Druid - Toward the SunFluid Druid (16 tracks) +Album Reviews

Yes And Starcastle Fans Take Note

Chris Gerbig | Ontario, Canada | 09/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to disagree with my fellow reviewers on this one! If you are a fan of YES or STARCASTLE, you must give this a try. Guitarist/Singer Dane has a pure, high tenor voice that compares favorably to Jon Anderson. This is very fine, dreamy, mystical symphonic rock. It tends to some harder edged, more streamlined moments on the 2nd CD. But I don't see how you can like YES music and not like this. These albums are way better than anything that YES did after 1976!! The mellotron flights are full of fantasia, and many songs have a pastoral, dream-like quality. I regard DRUID as one of the must maligned and unappreciated symphonic rock groups of the 70's. They are second only to Starcastle in their ability to create complex, melodic Yes-influenced prog rock."

Yes imitators enjoy a short career.

R. Gerrard | 09/08/1998

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Part of a strange trend in the '70s when bands started imitating other bands to the hilt, Druid was fascinated with the sound of Yes. Complete with all the basic Yes ingredients - high-pitched vocals, Rickenbacker bass, banks of keyboards - Druid went off hell-bent to prove to the world that they could sound like Yes. The point of this exercise in mimickery remains a mystery. Toward The Sun is one of the few progressive rock albums where the mellotron is so over-used, it actually starts to get on your nerves. Fluid Druid finds the band a little leaner and meaner, but the unhealthy Yes fascination still grates. After just two albums, Druid wisely called it a day. Recommended for desperate progressive rock fanatics only."

Ah, nostalgia..

R. Gerrard | Kent, UK | 09/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Years ago, I saw Druid live at a local theatre. .... To hear the music again on this album was a true nostalgia trip. I have the original vinyl albums, but no turntable, so I thought "why not.." and bought the CDs. I suppose it is a bit "music for musicians", but I fit that bill so there's my excuse.OK, I admit, I was so into this stuff in the 70's that I learned to play every guitar part, and every keyboard part. If I'd had a studio I could probably have hired a drummer and made a passable copy of "Toward the Sun" - the whole album I mean. The difference is I couldn't have written the stuff, nor performed it with such confidence... nor sung it in the original key!If you like YES, and that kind of frantic musicianship, this album will add something a little off-centre to your collection. Well worth a listen, and not just for nostalgia either."

Not bad for Yes-lite, but some of the falsetto vocals can re

Squire Jaco | Buffalo, NY USA | 05/03/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I've gotta be frank here, folks: if I didn't love the bass guitar so much, and if Neil Brewer didn't play it like a Chris Squire copycat, I probably wouldn't listen to Druid much anymore. Too little of the music is inspired, original, or exciting.

Actually, when Dane Stephens sings a bit lower (i.e. in his normal vocal range), he sounds quite a lot like Jon Anderson. Unfortunately, he occasionally causes me to wince when he sings in a screechy falsetto voice, especially on a few songs from the first album. And any harmonies are dubbed by Dane himself, so you don't get the rich harmonic vocals that some other prog groups can produce. His guitar playing is adequate, but not remarkable.

Ditto for the keyboard player, Andrew McCrorie-Shand. Not a lot of soloing prowess is exhibited, though he handles the keys adequately in an early-period Yes Tony Kaye sort of way. I do think the drumming (by Cedric Sharpley) is very good, and the bass playing is (as I've already noted) quite entertaining in places.

The comparisons to Yes can hardly be overlooked. But this is a little more acoustic, and a bit less challenging - almost "nice". Overall the music is not nearly as dynamic or complex as peak Yes, thus my "Yes-lite" tag. Some reviewers seem to view the band as underappreciated or unlucky; I actually think the band is very lucky - they seem to have been little more than a good prog cover band that got the chance to record two albums. That's more than many proggers were able to accomplish back in the late 1970's.

Still, there are some good moments here. I enjoy the first parts of both albums more than the second halves for some reason. "Voices", "Remembering", "Theme", Razor Truth", "FM 145", and "Crusade" are all pretty enjoyable tunes. The second half of "Fluid Druid" is mostly dreck.

There just wasn't enough original and interesting new stuff here for the Yes lover among prog fans. Another group to which I see them frequently compared is Starcastle, whose first two albums are clearly head and shoulders above these two albums.

So, this music is good - not great - and certainly enjoyable and listenable in general. But I do find it lacking in originality. For a look at Druid contemporaries that did it RIGHT in the late 70's, check out unique groups like England, Cathedral, Cherry Five - or even the American group Yezda Urfa.

"Nice" music just doesn't fit into the top of my preference list.

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:

Music quality = 7.5/10; Performance = 7/10; Production = 8/10; CD length = 9/10.

Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 7.6 ("3 stars")

"

Druid Rules!

Squire Jaco | 06/16/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sorry but I can't bash this band...Fluid Druid is one of the best Prog Rock Albums of the 70's. The track Razor Truth is a sparkling, loopy and bending song that sticks with me to this very day; the people who bash Prog Rock seem to jump on this group. Unfair...try bashing Styx or Star Castle instead. When I first heard their their simple ebulant sound...I knew I would be writing this kindof revue twent-five years later..."

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