Quatermass (album)
Encyclopedia
Quatermass is an album by British
progressive rock
band, Quatermass
, first released in May 1970. It has been described as "a keyboard dominated chunk of heavy progressive rock... a popular part of the eccentric Harvest label." Based around organ
, bass
and drum
s, Quatermass is a quintessential British prog rock album, destined to remain a cult classic
and also one of the first albums in the vein of progressive metal
. Overall, the album is well-rounded, technically competent and complex, yet retaining a distinctive swing time
rhythm as would be expected from a trio that were at their core a strong rhythm section
. Throughout, the album flows easily from mid-tempo rock to avant-garde
instrumental to bluesy soundscape
s.
's departure from Deep Purple
has often been linked with this album: during the recording of Purple's Stormbringer
in 1974, Blackmore's request to cover "Black Sheep Of The Family"
in nature. On vinyl
editions of the album it is so quiet it almost gets lost in the groove noise, even on near-mint copies, but on digitally remaster
ed CD
copies the track is much clearer and reveals a deep organ-pedal bass
underpinning the melody. "Black Sheep Of The Family" is the album's first full length piece, beginning with a series of crashing chords
, interspersed with powerful drum breaks
. The backing track
s are a layered mix of organ and piano, arranged to make a guitar unnecessary. "Post War Saturday Echo" is a slow electric blues
number with delayed
and double-tracked vocals in stereo, which combine with the multi-layered keyboard tracks to lend an "otherwordly" quality to the piece. The balladic "Good Lord Knows" is performed as a prayer by John Gustafson, backed by harpsichord
and strings
. The string arrangements
were by Peter Robinson. The next track switches the tempo
, "Up On The Ground" being a powerful hard rock song with virtuoso bass riffing
and rock organ solos. With "Gemini" Peter Robinson again arranges piano and organ to form a texture
which leaves no requirement for a guitarist. "Make Up Your Mind" is an example of stop-time
instrumental, and also features explorative keyboard riffs in odd time signatures punctuated by drum and bass licks
. "Laughing Tackle" is an extended, often exploratory piece, which commences with a pulsating, bounding bass guitar pattern and cymbal
work, double tracking by Robinson on electric piano
and organ, and a slow-building organ solo culminating in a descending chord
break signalling the start of a Mick Underwood drum solo highlighted by extensive rolling
. The original vinyl release then closed with the repeat of the intro, "Entropy (Reprise)." Of the bonus tracks which feature on subsequent reissues, "One Blind Mice" is the best known, having been released also as a single, and demonstrates a heavy rock
influence and descending chord progression. The organ solo releases into a phasing
wash which carries through to the final verse and chorus. "Punting" has solid bass and drum lines textured with exploratory musings by Peter Robinson using the ring-modulator
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band, Quatermass
Quatermass (band)
Quatermass was a British progressive rock band formed in London, England in September 1969. Lauded as a band of the future on the release of their debut album and supplementing single, "Black Sheep of the Family", major commercial success eluded the band throughout its brief duration.-Career:The...
, first released in May 1970. It has been described as "a keyboard dominated chunk of heavy progressive rock... a popular part of the eccentric Harvest label." Based around organ
Electronic organ
An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, Quatermass is a quintessential British prog rock album, destined to remain a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
and also one of the first albums in the vein of progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
. Overall, the album is well-rounded, technically competent and complex, yet retaining a distinctive swing time
Swing Time
Swing Time is a 1936 RKO musical comedy film set mainly in New York City and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Helen Broderick, Victor Moore, Eric Blore and Georges Metaxa, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields...
rhythm as would be expected from a trio that were at their core a strong rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
. Throughout, the album flows easily from mid-tempo rock to avant-garde
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
instrumental to bluesy soundscape
Soundscape
A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology...
s.
Impact
Ritchie BlackmoreRitchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
's departure from Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
has often been linked with this album: during the recording of Purple's Stormbringer
Stormbringer (album)
-Side Two:-35th anniversary bonus tracks:-Personnel:* David Coverdale - lead vocals* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Glenn Hughes - bass, vocals* Jon Lord - organ, keyboards* Ian Paice - drums-Additional personnel:...
in 1974, Blackmore's request to cover "Black Sheep Of The Family"
This is considered the pivotal moment that led to Blackmore's departure.
...fell on stony ground [and] he ended up taking a relative back seat in the studio... Blackmore then followed his own muse by recording it on the Ritchie Blackmore's RainbowRitchie Blackmore's RainbowNote: On the cassette version of the album, Side One features the last five tracks, while Side Two plays the first four. Also, on the case insert and on the cassette itself, "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" is written as "Sixteen Century Greensleeves"....
solo album in early 1975, backed by members of Deep Purple's regular support act ElfElf (band)Elf was a rock band founded in 1967 by the late singer and bassist Ronnie James Dio, keyboardist Doug Thaler, drummer Gary Driscoll, and guitarists Nick Pantas and David Feinstein . The band was originally called The Electric Elves, but was shortened to The Elves and finally Elf in mid-1970...
."
Track summary
"Entropy" is a very quiet keyboard-based melody, vaguely cyclicCycle (music)
A music cycle is when a section of a song/music is repeated.In music a cycle is a section which is repeated or repeatable indefinitely, with the end of a preceding repetition leading to the beginning of a succeeding repetition. Cycles may be melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, or based on some other...
in nature. On vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
editions of the album it is so quiet it almost gets lost in the groove noise, even on near-mint copies, but on digitally remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
copies the track is much clearer and reveals a deep organ-pedal bass
Bass pedals
Bass pedals are an electronic musical instrument with foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a pedalboard and analog synthesizer tone generation circuitry packaged together as a unit...
underpinning the melody. "Black Sheep Of The Family" is the album's first full length piece, beginning with a series of crashing chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
, interspersed with powerful drum breaks
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
. The backing track
Backing track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
s are a layered mix of organ and piano, arranged to make a guitar unnecessary. "Post War Saturday Echo" is a slow electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
number with delayed
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
and double-tracked vocals in stereo, which combine with the multi-layered keyboard tracks to lend an "otherwordly" quality to the piece. The balladic "Good Lord Knows" is performed as a prayer by John Gustafson, backed by harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
. The string arrangements
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
were by Peter Robinson. The next track switches the tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, "Up On The Ground" being a powerful hard rock song with virtuoso bass riffing
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
and rock organ solos. With "Gemini" Peter Robinson again arranges piano and organ to form a texture
Texture (music)
In music, texture is the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition , thus determining the overall quality of sound of a piece...
which leaves no requirement for a guitarist. "Make Up Your Mind" is an example of stop-time
Stop-time
In tap dancing, jazz, and blues, stop-time is an accompaniment pattern interrupting, or stopping, the normal time and featuring regular accented attacks on the first beat of each or every other measure alternating with silence or solos. Stop-time appears infrequently in ragtime music...
instrumental, and also features explorative keyboard riffs in odd time signatures punctuated by drum and bass licks
Lick (music)
In popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines...
. "Laughing Tackle" is an extended, often exploratory piece, which commences with a pulsating, bounding bass guitar pattern and cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
work, double tracking by Robinson on electric piano
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
and organ, and a slow-building organ solo culminating in a descending chord
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
break signalling the start of a Mick Underwood drum solo highlighted by extensive rolling
Drum roll
A drum roll is a technique the percussionist employs to produce a sustained sound on a percussion instrument. Rolls are used by composers to sustain the sound and create other effects, the most common of which is using a roll to build anticipation.- Snare drum roll :The most common snare drum roll...
. The original vinyl release then closed with the repeat of the intro, "Entropy (Reprise)." Of the bonus tracks which feature on subsequent reissues, "One Blind Mice" is the best known, having been released also as a single, and demonstrates a heavy rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
influence and descending chord progression. The organ solo releases into a phasing
Phasing
In the compositional technique phasing, the same part is played on two musical instruments, in steady but not identical tempo...
wash which carries through to the final verse and chorus. "Punting" has solid bass and drum lines textured with exploratory musings by Peter Robinson using the ring-modulator
Ring modulation
Ring modulation is a signal-processing effect in electronics, an implementation of amplitude modulation or frequency mixing, performed by multiplying two signals, where one is typically a sine-wave or another simple waveform. It is referred to as "ring" modulation because the analog circuit of...
.
Track listing
| # | Peter Robinson | 1:10 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. | "Black Sheep of the Family" | Steve Hammond | 3:36 |
| 3. | "Post War, Saturday Echo" | Peter Robinson, John Gustafson, Graham Ross | 9:42 |
| 4. | "Good Lord Knows" | John Gustafson | 2:54 |
| 5. | "Up on the Ground" | John Gustafson | 7:08 |
| # | |Side 2 Title | Songwriters | |
| 1. | "Gemini" | Steve Hammond | 5:54 |
| 2. | "Make up Your Mind" | Steve Hammond | 8:44 |
| 3. | "Laughin Tackle" | Peter Robinson | 10:35 |
| 4. | "Entropy (Reprise)" | Peter Robinson | 0:40 |
| # | |(bonus tracks on reissue) | Songwriters | |
| 5. | "One Blind Mice" | John Gustafson | 3:15 |
| 6. | "Punting" | John Gustafson | 7:09 |
Personnel
- Mick UnderwoodMick UnderwoodMick Underwood is a British drummer best known for his work with Episode Six, Quatermass and Gillan. First playing drums at the age of 14, he was a professional musician by the time he left school...
— Drums/percussion - John GustafsonJohn Gustafson (musician)John "Gus" Gustafson also known as Johnny Gustafson is an influential bass player who has had a thirty eight year recording and live performance career...
— Vocals/bass - Peter Robinson — Keyboards
The orchestra
- ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s- Tony Gilbert (Leader)
- John Kirkland
- David Katz
- Billy Millar
- Charlie Vorsanger
- Les Maddox
- Gerald Enns
- Harold Parfitt
- Paul Scherman
- Homi Kanga
- Jack Rothstein
- Henry Datyner
- Bill Armon
- Michael Jones
- Laurie Clay
- Derek Jacobs
- ViolaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s- Steve Shingle
- Chris Wellington
- Henry MyerscoughHenry MyerscoughHenry Myerscough was a British violist.In addition to solo work and teaching, he formed the Fidelio Quartet with his brother, the violinist Clarence Myerscough, and performed for many years as a session musician, including The Beatles' "White" Album and Quatermass.He played a viola by luthier...
- Ian White
- Bernard Davis
- John Graham
- CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s- Paul Buckmaster (Leader)
- Boris Rickelman
- Francis Gabarr
- Peter Wilson
- Freddy ALexander
- Chris Green
- Double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Frank Clarke
- Joe Mudele
- Arthur Watts
Production
- Producer — Anders Henriksson
- Engineers — Jeff Jarratt, Andy Stevens.
- Cover design and Photographs - Storm ThorgersonStorm ThorgersonStorm Thorgerson is an English graphic designer, known for his work for rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, 10cc, Dream Theater, The Mars Volta, Muse, The Cranberries, and Biffy Clyro.-Biography:...
/HipgnosisHipgnosisHipgnosis was a British art design group that specialized in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands, most notably Pink Floyd, T.Rex, The Pretty Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, ELO and XTC... - Reissue cover design and illustration — Steve Newport.
Pressings
- 1970 — original release on Harvest label
- 1975 — reissued on Harvest label with alternative cover
- 1990 — reissued on Repertoire RecordsRepertoire RecordsRepertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 60s and 70s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen....
label, with bonus tracks - 1996 — reissued on Repertoire Records label, with bonus tracks
- 2001 — reissued on Akarma Records label, with bonus tracks
External links
- Quatermass's MySpace with "Gemini", "Make Up Your Mind", "One Blind Mice" and "Punting" available in Standalone Player