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Star - Crossed Grey Lady Down (GLD) |
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Grey Lady Down are: Sean Spear
: Bass Tracks: 1. Fading Faith
(9.12) GLD was formed in 1992 when previous collaborators Louis David (keyboards), Julian Hunt (guitars) and Martin Wilson (vocals), playing under the name Shadowland, were joined by a new rhythm section, Sean Spear (bass) and Mark Robotham (drums). From the outset GREY LADY DOWN strove for a more direct and aggressive, but still accessible, progressive rock style than many of their contemporaries. In 1994 they released 'The Crime' to critical acclaim and a year later, this was followed by 'Forces', this album established GREY LADY DOWN amongst the Premier League of British progressive rock acts. In the autumn of 1996, with label-mates Tristan Park from the USA, GREY LADY DOWN embarked on a string of dates in Europe before crossing the Atlantic to perform shows in New York, Boston and Baltimore. Before going to the US however personal pressures came to bear on Julian Hunt and sadly he had to quit the band. Short-term replacement, Steve Anderson (of Sphere) was such a success that he was asked to join the band permanently, which he gladly accepted. With a new line-up and the success of their first US tour still ringing in their ears GREY LADY DOWN set about writing material for their third album. With some material already written with Julian Hunt and with the two new members, the band were brimming with ideas. The rest of the material for the album was written at an unprecedented rate and the band soon found themselves back in The Warehouse studio, again, with Tim Turan wearing the producer's hat, in the Easter of 1997. The outcome of this was a collection of seven songs with a harder edge than the previous albums. 'FEAR' was released in the summer of 1997. Rave reviews followed the release of FEAR with comments like "In the grand tradition of a myriad of riveting instrumentation and intense vocals FEAR is indeed their finest so far", and "It is evident that their sound is more aggressive and urgent and has moved in a direction of their own. Certainly this is their best album to date and shows a band on the way up" 1998 was a traumatic year for GREY LADY DOWN with Steve Anderson developing an ear problem that forced him, under doctor's orders, to quit the band. Fortunately Julian Hunt was able to step back into the role. After a short tour however further pressures on the personal lives of the band came to bear so it was decided, sadly, to call it a day on 28 March. This, however, is not the end of the story. A chance meeting between Mark Westworth and Julian Hunt at a party found two out of work musicians discussing the possibility of putting a band together. After approaching old GREY LADY DOWN cohorts Sean Spear and Martin Wilson to join up with them the search was on for a drummer. Mark Robotham was unfortunately heavily involved in another project so was unavailable so a mutual friend introduced the band to Martin Wright, one-time drummer with eighties folk-prog band SOLSTICE. Initially calling themselves TRINITY the five-piece started to write and rehearse intensively and it was soon apparent that the sound of the new material was distinctly GLD. After much discussion it decided to resurrect the old name. And in June this year (2001) GLD finally released thier new album entitled 'Star-Crossed' The opening track 'Fading Faith' starts off with some nice keyboards and after a short while the whole band comes in. This is a fairly powerful opening track, with strong vocals from Martin. There's also some excellent guitar and keyboard work with plenty of changes in direction, mood and tempo. I had a few instances when I was reminded of bands such as IQ, Twelfth Night and early Genesis. The next track 'Shattered' is another track with quite an upbeat, once again there are some nice keyboards and guitar and plenty of changes in mood, tempo and direction. The third track is 'As The Brakes Fall', this one slows things down a bit and is quite a bit softer. There's plenty of atmosphere and about 2 minutes in there's a change in direction when it all get a bit hotter with some heavier guitar sounds and some great keyboards. Once again there are plenty of changes in direction, mood and tempo and some excellent guitar and keyboard solos. 'Fallen' starts off with just a piano playing, then a driving bass comes in with some great soaring guitar sounds. The track then gradually builds up, then mellows when Martin's vocals come in. Martins vocals are slightly more mellow on this track. Once again the track then starts to gradually build up and in comes a superb guitar solo, this then mellows out. I wouldn't go as far as saying this is the most commercial track on the album, especially as the track lasts some 13 minutes + ( and who on earth would play it, no commercial radio station in the UK, that's for sure) but is it one of the most melodic tracks on the album, and there are parts of it, which I feel could be made into a single. Anyway back to the track, as I seem to have digressed a little, the track then builds up with some superb keyboards and guitar, then there's a change in direction and it becomes more atmospheric. When the vocals return the tempo then rises and the vocals are more aggressive this time, later on this then fades back to the piano sounds I heard at the beginning, a little while later some atmospheric keyboards play in the background, then later these fade and the track lead into... 'New Age Of Tyranny', starting with quite an upbeat tempo, but slowing down when the vocals come in,there are some excellent keyboards and guitar. The vocals on this track are fairly powerful from Martin. There are a lot of changes throughout this track from the music being highly complex to very atmospheric. There's a superb guitar solo later, which is followed by a return to the upbeat tempo that we had at the beginning, there's a bit of this track that reminds me of the Sparks single in the '70's 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us'. The sixth track is 'Sands Of Time' starts with acoustic guitar which is followed by an atmospheric guitar sound, when the vocals arrive so do the rest of the band. This is another melodic track with once again the vocals being slightly more mellow too. I think if the band where thinking of releasing any singles from the album, this is the one. This track also features some nice flute and some excellent guitar work. The next track is 'Truth', starting with an hypnotic guitar, bass and drum rhythm, then the guitar becomes more complex. Then after a while this mellows to some atmospheric keyboards sounds. The vocals of Martin are once again fairly powerful on this track and periodically over the next few minutes there's quite a heavy guitar sound. There's also some nice atmospheric keyboards and guitar swaying in and at at the same time too. This is gradually building up, the vocals have this distorted outlook which is followed by some nice keyboards and then a superb guitar solo. Suddenly there's a change in direction, in comes a piano, and some heavy guitar sounds and the tempo just keeps constantly changing, then gradually the beat slows down and the vocals return and the track finishes with a great guitar solo. The final track 'Crossfire' starts with some heavy guitar, Martin's vocals are strong, there's a great rhythm on this track, it does have a familiarity about it, but I can't quite put my finger on it yet (will probably come to me after a few more listens). This is another fairly complex track with plenty of changes in mood, direction and tempo. There's also some excellent keyboards and guitar and this track also features a stunning guitar solo from guest musician Bernie Marsden towards the end. Having not heard anything by Grey Lady Down before, I wouldn't like to comment on how their new album compares to past releases, but I would like to say that this is an excellent album, highly complex, filled with passion and fire. Martin's vocals are quite aggressive at times, but this gives the band an edge, a uniqueness, while the music's melodic, atmospheric and progressive. If you like bands such as Pallas, IQ, Twelfth Night, Marillion, I'm sure you will like this one too. An album that grows on you with repeated listening. Highly Recommended! All CDs are released
by and are available through... Or Cyclops Records,
33a Tolworth Park Road, Tolworth, Surrey KT6 7RL England. Discography: The Crime CYCL001
(1994) |
