If you thought Titanic could not do any worse than Ballad of a rock'n roll loser ,they actually manage to do so with Eye of the hurricane.On Ballad of a rock'n roll loser we do manage to get 3 decent songs,but here there is unfortunately nothing memorable.Songs sound like third rate Bob Seger leftovers.Straight ahead AOR with no pulse. There is about seven songs worth one star and 3 maybe worth a star and a half.Yes it is that bad I am afraid to say,and after this album the band also broke up or went on a 10 year hiatus,and who could blame them.
Thankfully they were able to deliver three excellent albums and one passable in Return of the Drakkar.As they say,all good things come to an end.
With their recording contract with CBS now over, Titanic moved to the rather smaller Barclay records for the release of their fifth studio album in 1978. Once again, the line up was to alter significantly, with John Williamson and Andrew Poulton both departing. Back came John Lorck on drums, to be joined by the wonderfully named basist Saintclair Brunet. More significantly though, the line up once again boasted a keyboard player in Claude Chamboissier.
While the album displays some of the pop rock traits which hampered the disappointing "Ballad of a rock 'n' roll loser", it does at least see the band attempting to turn the clock back towards their fine early albums. The opening "Blue train" is a pleasant but largely prosaic piece of guitar rock. The following (appropriately named) "Flashback" however reintroduces the fine organ sounds, the track being a fairly blatant attempt to create a "Sultana part 2". In a nod toward progress, synthesiser also appears on the track. The remaining tracks on side one (note that the sides are reversed on the rear sleeve) also feature the welcome return of keyboards, but are rather lightweight pop affairs. "Sparkly brown" is especially pop orientated, bordering on the bubblegum.
The side two opener "Jack Knife" is a sort of blend of "Sing fool sing" and "Underbird" from the band's early career, the frantic percussion and driving Hammond reminding us of the band's glory days while offering something fresh and interesting. "Mr. Hyde" has a Mountain (the band) feel to it, the harsh Leslie West like vocals suiting the rock and roll rhythm well. "Haunted house" is an uncomplicated acoustic song, but its strong melody and fine vocal performance make it an album highlight.
The closing "Cascade" is the longest track at just over 6 minutes. The song is a fine organ drenched ballad with a top notch vocal performance by Roy Robinson. It features some effective high backing vocals and some impassioned lyrics.
In summary, a much better album than its predecessor, but "Return of Drakkar" still falls well short of the first three albums released by the band.
Having successfully plotted a path through the icebergs of major line up changes prior to recording their previous album "Eagle rock", Titanic found themselves back on a similar path when it came to recording this album. Gone after just one album was keyboard player Helge Groslie (he does play piano on the title track though), but this time the band did not bring in a replacement in that role. Given that the Titanic sound was until now based around the driving power of the Hammond organ, this inevitably meant a change of direction.
Unfortunately, this time that direction change sees the Titanic heading straight for said iceberg. All of a sudden, the songs are much more light-weight affairs, with twangy guitars and southern rock drawls. Part of the problem appears to be that no one is willing to step up as leader of the band, the songwriting credits being spread thinly among the remaining members. This only serves to emphasise the contribution made by the departed bassist Arica Siggs in that department.
The title track is a pleasant Blood Sweat and Tears like affair, but it is a million miles from the mighty power of "Underbird", the superb prog of "One night in Eagle Rock", or the organ driven excitement of "Sultana". "Ricochet", which closes side one, appears to be a half hearted effort to create another "Sultana", but it's more of a withered raisin really.
"Following a line" sounds for all the world like a song by Family, Roy Robinson doing a passable impression of Roger Chapman. The best track is the closer "Don't turn around", which has a slightly more considered arrangement, a decent melody, and some good (but sadly unaccredited) synth.
It really is difficult to remain positive about this album. Expectations were high as a result of the quality of the previous releases. We could have forgiven the band if they had produced something which rested on their laurels, but "Ballad of a rock'n'roll loser" is all too appropriately named. To be fair, this album may have formed the fulfilment of a contractual obligation to CBS records, as they left the label after its release.
All the power of the heavy Hammond organ is present during these fantastic eight minutes (almost). This band has a real sound of his own even if their style are quite reminiscent of the great hard/heavy rock bands of the era (I already pointed this out in a previous review of their work).
Not only is the rhythmic and keys superb: Janne Loseth delivers an excellent and wild guitar break. This track is full of energy and again it reminds me lot of the great ''Atomic Rooster'' (but not only). ''One Night In Eagle Rock'' is a gigantic track.
The band was also quite successful in terms of hit singles, and ''All Around You'' is a good example on how good the band was in writing catchy songs. This one is on the rocking side to say the least. A vigorous beat all the way through, convincing vocals and a great backing band. Not bad, right?
The heavy sounds are back again with ''One Of Your Kind''. Seriously psychedelic, it demonstrates all the strengths of these guys. Gosh! Having developed such type of music in these ancient times (they started in '69) in a country as Norway is quite remarkable.
One also has to listen to this track and succumb to the charm of the mood changes: from wild to melodic and harmonious in a couple of seconds. Impressive to say the least. This is another very good song (but so far, there aren't any weak ones).
The fully heavy-prog oriented ''Dying Sun'' is definitely another highlight from this work. It is a wonderful kaleidoscope of crazy percussions and admirable Hammond organ (yes, I 'm quite found of this). IMO, it is really one of their top ten songs that deserves to be listened to. I will soon upload some MP3 so that you can share the experience and enjoy.
''Titanic'' was also the type of band who were writing some fine rock ballad to break the overall heavy mood: ''And It's Music'' is such a song. The band is back to its roots though with the energetic ''Richmond Express''. A killer rock song that kicks quite a bunch. Helge Groslie on the organ is really performing a great job and the percussions (another genuine characteristics form ''Titanic'' ) are closing the track jolly well.
It could also apply to ''Maureen'' but this song is more elaborate and is much more than just a rock ballad: there are several theme changes, great instrumental interplay and as always, this convincing and warm vocals from Roy Robinson (who reminds me of Gary Brooker from''Procol Harum'').
D release offers four bonus tracks of which ''Rain 2000'' shares some similarities with ''Sultana'' (percussions mainly). This one is no instrumental though. Some sort of Norwegian samba! A nice experience by all means.
This song was released as a single in 1972 and was backed by ''Blond'' which is a decent rock ballad. Maybe somewhat mellowish, but that's another side of their work. Fine organ anyway (but at this time, this is no surprise) and moving vocals.
The other two songs were released on an EP in 1973 (together with ''Richmond Express'' and ''Rain 2000''). As far as I know, it was only released in Mexico (the band was quite popular in Latin America).
As its title indicates ''Macumba'' is quite a rhythmic tune with serious Latin accents. Don't expect any ''Sultana'' but it is not a bad song (although the ''chants'' are not really great).
No need to tell you that ''Midnight Sadness'' is totally different. The smooth ''Titanic'' side is shown here (very close to ''Procol Harum'' again).
If you consider that only two short tracks would have been best avoided (''Heia?'' and ''Skeleton''), this album sits perfectly between their great debut and their good sophomore work.
After the surprising self titled debut (surprising because Norway's Rock was practically unknown), TITANIC managed to maintain the same lineup and went for a more mature release which was named "Sea Wolf".
This album came after the success of the Santana oriented single "Sultana" which was the B side of a less famous track named "Sing Fool Sing" that has been added to "Sea Wolf only as bonus track, a song that was well received in Spain, Holland, Germany and other European counties and allowed TITANIC to be known outside Norway.
The album starts with "Sea Wolf", which marked a constant in the band of opening albums with one of the best tracks and hiding nothing for the end, from the beginning TITANIC attacks us with a blend of Hard Rock and Psyche oriented keyboards, radical changes and a coherent structure, frantic from start to end with not a second to rest, as if the band had panic to silent moments.
"Underbird" begins with a frenetic organ intro and a Latin oriented percussion that takes us to some sort of British Invasion music with SANTANA influence, but of course the difference is made when the band starts to change from one mood to another repeatedly and Janne Loseth adds his peculiar guitar to the mix, a fantastic track with strong percussions probably congas.
Just when I believed I had found a pattern in "Sea Wolf" this guys break my mental structure with "Confusion" and the mid 70's Country oriented sound with a touch of BOB DYLAN, even the voice of "Roy Robinson sounds pretty close to good old bob. The use of harmonica enhances the effect but the chorus make the difference.
I don't know if "Sultana" is a tribute to SANTANA or is just that the band members loved Carlos' style so much that they wanted to play like his bad. The use of the Hammond takes us to the late 60's in the Psyche peak, plus the excellent percussion. The main difference with SANTANA relies in the lack of guitar solos, something absolutely honest by TITANIC who wanted to keep their individuality.
I don't know if "Hanging Over" is played with public or it's simply an effect, but the short piano intro misleads us to believe they are going for something closer to Symphonic, but in a fraction of second the song morphs into classic Rock & Roll of the 50's, with a style reminiscent of "Jerry lee Lewis", but only for a few minutes, because the piano interruptions and guitar solos reminds we're before a Rock band of the 70's with solid influences of the late 60's.
"Covered in Dust" is a major change in the style, they perform some sort of Blues Oriented Rock in the vein of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, but even when they go for a mainstream structure, Kenny Aas with his keyboards present an approach towards Progressive Rock, not as clear as in "Eagle Rock" but obvious for anybody. The drums and percussion combo deserves a special mention, because John Lorck and Kjell Asperud play as if there was no tomorrow.
"A Stone's Throw" is a strange song for TITANIC, sounds clearly like a Psyche track with piano instead of Hammond and a pretty simple structure, nice but not great, on the other hand "Scarlet" is an excellent track with a bit of everything, starting with the soft vocals, accurate percussion, fantastic keyboards and spacey atmosphere, this album keeps getting better
"Exiled" is something special, from the start the sober organ intro leads us to a martial drum section as if we were before an anthem, but again they change into a fluid Power Ballad where the chorus are simply outstanding (something not so unusual in a band where almost all the musicians sing), as a fact they remind me of early QUEEN in some moments but leaving clear that this music is previous to any QUEEN's release,
This time I will comment the bonus track "Sing Fool Sing" because it fits perfectly in the atmosphere of the album, being that it was released as A side of their single hit "Sultana", in this blues oriented song that reminds of WAR, the band shows another face, they can rock and still have a funky touch while keeping intact the Psyche atmosphere, good addition for an already very good album.
Norway is not precisely the cradle of Progressive Rock, but a band formed in 1969 when the genre was still on diapers, a group of musicians from Oslo, decided to form a Hard Rock band inspired in legends such as LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE, but gave a step forward and created a unique sound that blended all this influences with our beloved genre and a strong Psychedelic element.
The original lineup was formed by Kenny AAS playing the organ and bass, Janne LOSETH in charge of the guitar and vocals, John LORCK as drummer and Kjell ASPERUD who added percussion and vocals.
Their first real hit single, the SANTANA oriented "Sultana" almost peaked the UK charts reaching a surprising (for a foreign band not coming from USA) fifth position.
But their recording career had started a year before with the self titled debut. By that point TITANIC had recruited the British vocalist Roy ROBINSON, who not only gave them a more international sound allowing the band to reach the UK and North American markets, but turned into a compositional force of the band.
Their second album "Sea Wolf" is released in 1971, after this album Kenny AAS leaves the band and is replaced with Helge GRØSLIE with whom they release their definitive "Eagle Rock" in 1973 in which they present us a clearly Psyche, Heavy Prog release and a mature sound with an impressive Hammond performance and chorus in the vein of URIAH HEEP.
The band kept releasing albums until 1979 when they disband, however TITANIC rejoined a couple of times with several changes in the linup, and in February 2009 they surprised us with their latest release "Ashes & Diamonds" with Roy ROBINSON and John LOSETH as the only members who were present on their first LP back in 1971.
A strong Hard Rock and Psyche band with evident Prog leanings that deserves to be included in Prog Archives, mainly for their early 70's releases.
The fantastic opener ''Searchin'' is the first jewel available. It is the archetype of a strong heavy-prog track. The work on the organ is fabulous and is only shy of Lord or Hensley. (but not too much). Also to be noticed is the excellent percussion work (but this is another asset of ''Titanic'').
The heavy and psychedelic mood goes on with another winner: ''Love Is Love''. It is again a very powerful and dynamic song. Just listen to the superb bass/drums section. Absolutely brilliant. This really kicks ass my prog friends. The second highlight.
''Titanic'' has also released some wonderful prog-rock ballads like ''Mary Jane''. It is quite amazing to see that the arrangements were signed William Sheller (a popular French singer but almost unknown in those times). It is a romantic keyboards-oriented song with a catchy melody but there's also a sad side to it. This album is really excellent so far.
''Titanic'' is probably paying tribute to the Fab Four with ''Cry For A Beatle''. Vaguely jazzy and intending to be melodic. It is funny but can't be considered as a great track.
The B-side of the vinyl opens with the heaviest song from this work: ''Something On My Mind''. Almost doom intro, but of course what categorizes this band is the use of the heavy organ. It is also the occasion for the band to integrate a more guitar-oriented track (the first one so far). Not for delicate ears to say the least. But I bloody like it.
The next couple of songs (short ones) are a little weak in comparison. Too much brass in here for ''Firewater'' and a old fashioned sound for the heavy-psych ''Schizmatic Mind''. None of these songs are bad but they just don't play in the same league than the other pieces.
Now. ''La pièce maîtresse'' as far as I'm concerned. The wonderful ''I See No Reason'' clocking at over eight minutes. It starts as a heavy-rock ballad (again organ and bass are all mighty) and it slowly offers a wonderful crescendo part full of soooooo pleasant keys as well as nice backing vocals. It speeds up to offer the most emotional guitar solo from the whole album (and probably from their entire discography). It is an excellent moment of heavy prog music. The fourth highlight. It was the closing number of the original album.
The CD version offers both songs from their hit single: ''Half Bread'' and ''Santa Fe''.
Both sides of the band are represented here: the melodic and rock ballad-oriented with enjoyable keyboards for the former (which was the B-side) and the punchy and very much percussion (''Santana'') oriented ''Santa Fe''. The extravagant beat is really kicking and the sound is pretty similar to the one of ''Sultana''. But that's another story.
I'm really pleased that ''Titanic'' has been added to PA. They fully deserve it (but maybe in another category). If you're in for Purple, Heep, Atomic Rooster etc. I highly recommend this very good album.
