This is a German progressive jazz rock album with excellent sax and Hammond play. The music is rather typical early 70s proto-prog with elements of JETHRO TULL (for the flute-guitar interplay), early YES, and the occasional saxophone riffs remind of early VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Tracks
1. Alone (5:22)
The Reviews
1
A very good but overlooked German group. They played a style of progressive rock that wasn't symphonic at all, but took influences from.
..well, almost everything.
On their debut-album (and the only one under the name Subject Esq.) you'll hear elements of folk, jazz, and blues and not at least rock, and everything is played in an inspired, powerful and energetic way. The songwriting is good, and the highlight of the album is with no doubt the 12-minute "Mammon".
A complex track stuffed with great themes and melodies with energetic instrumental parts. The arrangements on the whole album are loaded with saxophone, flute and organ. Other memorable tracks include "Alone", "Giantania" and the instrumental "5:13".
This is a strong album that will appeal to most lovers of early 70's progressive rock. The band would later change name and become Sahara.
2
The album starts off very lively with Alone in a progressive jazz rock vein with excellent sax and Hammond play and continues in a quite up-beat pace with catchy vocal lines in the psychedelic sounding Giantania having a nice section with soaring flute in between.
What is Love then is initially a more pop-ish sounding song in late sixties style but has great sax and later on a nice percussive section. The all-instrumental 5:13 presents brilliantly played jazz rock on Hammond, guitar, bass, drums and sax alternating with flute. The long-track Mammon is certainly the highlight of this disk and offers a very versatile mix of jazz rock and psychedelic with vocal lines reminiscent of US west-coast bands and brass rock bring Blood, Sweat Tears into one s mind.
Sections with mouth organ are alternating with others dominated by sax or flute here, this track was especially on stage a big fun to listen to. Last song Durance Is Waiting starts quite different in a Byrds-like manner but soon shifts more into Prog territory with excellent organ/guitar interplay.
As a summary I can say that this one had been a quite solid and remarkable debut of this band that would present even things on the two following albums released in a slightly changed line-up and under the name Sahara.
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