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: : REVIEW : :
I suppose that many people over the years may have heard of the band Netherworld.
Well, maybe they have but I have not. I must have missed this one somehow. I'll have
to blame my old friend Dana. He turned me on to almost everything I listen to today
but somehow this one got by him. Fortunately for me this is no longer the case. It
seems that Netherworld has managed to get themselves re-released twenty years after
their vinyl debut. Not a bad trick for a band that even Dana didn't seem to notice.
Is this going to be a trend? I don't know. I sure would like to see more of this
though. There is a huge amount of great music that got swept away over the last
twenty or thirty years with little or no notice. Anybody remember Ethos or Galaxy?
The Netherworld album that we have today is a compilation of two earlier works by
the band. The first being "In the Following Half-light" and the later "Cumulo
Nimbus." Brought back to you once again by the magic of CD's and digital remastering.
Musically, I was taken back immediately by the bands style. I will say it right out.
This band reminds me of IQ to three significant digits.
After only a few moments of
listening, I figured Netherworld was just a bit of a "knock off" band. It was some
time later that it occurred to me that these tunes must have come out some years
earlier than the IQ work that I am familiar with. This really got my attention! One
minute I'm dealing with what I thought was just another pretender band and the next
I'm stuck with a "chicken or the egg?" quandry. Please folks don't confuse the
reviewer! So, initially I was going to write that Netherworld reminds me a great
deal of early IQ and accordingly had to have been influenced by them. But I had to
change my tune completely. It seems now that IQ reminds me of Netherworld! Not bad,
not bad......! Whether this similarity is complete coincidence or if this sound was
overall popular in the Prog world during the eighties, I guess I'll never know. But
it sure sounds to me as though these bands must have
come from the same musical swamp.
Netherworld features music that is fast changing and urgent with
instrument sounds and vocals that are almost a dead ringer for that "other" band.
This is not a bad thing either. I found the musicianship to be first rate and the
subject matter very mature, if a little dark, in places. As to dark subject matter,
one selection even tells us the story of the serial killer Son of Sam. For those of
you who are afflicted with youth. Son of Sam was a lunatic murderer who apparently
murdered young women after receiving orders from a dog named Sam. The murderer is, I
think, still rotting in jail and to the best of my knowledge the dog "Sam" is still
at large. So much for the S.PC.A. As I said the subject matter is mature and a
little dark in places. That being said, I like the Son of Sam track quite a lot.
The first few tracks are very
reminiscent of early IQ. Fast paced, changing with guitar and keyboard interplay
that would be immediately familiar to many of us. The vocals of Denny Gorden are
also first rate and comparable Peter Nicholls. Perhaps even a little more polished.
If you are a fan of this style of music, this work will not disappoint you. I would
recommend that you get a copy right away. The album is worth it on this level alone!
But there is more. Along about track 5, Netherworld really hits its stride. The
tracks
soften a bit and bring in more instruments such as the cello and harpsichord,
uncorking a couple of great melodically flowing tunes which show the musical depth
of the band. I heard some subtle Yes and Genesis influences here as well. Either way
I found the shift in feelings to be very unexpected. The album is rounded out by a
three part instrumental that was, during the bands performing
years, always in demand and serves as a nice finish to the album.
As to the Chicken or the Egg question, it is not really important which came first
(unless you're a chicken of coarse) as long as the results are worth listening to.
The Netherworld release
easily has enough going for it to stand
on it's own merit. There is a nice diversity of styles and themes present. The
musicianship of the whole band is very good indeed and I think there is a song or
two here to please everyone. Surely a few songs for party mixes. I'll hang on to
this one. I hope that dusting off and re-releasing the progressive oldies becomes
popular. I'm sure there are a lot of things that we may have missed along the way.
I'm going to give this one..........8 Keyboards
Reviewer: Steve Mynaugh
: : Visit the artist web site : :
http://www.netherworldmusic.com/
: : Discography : :
Netherworld
In The Following Half Light
Cumulo Nimbus
: : Record Label : :
Musearecords |
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