Social Embarrassment Total Time Bonus track on remaster: 7. Baby Move On Soldier is a real gem , the title track are immediate pleaser to an accomplished prog addict , Ship taking some time to win you over but one must be patient with Social Embarassment as the finale is probably one of the more violent and weirdest momemt on a prog album and it is the only number not to be sung by Goldring.
The two shorter numbers are of the same superb standard, one of them having a piano , the only time you will hear KB in that band. The solid sound and ferocious singing may set back some people, but ultimately , this will satisfy the most demanding proghead. Start with this one as the debut is even more difficult, but just as loveable.
Definitely worth the spin , the hunt and the investment. Opening with the powerful if slightly dated "I Could Never be a Soldier", the Goldring brothers and their assembled chums proceed to deliver 42 minutes of dark, soulful symphonic prog with touches of folk, jazz and so on.
You know the drill. When was the last time you heard a prog album that only had influences from one genre? With a wide base of instruments saxophones, flute, oboe, recorder, horn, plus the usual guitardrumsbass combo from which to weave their compositions, there's a lot of variation in the mix, which is a wonderful boon.
Add to that the fact that the pieces are all very original in their style one can compare to Van der Graaf, Gentle Giant and Jethro Tull if you like, but this was not 78 so I feel that most similarities are somewhat coincidental and already you've got two brilliant reasons to seek out this masterpiece. If you really need a third. THAT'S proggy cover art!
I wish I had something bad to say about this album for the sake of balance but I really really don't. Some accuse the two short acoustic pieces of being inferior, or worse "filler". I disagree. I think they're beautiful additions and act as helpful interludes to allow the ears some recovery time before the next onslaught of wailing saxes, pounding drums and aggressive guitars. The only other criticism I've seen levelled against Gnidrolog is the vocals. Yes, they're a little high pitched at times, yes they're somewhat nasal.
However, you soon get used to them and in time they become inseperable from Gnidrolog's sound. I wouldn't swap 'em for anything. VDGG fans, fans of all dark, jazz-tinged symphonic prog - why do you not already own this? I Could Never Be A Soldier is a brilliant emotional anti-war epic, the zenith of the band's angst-laden lyrical themes as Colin Goldring's character moves from flippancy to an urgent plea for reason. Musically, the evoluation of the piece is astounding, a slow build-up and the volcanic eruption of emotion that coincides with its choruses, brilliant flute turns before a surprisingly brassy finish puts the lid on my favourite Gnidrolog song ever!
It might be my favourite song, but the opener does not quite win the accolade of their most beautiful track I defy you not to be moved by the fact that "the sons of the sons of the sons found out that the fire of the stars and the sands go out. A Dog With No Collar is a brief but extremely melancholy work that seems to have been borne out of a poem The title track is another exquisite, albeit somewhat discomforting epic that provides proof that Gnidrolog could jazz-rock with the best of them, if they so chose.
A mass of aching strings and dazzling saxes this one. My least favourite piece is probably Same Dreams which is a little bit of a glam-rock ballad Thankfully, order is restored with the concluding Social Embarassment which overcomes the bizarre lead vocals of John Earle to register some truly arresting jazz rock moments and a spectacular conclusion Gnidrolog made magical music.
Two albums worth of it. Track them down. Highly recommended to all prog lovers despite their tastes!!! Following tune "Ship" is my favorite song here.
The heavy horn sections replace the standard solution of Mellotron arrangements. The descending chorus makes this sound like one of the golden oldies from the late 60's, truly one of the most touching songs I have heard in a long time.
Horns have a very peculiar jazzy rhythm, and the singer has unbelievably strong emotional load in his voice. Sadly the tune ends up with a fade-out, but here this solution works in a similar manner as in Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing", where the song and chorus is suggested to continue forever.
Powerful bass and horn melodies packed up with sensation of a mystery resembles King Crimson's "In The Wake of The Poseidon" album's overall feeling. Soon the fast rhythm calms down to a wonderful slow ballad, which grows slowly up to a hard shuffle in a manner of the previous band mentioned.
This track too proves that the awesome strong melodies are a trademark of this band. The final track "Social embarrassment" fades in from the void with a taunting and chaotic horn driven rhythm, and the song continues as a fast jumping jazzy composition. This song pleased my tastes least of these six song which build this album, but I have heard much worse tracks too. And there are surely good musical parts here too, but the composition as an entity wasn't so great.
I would recommend this album with a very beautiful cover jacket sincerely for the fans of classic prog, like first albums of King Crimson, Genesis and the classic work of Jethro Tull. As a summary I can just say that for me it's quite obvious that "Lady Lake" has been the more accomplished, better and moreover at least for fans of brass playing much more enjoyable work of this excellent rather under-estimated band. Usually I prefer to restrict my 5 stars-ratings to truly exceptional albums but I think this one can be considered as such.
I'm reminded of Peter Hammill vocally and I love the lyrics. Amazing song. It opens with gentle guitar as flute helps out before the Hammill-like reserved vocals come in. Passionate vocals and a fuller sound with guitar after 2 minutes. This contrast continues. A reflective calm with flute, cymbals and bass after 5 minutes. Vocals a minute later. The drums and guitar sort of take off 10 minutes in to the end of the song with sax joining in late. What a song!
Vocals and strummed guitar then take over. A special tune. Aboe joins in later. Not a fan of this one. Love the sax. Vocals 3 minutes in are brief. Sax and bass change that after 6 minutes. This reminds me of VDGG, and the sax gets dissonant late. This is contrasted with the fuller sound that adds bass and drums. The vocal style reminds me of GG a lot. Lots of sax too. I like the way they seem to just jam after 5 minutes.
Guitar joins in a minute later and lights it up as they start to yell and carry on to end it. A diamond in the rough for sure. Lady Lake consists of six tracks. The opener I could never be a soldier has lots of beautiful flute playing. Great song though. At this point I thought to myself that this was a big 3 star album.
Next song is A dog with no collar which is a short beautiful song. If I ever considered giving Lady Lake 3 stars that is not in my thoughts anymore after listening to the title track.
What a dark, majestic and wonderful song. Again the sax playing is fantastic. Same Dreams is the only song with piano from guest Charlotte Fendrich. Social embarrassment is like the title track a dark and powerful song with John Earle on vocals. The musicianship is excellent and I have to give a special mention to the new man John Earle.
He has really given this album the extra dimension that Gnidrolog needed to make a unique and extraordinaire album. Sax and flute enthusiasts should take a listen to his playing. The production is great and detailed. And yet another hidden gem of the 70's prog among the top eclectic prog albums. Maybe this is the genre that gives the most credit to unknown bands to the mainstream public mainstream progressive rock public, in this case , besides, maybe, zeuhl and the avant-garde sessions, but that is another story.
The fact is that there are many albums among the top 20 that are not by the genre's big bands King Crimson, Gentle Giant, VDGG and Peter Hammill and this album is one perfect example of that because this band is, to this day, pretty underground. Gnidrolog's Lady Lake was released in the same year as their debut and, no matter how good or bad their debut was, this album is a solid release and sadly remained underground for many years until the prog's resurgence in the early 90's.
The probable reason for they being so unknown is probably because in 72 many important and influent albums from important and influent bands were released, like Thick as a Brick, Foxtrot, Close to the Edge and Octopus. Their music fits quite well in the genre also because, though not being very experimental, at least for prog standards, their incredible mixture of woodwinds, saxes, guitar, bass and the bow string instruments is very good: there is no leading instrument because they keep questioning and answering each other or each takes the lead in one part.
The only problem here are the vocals. Though the singer sings in tune and does his job well, his timbre is quite obnoxious and the vibrato don't help a bit.
The songs, in general, are very good, but there are two songs that definitely stand out. The opening song of side 1, I Could Never be a Soldier, and the opening song of side 2, Lady Lake, have some great moments, but overall they are very good. However, the album is not very constant and the remaining songs of each side is unable to maintain the same quality as its opening track. In fact, the album, unfortunately, cannot follow up the song I Could Never be a Soldier and the quality drops considerably after it.
In my opinion, if the band could make the whole album as good as its opening song the album would have been a masterpiece. Grade and Final Thoughts Another great hidden gem of the 70's. Lady Lake is a very good album and deserves to be rated accordingly. It is just a shame that the band disbanded the following year because they had an enormous potential. The problem probably was that they were yet another good progressive rock band from the 70's, what, back then, was nothing special.
Then again, the fusions of styles that Gnidrolog cook up are often highly intriguing. Although In Spite of Harry's Toenail is probably the better album - being a bit more representative of the band's unique sound - Lady Lake is a fine followup. Of course, the best way to grab Gnidrolog's s output is to pick up the two-albums-on-one-CD compilation of this one and the debut, and newcomers to the band are advised to pick that up - it's relatively easy to find, and if you like their first album you'll also want this one anyway and vice versa.
At the time, Gnidrolog's first two albums were cutting-edge rock music, kept the big boys on their toes and looking over their shoulders, and should not be missed by anyone interested in this marvelous and mercurial period in music. Gnidrolog's second album, Lady Lake, is slightly better received than the debut. There we go, that's almost everything that annoys me about the album out of the way, and I can kick back and say that Lady Lake is an album any fan of melodic, adventurous and altogether fascinating music should have, but not quite as much as they should have In Spite Of Harry's Toenail.
The opening I Could Never Be A Soldier is a prime example of the band's retained and acquired strengths; the presence of two flautists and a recorder offers a lush woodwind sound, Colin Goldring's sly guitar work echoes and builds themes continually, we have deliciously minimal driven by the superb Peter Cowling's bass, somewhat reminiscent of what Crimson would be trying to build up a year later with Starless And Bible Black and folk sections with variously pretty and Anderson-type flute.
Lyrically, it hasn't the bite its stereotypically hippy comrades held on Spite, which somewhat hampers the vocal sections. Rounded off by a slightly unconnected but nevertheless superb blues guitar solo, this is a clear success, though not quite a perfect one.
As a slightly impatient type, I have to admit that Ship is not really my thing; stretching out a typically weirded I like Colin Goldring's voice a lot A Dog With No Collar is a bleak acoustic piece with a brilliant four-line lyric and an oboe offering downcast support.
Short, but very effective. Yet more poignant is the title track, opening with a general dark jazz vibe slowly solidifying from its murky horn duel opening and an alternately sharp and ethereal rhythm section into the mystical, horrifyingly bleak and captivating image of our leading lady and the most beautiful cello-sax-bass-guitar background.
And then, Same Dreams, an atypical love song with Colin Goldring's unique voice given a perfect opportunity to stretch out vulnerably, very nice guest piano from Charlotte Fendrich, various backing oboe from drummer Nigel Pegrum, the occasional dab of bass guitar and an odd bit of warm complimentary guitar , and a striking set of lyrics Mainly, it's the sense of development in this one that gets me I'm not so sure about whether the bursts of support are even really necessary for what's basically a duet, but it sounds good.
As you'd expect, great guitar soloing, fun vocals saxophonist John Earle taking the lead , and a clever general construction for the song Lady Lake is that most awkward of reviews: the great album you don't think is as good as public opinion suggests compared to the available alternatives. So, if given the opportunity and like me you're a bit strange and not allowed to be DJ any more , I'd make sure you get In Spite Of Harry's Toenail as well currently, there's a two-in-one-thing and it's serious high-grade under-the-counter prog rock and remember that, while this is not the cookie, it is, in the words of Bernard Black, 'some sort of delicious biscuit'.
Favourite track: pick one of the last four I'm feeling nice, today. Edit: This reviewer is an educated monkey. He probably will say 'oboe' and mean 'sax' on occasions. Blame the copy-paste. Step by step you are traveling by band's musical space,full of complex harmonies.
The sound is warm and well balanced, all listening is pleasant. Even debut album was very interesting, but that,second one, is absolutely their top! More different sounds, more complex arrangements. If the music of first one was a bit similar to VdGG music of that time, there you can hear more tension and breaks in sound, which is more King Crimsonian field. Rare band from early seventies could balance so beatiful,nice music with complex arrangements, warm, almost polished sound with tension and sound brakes in compositions, vocal harmonies with very non-commercial musicanship.
Really very pleasant and interesting album,very recommended. In total 4,5. The track continues down a groovy and melodic jam complete with heavy bass, harmonica sections and totally rocking guitar solos that would feel at home on any Led Zeppelin album but ultimately cedes to a crazy chaotic ending that ends as it strikes a single harmonic chord and successfully challenges the listener to question the music they have just experienced.
During the time of release this music went over most people's heads but was quite revered by musicians as this is very much the musical porn that ardent adventurous musicians crave to create.
While i began as most do by appreciating the much more accessible "Lady Lake" somewhere along the line HARRY'S TOENAIL surpassed the second installment of as my GNIDROLOG album of choice and has even become one that makes the desert isle list as these tracks are so beautiful and delicately balanced with the perfect amount of melody, counterpoint, dissonance, tempo changes, thematic displays and lyrical delivery.
Beyond brilliant and a classic for the ages that was light years ahead of its time. Review by stefro Prog Reviewer. Review by Dobermensch Prog Reviewer. I was so looking forward to this album when I bought it in After all, it has a great sleeve doesn't it? What more could you want than a great big hand threatening to strangle the neck of a swan?
But it's that old saying I'm afraid this review is going to read more like an autopsy report than a musical review. I've literally nothing good to say about this benchmark of awfulness which was recorded in the 'prog peak year' of ' Like most folk, I don't know much about 'Gnidrolog' other than that they're Welsh.
But I do know what I don't like. And I'm about to listen to it for another 40 wasted minutes Everything I hate about 'prog' is carried out with gay abandon on this recording. Overblown sentimentality, feeble wobbly vocals and straight drumming run rampant throughout this nonentity of ineptitude. Downbeat to the point of torpor, this is prog by numbers - so run-of-the-mill it's beyond belief.
Colin Goldring sounds like he's being given car battery electric shocks to his tongue as he wails and whines through interminably hippy-like forgettable tunes. The intensely soppy "I could Never be a Soldier' - sets the scene where I find a strange shrinkage of my neck - as if my shoulders are in vain reflex trying to cover my ears for protection. I'm left contemplating World War I in my mind as Goldring 'sings' and leaves me furiously thinking that I could have been stuck in a trench in the Somme with this guy whimpering into his hankie.
We'd all have been blown to pieces in 5 minutes with characters like this surrounding us. Actually, come to think of it, we were even without him The longer this album goes on the more it sounds like a slow puncture on a bicycle wheel slowly deflating.
A woefully run-of-the-mill recording with no merit whatsoever. Musically bereft of originality coupled with a very weak vocalist makes this one of the poorest and most irritating recordings I've ever heard.
Many of the songs have most excellent horn play--often by multiple horns, one or two soloing, and a horn section supporting the rhythm sections. Great arrangements, great sound reproduction and engineering, with the rendering of some very creative ideas. Blending classical training with folk and jazz influences, Gnidrolog produced this their second album in late The first striking aspect of the music is how well recorded it is, a fine example of the early 70's studio ethic of dry drums and vocals with the other instruments clearly and cleanly placed in the mix.
It's a stunning opening, which shows all its Prog credentials by settling down into a slower paced and entirely unrelated vocal section. This is well thought out first generation Progressive music well worthy of your attention, and it is somewhat of a pity that the band dissolved mere weeks after the completion of this album. A stunningly recorded testament to the original progressive rock movement and a real joy to listen to 40 years later.
Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. Please consider supporting us by giving monthly PayPal donations and help keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever. Intricate band, with an ecletic music that is very hard to categorize. Their music is a blend of blusy prog, with horn instruments, and intense vocals on top of it. After a long 27 years! See also: WiKi. Studio Album, 4.
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