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Jade Warrior - Last Autumn's Dream (1972)

Track listing:
  1. A Winter's Tale 5:12
  2. Snake 3:05
  3. Dark River 6:38
  4. Joanne 2:52
  5. Obedience 3:19
  6. Morning Hymn 3:36
  7. May Queen 5:25
  8. Demon Trucker 2:38
  9. Lady of the Lake 3:20
  10. Borne on to the Solar Wind 3:01

Notes


Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Their self-titled first album Jade Warrior was released in 1971 on the Vertigo label and establishes their trademark sound of soft/loud contrasts, and Fields multi-layered flutes and percussion vying with Duhig's cutting guitar. This was followed in the same year by Released and then in 1972 by Last Autumn's Dream, both with appearances from Dave Duhig (solo Guitar) and Allan Price (Drums). (Price is not to be confused with Alan Price of The Animals.)

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About Progressive Rock:
Progressive rock, sometimes shortened to "prog" or "prog rock", is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s, principally from psychedelic rock, blues rock, folk rock, hard rock, classical music, and jazz fusion, but also from a wide-ranging tendency in rock music at the time to experiment with drawing inspiration from ever more diverse influences.

Progressive rock compositions are often more elaborate than the standard rock or popular verse-chorus based song structures, and the arrangements often incorporate elements drawn from classical, jazz and avant-garde music. Songs with lyrics are sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy.

Progressive rock reached the peak of its popularity in the 1970s, but has continued as a form of popular music to this day.

The term was applied to the music of bands such as King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant and Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), and came into most widespread use around the mid 1970s, some years after its generally held inception. The term might also take in the music of artists such as The Moody Blues, The Nice, Frank Zappa, or other diversely influenced bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s that fit some of the musical characteristics described below.

Musical characteristics:
Like jazz and classical compositions, Progressive rock is a composed form of music, yet it usually has a spontaneous and improvised feeling, which means that it lends itself as much to intellectual analysis as it does to emotional enjoyment. Some common characteristics may include:

Form: Progressive rock songs either avoid common popular music song structures of verse-chorus-bridge, or blur the formal distinctions by extending sections or inserting musical interludes. Contrasts are often made between these sections in terms of dynamics, such that soft passages would build to louder passages and so on. This approach is common in rock music, but more pronounced in some more theatrical progressive rock groups. As the genre developed, the quantity of these sections increased, as some progressive rock acts continued their allusions towards classical music and composed entire suites, building on the traditional medleys of earlier rock bands. Another common structural feature lies in extended instrumental passages that are reminiscent of classical music, but less frequent in rock and popular music. This can often lead to pieces in excess of 20 minutes.

Timbre (instrumentation and dynamic):
Early progressive rock groups added additional instrumentation to the typical rock group lineup of a guitarist, bassist and drummer, often adding keyboards or synthesisers. These and other instruments, particularly those common to classical and jazz music, such as the flute, saxophone or violin, are frequently used as part of the overall texture of the group's musical output. Some progressive rock acts also incorporated orchestras and choirs (although this is not exclusively a feature of progressive rock, as it is a feature of 1940s swing, Motown and other orchestra-backed popular music). Dynamically, progressive rock acts often tend toward the extremes.

Rhythm:
Use of time signatures and rhythms that are rarely used in rock music. Progressive rock music is designed mainly for listening, rather than for dancing, which meant that prog rock bands are able to use unusual, changing time signatures and even layering polyrhythms. Repetitive riffs are used much less than in hard rock.

Harmony:
The I - IV - V chord progressions of the blues, was usually avoided in favour of less predictable progressions. A simple triad is frequently extended with 6ths, 7ths, 9ths and compound intervals, as in jazz harmony. The harmony of progressive rock, like jazz, is often linked with the use of modes in the melodies. Some progressive rock bands use classical harmonic progressions or quotations from well-known classical pieces in order to allude to classical music. Some pieces of progressive rock explore atonal or dissonant harmonies, and a few bands even included rudimentary serialism in their music.

Melody:
While the major and minor modes are still prevalent even in progressive rock, the blues-associated pentatonic scale is rarely emphasized. In progressive rock, melodies tend to be long and meandering, especially in instrumental solo passages, often with little or no clear indication of cadence. The use of Classical techniques such as leitmotif by some bands lends a theatrical edge to their music.

Other characteristics:
*Sometimes poetic, conceptually-themed or fantasy-based lyrics.
The advancement of technology was always a prime element in progressive rock, especially in electronics. In keyboards, the Mellotron was generally a signature sound in many progressive acts like the Moody Blues, King Crimson and Genesis, while others incorporated synthesizers. In the late 1970s, King Crimson's Robert Fripp, along with Brian Eno, developed his own patented version of electronic gadgetry called Frippertronics using analog tape loops which he still uses today in a digital format. In the 1980s, Frank Zappa would use the synclavier extensively for composing and recording.

*In the case of some strands of progressive rock, concept albums, or albums with an overarching theme: These concepts became very lengthy and elaborate in the mid 1970s era of progressive rock, sometimes in rock opera form, resulting in packages that extended to 2 or even 3 vinyl discs' worth of music (approx 45 minutes per disc). Concepts from such albums would range from historical through fantastical to metaphysical, and even, in the case of Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick, poking fun at concept albums.

*The music is often used theatrically to provide devices or ambient soundscapes that aurally describe scenes, events or other aspects of the concept; for example, the use of leitmotif to represent the various characters in Genesis' "Harold the Barrel", and the use of clocks and cash registers to represent time and money in Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.

*The packaging of the album as a part of the overall artistic concept: This trend began with The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and played a major part in the marketing of progressive rock. Some bands became as well-known for the art direction of their albums as for their sound, with the "look" integrated into the band's overall musical identity. This led to fame for particular artists and design studios, most notably Roger Dean for his work with Yes and Storm Thorgerson and his studio Hipgnosis for their work with Pink Floyd.