Album Review #6 - UK - UK (1978)

 

Album Review #6

Artist:  UK

Album:  UK

Year of Release:  1978

Grade:  4.5/5

 

Band Members

Allan Holdsworth – guitars

Eddie Jobson – keyboards, electric violin, acoustic guitar

John Wetton – vocals, bass

Bill Bruford – drums, percussion

 

Background

Sometimes this band is called the greatest supergroup that you’ve never heard of.  John Wetton and Bill Bruford played together for several years in King Crimson for a trio of albums (Lark’s Tongue in Aspic, Starless & Bible Black, the classic Red) before Robert Fripp disbanded King Crimson.  Afterwards, Wetton and Bruford tried to convince Fripp to restart Crimson to no avail.  Wetton and Bruford decided to form a new band with Bruford’s former Yes partner Rick Wakeman.  Wakeman’s record label refused to allow their solo star to work with Wetton and Bruford in a new band.  Wetton and Bruford decided to each choose one person each to bring into the band to make it a four piece outfit.  Wetton (who spent time with Roxy Music and Uriah Heep) brought in violinist/keyboardist Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music, Frank Zappa) and Bruford brought in Allan Holdsworth, who had more of an improv/jazz background.

 

Unfortunately, the version of the band only made one album.  Holdsworth was let go from the band due to creative differences (he didn’t want to play the same solo every night) and Bruford left with him.  For their second album, Wetton and Jobson recruited drummer Terry Bozzio and would make their album “Danger Money” as a trio before splitting up when Wetton wanted to move to a more accessible sound (pop oriented prog like his next group Asia) while Jobson wanted to move back to a more progressive sound.

 

I didn’t know anything about this pre-Asia John Wetton band until about 10 years ago.  But once I heard it, I could see it being the bridge between the Wetton fronted King Crimson and Asia. 

 

In the U.K. Ultimate Collection reissue, they have a remastered version of the album but also an all instrumental version of all of the tracks. 

 

 

Track Listing

1.      “In The Dead of Night” (Wetton, Jobson)

2.      “By The Light of Day” (Wetton, Jobson)

3.      “Presto Vivace and Reprise” (Wetton, Jobson)

4.      “Thirty Years” (Wetton, Jobson, Bruford)

5.      “Alaska” (Jobson)

6.      “Time To Kill” (Wetton, Jobson, Bruford)

7.      “Nevermore” (Wetton, Jobson, Holdsworth)

8.      “Mental Medication” (Wetton, Jobson, Holdsworth)

 

 

Review

The opening track is really the opening part of a 3 track called the “In The Dead of Night Suite”.  The first part of it is called “In The Dead Of Night”.  The opening begins with bass and keyboards then layers the drums and then guitar and finally the vocals.  It explores the human mind in its fears and hopes.  This track primarily focuses on the fears.  Instrumentally, it pushes the traditional boundaries of popular music and to some extent progressive rock.  There is some amazing guitar work here by Holdsworth.  

The second part of the suite is “By The Light of Day”.  While the previous portion focused on the fears, the haunting portion focuses on the darker side of doubt and impending doom in some respects.  The melody carries over from the previous track but in a slower form. Jobson’s keyboards and violin are highlighted along with Holdsworth’s guitar.

The finale of the suite is “Presto Vivace and Reprise”.  This brings back the original upbeat melody.  It has a more optimistic feel and has always comes across as the breaking of dawn (hope) following the darkness.  Then the tune slows down to one of reflection as in “I came this far and survived it”.  All five factors – Wetton’s bass, Holdworth’s guitar, Jobson’s keyboards and violin, Bruford’s frantic drumming, and Wetton’s soulful vocals – make this a fantastic suite of songs.

 

The fourth track is “Thirty Years”.  It starts out with keyboards and guitar then Wetton’s mellow vocals join.  It starts out pretty slow and then abruptly in a really cool way jumps into high gear.  Instrumentally, this song is a stand out where every instrument gets its own time in the spotlight while never seeming to be a solo turn by each person.  It is a well organized piece of music clocking in at about 8 minutes.  The song itself is about chasing dreams and finding heartbreak.

 

The fifth song is the instrumental “Alaska”.  The song written completely by Eddie Jobson plays to his strengths – violin and keyboards.  The first 2/3 of the song is pretty droning.  Not much interests me but when the last 1/3 kicks in, I really enjoy it.  It really is if it is two songs that are strung together.

 

The next song “Time To Kill” is one of my favorites.  It does not start out slow.  It is a great uptempo number.  The biggest star is John Wetton’s vocals. Bill Bruford’s drum provide the great rhythm to back the song. The guitar and electric violin really shine here the later part of the song.  The singer is dreaming of sitting on an island with nothing to do instead of sitting in a cell.

 

 

The seventh song “Nevermore” starts out with an almost Spanish guitar feel to it showcasing Holdsworth’s skill.  The initial vocals do nothing for me but once it kicks in with the line “coast to coast”, it starts to change the song.  For me the song has its highlights but never stays long enough to really keep me engaged.  It has some great guitar and bass work in it though.

 

“Mental Medication” closes out the album.  This is another song that starts out kind of bland but kicks in and is a most agreeable song.  Lots of keyboard work here by Jobson.  Once again, Wetton’s vocals save the song.  The only thing that I dislike is when Wetton goes into a falsetto voice.  Luckily, the track his regular vocal in a low register and it makes it more listenable.