Neapolitan

band: Garth Watt-Roy - clarinet, lead vocals
album title: Speech
year: 1972
members:
Mick Bradley - drums
Louis Cennamo - bass, vocals
Martin Pugh - guitar, vocals
Garth Watt-Roy - session vocalist, clarinet

1. Penumbra: (22:42)
   1. Entrance
   2. Battlements
   3. Passage To Remorse
   4. Sightless Substance
   5. Mortal Thought
2. Telegram (Nature's Mischief) (12:00)
3. For Against (10:58)

The album starts off slow, with what sounds like a cello and a human voice sonically intertwining with each other. After the last harsh draw of the bow the guitar starts. It sounds somewhat similar to Steve Howe's riff on To Be Over from about 3:48 to 3:52 off the Relayer album by Yes. But this riff repeats over throughout the jam and is accompanied by a very frantic drumming, and it continues until the bass come comes in. The singing doesn't start until around five minutes and thirty seconds into the album, this if anything proves it has Prog Rock ambition in form. Around 7:50 the guitar enters, this time along with Alex Lifeson-like riff. And around eleven minutes they start jamming with an ABB feel. I am not saying the guitar player is influence by them, just what to expect. Over all it goes through various style and moods throughout the album. The last song ends with a drum solo somewhere between Soul Sacrifice and Moby Dick. If you like to indulge in an album by a jam band whether by Prog or Blues Rock, band or some Stoner Rock band than this is worth investigating.

__________________