Search - Decameron :: Parabola Road: The Anthology

Recommended for Fans of British Folk-Rock!

Morten Vindberg | Denmark | 05/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Decameron was one among many fine English bands of the folk-rock era ( late 60

`s till mid 70`s).



They recorded and released 4 great albums during 1973-76. This compilation contains the complete second, third and fourth albums, along with rarities, live-recordings and a single-track. At the time of release in 2004, the master tapes for the debut album were not to be found. Fortunately they have been rediscovered, and these tracks are now out as "Say Hello to the Band and the best of what`s Left".



Decameron still occasionally reform to do live appearances, with the two fine singers and songwriters Dave Bell and Johnny Coppin as cornerstones.



Their four albums are surprisingly consistent, with catchy melodies, intelligent lyrics and tight playing. Their sound gradually grew more rocking, and on their last two album a permanent drummer was added to the line-up - making the band a 6-piece.



It`s a hard task to bring out specific tracks out from the albums, since there are so many; but from "Mammoth Special" (74) "Parade" and "Late on Lady Day" are favourites. From "Third Light" the catchy "Rock`n Roll Away" and "Trapeze" stand out. The band`s final album "Tomorrow`s Pantomime" may be their least consistent, but the album does contain another irresistably catchy song "The Deal" and of course the great title track.



Highly recommended!"

The anthology - and more!

Dr.D.Treharne | Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom | 11/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mostly recorded on three seperate albums in the space of two years the whole of disk one and the first twelve tracks of disk two cover the 'official' Decameron story. 'Mammoth Special' which was recorded in 1974 was certainly the most rounded of the albums. The songs tend to be wry observations about life on the road,places they'd been and personal introspection. Unfortunately "Third Light' which takes up the rest of disk one and the the first three tracks of disk two, has rather too much introspection and some of the songs are extended metaphors that seldom work. There are some good performances, Dave Bell's "Rock and Roll away" Coppin and Bells "Road to the sea" and an excellent version of Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory" are the highlights. The final released album "Tomorrow's Pantomime" is a return to the balalnce they'd achieved in 'Mammoth Special", but by this time they were struggling to make the jump from mid-sized venues to the kind that could sustain them on the road.Favourites are "Fallen Over", the title track and "Single handed", and after that although they toyed with their alter egos "The Magnificent Mercury Brothers" [Track 17-19 on Disk 2] they went their own ways, although meeting to perform on a regularly irregular basis. Tracks 13 and 14 are evidence of their ability to perform brilliantly at

these events. Tracks 15 and 16 are songs that appeared at live dates, but never found their way onto albums.For those of us that have had to put up with ever deteriorating vinyl copies this is a welcome set of reissues, that repays selective programming to seperate each set.If you enjoyed what was going on when English artists were trying to burst out of the constraints of 'folk-club' traditions then this is for you. A footnote: The excellent sleeve notes mention "The tapes to "Say hello to the band" (their first album) are lurking undiscovered in a vault somewhere".... no longer! In the middle of 2004 they have appeared as a limited edition CD that is as equally indispensible as this one is."

UK Folk Rock At It's Best

E. Kamini | Israel | 06/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Decameron gives us the sound of folk rock in their own UK way. it sounds great - gentle, deep, smoothing, sometimes progressive. it is a great double CD which gives all that you need to hear from this group as a casual listener. enjoy!"