"Melancholy Mayhem"

Stonedhenge-- is a very hard Cd to rate. So I will attempt to offer my thoughts and opinions for any curious buyers.

The musicianship is Excellent !! {5 stars}

The production and sound quality is Superior !! {4 stars}

But, where this album fails is in the song writing and in the continuity of how each flows together. The songs are very scattered. Stonedhenge, gives us the trade mark blues rock Ten Years After we are familiar with. Then all of sudden the next song is classical piano piece, then comes a jazz piece, then comes a wierd version of the kiddie nursery ryhme "Three Blind Mice" which is played strictly on the drums. "Now" can you see what I mean. Stonedhenge is literally a musical experiment.

If you prefer a very different style of songwriting with a flair for the odd than this will surely capture your interest.

From a musicianship stand piont this is a work of art.

From a songwriting stand piont this is not the normal Ten Years After. Thus the 3 stars rating.

Song variations to consider are:

"Gonna Try"-- A blues rock song that contains a couple tempo changes and an odd use of some bongos towards the end. On the plus side is some spectacular Keyboard playing.

"I Cant Live Without Lydia"-- A very short 1:20 minute piano extravaganza that borders on classical.

"Woman Trouble"-- Solid jazz feel going on. Smooth vocals,Excellent Hammond organ playing and solo as well as an awesome guitar solo. Snare drum technique is impressive. Extra crisp ride cymbal sound.

"Hear Me Calling"-- A jazz shuffle with driving boogie woogie Bass guitar patterns.Nice two part vocal harmonys.

"A Sad Song"-- More Blues happening here. Reverb effect on the vocals adds a hint of the mystery to this one. Guitar solo included.

"Three Blind Mice"-- All drums playing the theme of Three Blind Mice. A short little diddy at that !!

"No Title"-- Basically a seven minute blues rock jam session. Creative drums. Guitar and keyboards work into a frenzy towards the ending.

"Faro"-- A 1:09 minute Bass Solo.

"Speed Kills"-- The last track is a fast shuffle. Boogie woogie bass and Ryhthmic guitar work. Unbelievable snare drum roll technique !! Clean sounding jazz style gutar solo !!



Final thought: Stick with A Space In Time or Cricklewood Green for a more familiar Ten Years After. However, if you prefer the different experimenting style of Ten Years After then by all means "Buy It". Songs are still somewhat out of context in my opinion.

An Overlooked Masterpiece

I'm tired of people disparaging this album. They seem to think that Ten Years After made a mistake by going in a more psychedelic direction. Well they are wrong. Wrong, I say!

This is one hell of an album. As usual, there's a wide variety of musical styles. But unlike most other TYA albums, it's heavily drenched with psychedelia. "Going To Try", the opener, is the best example. It goes from dark and eerie to fast and rockin' all in a matter of seconds. Churchill's organ is very prominent here, especially when he plays those haunting notes in the beginnnig, amidst a wonderful vocal from Alvin. But then, unexpectedly, Leo's bass starts pounding and the band really begins to get fired up and jam. But you don't have much time to enjoy it before they slow down again and go back to that dreary, creepy atmosphere. It's a killer song.
Churchill's short piano instrumental "I Can't Live Without Lydia" is pretty cool, and very jazzy. Some would call it 'filler', but I enjoy it. And speaking of jazz, "Woman Trouble" really swings. Though it's certainly not their greatest jazz tune, it's still a good song, as Alvin once again shows that he's a real sport and lets all three of his bandmates get a chance to solo. "Skoobly-Oobly-Doobob" (cool title, eh?) is awesome, I care not what anyone says. It's basically a duet between Alvin and.....well.....himself. See, he does all these "Dooo-dooo-doo" chants and simultaneously plays the same exact notes on his guitar. It's kind of hard to explain in words, you have to hear it yourself. But it's fantastic, the way he synchronizes his voice and his guitar notes.
"Hear Me Calling" was actually a very popular song by the band at the time. A totally smokin' blues tune, it allows Alvin to unleash one of his sharpest, craziest solos ever. And those weird vocals are the icing on the cake. "A Sad Song" is simply a glorious ballad, with a riff that starts out simple and soft, then proceeds to suck you in as the song picks up the pace. Alvin's singing on this one is extremely full of soul and emotion. The overall mood of the song may be somewhat depressing, but it's so addicting that I never really notice. Such a magnificent ballad. "Three Blind Mice" is dumb, I'll admit, but still kind of funny. It's just a short little drum pattern from Ric Lee that really isn't impressive at all (a five year-old probably could've done that). But what follows it is perhaps the greatest song that Ten Years After ever wrote. It's called "No Title" (strange name for a song!), and it's one of the greatest rock songs that I've ever heard. It's an 8-minute epic with five different parts, and all of them are astounding. It starts out very slow, relaxed and peaceful, with Alvin delivering some whispery, soothing vocals (the lyrics are outstanding too). Then, when you least expect it, the tranquility is gone and Alvin comes in with a rip-roaring, almost deafening guitar jam. It's amazing. It goes from unbelievably soft to unbelievably loud before you can even blink an eye! The first time I heard it, I nearly jumped out of my seat! It REALLY takes you by surprise, believe me. Anyway, after Alvin's vicious guitar solo, Churchill comes in and takes you away to another world with his trippy organ playing (VERY trippy, actually). After that, the rhythm section gets their turn, as Leo and Ric play some swingy, jazzy bass and drum stuff. And then, for the conclusion, the song slows back down again and returns to it's original, mellow feel. WOW! What a song. It's undoubtedly my favorite TYA song ever. Five different parts, and not one of them boring. Too bad they don't make music like this anymore.
Leo's short bass solo "Faro" is kind of odd, to say the least. One of the very few examples of "psychedelic bass" that you'll ever find. And the closing number, "Speed Kills", is a 50's style rocker in which Alvin's vocals sound almost identical to Jerry Lee Lewis. No foolin'! Very big similarity. The rhythm section provides a rockin' groove, and Alvin's solo is.....well.....this is Alvin Lee we're talking about, so I don't think I need to tell you that the solo is awesome.

Definitely get this album if you're a fan of psychedelia, blues, jazz or just flat-out killer rock 'n roll. This is definitely their weirdest album ever. But in this case, weird means excellent!

Not the Best TYA CD, but worth the listen

While Alvin Lee and Ten Years After made several classic albums in the early to mid seventies (Cricklewood Green, A Space in Time, Rock and Roll Music to the World and Live at the Fillmore are some of the best Rock albums of all time), this was one of their first and it shows. The songs are not great, but it isn't bad like some of the other reviewers seem to think. Comapre it to the later efforts and Stonedhenge shows how Alvin and the band evolved in to the greatest forgotten band of all.