Colosseum

From the opening stanza of ‘Three Score And Ten Amen’ it is clear that this is not the same Colosseum on ‘Valentyne’s Suite’. The monumental scale and scope of the sound, the roar of Chris Farlowe and the almost biblical lyrical imagery of the song clearly point to a new direction.

The third album from Colosseum saw Dave ‘Clem’ Clempson taking over on guitar and Chris Farlowe taking on the vocal duties from James Litherland. It brought an immediate change in the style of the band’s music – moving to a rockier place and utilising Farlowe’s monumental vocal style. In most part it worked although some of the jazzier elements in the band’s sound were lost.
Clempson was hired after the band played a Cambridge May Ball and heard him playing in one of the support bands and brought in bassist Mark Clarke when original bassist Tony Reeves left. Greenslade had played with Farlowe in Farlowe’s band The Thunderbirds.

‘Time Lament’ has a neo-classical element to the sound but add to that one of Chris Farlowe’s more subtle vocals and it becomes on of the tracks that I went back to time and again.

It is clear at this point where the band are heading: bringing all their influences together to create a new Jazz/Rock fusion with classical elements. That it works is clear in the fact that this became one of the favourite Colosseum albums amongst the fanbase.

For the followers of the earlier sound there is the fabulous ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ which demonstrates all the jazz and fusion power of the band, especially Dave Greenslade’s keyboards and Clempson’s guitar while new bassist Mark Clarke adds a rich sense of funk to the band.

Farlowe definitely takes the music in a more Blues oriented direction but there is no loss of focus on complex and esoteric and the album succeeds on many different levels.

As usual with Esoteric the packaging is excellent and the remastering very fine.
The bonus tracks include the full band version of ‘The Pirate’s Dream’ – weighing in at over 12 minutes of brilliant music.