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Old 04-11-2008, 03:07 PM   #12 (permalink)
Comus
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Capability Brown: From Scratch (1972)



1. Beautiful Scarlet (4:53)
2. Do You Believe (4:25)
3. The Band (3:39)
4. Garden (3:18)
5. Liar (7:13)
6. No Range (4:05)
7. I Will Be There (3:18)
8. Redman (3:21)
9. Day In Day Out (3:46)
10. Sole Survivor (9:46)

Starting off with beautiful vocal harmonies and a lovely riff Beautiful Scarlet sets the scene for an absolute ripper of an album. Everything about this album screams classic the vocal performance is honest and heartfelt, the guitars are beautiful and you'll always find something new. There's always something mind-blowing going on in the background, and the production is absolutely brilliant for a 1970's album. All the songs have something extra underneath, the layering is superb yet it never feels overproduced. The vocals are as close to perfect as you can get on a prog album, the vocal harmonies are incredibly appropriate and the solo vocal performances just ooze class and beauty. I'll challenge anyone to find a weak moment here.

The Band is one of the first lyrical strongpoints on the album, listen to it properly and you'll see why. The guitar work is incredible here in the background, as I said there's always a solo or something similar going on in the background, and you'll have to listen to this several times to fully appreciate the album as a whole. There's just too much to concentrate on to fully understand the first few times around. The vocal performance here can nearly be called an early form or rap, and let's just say it works incredibly well (that's from someone who despises anything to do with rap). I just simply cannot express how incredible the guitar work is, it's quirky, soulful, catchy and musically proficient all at the same time, and it never ever feels pretentious.

The musical performance by the band as a whole is incredible, and for an early vocal highlight, go no further than the solemn Garden. A lovely lush pop song without ever adhering to any of the rules of pop music, so pop, yet unmistakenly full of self respect. It has a slow build up to a crescendo and some incredible vocal performances all the way up to. The lyrics are beautifully crafted and create a perfect picture as the band must have intended. The song Liar is a Russ Ballard song, yet Capability Brown so very aptly make it their own (Just as they do with Rare Bird songs "Beautiful Scarlet and "Redman"). The vocal performance as well as the incredibly catchy riff here are brilliant, Liar is a song you can listen to all day and never get tired of. The solo is incredibly simple yet so effective.

Very reminiscent of Wishbone Ash at times, many songs come to mind, one of them being WA's own Epic "Phoenix" this album is a must have for any Wishbone Ash fan. The layering is done so incredibly well within the guitar work and the drumming keeps it all together brilliantly with the bass work. Overall an incredibly powerful piece Liar is simple yet complex in so many ways. No Range is full of surprises, a lovely powerful riff, brilliant vocals and lyrics, and why yes, that is a flute. The vocal harmonies once again come out and shine in a song which could have been a huge hit in every decade after it was released and not seem out of place. Criminally underrated this album just goes from strength to strength and it's just simply baffling how underappreciated it is.

There's something for everyone here proggers will love the instrumental performances, casual listeners will love the lush sounds and catchy lyrics that stay with you for days. Classic rock fans will love some of the epic riffs and guitar performances, the album can be overly intense at times if you get truly into it and it can be draining to listen to once you're fully aware of the scale of the layering. There's something truly beautiful about the most simplest of lyrics here and it's ultimately an incredibly satisfying listen from all angles. I will be there leads on to the second Rare Bird cover, "Redman" which is the most heartfelt and beautiful song on the album. The vocalists make the song their own and do so without any form of pretentia, it's more than just a tribute. And to top it all iff it has hands down the finest guitar solo I've ever heard, forget Comfortably Numb, forget Stairway to Heaven, forget Hendrix, Page, Gilmour or any of your guitar heroes. Capability Brown beats them all hands down in 35 seconds of pure brilliance, so simple, yet so amazing.

Day In Day Out provides another beautiful vocal performance and yet another beautifully crafted song, the formula is used to great effect on the album yet it never seems stale simple guitar work holds it all together very well. The vocal harmonies on Day In Day Out put CSNY to shame and make you wonder why the hell this band isn't regarded as one of the 70's finest. To close off the album I couldn't have picked anything more appropriate than the fast, epic and huge track Sole Survivor, proggers will feel it's the strongpoint and the pure brilliance of the instrumental work won't be lost on even the most casual listener. The vocals powerful and instense and you'll feel like the whole album has built up to this final perfect piece of perfection. This album made me appreciate obscure music and led me on a tireless journey to find anything to top it, as of yet I have been unsuccessful. There's not a weak point on this album, it is without a doubt the finest I have heard.

You'd think there would be a limit to perfection yet I don't know if there should be, to say this album is truly perfect would be wrong because it may not be the pinacle of musical achiement, and the score I will give will reflect this and my optimism that one day I might find an album to top this one. If I fail I will have to alter the score of this album, but until then it will stay as it is now. From Scratch represents what music was meant to be, an honest, earnest venture into every aspect of the band. Yet all the band did outside of the music they created was venture into obscurity and dissapear after releasing two albums that no one heard, until now.

I wanted to put off reviewing this album until I had set a precedent with my scoring system to truly appreciate how good I feel this album is. I talk about enjoyment and how my score doesn't fully reflect how well I enjoy it (Leaf Hound scoring below Room). However this is brilliant on both levels I enjoy it more than any other and I feel that it truly deserves the score I will give. Anyways let's get onto the score:

9.9/10
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Last edited by Comus; 04-11-2008 at 03:24 PM.
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