Ariel "A strange phantastic Dream" 1973

Ariel was formed in 1973 as a kind of supergroup in Australia. From Spectrum came Mike Rudd (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Bill Putt (bass) and John Mills (keyboards), from Tamam Shud came Tim Gaze (guitar / vocals) and Nigel Macara (drums). The band first released a single and toured as the opening act for Gary Glitter, after which this album was released. Commercially it was not bad, in Australia it was at least 12th in the album charts. And there would have been more if it hadn't been for the radio boycott of some Ariel songs. The Australian stations were especially a thorn in the side of the lyrics to songs like Confessions Of A Psychotic Cowpoke, Medicine Man and Chicken Shit...

...Musically, the album deserves more attention in any case. The material came primarily from Rudd, with Gaze, who is traded as a guitar prodigy, also contributed some songs. Because of their relationship to Spectrum and Tamam Shud, Ariel were often put in the Prog box, but this is only partially effective. Neither Spectrum nor Tamam Shud were pure "prog bands" and so it was with Ariel. The band was primarily a rock band, but they were so eager to experiment that one could speak of art rock and draw comparisons to bands like 10CC or Split Enz.
This tendency to the extraordinary can already be seen in the titles themselves - see the "banned songs" Confessions Of A Pychotic Cowpoke, Chicken Shit or z. B. Garden of The Frenzied Cortinas and Wheezer Grunter Module Threadaboy / Harry v. Dirchy (God the Man). First of all, the album opens with a relaxed, casual Caribbean and US West Coast flair. The same applies to No Encores, with the band increasing in complexity. The Confessions Of A Psychotic Cowpoke are told with a Country and Southern note, And I'm Blue is reminiscent of the ornate rock arrangements of 10CC.
Garden Of The Frenzied Cortinas seems, due to the longer running time alone, more complex and always approaches Prog-Rock. Miracle Man is an interesting mix of 10CC and Steely Dan, at times it even sounds like an anticipation of the Talking Heads - Tim Gaze's guitar work is very impressive. The chicken shit still goes up, you could make certain comparisons to the Mothers and Zappa. Not only because of that, but also because of the pronounced keyboard lines, this song could please prog friends.
The worm turning blues are completely different. Here the band builds on a seemingly simple boogie with a glam factor, but at the same time shows that you can do more with something like that. The same applies to Wheezer Grunter modules Threadaboy / Harry v. Dirchy (God the Man). Basically a country blues, but with the weird and funny nuances more than pure country blues. - https://www.rezensator.de

trax:
01. Jamaican Farewell 02. No Encores 03. Confessions Of A Psychopathic Cowpoke 04. And I'm Blue 05. Garden Of The Frenzied Cortinas 06. Miracle Man (Tim Gaze) 07. Chicken Shit 08. Worm-Turning Blues 09. Wheezer Grunter Module Threadaboy (Ariel)/Harry V. Dirchy (God The Man) (Tim Gaze) 10. Hard Way To Go 11. And If It Wasn't For You 12. Red Hot Momma
…served by Gaius…