Quatermass
Quatermass

THE REVIEW

Sometimes good music is discovered entirely by chance, through a process called serendipity, or 'the completely accidental discovery of things of great value'. It must have happened at least once to all you music enthusiasts: of course, it also happened to me, who discovered this album from 1970 completely by chance, a unique work by Quatermass, a short-lived English trio consisting of John Gustafson (bass, vocals), Peter Robinson (keyboards), and Mick Underwood (drums).

A special mention must be made for the cover, an element unfortunately often overlooked, but which can become a work of art or even decree the success of an album: two parallel skyscrapers seen from below, surrounded by flying pterodactyls, a metaphor for the music contained in the album: ancient yet at the same time projected into the modern. The LP is opened and closed by the brief instrumental "Entropy", which introduces us to the atmosphere of the first piece that some of you may know: "Black Sheep Of The Family" was indeed covered by the Rainbow under Ritchie Blackmore's direction, the piece, introduced by strange keyboard chords, is good but not exceptional.

The third track is undoubtedly one of the best of the bunch: "Post War, Saturday Echo" is minimalist, desolate, and melancholic and suits the cover well; mainly instrumental like the other songs, it’s beautiful to get lost in the keyboard virtuosity. "Good Lord Knows", "Up On The Ground", and "Gemini" follow suit, playing nice progressive rock, which at the time was still in its infancy, in an experimental phase and was not a standalone genre but mixed with others: consider that after the beautiful "Make Up Your Mind" (which has the same structure as the third piece, but the instrumental part in my opinion is even better), there are ten and a half minutes of the instrumental "Laughin' Tackle" where we can find a small orchestra supporting the trio and even in the middle of the track an unexpected drum solo! As mentioned before, the album ends with a reprise of "Entropy".

It is commendable how the seeds of a genre were planted in albums like this, which unfortunately haven't stood the test of time well, but finding them by chance and rediscovering them is always a wonderful emotion.

Worth a try...