CZAR Formed: 1969 Disbanded: 1971 Country: United Kingdom Genres: Progressive Rock Members: Paul Kendrick (lead-vocals, bass) Bob Hodges (Hammond organ, vocals) Mick Ware (guitar, vocals) Derrick Gough (drums) Album Tracklist: 01. Tread Softly Of My Dreams 02. Cecelia 03. Follow Me 04. Dawning Of A New Day 05. Beyond The Moon 06. Today 07. A Day In September Bonus Tracks: 08. Ritual Fire (LP out-take) 09. Oh Lord Im Getting Heavy (45 A-side) 10. Why Dont We Be A Rock and Roll Band? (45 B-side) 11. (Shes A) Lady Of Love (demo) 12. Ill Try Hard (demo) 13. Good Morning Sunshine (demo) 14. Oh Darlin (demo) 15. I Laid It On The Line (demo) There seems to have been a near-endless supply of early-progressive rock bands like Czar hopping around in Britain both sides of the sixties/seventies borderline, bands that pitted electric guitar against organ and occasional Mellotron, hoary blues-based rock riffs against rudimentary classical licks recalled from piano lessons or the family record collection, in an effort to stretch the rock idiom beyond the three-chords, four-square-beat boundaries. Czars sole effort is not the most glorious of this lot, as the band lack the depth and skills that the best bands had. Most of these songs are drawn-out but structurally pretty ordinary rock tunes where thudding drums splash in muddy puddles of scratchy guitar riffs under a clear blue Mellotron sky. It is the beauty of the Mellotron work that often makes the difference, e.g. the gothic main riff of Tread Softly on My Dreams which stands in stark contrast to the vocal hooks that are leftovers from second-division sixties pop. Cecelia features a nice if predictable swathe of acoustic guitar and harpsichord, but is ruined by a turgid guitar solo backed by monotonously grungy riffing. Overplaying their hand with weak cards is Czars basic failing, worst example being the psychedelic organ work of A Day in September, which cycles through cliches with minimum authority and even manages to squeeze in that requisite circus motif before the fade-out. It is not hopeless, but other bands were turning out much better product out of the same basic material at the time, and I suggest trying some of them before delving into this Siberian basement to discover Czars musical legacy. Resume: Its one of the best rock abums of the British progressive in the early 70s! Highly recommended! youtu.be/WOp3YjpHBSU
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 23:42:23 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015