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The return of an almost all-instrumental Symphonic Prog blast from the past that sounds as good now as it in 1984 when it was a CDS Towers best seller!
Back in the old pre-internet days of paper catalogues, CDS towers used to sell shed-loads of small label releases by the Swedish Symphonic-Rock band TRIBUTE.
This Scandinavian 80’s/90’s Progressive Symphonic-Rock group’s sound is truly excellent!
They create a grandiose, melodic, keyboard based sound that lies somewhere within the realms of CAMEL, The ENID, RENAISSANCE and Mike Oldfield. Their music is mainly instrumental with good male / female vocal wordless interludes, and tracks run anything between three to twenty minutes.
TRIBUTE were founded in 1982 by the two musicians/composers Gideon Andersson and Josef (formerly Christer) Rhedin, and went on to create four classic albums: – ‘New Views’, ‘Breaking Barriers’, ‘Live’ and ‘Terra Incognita’. ‘New Views’ was the first, and it was the one that gave the group their breakthrough in Germany and Sweden in the middle of the 1980's.
TRIBUTE toured continuously between 1983 and 1986, and established a large following among Symphonic / Progressive-Rock lovers, who adored their brand of mostly instrumental music that focused on rhythm, intricate riffs and melodies. They added orchestral elements too with plenty of classical percussion: tubular bells, vibraphone, marimba and timpani, and also made wide-reaching use of an extensively equipped keyboard section.
The band members were all superb multi-instrumentalists, which also made a strong impression on their audience.
In 1985, TRIBUTE were given an official stamp of approval in the form of legendary drummer Pierre Moerlen (GONG, Mike Oldfield & Phil Lynott) who played almost 200 concerts with the band, and contributed to two albums: ‘Breaking Barriers’ and ‘Live’, both of which are also being reissued in 2013.
So, all in all, they're one of those bands you may have heard of, but never actually heard! On the other hand you may still be clinging onto those old CD issues wondering if they'll ever get Remastered.
Well, it’s happening now - They are all coming again, having been given a 2012 remaster, and they come in nice Digi-Paks!
We start the re-issue campaign with the magnificent ‘New Views’ album from 1984. The full musician line-up for this album was: Gideon Andersson (basses / guitar / drums / percussion / chorus), Lena Andersson (percussion / chorus), Nina Andersson (percussion / flute / chorus), Per Ramsby (keyboards / chorus), Christer Rhedin (keyboards / drums / acoustic guitar / chorus), Dag Westling (guitars / chorus) and Wolfgang Bernhardt-Holtbernd (English horn).
Here’s a track-by-track rundown of ‘New Views’…
‘Icebreaker’ is a fantastic opening track with swooshing synthesizers and melodic keyboard theme with bass and drums and some girlie wordless choruses. Vibes and tuneful electric guitar are added and play a strong part in the 2nd half of the track, and you will notice straight away how everything sounds so tuneful – even the bass work!
‘Too Much At One Time’ is a jaunty track as well but this time the guitar emerges earlier in the piece, with the acoustic version getting a generous outing. This is all very Mike Oldfield in style, even down to the electric guitar sound. Towards the end there’s even a bit of a Celtic rock feel to the track, then a flowing, fusion inspired synth solo blows you away with a speedy rolling solo that will take your breath away, then the guitars complete the job with a reprise of the opening intro section.
‘New Morning’ is much slower and acoustic in nature with guitar and female wordless voice starting the track up, followed by a lovely flute solo and distant string synth backdrop.
‘Climbing To The Top’ opens with a distant string synth and twittering electronic bird sounds, then a guitar riff fades in with rhythmic percussion driving it along, then a big key change comes in as more keyboard layers are added with the track now building smoothly and beautifully. A new echoed guitar melody creeps and the whole piece starts to drive upwards until at just past the three-minute mark the beat drops to make way for even more keyboard layers and textures with the electric guitar soaring to bursting point where the piece ends in a thick sea of string synths and moves straight into the next track …
‘Unknown Destination’ finds an echoed guitar sound rippling from side to side of the soundstage over the sweetly vamping sound of keyboards and string synths. This flows into a totally thrilling hi-register synth solo that makes the hairs of the back of my neck stand to attention the moment it starts up, and this keeps building as layers of choral keyboards are added to fill the sound, and then gradually fades leaving you wanting more! more!! more!!!
‘New Views’ is an epic twenty-one minute track that will have CAMEL, Rick Wakeman, Anthony Phillips and Mike Oldfield fans in raptures, starting out a lengthy acoustic guitar introduction set over birdsong. It quickly becomes a dual acoustic piece with a very bright and peaceful air, with synthesizer and percussive instruments coming in later in the movement. Eventually it breaks into a sprightly synthesizer driven movement with lots of percussive elements included that are all very early CAMEL-like in style, resulting in a very melodic symphonic ride that later morphs into the sounds of heavy drum beats, vibraphone and other percussive instruments forming a haunting rhythmic sound, then choral voices and bells emerge with a Christmas-like chorus that is so Mike Oldfield-like its not true, concluding with an explosive exotic passage of play that sounds like it could have come from Oldfield’s ‘Ommadawn’ or ‘Incantations’ albums, and ends with a huge, magnificently dramatic climax of orchestral string synthesizers / keyboards, percussion and voices that will simply take your breath away!
I can’t tell you how well ‘New Views’ has stood up to the test of time - It sounds just as good today as it did back in the early 80’s, and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting it, especially in its fantastic new digitally Remastered form.
The music is packed with fantastic melodic hooks and keyboard runs, with some amazing solo work along the way.
The blending of acoustic and electric guitars is impressive, as are all the percussive elements, all of which add a real sense of flair and drama to a finished production that is sure to be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone who likes quality symphonic Prog with just a touch of added fusion adding an feel to the finished production. Highly Recommended!
‘New Views’ is released on 15th January 2013.
TRIBUTE: NEW VIEWS Track List:
01. Icebreaker (5:25)
02. Too Much At One Time (5:49)
03. New Morning (4:43)
04. Climbing To The Top (4:27)
05. Unknown Destination (4:22)
06. New Views (21:48)
TPT - 46:42