Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees (1972)

Dan:

Bare Trees was the first Fleetwood Mac album that I heard in its entirely, thanks to the deejay who played it as a noontime album on Zeta4 in Miami. That was about 1978, at least six years after its release. Bare Trees features what I later judged to be the best Fleetwood Mac lineup: Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Danny Kirwan, John McVie, and Bob Welch. Overall, it was their sixth full album, following Future Games and preceding Penguin. As I said in the post for Future Games, this was my preferred era for the band - not their most popular, just their best. 

The band's formula for this era was to emphasize the songwriting of Christine, Kirwan, and Welch. This was a formidable trio of composers who knew how to write songs that fit the band's instrumental and vocal strengths. Every song hits the sweet spot, but I'm especially fond of Christine's "Spare Me a Little of Your Love," Kirwan's "Child of Mine," and Welch's "Sentimental Lady." The pace is generally relaxed but never dull or repetitive. There are no side-length jams or epic suites; songs are all in the 3-to-5-minute range. The two guitarists (Kirwan and Welch) never get into each other's way or try to show each other up. Bare Trees stays with the formula, except for the closing "Thoughts on a Grey Day," which is a two-minute recitation by an older woman named Mrs. Scarrot. She's not a bandmember, but somehow her recorded voice captures the wintry spirit of the album (as does the cover art).

Steve:

I first heard Bare Trees when I was in college in the late 80s, around the same time I discovered Then Play On, Kiln House and Future Games (see my commentary on Future Games elsewhere in this blog). Unlike those other two albums, I was already familiar with at least a couple of songs: Christine McVie's "Spare Me a Little of Your Love" and Bob Welch's "Sentimental Lady", which I'm sure Dan played a lot when I was younger. I still think of them as highlights on this fine release.

As Dan pointed out, this album seems to make a point of being concise and avoiding lengthy tracks that were more common on Future Games. While I admire the restraint, and the songwriting definitely benefits, a part of me thinks the album is too short, that it's over too soon. Take a track like Danny Kirwan's "Sunny Side of Heaven" - a 2-3 minute instrumental that is probably the prettiest piece of music Kirwan ever had a part in. This transcendent track could easily be stretched out to 7 minutes and I would be even happier. Likewise, his "Dust" is another lovely, ethereal piece that seems to end almost as soon as it begins.

Yes - Close to the Edge (1972)

Dan:

Close to the Edge is unquestionably one of the greatest rock albums ever made, and a perfect example of progressive rock in its earliest form. It adopts the long suite as its basic mode, draws inspiration from literary and philosophical sources, particularly Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, and rocks like crazy. Like many prog bands of the time, Yes wrote songs about personal search and discovery, as well as inner peace and enlightenment. 

I've always felt that Jon Anderson's voice is perfectly matched to songs about search and discovery. He projects a sense of purity and innocence that gives meaning even to the most opaque lyrics. It's hard to imagine anyone else singing them.

The album's program should be familiar to anyone bothering with this blog. "Close to the Edge" comprises all of side 1 and has four distinct parts. I love Rick Wakeman's cathedral organ on (iii) "I Get Up I Get Down," as well as Anderson's plaintive vocal on (iv) "Seasons of Man." Side 2 has another suite ("And You and I") and the shorter "Siberian Khatru." I've always been a bit puzzled about "Khatru." Apparently, Wakeman, Anderson, and guitarist Steve Howe wrote the lyrics but it's hard to figure out what they mean. Perhaps I should follow Steve (my son, not Steve Howe) in simply listening to the sounds of the voices rather than interpreting them. That should work pretty well because I know I like Yes songs whether I can figure them out or not. I particularly like the way the words overlap as refrains in various parts of "Siberian Khatru."

Close to the Edge and The Yes Album are two of the most original works in all of rock history. Despite their lofty ambitions and mysterious resources, they're most enjoyable to hear. Yes peaked with these albums; nowhere else in their recorded output will you find the same level of excellence on display. That's not a true critique of their other works but rather a tribute to two of rock's best.

Steve:

Spot on, Dad. This album is definitely a pinnacle not just of progressive rock but of music in general. I'm always reminded of something one of the band members said about the process of making this album (can't recall who or where, sorry) - that the band really didn't know what they were doing as they were making it. That is a rather self-effacing way of saying that they were quite literally inventing a new kind of music, and although they didn't know exactly what the end result would be, they trusted each other, trusted their ears, and worked tirelessly to make it just right.  There is a clear line of development from earlier multi-part suites like "Starship Trooper" to the more unusual structures of "Heart of the Sunrise" from Fragile, forward to the artistic zenith of "Close to the Edge" and "And You and I". These latter tracks improve on the impressive compositional economy of the earlier tracks while adding panoramic layers of sonic detail that seem intended to conjure nothing less than Heaven itself. Tell the Moondog, tell the March Hare.

"Siberian Khatru" is no less impressive. Yes reaches that same transcendental spiritual breakthrough with the building section where they sing "Outboard / River / Bluetail / Tail Fly / Luther /In time..." and so on. As Dan hinted above, I don't search for or find any real meaning in lyrics like these, but when I hear them in this vocal and instrumental arrangement, they sound like the Ultimate Truth.

Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii (1972)

Dan:

There are dozens of versions of Pink Floyd's concert in the Pompeii amphitheater in 1971. It was originally released as a VHS movie and there are many unofficial versions. The version I have is audio only and came from Steve's box set of The Early Years, remixed in 2016. I'm impressed with the sound of the reissue. The cover art I chose for this post is one of many created for bootlegs, so don't go looking for it in the box set. 

Basically, the songs here are from the band's early 1970s concert repertoire, some of which also appear on Ummagumma. The Early Years set includes a few additional tracks from Pompeii plus scads of other great Floyd material.

But we're just writing about the Pompeii concert here. I've seen the film and it's interesting because the band plays to an empty al fresco amphitheater. The music is therefore not like a live show but rather an outdoor studio setting. (Maybe they got the idea from the rooftop concert by the Beatles in 1969?). Regardless, the performance is wonderful to hear, even without the visual ambience. It captures the classic version of the band well before Dark Side of the Moon was on the radar screen.

Steve:

I watched the VHS version of Live at Pompeii many times, both by myself and with friends, especially in my college years. That era of Pink Floyd was definitely among my favorite things to listen to (it still kinda is), and the movie sounds excellent and gives great camera angles showing the band in action. The most exciting part for me was "A Saucerful of Secrets", whose chaotic middle section featured the whole band going nuts: Richard Wright delivering clusters of discordant sounds by playing the piano with his forearms, Nick Mason rolling around on the drum kit in a gradually accelerating 6/4 pattern, David Gilmour making every sound he can conjure from his effects pedals, and Roger Waters beating the hell out of his gong.  

In 2019, I got to see Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, a touring band focused on the pre-DSotM Floyd material, and it was incredible to see this material performed in the flesh. Mason himself made an announcement prior to playing "A Saucerful of Secrets", revealing that this tour had helped him finally realize his abandoned wish to crash that gong himself - Roger always called dibs, and you know how Roger is.

The other obvious highlight of the movie/album is "Echoes", a track that has remained a lifelong favorite since my youth. Along with "Tarkus" and "Close to the Edge", "Echoes" is one of a handful of long-form prog tracks I would recommend to anyone curious about the genre. The movie version, like other live versions I've heard, ramps up the intensity of the studio version, making it superior in the performance sense if not in audio quality.

My main beef with the Live at Pompeii franchise is that the version on the DVD release, and all subsequent issues, presents the Director's Cut, which shows less of the band and more shots of Pompeii itself and other artsy scenes. Also, the original VHS contained some footage of the band in the studio recording Dark Side of the Moon in between the concert selections. While those latter shots were admittedly pretty slow and unexciting (Pink Floyd were mellow and softspoken to a fault in real life), I really miss them in the Director's Cut. Still, this is nitpicking from a fanatic, so take it with a grain of salt. Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii is a must for any Pink Floyd fan, either in its audio-only or its movie version. 

Procol Harum - In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (1972)

Dan:

Having achieved great success with their first five albums, Procol Harum went on a North American tour with the thought of recording a live album. Having a full symphony with choir backing the sextet was a mutual interest of the Edmonton Symphony's music directors and Gary Brooker. So they went for it and made history. No symphony orchestra album ever went gold and platinum before (or maybe since?). 

Recorded in November 1971, the Edmonton concert was released on LP the following year. I immediately picked it up and played it frequently. Side 1 includes four of the band's best songs: "Conquistador," "Whaling Stories," "A Salty Dog," and "All This and More." Side 2 consists solely of the suite "In Held 'Twas in I" from Shine on Brightly. The biggest hits (e.g., "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg") were excluded in favor of the longer narrative songs. Reportedly, the album contained a few "fixes," enabled by a second performance that was further justified by the warm audience reception. The fixes are not audible in the released version.

The results are fascinating. The orchestra and choir are not a constant presence, but Brooker's arrangements help to augment the music, making it more dramatic. Distressing songs are made more distressing, and the climax of "Grand Finale" is made grander and more climactic. 

It's tempting to compare Edmonton with the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed since both include symphony orchestras. But Edmonton is a live concert, and Days is a studio album, and that makes any comparisons superficial at best. However, both albums demonstrate how far early prog bands were willing to go in their efforts to transcend ordinary rock and roll. The group Renaissance were clearly encouraged by these earlier efforts in performing their Live at Carnegie Hall concert, released on record in 1976. Rennaissance were to follow with a similar concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1977.

Procol Harum's In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra also stands apart from all prog+symphony collaborations because their dark narratives are unlikely choices to perform symphonically. Songs about shipwrecks, madness, and tarnished conquerors encapsulate Procol Harum's legacy, and it's to the band's credit that such material could not only survive the symphonic treatment but also flourish. 

Steve:

It made total sense for Procol Harum to perform live with an orchestra, and it made just as much sense to release it as a live album. It did not surprise me at all to learn that Gary Brooker wrote the arrangements himself; he'd already proven to be a very skilled orchestrator with the title track to A Salty Dog, which is naturally included here. Two other epic Procol favorites of mine are also included. "Whaling Stories" and "In Held 'Twas in I" are the centerpieces of a very strong track list. Oddly, their newest album, Broken Barricades, is the only studio album not represented in the set. This omission was rectified with the expanded CD version, which adds two excellent tracks from Barricades: "Luskus Delph" and "Simple Sister".  

While I still don't enjoy any of these versions quite as much as their studio equivalents, Gary Brooker's singing never sounded better than it does here, and the live sound was recorded very well, with the rock band and orchestra working together rather than fighting for space in the mix. I definitely miss the presence of Robin Trower, who had recently left the band for a lucrative solo career, and who is replaced here by Dave Ball, his only appearance on a Procol Harum album. Ball delivers a workmanlike, restrained performance, rightfully ceding the focus to the orchestral colors and to Brooker's vocal and piano stylings. The album loses some of the chemistry that made the band's early studio albums so exciting, but overall, the presentation of these expanded orchestral visions of classic tracks makes it worth the sacrifice.