Changes

Graham Wilson(g)、Dave Taylor(b)、Malcom Firth(dr)を中心に結成、後にJULLIAN'S TREATMENTに加入するAnna Meek(vo)、MOTHERGONGで活躍するRpbert Calvert(sax)等が在籍した英国産Jazz Rockバンド、英Vertigoから発表された'71年作が欧Trading Placesから180g重量盤限定アナログとして'20年復刻再発!
前作の大作志向とアグレッシヴで無骨なジャズ・ロックはそのままに、過剰なエコーを全体に塗しサイケデリックなフリーキーさを増した一枚。インプロ要素を増したドラッギーな味わい、Gille Smythのスペース・ウィスパーに近似したAnna Meek嬢の妖艶な歌唱等、英国アンダーグラウンドの香りを満載したダウナーかつ暴力的なアンサンブル/サウンドが味わえる快作です!ジャケットはオリジナルの"虫型カット"も含むゲートフォールド仕様ジャケットを再現。

Catapilla's second album is probably better-remembered for its gatefold cover -- a bug-headed lettuce leaf which opens to reveal a fat, juicy maggot -- than for its contents. Delve in deeper than that, though, and the music is even more striking . A magnificent disc, Changes offered an absolute shift away from the grinding Armageddon of Catapilla's debut, with the opening "Reflections" viciously carving out a new territory which floats with breathtaking audacity. For over 12 minutes, vocalist Anna Meek and saxophonist Robert Calvert duel and duet in a manner which would influence everything from Deep Purple's voice and guitar confabulations to Gong's spectral, spacy meanderings. Indeed, experienced Catapilla-watchers will not have been surprised to see Calvert working with that band's Gilli Smyth in the mid-'90s; the blueprint is all over "Reflections." From such a spectacular high, Changes drops back somewhat for the next two tracks, preferring to refine the jazz-rock compounds its predecessor found so profitable, but without the eye-over-the-shoulder toward Crimson and company. "Charing Cross" is jerky and arrogantly discomforting; it's the closest thing to the first album's brittle battery. The relentless "Thank Christ for George," on the other hand, is a smorgasbord of textures underpinned by some absurdly angry guitar and one of Meek's most effective vocals. But it's the reflective instrumental "It Could Only Happen to Me" which truly returns us to the peaks of the opener. A lovely sax melody haunts the same pastoral landscapes as Pink Floyd inhabited across "Atom Heart Mother" and "Echoes" before being scythed into silence about three minutes in, as Graham Wilson's guitar not only rewires everything you thought you knew about Catapilla, but comes close to rewriting prog history as well. A third album from this most visionary of bands, drawing its impetus from "Reflections" and "It Could Only Happen," might have rendered even Dark Side of the Moon academic. As it is, we can only dream wistfully, "What if?" ~ Dave Thompson