Trapeze

Artist: Trapeze
Label: Lemon Records UK
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 5013929762121
ASIN: B00019FWFS

Release Date: 2004-02-19

Trapeze

Related Categories:

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock

| Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

It's Only a Dream
Giant's Dead Hoorah
Over
Nancy Gray
Fairytale
Verily Verily
Fairytale
It's My Life
Am I
Suicide
Wings
Another Day - Hughes, Jones, Trapeze
Send Me No More Letters
It's Only a Dream

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Medusa
You Are the Music..We're Just the Band
On the Highwire
Hold On
Captain Beyond

Album Details

This was Trapeze's First Album Originally Released in 1970 and Produced by the Moody Blues John Lodge. Unavailable on CD for Some 13 Years, this was the Bands Debut Album with 14 Tracks and a Great Insight Into How Trapeze Developed Over the Next the Next Three Albums, the Album Will Feature Extensive Sleevenotes and Original Artwork.

Customer Reviews:

The good rock of the past.......2007-03-29

Glenn Hughes is the voice of rock, you will understand......

Trapeze debut.......2005-12-02

Trapeze (1970.) Trapeze's first album.

INTRODUCTION:
The seventies was a time of excellent rock and roll, no questions asked. But in the mess of all the excellent bands, many of which were forgotten by time, in favor of the more popular acts of the day. Trapeze is one of those bands. The band is one of the little-known acts of this period, neglected in favor of their more widely-esteemed peers, but the band was nothing short of excellent. Featuring Glenn Hughes, later of Deep Purple fame, along with several other musicians who would later gain fame in other groups, including Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Whitesnake, Trapeze was a reverse supergroup of sorts. They formed circa 1968 in England, and released their first album in 1970. John Lodge of Moody Blues fame produced the debut on his Threshold Records label. How does the band's first album measure up? Keep reading to find out!

OVERVIEW:
Trapeze released their self-titled debut album circa 1970. John Lodge produced the album and released it on his label, Threshold Records. The band featured lead vocalist John Jones, keyboardist Terry Rowley, guitarist Mel Galley, bassist Glenn Hughes, and drummer Dave Holland. After the debut, Jones and Rowley returned to their old band, The Montanas, and the band became a three piece. The debut album features the tracks It's Only A Dream, The Giant's Dead Hoorah, Over, Nancy Gray, Fairytale/Verily Verily/Fairytale, It's My Life, Am I, Suicide, Wings, Another Day, Send No More Letters, and It's Only A Dream.

REVIEW:
I bought Trapeze's debut album after hearing the blues rock masterpiece, Medusa, which is actually the band's second album. With the band's debut, I was expecting the same excellent heavy blues rock. Did I get what I was expecting? Well, yes and no. Yes in that I got an excellent classic rock album. No in that this is NOT the same heavy blues rock that dominated the Medusa album. The band on here has a slightly softer sound, with elements of psychedelia and the early progressive rock elements of the days. John Lodge of the Moody Blues produced this record, and you can definitely sense his influences in some places on the record. Let's take a look at each track the album has to offer.

-SIDE A-

-It's Only A Dream: Less than a minute long, this is an instrumental piece that serves as an introduction to the album. It features slow and melodic instrumentation and vocals. On its own merits this would be a weak track, but as an intro to the album it works very well.

-The Giant's Dead Hoorah: Following the album's introduction, we get to this track. It's a slow and mostly acoustic track, but it features an excellent rocking chorus, definitely reminiscent of the other music of this period, while at the same time sounding totally unique. An excellent song, no questions asked, in all its diverse moments.

-Over: The third track on the album is a slow rocker, with a slight touch of psychedelia thrown in for good measure. One of the things I love about this album is that the band manages to take the concept of psychedelic music and totally reinvent it in their own unique fashion. This song makes for a pretty good example of the phenomenon.

-Nancy Gray: Most of the songs on this album are of a slower sort - definitely not consistent with the later Trapeze most fans know and love the band for being. This song is no exception. Basically, it's a slow and melodic piece, with instrumentation and vocals and complement each other excellently. Another solid track.

-Fairytale/Verily Verily/Fairytale: Here we have a three-part medley. The first part of the song is an organ-intensive rocker. The organ is used excellently here, and it was a catchy way to start the medley. For the bridge in the middle of the song, the group swaps the organ and the rocking stylings for piano, used in a slow and melodic fashion. And for the third and final portion of the song, the band reprises the stylings of the first. This lengthy medley is one of the album's finest pieces.

-SIDE B-

-It's My Life: Here's a melodic rocker, with a sound that is uniquely of this album. The guitar playing on this song is unlike anything else, featuring a sort of electric melodic sound that no other band of the era could pull off. The chorus is the most memorable portion of the song, and the one that will stick with you long after you're done listening.

-Am I: Folksy and acoustic are the two words that best describe this song. It sounds like a European, medieval ballad of sorts. Even though this song can't even really be considered a rocker, it is still a very good one, and definitely one of the more memorable pieces featured here.

-Suicide: And here we have one of the true rockers the album has to offer. With a hard rocking styling that uses every element of the band's musical abilities, it makes for a damn fine listen. In some ways the song resembles early Deep Purple, but as a whole it's distinctly Trapeze. Arguably the best song on the album.

-Wings: Another excellent rocker. This song is a rocker, and there is some major psychedelic and blues influence. Even though it is still a far cry from the sound the band took up on their later albums, this is probably the song that is closest to their later stylings. It's another damn fine rocker.

-Another Day: And here we get back to the acoustic stuff. This is one of the all-around most unique songs on the album in that it takes pretty much every element of sixties rock and rolls them all together into a single song. While fusing styles can be a disastrous venture for some artists, Trapeze makes good on it here.

-Send No More Letters: Here's another one of those many melodic tracks. This one isn't a rocker, but one of the straight-up ballad types. It uses orchestral-style backing instrumentation, which makes the melodic musical stylings all the more effective. Although not what you'd typically expect from a rock band, it's a solid song.

-It's Only A Dream: Essentially, this is an extremely short and melodic outro to the album. It's basically a repeat of the similarly-titled song that kicked off the album. Like the intro, it's weak on its own merits, but as an opener/closer it is quite effective.

OVERALL:
Overall, Trapeze's debut album is an all-around excellent one, which stands as a testament to a phase of the group's career that never gained any popularity. The band would never sound like this again, and this is the only album that captures them in this forgotten phase. Although not recommended for new fans of the band - they should probably start with Medusa or You Are The Music We're Just The Band - it is still a great album, and when you become a fan, it's definitely worth going back and checking out. I am giving this album my highest recommendation, but not in the same way that I am Medusa. Medusa is easily accessible, while this album is more of an acquired taste. That said, though, this album is nothing short of excellent. If you can get into it, you'll agree.

EDITION NOTES:
Trapeze albums are extremely hard to come by in America. If you want any of the band's material, even their better-known stuff, you're going to have a tough time finding it in most American record stores. My recommendation is to go ahead and order their albums if you really want them.

Not what you'd expect.......2005-09-28

If you have heard "Medusa" or "You are the Music" and are looking for something similar, this isn't it. This version of Trapeze had 5 members and a real leaning towards a softer sound. That's not to say that the songs aren't decent, but they sound a lot more like Fat Mattress or one of the other flower-pop groups of the day.

I have been listening to this album for 35 years and some of the songs did make it on to my "best of Trapeze" CD mix - but it is nowhere as exciting an album as Medusa is.

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Bon Appetit ~ Beegie Adair

Legends of Acid Jazz ~ Red Holloway

Save Your Love for Me ~ Morning & Jim Nichols

Christmas with the Steve Rudolph Trio ~ Steve Rudolph

Day of Perseverance ~ John Derick

Sidney Miller: Serie Elenco ~ Sidney Miller

Kein Weg Zu Weit ~ Peter Maffay

Les Tziganes de Roumanie (Romanian Gypsies) ~ Rommales

Asian Drums ~ Kiyoshi Yoshida

Tenkai ~ Saki Kubota