HD3 Week 1 - Seven Moons

We're starting a new series today called HD3. What is HD3, per chance?

Repeat after me: "High Desire Hump Day Happy Discovery". Hah!

It's been an extremely busy month for us Kaleidoscope folks. Bands have been playing great gigs and making money, etc. etc..... But I've been missing my blog and the ego-stroking dictatorship I maintain over it, so here we go.

HD3 is going to be a weekly series where I write about a disc that's been tripping my trigger. I believe more than ever in the power of an album. Children (or persons otherwise immature to the greatness of what is older due to addiction to what is newer) today are at a disadvantage because their generation doesn't understand the power of the bigger statement. Led Zeppelin's fourth album was a far grander statement than the power of only one of it's songs. Sgt. Peppers, Fly Like An Eagle, Aretha Sings the Blues, the original motion picture soundtrack to "Superfly".... you get the point. I want to celebrate that wonderful tapestry that great artists weave when given the chance. Tapestry...another great album!

HD3 Week 1: Seven Moons by Jack Bruce and Robin Trower. Bruce, the iconic frontman of Cream, despite revisionist thinking that would place Eric Clapton in the role, teams for a third time with equally brilliant guitar hero Robin Trower, formerly of Procul Harum's post "Whiter Shade" era. The results are delicious. The recipe is described...

Robin Trower broke from Procul Harum in 1971 due to the ever-lovely "differences in artistic direction" Harum was prog-rock before that term found its standard bearers in outfits such as King Crimson and Yes. Harum, like those bands, had an affinity for "esoteric" lyrics that were often mated to complex arrangements, often based in classically-inclined keyboards and guitars. Trower himself, by his own admission, had yet to fully grow into a signature voice on the guitar, yet was finding himself at a crossroads.

The death of Jimi Hendrix on the 18th of September, 1970 provided the impetus in this change. When Keith Reid, lyricist of Harum, came to Trower with a lyric in tribute to their fallen hero, Trower dove head-first into Hendrix's musical catalog. The piece that emerged, "Song For A Dreamer", showed Trower a guiding light for his future. A light he would follow with an almost religious strength.

By 1969, Jack Bruce had left Cream in the implosion that nearly ended more than the group. Egos, drugs, women, and sheer volume and exertion had taken a heavy toll upon the trio, and Bruce was keen on getting away. A virtuoso instrumentalist and revered vocalist among his peers, Bruce journeyed through several interesting projects, including an album with the Tony Williams' Lifetime with John McLaughlin on guitar.

Fast forward to the dawn of the 80's. Trower and Bruce are both in need of new directions and sounds, and find a way to work together. They make two beautiful, but flawed, albums and go their separate ways.

Then we hit 2005. Sickness and age drive the three men who once formed the world's first super group to team again. Cream reunites victoriously at the Royal Albert Hall, puts out a great album and concert film, and they go their separate ways.

That appears to be way too much history for an album review. But I think in the scope of all the history these two men have lived, it is this history that makes this album all the more special. That these men are alive and remain creative has resulted in a special recording that deserves attention and reverence.

Seven Moons represents the first time Trower and Bruce have co-written an entire set of songs together. Their first two records relied on songwriting partners from previous engagements, and thus lacked the cohesiveness that blossoms fully on Seven Moons.

Leading off with the title track, Trower's guitar tone is breath-taking in ways that applaud modern technology and pay homage to the analog past. With a chord progression that hints of Hendrix's "1983", Bruce lays warm and soft bass lines into the groove. And through the next ten songs, the interplay only grows. And it is in the growth that the album finds it's heart and soul.

This is an album made by men who are wiser, older, and just plain better. Both men have retained their chops, and Bruce's voice is especially alive. But there is a subtlety and taste present here that could not have been present in younger, more hedonistic days. Instead of the overdriven ballsiness of his Cream-era pocket with Ginger Baker, Bruce lays a "womb" with drummer Gary Husband here. Kudos are indeed due to Husband, as he fulfills the role of a drummer in a power-trio setting wonderfully. Alternating between support and drive, he uses his kit with passion and purpose, and makes the effort better.

Trower is an artist with the guitar. I hesitate to use the cliched expressions, because at this point in his career, I believe they just simply don't mean too much. Trower, a survivor of an era which killed, debilitated, or paralyzed many of his once-contemporaries, has a vitality and clarity in his playing that speaks with a volume that cannot be ignored, regardless of how loudly he chooses to play.

Both Bruce and Trower are known for compositions that shift with authority, and again the album doesn't disappoint. The pacing and order of compositions takes the listener on a ride. From the ballad elements of "Distant Places of the Heart" and "I'm Home" to the surprisingly-rocking "The Last Door" and "So Far to Yesterday", this is a true album in the most complete sense. This trio is taking a journey, and I have loved traveling lightly with them.

I have written more than I wanted to, and probably have not talked enough about the album. Laurie Anderson said that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture", and to a point I agree. For this first installment, I chose a record that I am falling in love with, and wanted to tell all of you about. Forgive my indulgence... next time I'll be better, I swear!

I, with whole-heart, recommend this album to anyone reading. A treasure like this, with it's gold refined into simpler pleasures, is an exquisite power trio record. A must for a fan of anything close to this.

Until next Wednesday...