From: "mellotrongirl" <>
Date: Fri Nov 22, 2002 12:18 pm Subject: Re: Describing the music of
Gracious!
> But how about a detailed description of the music? So far, all I've
heard is about song sequencing, nothing about the music. Can we compare it
to another group? There was a lot of excellent description about Gryphon,
why not Gracious?
It seems like people drop the Moody Blues when referring to the music
from the two Gracious! albums 1970-1971. allmusic.com and imusic.com just
describe their history. I wish I could lead you to the big chain record
stores that offer 30 second excerpts of tracks from each release they
sell. This is going to take some deep thought...I'm not a music reviewer
and a wordsmith in describing the uniqueness that is Gracious! I hear
shades of May Blitz, Parachute-era Pretty Things, Autosalvage, Kayak,
etc... it is not thick with keyboards, but possesses some dramatic
ethereal burst of Mk 2 Mellotron and themes not unlike the great Spring
RCA Neon 6 album, and some of the long tracks are at least a half dozen
songs in one. The guitars are riffing and solid. The vocals are deep,
thrusting and Brit. I believe its a refreshingly dated mix of prog and
psyche. They're quite uncomparable to other bands beyond the drama,
Mellotron and occaisional ooh and aah vocal interweavings that give htem
the Moodies comparison. Wow--all this previously unreleased stuff I have
not been aware of! And believe me, I will track this stuff down! Dave Kean
at Mellotron Archives does communicate regularly with Martin Kitcat, so
maybe a serious chat with Kitkat or Kean is in order. Apparently Kitcat
was so blown away attending an early Crimson concert, he had to
incorporate the 'tron into his band's sound. Inside my Renaissance Records
CD reissue of the This Is...Gracious! release is a card offering a
compilation CD titled "Buried Treasures", on which the reply postcard
offers a 60-minute collection of "rare and previously unreleased studio
and live recordings by
Renaissance artists Stray Dog, Touch and Gracious. Produced on a special
limited CD. CD Format Only. $12 plus shipping, $3.50 USA, $4.50 elsewhere.
Mail to: The Wild Places, 621-A Hanover Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95062.
Payable in check or M.O. Only/allow 4 weeks for delivery". Of course this
was 7-8 years ago. I believe Wild Places was one person selling lots of
great prog and rare albums and great discounts who would send out set-sale
booklets every few months or so. These booklets I believe stopped coming
to me four/five years ago. Whether it's all on-line now, I don't know.
From: "Cliff <>" <>
Date: Sun Dec 8, 2002 4:01 am Subject: One last Gracious comment + Lex Rex
Just a note about the Gracious double disk I asked about a few weeks ago.
I got it a week ago, and after numerous listenings I am impressed! And
although it is obviously a little dated sounding, it has quickly become
one of my favorites. I also recently picked up Captain Beyond and Utopia's
first CDs, as well as Ayreon's Flight of the Migrator, but I like the
Gracious best of all...particularly the Gracious 1 disk. Having never
heard the original wax of this, I can't make any determinations on sound
quality but I hear no problems typical of most 2-for-1 CD's (Klaatu comes
to mind!) I also just got Glass Hammer's Lex Rex...for those of you who
haven't yet heard this, I highly recommend it! Great story and (as usual)
excellent playing.