The Nice Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
This is a CD full of caveats, pro and con -- and yes, ideally, CDs should be full of music rather than cautions, but time and age being what they are, the latter can't always be avoided. There are those who will treasure everything by their favorite bands, and, in truth, a completist would probably have the easiest time forking out the money for this album, given some of its flaws. To be fair, however, there are some rarities on it, like the group's rendition of Charles Lloyd's "Sombrero Sam," which includes the group's original drummer, Ian Hague, in the lineup and Keith Emerson making like Jimmy Smith, weaving in and out of Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia theme (itself cribbed by Jarre from Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 6) while guitarist Davy O'List makes some bluesy excursions that ought to have been captured in a formal recording session -- but a version of this is also available on Swedish Radio Sessions, though not on any real album. There are also such never officially recorded gems as "Aries," "Blues for the Prairies," and a version of Zappa's "Lumpy Gravy" and the Byrds' "Get to You," all of which offer some wonderful psychedelic moods. And listeners also get one of Keith Emerson's live battles with Leonard Bernstein's "America" on which he's very clearly pounding the hell out of his organ, and which also includes a spoken (or, more correctly, shouted) superscription. There's a bit of repetition to some of the material, as these performances were spread out across months, but the performances (and the quality) vary sufficiently to justify most of the duplications, though not the August 29, 1968, performance of "Little Arabella," which is apparently the official studio recording. The later tracks do, indeed, show a significant improvement in fidelity. And therein lies the problem with this CD, not with the material or the playing, but with the sound. As the label notes, these tracks were not made from the original master tapes -- which means the quality is far from pristine. There apparently has also been some restoration work done on the sources, which still hasn't prevented a lot of this, especially the 1967 and early-1968 sessions, from sounding like it's coming off a cheap transistor radio picking up a very distant signal (that fades in and out a bit as well). When you can hear it -- which is a little more than half the time on the early stuff -- the music is wonderful, and the tracks from the four-man lineup with guitarist Davy O'List are superb, especially "Rondo" (which one also wishes ran longer). And "Aries," an otherwise lost track, is a fine piece of very theatrical psychedelia that points the way out of sonic freakouts and toward the more ambitious sides of progressive rock, and it is perhaps no accident that it leads directly into a killer performance of "Ars Longa Vita Brevis," featuring O'List holding his own against the ever more rampant Emerson. Ultimately, virtues such as those do outweigh the faults, at least for those who care mostly about the music. It's also worth noting that these aren't the complete BBC sessions from the Nice -- they played two more in 1969 and 1970 that don't appear here. All of that said, it's true that you can't have everything, but at the very least a consumer should be able to expect a disc that's been through some cleanup software -- as this apparently has, to little avail on the oldest material -- so that it doesn't sound like a third-generation bootleg. Wonderful music, but sometimes hard to hear. ~ Chris Nickson & Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Randall Lee's trademark New Zealand jangle has taken him through several projects, from the Cannanes to the bi-continental Ashtray Boy -- his work with Nice strips this style down to the way it might sound in a live setting, concentrating on the warm and evocative sides of Lee's songwriting. The band's self-titled album does this more effectively than later releases, which move toward the more varied pop styles Ashtray Boy worked with -- Lee's dark jangle sounds absolutely stunning, and while the record's songwriting isn't as consistent as one might hope, the majority of it works incredibly well, with unconventional time signatures and progressions keeping things from falling into strummy banality. One listen to the album's opener should be enough to convince anyone. ~ Nitsuh Abebe, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Five Bridges is a delectable representation of early-'70s progressive rock. It's makeup contains all of the elements needed to complete a solid prog album: a heavy intermingling of synthesizer and electric guitar, strong punctuation of both bass and drums, a central concept, and the fusing of rock and classical music, which in this case employs the Sinfonia of London. The eight tracks, centered around Newcastle's urban structure and life in a blue collar society, are as colorful as they are intricate. "Intermezzo" from Sibelius' "Karelia Suite" and Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" are marvelous examples of classical and rock commingling, with the spotlight focused on Keith Emerson's keyboard virtuosity. The second movement from "Fantasia" is a sparkling model of improvisational use containing various rock & roll rhythms and time structures, while the third track entitled "High Level Fugue 4th Bridge" was inspired by Guida's "Prelude and Fugue" and incorporates assorted jazz techniques and boogie-woogie styles into a classical recipe. "Country Pie/Brandenburg Concerto, No. 6" unites Dylan with Bach for a most extraordinary illustration of instrumental creativity. Each example of genre merging is pristine and fluid, making the actual overlapping of multiple styles completely transparent. Five Bridges may rank just a tad below The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack or Ars Longa Vita Brevis on the patience scale, but it does demonstrate how Emerson's work with ELP came into fruition. ~ Mike DaGagne, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Nice's third album was their first to break them into the star recording bracket in the U.K., where it reached number three on the charts. Though only measuring six songs in all, it covered a lot of territory, in a rich mixture of psychedelic rock, jazz, and classical that did a lot to map the format for progressive rock. The extended pretension of some of the numbers, viewed less forgivingly, might also seem like an antecedent to pop/rock. But the studio side of the LP (in its pre-CD incarnation) included one of their best tracks, a cover of Tim Hardin's "Hang on to a Dream," with grand Keith Emerson classical lines and an angelic choir. It also included a reworking of the B-side of their first single in "Azrael Revisited," a slight throwback to the more playful psychedelia of their roots with "Diary of an Empty Day," and the nine-minute "For Example," in which Emerson stretched out his jazz-classical mutations to a fuller length, throwing in a quote from "Norwegian Wood" along the way. More attention was given to the second side of the LP, recorded live at the Fillmore East, with a berserk workout of a number from their debut album, "Rondo" and a 12-minute overhaul of Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me." ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Ars Longa Vita Brevis'
Release Date 1/1/1969
Tracks 13
Label Columbia
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The Nice's second album, and their first as a trio, was a genuinely groundbreaking effort, and now it sounds the way it was always supposed to. The 1998 Castle Communications reissue (ESM 646), part of its Essential Masters series, puts even the version in the 1995 Charly box to shame -- that was clean and clear, where this is bright, with a much more solid high end and richer bass as well. The energy of the band's playing comes through, along with enough detail to allow you to hear the action on the keyboards in some instances. This is not only the first Nice album to sound as good as the ELP remasters of a couple of years ago, but to match the best of the latter for substance. The "bonus tracks" are merely the monaural single masters of "Daddy, Where Did I Come From" and "Happy Freuds," when ideally "America" would have been on this CD where it belongs (and where it was, on the American version of the original LP). ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack'
Release Date 1/1/1968
Tracks 13
Label Immediate
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
An okay, but unambitious first album, heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix. Lacking discipline, but full of surprises. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
