Bought this at a record show maybe 30 years ago (for the Hipgnosis cover)- listened to it for the first time maybe 5 years ago...earnest, derivative second tier UK prog which I've gradually warmed up to. Any fans?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2z4nCR6pOw
Back in the '70s I had an album called Music from the Mother Country that was a sampler of artists on the Sovereign label: Flash, Renaissance, Peter Banks, and Public Foot the Roman. I remember not finding the PFTR tracks of interest.
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
Hit-&-miss, but hasn't held up well over, lo these many decades later, imo
Last edited by mogrooves; 06-22-2017 at 09:59 PM.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
I've had this since the 80s. Solid, underrated and understated album. Not sure who they're derivative of? Anyway, if you like these guys, you might wanna check out Peggy's Leg.
It’s a good album of its type, I guess that “early-mid 70s rock that’s sort of prog but not really” type, along the lines of Life or A Band Called O, but better. I’d say that Argent are the most famous/successful of bands in that style.
The ashes of this band united with the ashes of another Cambridge band (Thunderbox, I think they were called) and resurfaced as The Movies. Initially they made pretty crappy funk-rock. Then they toured with Joan Armatrading, suffered a bus accident, had some lineup shuffles and eventually rose like the Phoenix as a really excellent power-pop band. By far, the best Movies albums are their last two, India and Motor Motor Motor.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Sue me....I dig it
A good one. Still own the LP. I can trace some Wishbone Ash influence. They later mutated into the relatively successful middle-of-the-road rock band The Movies.
Here is what I wrote when I reviewed it about a decade ago
Sole album from this formation although their self-titled album bore a striking Hipgnosis artwork that could evoke Close encounter a few years before hand. This Cambridge combo derived their amusing name from road panels, much like a Canterbury band did that same year. A double guitar prog quintet where the vocals played a major role, and three member sang lead, while all of them contributed to choirs, PFTR had a fairly
Apart the atrocious radio-friendly opening track Land Owner, PFTR is still often sounding like those early 70's UK proto-prog bands and a prototype of future AOR that would overflow the airwaves later in the decade. Indeed the much superior When You Lay It Down is more in the organ driven hard prog mould (with a bit of Yes Album tinge) meeting Argus-like Wishbone Ash. While not quite as bad as the opener, King For A Day sounds like third rate Lynyrd (that country feel) meeting Wishbone, while the 6-mins Judas Return takes on a Yes turn, simply because the band takes its time to show more than basic song schemas.
The flipside is filled with more of the same (bat of course the opener) and the Yes and WA influences abound but are never overbearing either, because PFTR has its own sound as well. The organ-driven Don't Bite The Hand is great moment of interplay, once past the fairly conventional song format. The following on My Mind might just be the catchiest track on the album, starting on acoustic arpeggios and remaining acoustic over triple vocal harmonies (Cressida's better moments are also on my mind here). All is left is the 8-mins+ Decline And Fall, the lesser track of the album and again plenty of time to mingle strings, keys and skins.
The band (half the band, actually) would then commit a strange suicide by getting rid of their original name and changing to a stupid one: the movies. They would go on to record a few albums under that moniker until the early 80's, but I've never of the group or their albums. But getting back to PFTR, their album is certainly not anything essential or groundbreaking, but they stood in the pack of tens of dozens of valid bands that deserved more attention, but there was only so much space in the early 70's sunlight. In other words if Wishbone ash had done Argus with keyboards and proggier and lesser D&D lyrics, it could've sounded like this
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
I gave the album a listen thanks to the YT link above. I heard nothing that would make me want to hear it again. Love the band name though!
I could never get into this one, but I really liked the other band mentioned in this thread as being of a similar ilk (Peggy's Leg).
I stumbled across this album as well once upon a time. I enjoy it fairly well for the reasons already stated. The comparisons in spirit to Wishbone Ash and proto-prog are also useful. I never quite thought of PFTR that way.
WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.
The quite odd and amusing band name creates a sense of anticipation - for something a little Canterbury perhaps? - that is disappointed by the rather generic nature of the music. They're not terrible or anything, but I'd bet that this isn't anyone's favourite album.
Checked this album several times, but there is hardly anything that stuck with me.
If I would go for 2. row UK Prog like this I would rather choose:
Strange Days - 9 Parts To The Wind or
Home - The Alchimist
This is a good one for sure!Originally Posted by TheH
Never thought I d see someone post on these guys. My best buddy's big brother turned us on to this one around the same time as Wishbone Ash and Uriah Heep, probably '72 or '73, still have my vinyl copy. I'm flabbergated!
As is...
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Just listened to The Alchemist on YouTube. Sounds pretty interesting. I'll be returning to it for certain. Thanks for the heads-up!
Great album and certainly the best by HOME.
PFTR reminds me of Rare Bird's Epic Forest / Somebody's Watching. I haven't heard it enough to appreciate the instrumental parts but the vocal parts have interesting hooks.
I bought it back in the 70's, yep same label as Flash...
they had their nitch...
Mentioned above:
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
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