Album review : RING THE BELLS AND SING – Progressive Sounds of 1975 (4 CD boxset/Remasters)

Cherry Red [Release date : 30.08.24)

Ring The Bells And Sing is one more in a carefully (and imaginatively) curated series of Progrock sounds from the Cherry Red label.

This one focuses exclusively on 1975.

Always good to have some context:-
1975 : Led Zeppelin at No.1 in the album charts. Sex Pistols first public performance. Iron Maiden founded in London by Steve Harris. North Sea oil pumped ashore for the first time. Thatcher defeats Heath to become Conservative Party leader. Unemployment tops a million. Miners accept a 35% pay rise (wouldn’t you?).

1975 was also four years into The Old Grey Whistle Test, which was to play a key role in promoting the Progrock genre. Renaissance (Trip To The Fair & Ocean Gypsy), Hawkwind (Assault & Battery/The Golden Void), Yes (Soon), Bebop Deluxe (Maid In Heaven & Music In Dreamland), Caravan (The Show Of our Lives), Gentle Giant (Just The Same) and Manfred Mann’s Earthband (Nightingales & Bombers), among others, all appeared on Whispering Bob Harris’s late evening show.

The genre was gaining traction in the media and in reputation, and so it turned out to be a significant year for Progrock album releases: Chris Squire, Steve Hackett, Barclay James Harvest, Procol Harum, Druid, Steve Hillage and Wigwam all released what were arguably career best recordings in 1975, and all have at least one track appearing on Ring The Bells.

Nektar are an English Prog band who were hugely popular in the USA before their first major label release in the UK. 1975 was a good year for them. ‘It’s All Over Now’ (from Recycled) appears here. It was used more recently on the “Devil’s Domain” movie soundtrack, cheek by jowl with major contributions from Die Krupps supremo, Jurgen Engler.

It’s a good example of the cross fertilisation of musical styles and musicianship. Carmen Rojas, bass player with Nektar, toured the world in David Bowie’s band for 5 years (that’s all we’ve got), and was Rod Stewart’s Musical Director from 1988 to 2003.

The Remastered Boxset – 4 CDs and 46 tracks – also includes many Prog artists whose profile was high in genre circles, but flew a smidgen under the popular music radar.
Like Hatfield And The North, Van Der Graaf Generator, String Driven Thing, Soft Machine, Stackridge, Greenslade, Fruup, Baker Gurvitz Army and others. They’re all here.

So, if you’re a Prog fan and want to relive the seventies for 3 hours or more, immerse yourself in Ring The Bells...And Sing. (singing optional) ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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