Madden & Harris - "Fools Paradise"
(Vicious Sloth VSC-001, 1973/1993, CD)
There is absolutely no information provided in the liner notes to this
CD, so all I can tell you is that it is a reissue of an album originally
released in Australia in the early 70s. Actually, I'm not sure why it was
reissued at all; this is a thoroughly unspectacular album that is only
progressive by the longest stretch of the definition. The music basically
alternates back and forth between very mellow and basic minor key folky type
tunes, and extremely dated sounding Beatles or Moody Blues type songs. As
the name of the group would indicate, there seem to be two members; one who
plays acoustic and occasional electric guitar, and one who plays piano as
well as a few other keyboards, including mellotron, which is probably the
only reason this album has found its way into progressive lore. Drums,
bass, cello, English horn, and flute also appear at various times in an
accompanying role. Side two of the original album is the four-part title
track, and actually one of the sections features some sinister mellotron
chords and Bernard Paganotti-like fuzz bass. Alas, it is only a little over
two minutes long. With all the great new and reissued prog out there, this
is probably one to skip over.
(Originally published in Exposé #5, p. 38, Edited for Gnosis 4/23/01)
|