Earth and Fire

Earth and Fire Artist: Earth and Fire
Label: Repertoire
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 4009910431825
ASIN: B000025QOG


Release Date: 2002-11-15

Earth and Fire


Related Categories:

Netherlands Netherlands
Categories | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
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General General
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Progressive Rock Progressive Rock
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Rock Rock
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Tracks:

  1. Wild and Exciting
  2. Twilight Dreamer
  3. Ruby Is the One
  4. You Know the Way
  5. Vivid Shady Land
  6. 21th Century Land
  7. Seasons
  8. Love Quiver
  9. What's Your Name
  10. Mechanical Lover [*]
  11. Hazy Paradise [*]
  12. Memories [*]
  13. Invitation [*]
  14. From the End Till the Beginning [*]
  15. Lost Forever [*]
  16. Song of the Marching Children [Single Version][*]
  17. Thanks for the Love [*]
  18. What Difference Does It Make [*]

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Album Description

Import reissue of 1970 album includes nine bonus tracks, 'Mechanical Lover', 'Hazy Paradise', 'Memories', 'Invitation', 'From The End Till The Beginning', 'Lost Forever', 'Song Of The Marching Children' (Single Version), 'Thanks For The Love' & What Difference Does It Make'. Repertoire.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Great beginnings for this Dutch band.......2005-01-11

Here in America, Earth & Fire is completely unknown, and if you ask most Americans, they'll either give you a blank stare or say something like "You don't mean Earth, Wind & Fire?" (which is obviously a completely different group, an American R&B/soul/funk band). In Holland, they were able to rack up a bunch of hit singles (many of them not available on any non-compilation albums) and release great prog rock albums in the process. I first got exposed to Earth & Fire as a kid when my dad bought the LP of To the World of the Future (1975), since none of my family ever been to Holland, my dad bought that album either mistaking them for Earth, Wind & Fire, or simply liked the futuristic '70s artwork (he wasn't exactly the most musically informed person out there). Of course by that point, the band was starting to explore disco, but still hadn't quite abandoned prog.

In 1970, the band released their self-entitled debut. And just to let everyone know, the one with the Roger Dean cover is not the original pressing, that was a 1971 UK pressing on the Nepentha label, and of course that's the cover used for the German Repertoire label CD reissue, as well as the newer Japanese reissue. The original Dutch LP was released on Polydor/Medium (has the same familiar red Polydor label, with the "Medium" logo under the "Polydor" logo) and featured a gimmick matchbox cover, which shows a picture of the band, and when you fold open the cover, you see matches, and a list of the songs. This album is less polished than their following (ie. Song of the Marching Children, Atlantis) and there's plenty of that late '60s psych elements still left. The band consisted of female vocalist Jerney Kaagman, with twin brothers Chris Koerts on guitar and Gerard Koerts on organ and flute, with drummer Ton van der Kleij and bassist Hans Ziech. This album managed three hits, "Seasons", "Ruby is the One", and "Wild and Exciting". "Seasons" and "Ruby is the One" featured original drummer Cees Kalis (Ton v.d. Kleij hopped on board once they started recording their debut LP), since both of those were released as a single prior to the album's release, "Seasons" being their first ever release, released at the end of 1969 ("Hazy Paradise" was the B-side, and "Mechanical Lover" was the flip side of "Ruby is the One"). "Love Quiver" is the one cut that bears a striking resemblance to Jefferson Airplane, but unlike the Airplane, you get treated with a great organ solo. "What's Your Name" is a laid-back acoustic piece with flute. And there's lots of times that "21st Century Show" is called "21st Century Land", because of the previous cut entitled "Vivid Shady Land", but it's actually entitled "21st Century Show". "Seasons", as mentioned, dates from 1969, and wasn't written by either of the Koerts brothers or E&F members, but George Kooysman of Golden Earring (who supported E&F, and helped them get a deal with Polydor, in which Golden Earring recorded for). "Twilight Dreamer" sounds like a precursor to "Carnival of the Animals" (from Song of the Marching Children) and near the end what sounds like the band's first ever use of a synthesizer (sounds like a Moog). "Vivid Shady Land" is a perfect example of the band still sticking to that late '60s psychedelic sound.

On the Repertoire CD reissue, you have the complete album, which ends with "What's Your Name" (track 9), and then you have a whole bunch of bonus cuts, all non-album singles, all the way up to 1976, where the band decided to go disco. You get "Hazy Paradise", "Mechanical Lover", the ever wonderful "Invitation" (one of my favorite non-album singles the band released) and the equally wonderful Mellotron-oriented "Memories". You also get the original single version of "Song of the Marching Children", which was released several months before the album's release, and what separates this version from the album version is Jerney Kaagman's singing sounds different. "Lost Forever" (flip side of "Storm and Thunder") and "From the End 'till the Beginning" (flip side of "Memories") are also featured. Missing here is "Tuffy the Cat" (flip side of "Love of Life"), but I guess they couldn't include that because of lack of space, thanks to all the other bonus cuts. Then they included two songs from where the band went disco, "Thanks For the Love" (1975) and "What Difference Does it Make" (1976), complete with strings, horns and hi-hats. Unfortunately Earth & Fire fell victim in the late '70s by recording increasingly commercial material, and you know it's time to run when comparisons to ABBA start surfacing (but it didn't hurt the band in terms of success, although it's understood that most prog rock fans don't usually bother with much anything they released after 1975). Regardless, this CD is a wonderful historical document, not just for the debut, a great album that shows even better things to come, but you get lots of non-album singles as well.

4 out of 5 stars Terrific Dutch psych/prog group with great female vocals.......2002-03-06

Imagine, if you will, that Jefferson Airplane and King Crimson had met and decided to form one group. That'll give you an idea of what this Dutch rock group of the 70s was like, but you need to experience Earth & Fire first-hand. They really deserve attention on this side of the world.

Earth and Fire, led by the charismatic and beautiful Jerney Kaagman, were quite a success in the Netherlands in the 1970s. They began their career as a psychedelic group with progressive-rock leanings on this album, and scored big in the charts with their singles "Seasons," "Ruby Is The One," and "Wild And Exciting," all of which are on here. This was their first album, from 1971. Their melodic brand of psychedelic rock shows signs of developing further, and it did.

From this album forward they became ever more exploratory, putting out the outstanding prog albums "Atlantis" and "Song of the Marching Children." Songs from both those albums are featured here as bonus tracks, and all are worth listening to for fans of strong female vocals and psych/prog rock.

Unfortunately, Earth & Fire collectively lost their minds in the mid 1970s, becoming a smarmy sub-Abba disco act. The last two songs on the CD, sadly enough, date from this era of the band, but if you stop the CD right after "Song of the Marching Children," no harm done. The inclusion of these harrowingly awful songs is the only thing that keeps this CD from being a 5-star outing.

On this, their first album, they come out dazzlingly fully formed. Granted, their grasp of English was none too sturdy, but Jerney Kaagman's soaring alto overcomes the language barrier, and the band (anchored by brothers Chris and Gerard Koerts on guitar and keyboards) is as good or better than most of their European and British counterparts. Mellotron orchestras, grand Hammond organ flourishes, and powerful guitar riffing abound.

Music Album:

  1. Reunion ~ Susan Osborn
  2. Grassroots ~ 311
  3. Martin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture in Your Living Room ~ Martin Mull
  4. Once and Future King, Pt. 1 ~ Gary Hughes
  5. String Quartet Tribute to David Gray
  6. False Smiles ~ Amy Studt
  7. The Technicolor Dreams of the Status Quo: Complete 60's Recordings ~ Status Quo
  8. Champagne & Wine: The Love Collection ~ Viktor Lazlo
  9. Up All Night ~ Rob Mills
  10. Sleeper ~ Blue Orchids

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Son De Cuba ~ Various Artists

Invitation ~ Don Friedman

The Fire This Time ~ Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy

All of Me ~ Dean Martin

Awaiting the Spirit ~ Barry Sames Jazz Ensemble

Rhythms of the South ~ Edmundo Ros & His Orchestra

The Best of

Master of the Forest

Die Singles 56-58 ~ Peter Kraus

Miyazawa Shouichi No Sekai ~ Shouichi Miyazawa