Steampunk Music Review: The First
I'm going to kick off these reviews with a band that was doing Steampunk music even before the subgenre was a 20th century revisioning. I was introduced to this group in the late 1970s by a friend in the small town of Kemptville and had the positive joy of seeing them play live on their ONLY tour in late 1981/early 1982. If you're old enough you may remember the Carpenter's hit "Calling Occupants." Well, that was a cover. The original performers were Klaatu, a band that has a very curious history.
A Toronto duo that came together in 1973, John Woloschuk and Dee Long named their band after, you guessed it, that alien from "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Two years later drummer Terry Draper was added. They initially kept their identities hidden from the public while struggling for radio recognition with a handful of singles first through Daffodil Records and then through Capitol. Because of their sound rumour had it that they were an anonymous project of the Beatles reunited and there was a lot of disappointment when their indentities were revealed in the early 80s.
While being defined as Progressive Rock [one will find that a LOT of Steampunk style bands are labelled either as ProgRock or World Music], and with some of their pieces definitely having a rock feel, Klaatu also produced some deliciously Steamy songs.
Their first album, released in 1976, was called "3:47 EST [another reference to that movie thing!] and contained the fantastic gems: "Sub-Rosa Subway" and "Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III".
"Sub-Rosa" has that very distinctive Beatles sound and tells the tale of the first secretive 1870 NYC subway attempt by Alfred Ely Beach. A bit of trivia that foreshadows where their Steamy flavour is going to head - at 2:50 one can hear a message coded in morse. Translated, the message is "From Alfred, heed thy sharpened ear / A message we do bring / Starship appears upon our sphere / Through London's sky come spring." The second piece worth noting on this first album, "Sir Bodsworth" is a perky, sing-along style of the like that would entertain in a pub or tavern. A taller than life tale of the titled hero, the "Only man who'd ever get to hell and come back alive", it's a bit of a flying dutchman story coloured with a touch of the Great British Adventurer, of a style of tall tale telling that has always been popular, done in a Victorian style with appropriate instrumentation and 'feel'.
"Hope", their second release, was a concept album [something very, very rare these days]. Winning a Juno AND a Canadian Music Critics award the album is a science fiction tale in the vein of the early SF writers of the Victorian era, the entire set of tracks has an indeniable Steampunk feel in the lyrics, the story and the instrumentation. With a strong nautical theme tied to the image of spaceflight, the London Symphony Orchestra contributed their sounds to several of the pieces [though the final piece on the album, the title track "Hope", was released with the Orchestral parts removed and finding the version with the LSO included is difficult, but worth the challenge]. At times bouncy and fun, alternating with moody and even depressively sad moments, "Hope" is an incredible album to listen start to finish. For me, the two individual songs that hit the high note in the Steampunk catalogue are "Around the Universe in 80 Days" and "Long Live Politzania" though the entire album is one big Steampunk musical story [call it a modern opera without the high notes, perhaps?]
"Sir Army Suit" is their third album, and this one aimed a little more at the 'Pop' kind of feel for the late 70s, with one track actually being out and out disco. But there are still a few fairly Steampunk sounding songs: "Everybody Took a Holiday", "Dear Christine", and "Cherie". A diverse mix of sounds, this is a fun album that displays their various skills and ability to craft different soundscapes.
"Endangered Species", their fourth, is exactly what a Contractually Obligated Album would sound like. It's all rock, as demanded by Capitol, using an outside producer and studio musicians. With no artistic control, Klaatu just isn't really part of this release at heart. While it's a good example of early 80s rock, that's all it is. Well... one DOES have to adore that they slipped in a song called "Sell Out" on an album specifically aimed at making them do that. A complete catalogue bomb, this album resulted in the label dropping the band.
Their final album, "Magentaline", released in 1981, has a wondefully Steamy cover but other than that it returns to the more rock driven sounds of their earlier releases.
Terry Brown, their producer, has also worked with Max Webster and Rush. In fact, Klaatu has shared several connections with the Canadian SuperGroup, Rush, through engineers, artists and other creative folk who work behind the scenes on albums from concept to release.
So focusing on the first three albums, with emphasis on that beutiful second release "Hope", I'm giving these hometown boys four cogs out of five, with a bonus plus (4+/5) for doing it right years before anyone thought of reviving the worlds of Verne and Wells and all of the rest of 'em.
http://www.klaatu.org/
A Toronto duo that came together in 1973, John Woloschuk and Dee Long named their band after, you guessed it, that alien from "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Two years later drummer Terry Draper was added. They initially kept their identities hidden from the public while struggling for radio recognition with a handful of singles first through Daffodil Records and then through Capitol. Because of their sound rumour had it that they were an anonymous project of the Beatles reunited and there was a lot of disappointment when their indentities were revealed in the early 80s.
While being defined as Progressive Rock [one will find that a LOT of Steampunk style bands are labelled either as ProgRock or World Music], and with some of their pieces definitely having a rock feel, Klaatu also produced some deliciously Steamy songs.
Their first album, released in 1976, was called "3:47 EST [another reference to that movie thing!] and contained the fantastic gems: "Sub-Rosa Subway" and "Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III".
"Sub-Rosa" has that very distinctive Beatles sound and tells the tale of the first secretive 1870 NYC subway attempt by Alfred Ely Beach. A bit of trivia that foreshadows where their Steamy flavour is going to head - at 2:50 one can hear a message coded in morse. Translated, the message is "From Alfred, heed thy sharpened ear / A message we do bring / Starship appears upon our sphere / Through London's sky come spring." The second piece worth noting on this first album, "Sir Bodsworth" is a perky, sing-along style of the like that would entertain in a pub or tavern. A taller than life tale of the titled hero, the "Only man who'd ever get to hell and come back alive", it's a bit of a flying dutchman story coloured with a touch of the Great British Adventurer, of a style of tall tale telling that has always been popular, done in a Victorian style with appropriate instrumentation and 'feel'.
"Hope", their second release, was a concept album [something very, very rare these days]. Winning a Juno AND a Canadian Music Critics award the album is a science fiction tale in the vein of the early SF writers of the Victorian era, the entire set of tracks has an indeniable Steampunk feel in the lyrics, the story and the instrumentation. With a strong nautical theme tied to the image of spaceflight, the London Symphony Orchestra contributed their sounds to several of the pieces [though the final piece on the album, the title track "Hope", was released with the Orchestral parts removed and finding the version with the LSO included is difficult, but worth the challenge]. At times bouncy and fun, alternating with moody and even depressively sad moments, "Hope" is an incredible album to listen start to finish. For me, the two individual songs that hit the high note in the Steampunk catalogue are "Around the Universe in 80 Days" and "Long Live Politzania" though the entire album is one big Steampunk musical story [call it a modern opera without the high notes, perhaps?]
"Sir Army Suit" is their third album, and this one aimed a little more at the 'Pop' kind of feel for the late 70s, with one track actually being out and out disco. But there are still a few fairly Steampunk sounding songs: "Everybody Took a Holiday", "Dear Christine", and "Cherie". A diverse mix of sounds, this is a fun album that displays their various skills and ability to craft different soundscapes.
"Endangered Species", their fourth, is exactly what a Contractually Obligated Album would sound like. It's all rock, as demanded by Capitol, using an outside producer and studio musicians. With no artistic control, Klaatu just isn't really part of this release at heart. While it's a good example of early 80s rock, that's all it is. Well... one DOES have to adore that they slipped in a song called "Sell Out" on an album specifically aimed at making them do that. A complete catalogue bomb, this album resulted in the label dropping the band.
Their final album, "Magentaline", released in 1981, has a wondefully Steamy cover but other than that it returns to the more rock driven sounds of their earlier releases.
Terry Brown, their producer, has also worked with Max Webster and Rush. In fact, Klaatu has shared several connections with the Canadian SuperGroup, Rush, through engineers, artists and other creative folk who work behind the scenes on albums from concept to release.
So focusing on the first three albums, with emphasis on that beutiful second release "Hope", I'm giving these hometown boys four cogs out of five, with a bonus plus (4+/5) for doing it right years before anyone thought of reviving the worlds of Verne and Wells and all of the rest of 'em.
http://www.klaatu.org/