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A Space In Time

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 10/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The story of Refugee is unique. Two thirds of The Nice (Lee Jackson & Brian Davison} joined with a swiss, keyboard wizard by the name of Patrick Moraz to create a one of the finest of all progressive rock bands ever heard {at least it was heard by a few of us!}



I will not label this great band, the second coming of: The Nice, as that is not fair to these three wonderful musicans. But, I will say that along with "Trilogy" and "Close To The Edge", this record stands as one the very best records of the early seventies. Lot's of rude comments have been posted in regard to Lee Jackson's voice, and as he is not Jon Anderson or Greg Lake, he is very good here, {and miles above what he did with: The Nice}. But, I also like "Jackson Heights" as well, so cast your: "Stones of Years" if you must... BUT, I think he does well with his trademark: raspy-shouty-whisper!



The music presented here is epic, and only Keith Emerson, himself is in the same league as Patrick Moraz. "The Grand Canyon Suite" is a majestic bombast of sound with a melody that sounds like it was pinched years later for "The Simpon's Theme". "Papillion" was so named as The synth sounds at the beginning sound like butterfly wings. "Ritt Mickley" is an in-joke about Patrick's miss-use of english when trying to pronounce the word 'Rhythmically', and believe it or don't...it's funky.



"Credo", is another 'Epic' number and it roams into many moods, and for anyone who slights the drumming of Brian, needs to give this a listen, he is top-notch all throughout.



I do believe that Patrick, does at times come very close in imitating Keith's, phrasings & styles. But, Keith was by 1974 already a legend in my world and believe Patrick thought the same of his talents.



For me this is one of the great records of progressive rock, and I am glad to see it's release on CD at last. This is a brief moment from a time long ago, and it still sounds great.

FIVE STARS!!!"

Another little gem...........

Mr. Thomas Thatcher | Salisbury, UK | 02/16/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's beyond parody, but one of our wretched chickens got into the house and ruined my vinyl of this. So thank God, now it's on CD. So now this Nice Part Two is available again. Wonderful.



I agree with all that the others have said - but I always thought that Lee Jackson had a pretty appalling voice, having watched him on stage from one of the Nice's very first gigs (Penelope's Disco, Salisbury, UK - really!!) onwards (Emerlist Davjack, anyone?) when Keith was introduced as the "Jimi Hendrix of the Organ". You have to be a DJ to say that with a straight face.



And on listening many times again, while respecting Lee hugely for all that he achieved in music, I think his voice is just ghastly. The second track, Someday, is almost unlistenable and the whole of Credo is marred by it. Only the main theme in Grand Canyon survives the vocals intact. This is difficult stuff and he does his honest best. Blinky Davison is, as always, stunning, especially in Ritt Mickley - those rolls at the end of the four-bar theme - wow.



Still, they all do well here and Moraz is really pretty damn good. It's a lovely disc and bears repeated listening. But the other keyboard wizards who must be added to the usual suspects are Eddie Jobson and Francis Monkman (a brilliant Baroque interpreter) - see my review of Air Cut by Curved Air. The Grand Canyon Suite is really swooping and dramatic and Lee gets about 80% of the notes, which is enough. Credo, I'm not so sure about. Lee's vocals, as I said, are really not very good at all. Ritt Mickley is a great little semi-classical instrumental, and Patrick's keys are lightning fast.



Great stuff - when being the best was considered important and even essential rather than being a sign of arrogance. Lovely bravado performance. Love to see it re-recorded with Eddie Jobson, Eric Clapton and John Farnham as well as the original crew!! Oh, and Mike Wedgwood on vocals a la Caravan's Show of our Lives - yes, that's Mike, not Pye, who gets that top A.



Moraz, of course, left to join Yes after Rick Wakeman bowed out - there weren't many around who could play this sort of stuff - and the other two were left high and dry. This is a shame, because their role in the development of thinking music was incredibly important.



My only slight reservation, apart from the vocals, is that Patrick is in danger of joining the world of new-toy noodlers on a number of occasions, and it sadly happens that new toys become old very quickly ......"