GRAIL - GRAIL - Grail - SWE Flawed Gems Edition - LISTEN - VERY RARE
price: 60,00 PLN / 15,00 EUR
A remastered edition of the sole yet almost perfect album by a British band playing top-notch progressive rock, with strong influences of late psychedelia and not shy of acoustic playing with clear oriental elements. The album was recorded in summer 1970, but released only in January 1971 in Germany (in the black-and-white, abstract sleeve of the Metronome label) and in France (in a comic-style sleeve from Barclay) - never in the United Kingdom. This version contains both covers (the French one appears inside), so you have a choice. The sound quality is better than the Prog Temple edition. Highly recommended! BELOW IS A REVIEW OF THE ALBUM FROM THE SECOND VOLUME OF MY 'BRITISH ROCK' (G-L):..........It is worth knowing that two musicians of this somewhat forgotten band had previously played in the legendary freakbeat band The Game - responsible, among other things, for the sensational single The Addicted Man/Help Me Mummy's Gone (Parlophone, 1967), worth 1000 pounds. Grail was another progressive band (alongside, among others, Diabolus, Little Big Horn and Sunday) whose only album never reached the British market, although it came out in France (in a very striking, colourful sleeve) - released by Barclay, and also in Germany (in an equally nice black-and-white sleeve) – released by Metronome.
The January 1971 LP Grail was produced by the (still relatively little-known) Rod Stewart, though judging by the rather raw sound in the sharper passages - I get the impression that instead of in the recording studio, Rod The Mod spent more time in the nearby pub… The album contained fairly advanced and at times very sophisticated progressive music - very typical of 1970, as it combined heavy rock with more than a pinch of psychedelia, folk, ballad and even oriental music.
The opening Power, which lasts over 7 minutes and is built on heavy guitar riffs, was characterised by a primal, growling and almost heavy-metal vocal and by dynamic, though very nervous playing from the whole band (as if everyone were in a hurry somewhere) – a bit in the style of the band Jerusalem. Surprisingly, it was one of the few such dynamic numbers, as the following tracks showed the band in a slightly different light: the folky Bleek Wind High was recorded with acoustic guitar, clarinet and flute; the classicising, subtly arranged Day After Day was somewhat reminiscent of a more folky/balladic Procol Harum; the decidedly oriental, swaying Grail used sitar and timpani; the rhythmic Camel Dung, built on a flute part, was strongly saturated with Turkish folklore (at times recalling the work of East Of Eden and especially Quintessence), though it did not lack strong rock transitions; Sunday Morning, meanwhile, is a charming, atmospheric ballad recorded with organ, classical guitar, sitar and cello; by contrast, the track Czechers, dedicated to our southern neighbours (about the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968), was a combination of a dramatic ballad and galloping rock playing; and the closing, driving The Square, though not free of changing moods, was simply an excellent and quite intense summing-up of this intriguing, underrated and of course almost entirely forgotten album. I hardly need to add that the original vinyl editions (in perfect condition) are in great demand – fetching 300-350 euros.
It may also be worth knowing that the vocalist Chris Williams later ended up in the German progressive band Abacus.
GRAIL - GRAIL - Grail - SWE Flawed Gems Edition - LISTEN - VERY RAREprice: 60,00 PLN / 15,00 EUR