Jade Warrior - Remastered And Expanded CD

元JULYのTony DuhigとJon Fieldによって結成されたバンド、英Vertigoから発表された'71年デビュー作が英Esoteric Recordingsから新規リマスターで'22年再発CD化!
Album冒頭を飾る'The Traveller'を筆頭に、無骨な中にも独特の東洋旋律を巧みに取り入れた流れるようなインスト・サウンドが味わえる1作。70年代中期に比べてヘヴィかつ酩酊感に満ちつつも、Art RockからProgressive Rockへと発展するシーンの時代性と精神性を反映したイマジネイティヴな音楽性が当時としては画期的なデビュー作にして完成度の高い1作です!!マスターは英Vertigoが所有していたオリジナル・マスターからの新規リマスタリング音源を使用、ボーナスとして本作制作時のOuttakeから'Telephone Girl(first version)'を追加、ブックレットにはSteve Pilkingtonによる新規解説及び歌詞を掲載。

Jade Warrior's first album following Tony Duhig and Jon Field's emergence out of the psychedelic July captures them abandoning the best of that band's whimsical moodiness in favor of a symphonic spirituality epitomized from the outset by the soaring guitars that ecstatically slice through the opening "Traveller." Reminiscent, in places, of a less-precious successor to Quintessence and the Incredible String Band in that moods and esotericism do sometimes get the better of the band's more conventional music impulses, Jade Warrior is nevertheless a remarkable album, all the more so since its makers could readily have given the likes of Jethro Tull and the Moody Blues some serious competition in the mellifluous prog stakes. Glyn Havard's vocals themselves can sound extraordinarily Ian Anderson-ish in places, with Field's wielding of the flute and some distinctly edgy tempos only furthering that impression. Elsewhere, however, the same tools combine to induce emotions that range from trance to terror, an accomplishment that means highlights of the album are difficult to single out. Although the ten tracks are clearly delineated, the song titles are little more than passing impressions of the music's own sensations, rendering Jade Warrior one of those rare albums that is best experienced as a seamless whole. ~ Dave Thompson