2004 Sanctuary
very good condition
jewel case
8 page booklet
CD1 features the original album plus Arthur's Moustache and Lost Angeles, both recorded in 1969 for Top Gear
CD2 includes the US version of the album called The Grass Is Greener. Different songs and recorded with Dave Clempson on guitar and vocals.
I must say that I have always held a very high regard for Colosseum.even through the personnel changes. I especially loved The Valentyne Suite because it sounds really classy and very brassy. The jazz and blues from this band comes at you like a freight train going top speed. The Valentyne Suite itself is an extremely well done classy set of three instrumentals with three different moments. The album starts off with one of the best prog rock songs of it's time known as "The Kettle" a rollicking tune with lead guitarist James Litherland at the helm. The drumming is really amazing handled by none other than Jon Hiseman, who previously had been with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers on the "Bare Wires" album. The bass guitar solos on "The Grass Is Greener" segment of "The Valentyne Suite" are really the best I've heard in a long time and performed by Tony Reeves who also came over from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and the amazing Dick Heckstall-Smith playng two saxes at once and doing such fantastic work of it. Lastly, but not leastly is Dave Greenslade on keyboards and vibes. But, wait, this is a 2 disc set. The first disc was the British lp from 1969 known as The Valentyne Suite and the 2nd disc was the American,/Canadian release known as The Grass Is Greener. The domestic release was quite different in track content as there is a tune which starts off disc 2 called "Jumping Off The Sun" which kind of reminds me of Cream and Dave Clempson who became the Guitarist after James Litherland split after completion of The Valentyne Suite was doing vocals. He sort of reminds me of a cross between Jack Bruce and Phil Shulman who was the lead vocalist for Simon Dupree & The Big Sound/ Gentle Giant. The guitar on this track is sort of reminiscent of Clapton especially when he is doing rhythm and the drumming is like Baker. The other tunes that are not on the import version Lost Angeles which is rather jazzy and Rope Ladder To The Moon which again we find Clempson doing the vocal chores also a different version of The Machine Demands A Sacrifice and an alternate version of The Grass Is Greener. The tunes that stand out for me on disc 2 are Jumping Off The Sun and Rope Ladder To The Moon..Both versions of this album are EXPLOSIVE! If you don't got it, get it.
