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Sometimes it takes a while for a band
to get noticed. All good intentions aside you still need a great
deal of luck and … the internet. Having been together since 1991,
Salem Hill has continued to grow and have taken step by step in
order to create their unique blend of great melodies and wonderful
craftmanship. The band delivered several superb studio albums but
strangely enough never got the media attention which a band like
Echolyn used to have. So maybe now was the right time to look back
at their impressive career by means of a neatly packaged 2CD live
set. In the liner notes the band says they hope it wasn’t an omen
that most of the recordings were taped the day Ladi Di died. Rest
assured guys, 31st august is the day I got married so you
have to look at the bright side of life sometimes as well !
With recordings taken on numerous
occasions whether during festivals or in small smoky venues, played
over a span of five years this set most certainly gives an ideal
view of what Salem Hill is all about. The harmonies during ‘Real’
already show that these guys offer more than your average prog tea
party delivering kind of CSNY meets Phish ! This CD release most
certainly could have been called “Certainly no overdubs” because
there’s more than one bum note when ‘Between the two’ kicks off. The
band decided to keep it as it was that night illustrating the
fragile nature of the band ! Notice the ‘carpet crawlers’ feel of
the keyboards during the middle section ! This collection of tunes
also contains some recordings which were made during the band’s
appearance at Progday in 1997 when they were lucky enough to have
ex-Kansas violinist David Ragsdale on board as a guest. Apparently
David never rehearsed with the band, just hopped on stage and
delivered his own tunes which remarkably work very well. Just listen
to ‘Brave new world’ and ‘Awake’ on disc one to be amazed as well !
Especially ‘Brave new world’ sounds like an unreleased Kansas tune,
a true classic !
Salem Hill is the kind of band which
not only is able to deliver great melodies but also has a
professional hand at putting true epics together. In their own words
‘The judgment’ is the all-time Salem Hill composition so if you like
this one you will love their entire output. So maybe you better
start with this track first then when you get the chance to check
this album out ? Me, I don’t like this track ... I luv’ it ! With
‘Overture’ it’s like listening to the intro for Rick Wakeman’s
‘Catherine Parr’. Instead it’s part of a selection of material from
the band’s “The robbery of murder” album which due to the fact that
it concerns a concept album is seldom played as part of a ‘regular’
set. Although ‘When’ doesn’t reach the ‘Goosebumps’ stature as on
the studio version it does remain a fantastic song. It would have
sounded so much better with a real muted trumpet in the solo section
but then again who has the budget to bring an extra guest on the
road just for those couple of seconds ?
Disc two opens with the fast and
furious ‘Golden crosses’ which once again contains some Kansas
references. Maybe the total of three different voices does the trick
here ? What is rather weird with Salem Hill is the fact that most of
the members do write and deliver their own compositions yet they all
tend to contain the SH trademark. Patrick Henry’s ‘Listen to me’
contains loads if different atmospheres yet they all sound like
authentic SH material to me. Sometimes you need to still work on
existing songs as well to see to what extent you can change them to
other, and who knows maybe to better things. ‘To the hill’ is one of
them having electronic percussion here as opposed to real drums on
the studio version. It can work to such an extent where you will
find it difficult to imagine the song with normal drums ever again.
‘Invisible’ probably is Salem Hill at it’s loudest with drummer
Kevin taking over lead vocals. The song finally ends in kind of a
‘free’ form with the guitar getting every possible angle to shine.
To end this incredible collection of live takes the band has
recorded a brandnew studio track called ‘Waiting for wonderfulness’.
Once again all attention goes towards the vocal lines in order to
make the arrangement as logical as possible. In the end you’ll be
able to detect some Styx and/or Supertramp elements turning this
song into a pleasant composition but surely not the band’s strongest
effort.
“Puppetshow” is a double album with a
varying result what quality is concerned. Due to the fact that it
contains such a wide range of material and is recorded over a five
year period it nevertheless gives a perfect view as to what Salem
Hill is all about. For those with very good ears you can even detect
the progress as time evolves ! It most certainly is a wonderful
testimony and proof that Salem Hill has wrongfully been rejected
from the list of current prog icons as I don’t see any reason at all
why they shouldn’t be seen as one of the world’s top ten prog bands
of the moment ! |
