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Ancient Vision are :
Tom May on Guitars and Keyboards
Barry Spry on Bass
Joe Allen on keyboards
Rob Leythem on Drums
Russ Gross on Guitars
Tom Hook on Vocals
Additional Musicians :
Debbie Brown : Vocals on tracks 1,3, 9, 13
Stephen Lon Phillips : saxophone on tracks 5, 11
additional synthesizer programming by Doug Chandler
The tracks are :
1. Fail Not Me (4:53)
2. Rock Child (4:53)
3. What Is Not Given Is Lost (3:56)
4. Tonight (4:48)
5. Dreams (Part I) (1:59)
6. Why Send A Man In To Do A Boy's Job (10:12)
7. Father And Son (5:33)
8. We Are Not Gentleman (5:32)
9. Focus Or Blinders? (6:12)
10. Mountains (5:51)
11. Mother Earth (5:44)
12. Hope, Love And Fear (1:58)
13. Reprisals (9:09)
Ancient Vision originally formed around 1984\85. Tom May
(group leader) had been writing music for quite some time when he
decided to form a group to record. He felt that a band effort was
more productive, as it offered other viewpoints on the arrangements
and the production of the music. The original group consisted of Tom
May on keyboards & guitar, Barry Spry - bass, and Russ
Gross - guitar. This formation worked with programmed drum machines
and computers for their percussion section. They rehearsed in an abandoned
studio inside a cave in Independance, Missouri.
About a year went by when the group decided to record the music that
was to become their first release "Vision". At about the same
time, Spry, quite by accident, struck up a friendship with
Jethro Tull bassist Dave Pegg. "Tull" had been one of May's
biggest influences, so after discussing where to record their first
CD, they decided, for fun and quality of recording, to do it at Dave
Pegg's "Woodworm Studio" in Barford, England.
As the group discussed the future recording with Tim Matyear (engineer
at Woodworm), they decided it would be best to utilize a "real" drummer.
Rob Leytham was given the music to rehearse and quickly became
part of the band. The only missing piece was a vocalist that could
sing powerfully, accurately, and with the proper emotion that the
music demanded. After a few disastrous auditions, it occurred to both
Gross and May that the perfect singer for the group
was fellow musician Tom Hook, whom they had played with in
a "cover" band. They were so convinced of his talent that there was
never an audition or rehearsal!
So, in July of 1988, Ancient Vision went to England and, in
a very short two weeks, recorded and final mixed the entire album
"Vision". In retrospect, with such a short time available,
the group feels that this was successful due to their previous hard
work at rehearsals, Hook's incredible natural ability, and
the entire groups willingness to listen to the experienced (although
quite young!) Tim Matyear's suggestions and direction. The group also
attributes the fine quality ale's and stout's served at the local
pub for their tenacity!
As the group was (and still is) completely self promoted, they had
to come up with the money to put the master tape into a sellable CD
package. With help and advise from various supporters, "Vision"
was released in early 1990.
Upon completion and distribution through some of the "underground"
record distributors, Ancient Vision found that they had a small
following (mainly in Europe). They also performed live a few times
in the Kansas City, Mo. area with a surprisingly enthusiastic response
from people of all ages and walks of life.
With the limited but surprising success of "Vision", Tom
May decided to produce another albums worth of music. This time
the music, although still written from the heart, was written and
arranged from a "group" viewpoint. Joe Allen, who had been
running sound for the bands live performances, was added as the groups
main keyboardist. Joe brought to the group a wonderful understanding
of "how things fit together", along with his fine keyboard playing.
With over two hours of new music available, Ancient Vision
set out to record their newest album to date "Focus or Blinders".
This time they recorded the album at one of the local, high quality,
recording facilities in their hometown of Kansas City. "West End Recording"
provided them with the perfect facility from an equipment perspective,
but they felt they still wanted to use Tim Matyear for the engineer.
He understood the musical direction of the band. Tim was very enthusiastic
about this, and in August of 1993, flew over to start production for
the new album.
The recording went fine with over two hours of "finished product".
Some rich background vocals by Debbie Brown and tasty alto sax parts
by Steve Phillips were added. Then the band took a long overdue rest.
Getting that quantity of music recorded and mixed to their much higher
degree of production expectations had taken its toll on all involved.
During late 1993\early 1994 the band listened to the finished product
and decided which songs would fit conceptually best in the normal
length of time for a CD. Upon listening though, May decided
that, although impeccably recorded, there was something missing from
his original conception of the music for this album. So, with much
help from Joe Allen, and the wonders of modern day technology,
over the next few months additional guitar and keyboard parts (including
some solo's) were either added to the original final mixes done by
Matyear, or re-recorded and mixed with the owner of the recording
studio, Mike Miller.
Now they had the sound they were looking for. A much "slicker" recorded
and produced album than "Vision". With beautiful art work provided
by professional artist Mario Baert (Netherlands), "Focus or Blinders"
was ready to go to press. Once again the capitol for final CD
production was found, and in early 1995, "Focus or Blinders"
was released.
"Focus or Blinders" has brought Ancient Vision an album
that can proudly be compared to any "major studio" production. The
reviews and comments have spoken of the rich textures of the music.
The overall maturity that the band has grown into. The simplistic
more "songish" feel that the complex arrangements have taken on.
With their credo of:
"Respecting the Past. Experiencing the Present. Creating the Future.",
Ancient Vision is looking forward to the future of their "Vision"
The opening track 'Fail Me Not' starts off with some nice keyboards
and percussion as an intro before the main song starts. The keyboards
are very mellow, but there's a nice melody and the vocals are fairly
soft and emotional except for a few occasions when Tom gives the vocals
more of a raw edge to them.
The next track 'Rock Child', this to my mind is a kind of cross
between Jethro Tull and The Who. Nice melody which has a rocking beat
to it, nice keyboards and guitar and some thumping heavy bass lines
too. To me this track has a feeling of a rock opera like 'Tommy'
and 'Quadrophenia'
The third track 'What Is Not Given Is Lost' the keyboards have
a Rick Wakeman/Yes feel to them and the guitar work is more Genesis
influenced, nice vocals with plenty of emotion.
The next track 'Tonight' is a fairly mellow track with some
excellent keyboards. Gets a little heavier when the chorus comes in
and the chorus is quite catchy. Again the keyboards at times sound
in a similar vein to Rick Wakeman/Yes. Towards the end of the track
there's some nice guitar work.
'Dreams (Part I)', is a nice ballad with emotional vocals and
some nice dreamy saxophone playing to finish the track off.
The sixth track 'Why Send
A Man In To Do A Boy`s Job', starts with a dramatic/atmospheric
intro. The main part of the song shows a lot of Genesis influence.
Nice keyboards which are fairly mellow, but quite atmospheric at times.
Towards the middle of the track there's an outstanding instrumental
break with some stunning keyboard work. The vocals are more powerful
at times on this track, but still carry a lot of emotion.
The next track 'Father And Son', starts with a nice ballad
with some nice acoustic guitar/vocal interaction. After a while the
track then starts to gradually build up. Then there's a change in
direction when the keyboards come in, with a slight blues feel to
them. The track still gradually build up with some nice guitar work.
Towards the end of the track there's some dramatic keyboards and this
segues into...
'We Are Not Gentlemen', Strong vocals and for me the first
part sound like a song which belongs in a rock opera. Later there's
a nice instrumental with some excellent keyboards and guitar.
The ninth track 'Focus Or Blinders', starts off with a Rush
type keyboard intro, there's also a strong drum sound and some nice
guitar work. The vocals have quite a raw edge to them and are fairly
powerful at times. Again this is a track that gradually builds up
until you reach the chorus, when it mellows out, then it starts to
build up again. But there are a lot of changes in mood, tempo and
direction throughout this track and some of the vocals are very emotional.
The next track is 'Mountains', an unusual kind of love song,
the lyrics point to LOVE, the music however, is more dramatic than
you would expect for this type of song. The vocals are fairly powerful
too and quite gutsy. There's also some nice keyboards and guitar work.
'Mother Earth', starts off with some atmospheric keyboards,
Yes style and then there's some sax , a bit like Van Der Graaf Generator.
The vocals are powerful once again and then there's a wonderful guitar
solo. Back to the vocals, nice keyboards and more sax just before
the track finishes.
The twelfth track 'Hope, Love And Fear', This is another very
short track with a classical feel to it. The vocals once again show
a great deal of emotion.
The final track 'Reprisals', starts off with some atmospheric,
emotional keyboards. Then the track changes and bundles together and
reworks themes from some of the tracks on the album. A well thought
out piece and serves to be an excellent conclusion to the album.
An excellent album and one I would class as a progressive rock opera.
Superb musicianship and outstanding songwriting.
Highly Recommended!!!
For more information write to
The Fire
P.O. Box 13671
Kansas City
Mo. 61499
USA
Website : http://members.aol.com/avnow
Email : AVnow@aol.com
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