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| The Crime
CYCL001
Released: 1994 1. 12:02 |
Grey Lady Down's debut album delivers all that their last demo tape promised, dripping in classic second generation prog reference points (Marillion, Twelfth Night, Multi Story, Tamarisk, Pendragon, Pallas…) and homages to Camel and their overblown pomp. Lashings of drama, a feast of melting keyboard passages, songs about death, station announcements, big fat epics full of false endings and third and fourth parts, bouncing bits for the massed ranks of prog-heads to bounce as one to. All the ingredients vital to a totally progging prog-out here… Thankfully, no trace of the awful It Bites/Dream Theatre techno production that has killed many a prog band. A total, utter prog feast of pompous self-indulgence. Grey Lady Down stay well within the boundaries defined by the first three Marillion albums so loved by the Marquee choral society… Prog-heads will love it, the rest of you just won't understand. The Organ. Summer 1994
Grey Lady Down are an Oxford based, prog rock five-piece who have been gain a good deal of coverage in the progressive fanzines over the last year. Having self-financed this, their debut album, GLD have signed to newly formed Cyclops label in the UK and with Griffin in the States. "The Crime" begins with the demo and live favourite "12:02" and the band make it crystal clear where their roots lie: Marillion (circa 1982), Pallas and IQ. This is the sort of stuff that would have had a packed old Marquee heaving. Louis David's keyboards could have come straight off "Garden Party". Swirling keyboards and a driving rhythm dominate "All Join Hands" but Julian Hunt's guitars are always there, either supporting the whole sound or leading the way. Acoustics lead into the wonderful "Thrill of It All " with more Moog sound-a-like keyboard runs and staccato drum patterns making this one of GLD's best numbers. Two tracks make up the album's epic title suite. Part one is "The Ballad of Billy Grey" time and mood changes are used to great effect while part two, "The Fugitive", shows a less Marillion inspired aspect, a mellow intro with semi-classical acoustic guitars gives way to a pompous anthemic section and the final riff-heavy coda. Impressive stuff. Another old demo number, "Circus of Thieves", shows off part of GLD's rockier side with plenty of guitar work present and a prominent rhythm section. The melancholy "Annabel" continues the mood with Hunt throwing in an "Abacab"-style riff. One of the areas where a lot of prog-scene bands fall down is using weak vocalists. GLD are lucky to have one of the best new singers in the shape of Martin Wilson who reminds me of Alan Reed (Pallas) and is particularly good on "Annabel". I'm sure GLD will do very well with "The Crime" and they're certainly better placed than a few higher profile prog bands I could mention. Boulevard. Summer 1994
| Forces
CYCL020
Released: 1995 1. Paradise Lost |
What can I say about a band that can produce music as brilliant as this, who write compositions with great meaning and feeling and then commit them to disc with such care? They do it with such flourish and individuality that it would not be out of turn to say that they are better than Fish-era Marillion. The music is dramatic and faultless; the keyboard work is better than anything I have heard for a long time and the vocals of Martin Wilson are from both heart and soul. This is one the finest collections of music I have heard, from a band that is not really that well known. Their use of looping keyboard runs and intelligent thought put into their tempo changes alongside first class guitar work and a solid churning display, coupled with meaningful writing makes this an awesome album of individual, red-hot symphonies. If "The Crime" was looked upon as a prog classic then the boundaries for this collection are unlimited. Every track has something good in it with the 11 minute "Battlefields of Counterpane", a concept piece based on a Robert Louis Stevenson poem, being the centrepiece of this fine album. ABSOLUTELY SUPERB. 5/5, more if I can give it. Sonic Boom. Summer 1995
Beginning an album with the sound of a printer is unusual without a doubt, but it makes one curious about what is to follow. Immediately the first two songs, "Paradise Lost" and "The Nail", which segue together, bring us 11 minutes of typical GLD prog, which is driven by the brilliant and beautiful flowing keyboard lines if Louis David and by Martin Wilson's unique voice. But this pattern is soon broken as they move into mare complex structures, including partly classical elements such as military drums and a bombastic finale, in "The Battlefields of Counterpane". Thunder and lightning and difficult rhythm changes typify the next epic, "The Cold Stage". In the third major work "The Flyer", Mars by Gustav Holst is viewed through gloomy skies, too. This song, about a World War flying ace, has everything we could possibly hope and wish for from such a spectacular sound painting, from the rumble of guns to amazing rhythmic and melodic sections to the final plane crash. We must not forget either "Without a Trace" or "I Believe", two of the most dynamic songs that GLD have written, in which Julian Hunt, Mark Robotham and Sean Spear literally burst out of the headphones. Although they have their own style, influences shine through, from Marillion (the keyboards) to the beautiful melodic strength of the original Abel Ganz - that's no problem, it's OK to connect creativity with solidarity. To compliment the music, a demanding cover shows a collage of forces affecting us, from embryo to skeleton. There's no doubt that this represents a development from "The Crime" which is incredible as the song writing on that album could hardly have been bettered. All of you who missed the debut, I commend this to you strongly. Buy both! Empire (Germany). Summer 1995
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Live - The Official Bootleg
CYCLUB001 Released: 1997 (in a limited edition of 497) SOLD OUT 1. Annabel |
"Time And Tide" is my all-time favourite GLD track ever - it's better than sex! Paul Young, Peterborough. Summer of '69
| Fear
CYCL053
Released: 1997 1. And Finally |
My first thought as I sat down to review this, after having listened to it several times previously, was of Saga. I don't recall if I made this comparison when listening to their previous releases, but I am now. Certainly there is a Fish influence here, too, lyrically, and in some of the ways vocalist Martin Wilson phrases things. To be honest, one can make a lot of "there are hints of" comments here, and while accurate, don't really tell the whole story. While this may be a sentence to turn away progressive purists, the songs here are catchy enough to make you pause to listen. Like their contemporaries, Grey Lady Down have (had) a fine sense of the melodic line. For anyone who likes the usual suspects - yeh, I mean Marillion, Pendragon, et al - you'll like this as well. Despite many commonalities with their brethren, there is a sense of freshness, an energy of a band striving to break free of the comparisons I just made. The guitars, keys, and vocals are up front for most of the album. Every once in a while, the drums (Mark Robotham) come to the fore, often with some interesting timbres. In most reviews, I point out songs that I liked particularly, or were particularly effective. That is rather difficult here, because I find something to recommend about each track. This is far from a perfect album, mind you. Does such a thing exist beyond a Platonian concept? Never mind a perfect album, a perfect anything? But, what it does mean is that there is something of value over the course of the entire album. In some tracks, it is beautifully lyrical lines - dry on paper but given life by Wilson's vocals. On others, it is a guitar passage by Steve Anderson. No, Grey Lady Down weren't particularly challenging, say in the way King Crimson are, but then again, sometimes a poetic track gets a meaning or idea across more effectively. Don't let the fact that this band is now defunct deter you from adding this to your shopping list. Progressive World. January 1999
Poor, awful downtrodden and simply terrible music ... are definitely not words you would attach to this, the third album in this band's education. Even they have produced two fine albums to date, I have always maintained that they were trying to run before thy could walk, well now is the time to run as GLD have arrived in town to deliver "Fear", a storming piece of progressive rock. "Fear" is the album that might just win the band the extra fan base they need to move ever forward. Love 'em or hate 'em, this album has to be a proggy's heaven. Eloquent keyboards, guitar that fits quite snugly in the genre's wrapper and three other things that make GLD a bit of a cult band in this area, namely Robotham, Wilson and Spear. To be fair the first listen allows the album to get better as it progresses and by the time you get to the fifth track, "Sliding", you should be won over. I know that the band don't like the comparisons to early Marillion, or even Genesis, but there are smudges of these bands all over and it is something that just evolves from the writing. As a musical unit they have taken a huge step forward and in a world good at knocking products and efforts, it's always good to be able to say "well done", here is a well done. Recent changes in the band have not hindered the progress at all; in fact they may have just made the difference. Mark Westworth should be marked up as one of the best progressive keyboard players around. A sweeping statement maybe, but there you have it. This album puts a whole new complexion on this year's Awards Night and some bands may now fear another challenger. Wondrous Stories. May 1997 "Fear" is the first release of GLD's new line up. "And Finally" opens with an explosive fanfare of keyboards and drums before Steve (Anderson)'s guitars let loose. It is the guitar that leads this track with Mark (Westworth)'s keyboards in fast pursuit; the two new boys certainly making their presence felt. And the rest of the band is up to the challenge. Mark (Robotham) fairly wallops the kit whilst Martin (Wilson) 's vocals take a more aggressive tone. Great lyrics too, by the way. Roller Coaster seems to be more influenced by Mark with some great keyboard sounds and very atmospheric chord structures throughout. To my uneducated ear this sounds like the older GLD with lyrics, which are about drug addiction, maybe being like the darker side of the track 12:02 from "The Crime". A Modern Day Cavalier is a much quieter track and, I initially thought, the weakest on the album. However, it is one of those insidious songs which gets under the skin and won't let go. The music kept haunting me and with each listening it becomes better and better. It is now close to the second best track on the album! Final Decree is another up-tempo, aggressive track with Martin spitting out the lyrics of hatred and hurt. Sliding is equally up-tempo but, in comparison, this a great amalgam of riffs, instrumental breaks, melodies and bursts of sounds. Martin's vocals switch between verse and chorus, and the whole track comes over as a complex and very listenable progressive composition. Usurper is a rather melancholy song with Martin's strong vocals balanced with some very effective keyboards. The verse has a wonderful keyboard sound accompanying it; don't know how Mark achieved that slightly offbeat synth sound, but it works for me. Paper Chains (The Crime Part 3) is a suitably epic track to finish off the album. This is another high-octane track, which shows the Anderson influence. Steve and Mark's duelling instruments carry the track along at a merry pace with Martin's vocals punching in to take control. It is the chorus which is the highlight if this song. It leaps out at the listener right from the start, especially at the end when Steve's guitars break through, underlying the vocals - superb! Has to be my favourite track on the album. This is, perhaps, something of a transition album for the band. Two major changes in the line-up is bound to have a noticeable effect on the sound. I think that is evident in the first and last tracks where the sound is more aggressive and urgent than GLD has sounded previously. In saying that, it has moved the band away from the sometimes derivative Brit-prog feel in a direction all of its own. They have a harder, more rocky feel but still are very much a prog outfit. Certainly this is their best album to date and shows a band on the way up. Alternative View (USA). January 1998
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The Time Of Our Lives
CYCL071
Released: 1998
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It's difficult to see in the future how this CD will be judged. Is it a fitting epitaph or a greatest hits package or the ultimate live album? Is it all three perhaps? Over the course of six years, three albums and a few hundred live performances, GLD has built up a reputation for being one of the best of the 90's prog groups and so last July, when the five members of the band played for one final time at The London Astoria, they hoped that they could produce a performance to do themselves proud. This, though, must exceed all their expectations. From the pure progressive, foot stomping opening of "And Finally" to the closing pop of "12:02" this is Grey Lady Down doing what they do best…playing live. All three studio albums are well represented here including, for the first time, "The Crime" played in its three part entirety as well as the premiere of previously un-recorded 15-minute epic "The Perfect Dream". The track listing, however, is unimportant as each track is played with such majesty and power that they all match, and in most cases surpass, their studio equivalents. This release represents the entire two-and-a-quarter hour concert as it was played and finds Steve, Mark, Sean, Vern and Martin all on top form. Altogether, this is an essential release. Wondrous Stories. December 1998
Over four years and three studio albums, this prog quintet built up a sizeable grass roots following. Having decided to call it a day last year, GLD played a valedictory gig at London's Astoria, which this double live album captures for posterity. With material here from every album and a bias towards their strongest effort "Fear", "The Time…" is aimed squarely at existing fans and serves its purpose admirably. What GLD lacked in originality they made up for in enthusiasm, hard graft and a refreshing, self-depreciating humour. 8/10 Classic Rock. March/April 1999
Where's "Time and Tide"? Paul Young, Peterborough. July 1998
| Star-Crossed
PPOPCD01 Released: 2001 1. Fading
Faith |
Ghostland: "The band's newest album features a cut stronger than anything else on the record and probably the most beautiful epic the band has ever recorded. 'Fallen' is Grey Lady Down's masterpiece and that is no overstatement. The song features everything and anything a prog fan could ask for." Click here for the full review
Music Street Journal: "Fading Faith: Beginning with a very traditional prog style, much in the mode of groups like Genesis, the cut drops to a more sparse arrangement for the verse. As it builds up again, it is still rather Genesisish, but with a harder edge. The composition moves into some pretty powerful territory as it carries on. It explodes into a great Genesisish jam that really rocks. This jam just keeps building and building in wonderful prog style. It is a killer cut that just keeps getting better." Click here for the full review
New Horizons: "Musically, GLD are much improved, their sound is still neo prog based, but it has matured and now has more breadth, depth, warmth and passion - this album will certainly please old fans while also gaining the band new converts." Click here for the full review
Progressive World: "The album opens with the powerful 'Fading Faith' a strident and confident track that verily motors its way through, chugging along the booming basslines of Sean Spear, led by vocalist Martin Wilson's distinctive voice."..."'Fallen' is a 13-minute plus epic that holds for me all the things I love about this style and about GLD - shimmering guitars and percussion, and emotional keyboards." Click here for the full review
Stormbringer: "This is an excellent album, highly complex, filled with passion and fire. Martin's vocals are quite aggressive at times, but this gives the band an edge, a uniqueness, while the music's melodic, atmospheric and progressive. If you like bands such as Pallas, IQ, Twelfth Night, Marillion, I'm sure you'll like this one too. An album that grows on you with repeated listening." Click here for the full review
Mott The Dogs Review coming soon... :)
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