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Old 12-12-2012, 01:25 PM   #165 (permalink)
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(All the rest of the albums for the year were so special, that it was hard at times to seperate them quality wise and on a different day I may even put them into different positions, so here are the top six)


06. Trapeze You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band 1972 (Threshold)
Soft Rock-Hard Rock

Yer baby I’m coming home!


Overview

For many a year, I often thought of this album as a live album, this was largely due to its concert style cover and its album title……which of course all look exactly how I imagined a live album to be. But when I finally got into Trapeze many years later, I quickly found that this was a studio set and in fact their second best studio album after the classic Medusa set (see 1970 list) Since the release of that majestic Medusa album, Trapeze hadn’t released anything in 1971 and they eventually returned on a very strong footing in 1972 with their excellent third album You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band. In many ways I wasn’t actually quite certain if this album actually belonged in the main list, I’m not speaking quality wise here, but more album genre and feel, as a lot of the material is basically softer compositions, that really outweigh the heavier material 2 to 1. The band of course were no strangers to this sound, as on the Medusa album, they had superbly fused in softer elements on several songs, none more so than on “Jury” which serves as a great example of this characteristic on that album. On You Are the Music…We Are the Band, the band don’t really tend to fuse harder and softer elements into the same song, but have gone for the more straightforward approach of a harder number and then a softer number etc, which in many ways makes this album a far more straight-forward effort than the previous Medusa. This album though, would sadly prove to be their last with the classic line-up of Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley and Dave Holland. In the wake of this album, Glenn Hughes would go onto replace Roger Glover in Deep Purple, which was certainly a move by him to hit the big time, which sadly wasn’t going to happen with Trapeze and he would do this at the expense of leaving behind his far more primary and pivotal role in Trapeze. He would of course return briefly for a second stint but by then the spark had been long lost. Trapeze themselves would produce this album, which ended John Lodge of Moody Blues tenure with the band. The album also features some interesting guest-spots from artists such as the B.J Cole, Rod Argent and Jimmy Hastings amongst others.

Glenn Hughes- Bass/Vocals
Mel Galley- Guitar/Vocals
Drums- Dave Holland

Production- Trapeze

Album
Keepin’ Time
- One of the album’s principal rockers and very much a perfect example of the band rocking out, the song has a great funky beat throughout and is a great album opener. Coast to Coast- A slow track that is beautifully penned and a track that suits Glenn Hughes to a T and a real highlight of the album. What is A Woman’s Role?- One of the most soulful tracks ever put out by the band and in many ways reminds me of signature future Toto tune, this is a great song in every aspect and essential. Way Back to the Bone- The fourth great track in a row and we’re in harder rocking territory again and some really great playing by Mel Galley especially in the second half of the track. Feelin’ So Much Better Now- Another good and steady middle album track, that very much sounds like a typical Humble Pie song from the era. Will Our Love End- Another one of the slower tracks on the album, an impressive track that might not have the interest of some of the other softer tracks on the album, as it relies more on basic song structure and accompaniments. Loser- A soulful harder rocking song, which again really highlights the raspy voice of Glenn Hughes on these type of songs. You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band- An instantly recognizable title track, that really has a live feel to it and always reminds me of something that the Doobie Brothers would be doing a few years later.

Verdict
This album sits next to Medusa as the best album that the band ever put out and again is one of those albums that really doesn’t suffer from any weak songs. Medusa takes the podium position of course, but this album can give it a run it to the wire, as this album is truly chock-full with great tracks throughout and as stated above the album can really be divided between its harder rocking and softer tracks. Firstly looking at the softer tracks, these tracks song for song probably come out on top and again serve as perfect examples, of a band that truly know their songcraft when it comes to laying down quality compositions. This can be seen on songs like “Coast to Coast” and “What is a Woman’s Role?” which demonstrate just how special these softer numbers are and really show that Trapeze were masters of this style. The softer tracks were also more suited to Glenn Hughes’s lower-vocal range, better than the harder rocking tracks on the album and on this album his voice seems even more soulful than ever, which lends itself perfectly over to these songs. On Medusa his voice often gave over to a less soulful delivery and often relied more on an abstract style. Secondly, the harder rocking tracks on the album like “Keepin’ Time” and the title track “You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band” really do rock out and are infused with liberal dosages of funk, and are both high on energy. When it comes to the funky sounding harder rocking numbers “Way Back to the Bone” is certainly the killer track on the album as far as I’m concerned! Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley and Dave Holland on You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band, may well have just put out one of the most soulful, funkiest and softest sounding hard rock albums ever recorded!

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

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