CASTANARC - JOURNEY TO THE EAST (80'S BAND CLASSIC RE-ISSUED)

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Originally recorded at in 1983, this was the 1st album by CASTANARC and this is the reissued version that was released on CD by Khepra Records in 1998!

Originating in the early 80’s, CASTANARC are an incredibly melodic U.K. based Symphonic Neo-Prog band that up until 2021, when their comeback album ‘Sea Of Broken Vows’ was released, had only made four other original albums in all that time, plus a compilation CD of rarities released in 2020.
Through the years they have stayed relatively obscure, yet remained consistently strong musically, delivering their own addictive take on mainstream modern Prog. Their sound is of a song-based nature, with their earlier years often described as containing glimpses of GENESIS and YES. They produce a more keyboard-oriented, less guitar-dominant sound than say MARILLION, tending to lean more towards the melodic keyboard sophistication of SAGA.
CASTANARC have also been compared quality-wise to fellow 80’s debutants such as PALLAS or PENDRAGON and their highly enjoyable debut album ‘Journey To The East’ is considered to be a bit real cult Prog classic!
For the later releases you need to have to have an ear for a good hook, because like some others who arrived on the scene during the same time period, their music is perfect for fans who are up for blending a set of good strong songs with classy instrumental breaks, as opposed to those that deliver just total instrumental flamboyance.

‘Journey To The East’ was more or less the 'live' set that the band (then called TRANSIC) had been performing since 1981 at their gigs mainly around the North of England. The album was recorded in 1983 over a ten day period and was self-financed by the band, but at this point the title track did not exist. During the mixing stage an A&R man from independent label Peninsula Records visited the studio on another matter and was much impressed by what he heard during his time in the studio. He said that if there were one more song on the album he would licence it to his label. The song 'Journey To The East' was written and recorded a couple of weeks later and the band name changed to CASTANARC and the deal was done.
Peninsula licensed the distribution to Red Rhino in York, part of the independent cartel at that time.

The line-up for ‘Journey To The East’ features: Mark Holiday (vocals), David Powell (keyboards), Paul Ineson (lead guitar), Neil Duty (guitars) and Dave Kirkland (drums).

Recorded at Fairview Studio in Hull, U.K. in 1983, the album was engineered and produced by John Spence.

‘Journey To The East’ was released on 10th October 1998.

Please read the important statement below on the CD-R format this album is reproduced on…

The term “CD-R” immediately strikes fear into the mind of many music lovers and all audiophiles alike, with worries arising that any release on the format might be a sub-standard “home-made” job with a limited lifespan!

However, we live in times where projected sales of an album on CD might not be high enough to warrant the high costs of a full factory pressed CD run with a sizable minimum orderable quantity requirement attached, so there’s a definite need for such a manufacturing process. This is especially true in the niche-genre markets where smaller labels and artists are living with the big unknown of what their CD sales potential might be while they contend with other popular mediums such as downloads, streaming services and now the revival of vinyl (and cassettes!!!).

Some amateur artists/labels produce their own CD-R’s, but as far as we are concerned, the favoured professional solution is the factory “replicated” CD. These are made from high quality discs and printing materials that retain all the quality of a properly factory “printed” CD. They can also be produced and managed in much smaller quantities at reasonable cost, without making any of the sacrifices in the audio and packaging quality departments that are commonly associated with the CD-R format. Some are made available in Card Sleeves or Digi-Paks and are often shrink-wrapped, outwardly making the package almost indistinguishable from a finished factory “printed” CD!

These days there are a lot of CD-R releases on the market and regardless of how they are made, standards can vary, depending on the label and their manufacturing sources, but we are extremely selective about which titles we sell, and any we do offer are subject to diligent audio and visual vetting before being committed to our catalogue.
Most of our regular customers already know that we do not actively promote any CD-R’s that we feel are sub-standard in any way. We will of course service any customer who asks us for any specific CD-R title that is on the market, but if it is not one we have checked and endorsed, it comes with a warning of the possibility the production might not meet the high standards we expect, and therefore customer research is recommended before ordering.

Anyone ordering a factory replicated CD that we have promoted can be confident they are going to receive a guaranteed quality product. This CASTANARC CD-R is a prime example that has been produced to such a high standard that we (CDS) have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who may have the even the slightest niggling doubts about the format, and as such we are more than happy to include the album in our catalogue roster … many people would not even know this was a CD-R production had we not drawn their attention to the fact!

Also available by CASTANARC …
BURNT OFFERINGS (1999 Album Re-Issue / Factory Pressed CDR) CD – Stock # 906276
LITTLE GODS (2020 Re-Issue / Factory Pressed CDR) CD – Stock # 898698
RUDE POLITICS (2020 Re-Issue / Factory Pressed CDR) CD – Stock # 898696
SEA OF BROKEN VOWS (2021 Studio Album / Digi-Pak) CD – Stock # 2205323
WATER FROM THE WELL (2020 Album Of Band Rarities / Factory Pressed CDR) CD – Stock # 2202173

CASTANARC: JOURNEY TO THE EAST Track List:

01. Peyote (4:34)
02. Travelling Song (2:05)
03. Am I (3:28)
04. Goodbye To All That (5:48)
05. Rhyme (2:41)
06. The Fool (8:49)
07. Soon (3:05)
08. Journey To The East (7:34)

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