Musikken var veldig lite elektronisk på de to platene. Men på tredje albumet Ralf & Florian i 73, var det elektronikken som stod i sentrum. Musikken var fortsatt en smule sær og appellerte vel mest til den mer spesielt interesserte massen. Men så kom Autobahn.

På Autobahn var besetningen, i tillegg til Schneider og Hütter, utvidet med Klaus Röder og Wolfgang Flür. Og under den etterfølgende turneen ble Röder skiftet ut med Karl Bartos, og dermed hadde Kraftwerk fått sin klassiske line up. Plata ble som sagt sluppet November 74. Selv stiftet jeg første gang bekjentskap med denne plata sånn rundt 75-76 tror jeg.

Det var som å komme inn i en totalt ny musikalsk verden som man ikke hadde det minste kjennskap til at den eksisterte. Grunnen til at jeg kjøpte skiva er litt uklar, jeg var bare en 10,12 år, men det at jeg var bilinteressert ,og at coveret bestod av et motorveiskilt var nok en utløsende faktor. Bak på omslaget hadde de også trykket teksten på tittelsporet, og bandoppsetningen er også med. Albumet kom også ut med et annet cover, som jeg først fikk på senere utgaver når jeg måtte erstatte mitt slitte første eksemplar, og når den etter hvert ble innkjøpt på CD. Coveret var egentlig, og er i sammenligning med senere cover også, et spesielt omslag til Kraftwerk å være.

I likhet med etterfølgende plater forteller coveret også her tydelig om hva plata hovedsakelig dreier seg om. Det er, på en udefinerbar måte, ganske så "poetisk" og kunstnerisk i uttrykket. Bildet viser(som du sikkert kan se på bildet som er i tillegg til denne artikkelen) en motorvei som snor seg over en grønnkledd ås. Bak fjellene skinner solen fra en nesten skyfri himmel.

Mot oss kommer en stor Mercedes som representerer den øvre klassens måte å komme seg frem på, mens fra oss på bildet kjører en Folkevogn "Boble" som er akkurat som i bilens merkenavn nettopp en folkevogn. En vogn for det bredere lag av befolkningen. To kjøretøyer som er noe man absolutt forbinder med både Tyskland og autobahn. Bildet er laget av Emil Schult som også var med og skrev teksten til låten.

Allerede her viser Kraftwerk at de kun trenger små enkle rim til å få frem meningen i musikken, noe som er ganske typisk for bandet i en del senere låter. På utgaven med "motorveiskilt"- coveret er teksten trykket på baksiden, mens på den andre utgaven er det ingen opplysninger overhodet. CD utgaven har samme cover som sistnevnte, men har med låtene og hvem som har skrevet dem på baksiden.

Hele side en er viet den litt over 22 minutter lange tittellåten. Vi hører en bildør som lukkes og en gammel motor som starter og vi er på tur. Den karakteristiske og lett gjenkjennelige melodien og rytmen gjør sitt inntog, og når vokalen kommer får vi også en fin og ganske riktig beskrivelse av en tur på autobahn. I tillegg til gjennomgangsfrasen "wir fahr`n fahr`n fahr`n auf der autobahn" så er første vers som følger: "Vor uns liegt ein weites tal, die sonne scheint mit blitzerstrahl". "Foran oss ligger en vid dal, og solen skinner med glitrende stråler", en beskrivelse som passer godt sammen med coveret med bilene på. Videre så kommer: "Die fahrbahn ist ein graues band, weisse streifen grüner rand". "Kjørebanen er et grått band med hvite striper og grønn rand". "Jetzt schalten wir das radio an, auf dem lautsprecher klingt es dann" er siste vers og blir omtrent som dette: "Vi skrur radioen på, og ut av høyttalerne klinger det".

Etter det siste verset kommer "Wir fahr`n auf der autobahn" i en slags "radio" stemme. Alt i alt er dette egentlig bare en kommentar til det man ser når man er ute og kjører. Dette er rett og slett tørre facts pakket inn i en musikalsk sammenheng. Og det fungerer utmerket. Noe av det som jeg kan huske som fascinerte meg mye, og som fortsatt egentlig gjør det, er sekvensen hvor bilene suser forbi. Alt kreert med elektronikkens hjelp, og det hørtes utrolig ut at man kunne få til noe slikt med bare å skru på knotter syntes jeg den gang. Et annet element, som også gjør låten lett gjenkjennelig, er rytmen i låten. Har du først hørt den så tror jeg du vil kjenne den igjen overalt. Etter at kjøreturen er over, er det tid for å snu plata (her går jeg ut i fra den gamle måten å spille plater på).

Side to består av fire spor som er av en mer eksperimentell karakter enn a-siden. "Autobahn" er nesten for en singleplate å regne. Hele side a er hovedsporet, og side to består av musikk bare for å få fylt ut siden.

Nå synes jeg ikke at side to av plata er direkte dårlig, men den blekner allikevel i forhold til a-siden. Musikken her bærer mer preg av det gamle Kraftwerk, og man kan si at side en er det "nye" Kraftwerk, mens side to er et slags farvel til det gamle.

Det hele åpner med "Kometenmelodie 1" som er en mer ambient låt en resten av sporene. En ganske så spacet musikalsk beskrivelse av en komet. "Kometenmelodie 1" sklir over i "Kometenmelodie 2" som er en betraktelig mer uptempo låt, og som også kan sies å være en av forfedrene til den melodiøse trance musikken som sulle komme mange år senere. "Mitternacht" som er neste spor, er en mørk melodi.

Her beskrives, ad elektronisk vei, en tur inn i noe som mer høres ut som en grotte. Vi hører det drypper, og en flokk flaggermus flyr forbi. Vi hører også noe som sikkert skal være ulvehyl for å gjøre det litt skumlere. Både denne låten, og den siste på side to, "Morgenspaziergang" oppleves som en ren demonstrasjon i hva man kunne greie å få til på en synthesizer den gang., og det er ikke til å komme unna at mange av oss var imponerte.

Tenk å få til alt dette ved bare å skru på knotter. Så var det siste sporet "Morgenspaziergang". En så avgjort mer lystig låt en den foregående. Her får vi fuglesang og rennende vann, og det hele har en svært så munter stemning i seg. Denne låten er rett og slett et lydmaleri, og er vel en av de mer "kunstneriske" sporene til Kraftwerk.

Etter "Autobahn" kom platene til Kraftwerk ut i relativt greit tempo fram til "Electric cafe" i 86. Fra da gikk det 17 år før neste studio album , "Tour de France" kom. Da har jeg sett bort i fra mix albumet som kom i 91.Nevnes bør vel også at det ble gitt ut en live cd i serien Concert classics i 98. Den inneholder en litt annen låtrekkefølge, samt at "Mitternacht" er utelatt. Vi får en 11 minutter lang versjon av "Kometenmelodie", en nesten 22 minutters versjon av "Autobahn", og "Morgienspaziergang" del 1 og 2 på til sammen 14 minutter. Det står ikke hvor dette er spilt inn, men en utgivelse som er verdt å ta med seg for fans er det i hvert fall. Man må vel også regne med at det finnes mer live materiale der ute av både lovlig og ulovlig karakter.

Til slutt kan jeg si at selv om "Autobahn" var en viktig plate i sin sjanger, så er det ikke den plata som jeg har satt mest pris på i ettertid av Kraftwerks plater. De som kjenner meg fra barndommen har fortsatt minner om meg og denne plata(den ble ofte lånt bort med det påfølgende resultat at den ble levert tilbake med et rystende hode), men i de senere år har jeg blitt uhelbredelig forelsket i "Trans Europe Express", men det er en sak vi kan komme tilbake til når tiden er inne for det. Uansett er Kraftwerk et av de banda som har fulgt meg i oppveksten, og er et av de banda som tilhører barndommen og mange år i ettertid, og som kommer til å tone ut fra stereoanlegget selv om jag etter hvert befinner meg på gamlehjemmet. Derfor var det ekstra stas å få anledning til å se dem live på Rockefeller når de var der i Februar 04.

På den konserten beviste de at de fortsatt lager musikk som viser hvem som har lagt grunnlaget for mye av den elektroniske musikken som har kommet i ettertid. Jeg opplevde et band som rett og slett lånte beats og den grooven de selv har påvirket andre artister til å utvikle. Det var en tilstand av at dette var læremestrene som lånte ideen til læreguttene for så å gjøre det endra bedre selv. De spilte rett og slett skjorta av de fleste synth band som finnes. Og det pussige er at de har et sound som ingen, (med unntak av engelske Komputer) har greid å etterligne. De få tilfellene som finnes er av band som Yamo og Electric Music. Men så er det gamle Kraftwerkmedlemmer involvert der også.

Hva man enn måtte mene om dette bandet, så har det for lengst skrevet seg inn i de musikalske historiebøkene. Musikken deres kommer til å leve evig, de får nye fans, og de kommer helt sikkert til å ha innflytelse på nye talenter. La oss bare håpe at det kommer mer musikk fra dette bandet, som har gitt oss så mye bra elektronisk popmusikk. Så gjensto det da bare å ønske seg en jubileumsutgave av Autobahn.