40th anniversary of Mirthrandir's "For You The Old Women" LP release (today)

[AdventAlan]

Greetings,

Being fortunate enough to help Mirthrandir bring their music back to the stage for a few years in the second half of the last decade, it's my pleasure to announce that today is the 40th anniversary of the original release of their For You The Old Women LP. For anyone who hasn't heard the album, it looks like someone uploaded the whole thing to YouTube a little while back:



Wishing my former band mates all the best!

Cheers,


Alan

[JKL2000]

Wow! 40 years. God Bless Ameriprog.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I think it's a great album. Of course, one has to adapt to the overly passionate emotional attack of those vocals. But it's cool.

[calyx]

Never thought I'd get the chance to see most of the original band (plus a couple of fine guitarists !) perform the entire album live - at Baja Prog 2006. Thanks again Alan for helping make this a reality !

[miamiscot]

Great album!!! "For Four" is one of my favorite songs from that era. Jersey boys did it right.

[moecurlythanu]

I've got the original LP and the reissue CD. (Got the CD first.) I like it a lot. One of the better albums from the American scene.
I regret not catching them at ROSfest the year they played. Probably won't get another shot.

[AdventAlan]

Never thought I'd get the chance to see most of the original band (plus a couple of fine guitarists !) perform the entire album live - at Baja Prog 2006. Thanks again Alan for helping make this a reality !

Thanks so much for the very kind words, Aymeric! It was really great meeting you in person there for the first time too.

All the best,


Alan

[Mythos]

And I have gone the same 40 years without hearing it, care to describe it?

[Flightwave]

This is one of my favorite "obscure" prog albums ever. Eclectic, humorous and aggressive. Some stellar keys and blazing guitar, yet soft atmospheric passages as well. A true gem in the prog world. Wish I could get my hands on an original LP (I have the CD).

[AdventAlan]

Hi Scot,

Great album!!! "For Four" is one of my favorite songs from that era. Jersey boys did it right.

Thanks for the kind words (on behalf of my band mates). Coincidentally, we had enough footage for someone to put together a video of "For Four" from our Baja Prog performance in 2006:



The audio was actually taken from a camcorder (which picked up way too much of my amp in the second half) and, considering we didn't even get a sound check and couldn't really hear one another that well, I think it came out pretty well. Hope you guys enjoy it!

All the best and thanks again,


Alan

[spacefreak]

Excellent album and one of the best from the US scene. That's the true definition of sympho prog to my ears and not the modern bands with the dominant metal influence on the guitar sound...

[Scrotum Scissor]

the true definition of sympho prog to my ears and not the modern bands with the dominant metal influence on the guitar sound...

Or that pitifully BonJovian "singer-songwriter[-wannabe]/[pseudo-]Americana" influx.

[roylayer]

Mirthrandir was great at ProgDay 2008. Talk about a band that I never expected to see live!

[gflorio]

Alan,
I enjoyed the Rosfest show very much and seem to recall seeing you play at the NJ Proghouse too (although I may be thinking of an Advent show)!
Does the 40th Anniversary release have any bonus, live or other content that isn't on my CD already?
If so, how can I order it? If not, then I'll keep spinning my old copy.
Thanks, Greg

[AdventAlan]

Mirthrandir was great at ProgDay 2008. Talk about a band that I never expected to see live!

Thanks a lot!

Cheers,


Alan

[AdventAlan]

Alan,
I enjoyed the Rosfest show very much and seem to recall seeing you play at the NJ Proghouse too (although I may be thinking of an Advent show)!
Does the 40th Anniversary release have any bonus, live or other content that isn't on my CD already?
If so, how can I order it? If not, then I'll keep spinning my old copy.
Thanks, Greg

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the kind words. There isn't actually any new Mirthrandir release, but I just wanted to post this thread in commemoration of the original LP's release 40 years ago (yesterday now).

All the best,


Alan

[calyx]

The audio was actually taken from a camcorder (which picked up way too much of my amp in the second half) and, considering we didn't even get a sound check and couldn't really hear one another that well, I think it came out pretty well.

Not sure it would help at all, but I recorded the show so if you think my recording could possibly be of help to improve the overall sound/vision package, I'll be happy to let you have it.

[gflorio]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the kind words. There isn't actually any new Mirthrandir release, but I just wanted to post this thread in commemoration of the original LP's release 40 years ago (yesterday now).

All the best,


Alan

Ooops, feeling a little silly for not reading what you actually wrote. Still, a reissue with bonus material.......
Just to see if my brain does still work - did I see you with Mirthrandir at the Proghouse or am I truly confused?

[AdventAlan]

Hi Aymeric,

Not sure it would help at all, but I recorded the show so if you think my recording could possibly be of help to improve the overall sound/vision package, I'll be happy to let you have it.

Thanks a lot for your very generous offer. Would love to have a copy of your recording and see if I can improve the sound of this video using it--and, if everything works out, we'll give you the corresponding credit as well of course.

All the best and thanks again,


Alan

[Rand Kelly]

I listened to the cd on the way to work,my coffee breaks and my lunch. I left it in the stereo and probably will for a week or two. I have owned this album for maybe 15 years or so? I never really gave it much concentration I guess. The music I heard absolutely blew my mind. The degree of difficulty in the music on a scale of 1 to 10? 52 outta do it. It's so original I can't tell if they are copying everyone or no one. All I can add is if you've never heard their one and only album by all means play that video above and catch up. Trust me, you won't regret it. Amazing band.

[calyx]

When the Syn-Phonic reissue first came out, I wrote to the band c/o Greg Walker and was surprised to get a transatlantic phonecall from a very enthusiastic Simon Gannett, the keyboard player with Mirthrandir, who over a couple of such phonecalls entertained me with stories of the band rehearsing this material endlessly in their rehearsal place back in the day. I remember him telling me that after Mirthrandir had broken up, he had played with a young pre-Bon Jovi Richie Sambora in a band that never recorded anything, likely much less "proggy-prog" than Mirthrandir. Pete Frame family trees stuff !

PS: Alan, I've just sent you my recording of the Baja Prog show !

[AdventAlan]

Hi Rand,

I listened to the cd on the way to work,my coffee breaks and my lunch. I left it in the stereo and probably will for a week or two. I have owned this album for maybe 15 years or so? I never really gave it much concentration I guess. The music I heard absolutely blew my mind. The degree of difficulty in the music on a scale of 1 to 10? 52 outta do it. It's so original I can't tell if they are copying everyone or no one. All I can add is if you've never heard their one and only album by all means play that video above and catch up. Trust me, you won't regret it. Amazing band.

Thanks very much (on behalf of my former band mates with whom I recreated the material on stage)!

Cheers,


Alan

[AdventAlan]

Hi Aymeric,

When the Syn-Phonic reissue first came out, I wrote to the band c/o Greg Walker and was surprised to get a transatlantic phonecall from a very enthusiastic Simon Gannett, the keyboard player with Mirthrandir, who over a couple of such phonecalls entertained me with stories of the band rehearsing this material endlessly in their rehearsal place back in the day. I remember him telling me that after Mirthrandir had broken up, he had played with a young pre-Bon Jovi Richie Sambora in a band that never recorded anything, likely much less "proggy-prog" than Mirthrandir. Pete Frame family trees stuff !

PS: Alan, I've just sent you my recording of the Baja Prog show !

Thanks again for sending your recording of the show! (It provided a completely different audio vantage point than what we already had.)

All the best,


Alan

[calyx]

Thanks again for sending your recording of the show! (It provided a completely different audio vantage point than what we already had.)

Cool - some surround sound Mirthrandir on the way ?! Haha ! ;-)