Jadis
Medium Rare

For some years now, rarity CDs have become more of the norm than the exception in the stagnant prog scene where the enthusiastic record buyers are almost fewer than those who make the records. Just sticking to the field of new English prog, rarity CDs for Pendragon, IQ, Pallas, as well as for the present Jadis, need to be noted. With a certain sense of irony, they inform us that in this case, the rarities are only up to a certain point since 6 out of the 14 tracks on the disc had already been released in two mini-CDs.

The first 3 tracks are indeed from the now out-of-catalog "Once Upon a Time" from 1993. The first, "Follow Me To Salzburg", starts with a very Marillion-esque guitar arpeggio upon which Chandler's pleasant, unmistakable vocals, which fully characterize Jadis's style, become intertwined. The piece unfolds slowly without jolts, enriched in the finale by a beautiful guitar solo that in sound and style might seem performed by the great Steve Rothery. "All In One Day" is instead a fast-paced piece whose guitar riff is highly catchy even though the track doesn’t veer into the banal thanks to a nice instrumental finale. "View From Above" is an almost entirely instrumental piece of about 7 minutes, rich in time changes and atmospheres, and also sees the good Martin Orford manage to carve out a little space for a short but fine keyboard solo (something he doesn't always manage against Chandler's overpowering guitar...).

The next 4 tracks are instead taken from a second EP released by Jadis in 1997 titled "Once Or Twice" that featured the replacements Mike Torr on keyboards and Steve Hunt on bass instead of the Orford/Jowitt duo. It starts with "This Changing Face", a decent track that flows smoothly without particular flair, moving to "In The Dark", a song that Jadis performed as the opener during the "Clutching At Straws" tour when they opened for Marillion. Here too, it is a very pleasant piece truly representative of the group's style. The retrieval from the band's second EP continues with the romantic ballad "Taking Your Time" and concludes with a live piece from "More Than Meets The Eye", "Hiding In The Corner", reminding us why that album is considered by all as Jadis's best effort, while also confirming the great momentum the group expresses live.

At this point, the true rarities of the CD begin. It starts with an edited version of "Live This Lie" from "Somersoult" and a demo version of "Giraffe Chariot" from "Understand", both nice but nothing more (we weren't exactly anxious to have them in our music archives, so to speak…). Next is a live version of "The World On Your Side", followed by an interesting acoustic medley that Chandler and Orford performed at a concert where they opened for Pendragon (the only flaw being the faded ending to eliminate part of the medley dedicated to IQ). The album ends with a truly beautiful acoustic version of "This Changing Face", a demo version of "Alive Inside", again from "Understand", which is also not essential, and "Old And Wise", a beautiful track by the Alan Parsons Project, which made me want to listen to more from this band that I haven't had the chance to delve into until now.

In conclusion, it is certainly an interesting album for die-hard Jadis fans and new prog enthusiasts in general, while those who do not appreciate the genre can safely stay away. However, if you are not familiar with the band but like new English prog, the advice is definitely to start from "More Than Meets The Eye", keeping this "Medium Rare" for later purchases.