A true classic of 1969 beside Traffic's second and Tull's St
PortugueseMusicFan | Porto, Portugal | 09/19/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"1969 was a great year, a damn year to rock music...All that stuff of tragic Altamont concert and the ending of the idealistic flower-power movement, bla-bla-bla...Well, all this turned music a lot heavier, harder, cynic and complex, resulting in the advent of progressive-fusion scene, the synthesis of all underground music of the era... Audience, a british combo with a fantastic singer and a prime-division musicians made in that year a truly classic, now so underrated!! Why ignoring, for instance, one of the most beautiful saxophone-in-rock like the one in the first cut of the album, "Banquet" or the tenderness of "Poet" and "Pleasant Convalescence" (this one distinctively crafted), the exciting rolling-drums of "Man on Box", the bittersweet soul of "Leave It Unsaid" or the nervous raw-power of "Heaven Was An Island"? This album had been a rarity in cd, but now Luminous Records reissued it with 3 bonus-tracks, especially interesting is "Paper Round". It was a pitty that these guys never had the relevance they deserve!!!
"
Wonderful example of the best of UK 1969 records
B. Margolis | Minneapolis, MN United States | 10/28/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"1969 was really the year that the UK album market came of age. It was finally possible to get an album issued without having a hit single, although those albums without a hit usually undersold.
This is Audience's first LP. It was issued on UK Polydor and not issued in the US. I ran across a copy of the UK import in 1970 in San Francisco and being a UK music fan, I was also taken by the totally cool black porus paper cover and bought it...without ever hearing of the band.
The entire is really terrific; Howard Werth great vocal and accoustic guitar; Keith Gemmell's sax (and all other sorts of reeds....some put through a wah-wah petal and sounding like an electric guitar!), Trevor Williams' great bass and Tony Connor's capable drumming.
I own the first CD issue of this...on UK RPM (RPM 148) and this issue is the replacement for the out-of-print RPM issue. Same 15 tracks. The only thing that was annoying about the RPM issue is that it began with a fade-up audience applause, which was NOT on the original LP, and "Banquet", the first song was transfered in such a way that it's a bit distorted...something the vinyl was not.
I assume that this issue is exactly the same as the RPM, even tho I have not heard it.
Anyone who likes the UK tuneful Art Rock/Progressive/Album-oriented types of groups will love this.
"
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1