Excellent followup to Crystal Machine
BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 09/01/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After Tim Blake left Gong in 1975, he started working with various other projects. Steve Hillage's Fish Rising is one. Clearlight Symphony's 1975 self-entitled offering is another. Eventually he wanted to release some solo albums on his own, but for some odd reason, Virgin Records rejected his demo tapes (probably because progressive rock was on the decline and the label wanted to start including punk and new wave acts on their roster). So he went to a small French electronic label that was more sympathetic to his works. That label was called EGG, which also included albums from the likes of Vangelis (Ignacio, 1977), Patrick Vian (Bruits et Temps Analogues, 1976 - excellent, obscure electronic music, by the way), Alain Markusfeld, and Heldon (their final offering, Stand By, 1979). And so EGG released both of Blake's late '70s offerings, Crystal Machine (1977) and this one, Blake's New Jerusalem (1978). New Jerusalem sounds nothing like his previous offering, which was a live recording of improvised electronic music. This one is a studio offering that not only sounds nothing like Crystal Machine, but sounds nothing like Gong. While what little vocals that existed on Crystal Machine ("Last Ride of the Boogie Child") proved that Blake wasn't all that great of a singer, on New Jerusalem, he decided to sing on each and every cut, except for one. But for some reason, the vocals aren't all that intrusive, and he comes across as sounding like Steve Hillage or Daevid Allen. Not only does he handle synthesizers (which includes his trustworthy Mini Moog and his two custom made EMS Synthi A's, as well as some newer polyphonic synths), but he also handles acoustic guitar and glissando guitar. He also gets some help from a teenaged Frenchman Jean Phillipe Rykiel, who also played additional synthesizers. Regardless, this album is an excellent example of spacy electronic/prog rock. The lyrics all have heavy futuristic/sci-fi overtones, inspired by the works of William Blake (you'll hear the occasional quote from William Blake on this album). The opening, "Song For a New Age" is a lovely acoustic number with nice spacy, hi-tech feel, and EMS synth bubbles. The second cut, "Lighthouse" starts off sounding like an episode from Star Trek (with a narration that goes, "Captain's Log, Stardate..."), this one is heavily electronic with great use of glissando guitar, proving that Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage weren't the only guys doing it. "Generator (Laser Beam)" is Tim Blake's idea of a disco song, this was originally released as a single a couple months before New Jerusalem came out. Still, it's far better than anything the Bee Gees or Village People can come up with, because of the same futuristic, sci-fi lyrics, and spacy progressive electronics. But it has that pulsing beat and rhythm that's charactaristic of disco (it's 1978, after all, and disco was still very popular). "Passage Sur La Cité (Des Révélations)" is an all instrumental electronic piece that reminds me a little of the Jean Michel Jarre album that came out around the same time, Equinoxe. Then the album closes with the side length title track, which is more of the same as you got for the rest of the album. Unfortunately Tim Blake wouldn't be heard much after New Jerusalem. He joined Hawkwind from the albums Live '79 and Levitation, then pretty much went in to seclusion, releasing the occasional solo album (Magick in 1991, and Tide of the Century in 2000). Regardless, if you like spacy electronic and prog (and even if you don't like Gong), you're sure to dig Blake's New Jerusalem."
Blake's best
Chromefreak | 02/25/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Former Gong/Hawkwind synthesist gives us his best work on this excellent CD. Much superior to most of his other work, New Jerusalem contains many great tracks, including "Song for a New Age," "Generator (Laser Beam)" and the awesome "Lighthouse." Blake manages a unique compromise between otherworldly space music and earthbound space rock."
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1