Gracious – Gracious!/This Is…Gracious!

BGO 2012

BGO have had this on catalogue for years now but its re-reissue (!) rightly suggests Gracious merit more attention. When it comes to box-ticking, the keyboard-driven six-piece had much to suggest assured success as flighty lightweight pop tipped into deep-thinking prog at the end of the ’60s. Former pupils at a fancy school in the comfy stockbroker belt of England’s Home Counties (sound familiar?), they penned expansive and quirky concept pieces on matters of belief and the metaphysical, and drenched the lot in symphonic swathes of Mellotron and Wagnerian percussion when they got into the studio after getting signed to hip Vertigo.

1970′s self-titled debut sets out their stall with the sprawling ‘Heaven’ and … yes, ‘Hell’, while the mind-bending ‘The Dream’ is offset by atypically brief harpischord instrumental ‘Fugue in D Minor’ (that classical education again). There were some good ideas on the go but, on reflection, not enough to sustain the ambitiously-protracted running times of the material.

As if sensing this at the time, the band returned with “This Is…” the following year, bringing a relatively higher yield of shorter tracks – well, album side-long ‘Super Nova’ aside. These serve Gracious’s compositional and performance capabilities better, being both more accessible and culturally akin to the work of label mates like Cressida and Beggar’s Opera. Right place, right time notwithstanding, the release proved to be posthumous as the band fell apart. 

This 2CD package is a straight re-run with its 1995 notes intact. But then contemporary postscript would be subjective as there is next to nothing about the band out there in 2012. Gracious!

Peter Muir ***


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)



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