FLÄSKET BRINNER – The Swedish Radio Recordings 1970-1975 (Mellotronen, 2003)

 Instrumental, English vocals
International relevance: ***

The Mellotronen label has a long history of impressive reissues. Their ability to dig up forgotten recordings and unissued material of some of the most stellar Swedish 70s bands is almost unrivalled. But of all the great stuff they've released over the years, this is still their most impressive effort, in size as well as to content. Four CDs of radio shows from Fläsket Brinner's golden era, with some portions never even aired back in the day. One show from 1970, two from 1971, and one from 1975. The sound quality ranges from good to excellent and in both mono and stereo. Also several songs not available on any of their other albums. 

The 1970 disc was recorded two months before the earliest recordings on their eponymous milestone of a debut album and is brimming with all the youthful energy a newly formed band can offer. At this point, few had heard Fläsket Brinner, and even if only one song from the session was broadcast, it must have made a lasting impression on all who heard it on the radio. Their vision was clear in their minds already from the start, well structured, but they sound loose in a way they no longer do on the two 1971 sessions. That's not meant as criticism; on the contrary, the boldness of the performance is highly value in itself.

With the addition of Bo Hansson, Fläsket Brinner had become a tighter unit as proven by those 1971 dates. The October recording is as close as they ever got to 1968 The Mothers Of Invention, even on Bo Hansson's ”Sagan om ringen” medley and the three Maffy Falay compositions/arrangements.

The December set has again a different feel, less ”underground” and closer to jazz rock (in the most positive possible sense). If the other 1971 set is The Mothers 1968, this is much more ”Hot Rats” Zappa, but more open and spontaneously explorative. This show also has the greatest style span as exemplified by a very touching ”Gånglåten” being contrasted to a for-the-hell-of-it cover of ”Red River Rock”!

Fläsket Brinner didn't quit until 1981, but not too many post-1972 recordings have surfaced, why the last disc of the Mellotronen set is particularly revealing. ”Grasse” is definitely jazz fusion, but in the moodier moments, such as ”Kinaspel” and the reflective version of Mort Garson's ”Acquarius”, they have a lot in common with Ragnarök. It's my least favourite of the four CDs here but as a token of Fläsket Brinner's constant forward motion plus being a document of an underdocumentet period of the band, it's most valuable.

Taken together, ”The Swedish Radio Recordings” is a powerful testament to how Fläsket Brinner evolved over the years and what made them so great. Few bands were as adventurous and skilled without sacrificing passion and emotion as they were, and few could extract so much energy from their own music as they could. Needless to say, this is an absolutely essential collection.

Full album playlist

KATTEGATT – Alla barnen går en sväng! (Selma Rec, 1981)

 Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: **

A Gothenburg band that's not widely known today although they commissioned music for Ungdomsradion (=”the youth radio”) for the Swedish national broadcasting company in the late 70s. The songs commented on current topics with blatant political lyrics.

The members were only around 15 years old when Kattegatt began in 1976/77, all self-taught and making up their songs collectively during endless rehearsal sessions in the Gårda part of Gothenburg. Their 'modest' ambition was to make a kind of music no-one had ever heard before... but being inspired by the likes of Genesis, Frank Zappa and Samla Mammas Manna, it was clear they ended up with something well adjusted to progressive rock. But teenagers sometimes grow apart as the years go by, and once it was time for their lone, self-released album, they had all developed divergent interests. So the curiously titled ”Alla barnen går en sväng!” (=”all children go for a stroll!”) was really the beginning of the end and not the start of a continious recording career..

The many hours spent in their rehearsal room must have payed off quite well because the LP is a pretty accomplished work roughly in a fusion style. You can clearly tell the influence from 70s era Zappa from the sudden time shifts here and there, and there are indeed dashes of skewed Samla Mammas Manna humour.

Not everything here is successful. I could have done without the Caribbean moves on the first two selections, and the vocal tracks on side 2 drag a bit. But Kattegatt's joy of playing shines through on most tracks which makes this curious LP one of the more entertaining examples of Swedish fusion. They're certainly not choking on their own self-importance simply because they don't take themselves too seriously. There, an anachronistic lesson to be learnt here by many other fusionists so full of themselves that they forgot how to smile the very second they picked up their instruments.

Not a brilliant album, but one fun enough to pull out every fourth year or so.

Drummer and percussionist Mårten Tisselius actually joined Samla Mammas Manna's Von Zamla incarnation later on before joining Lars Hollmer in his Looping Home Orchestra together with Kattegatt keyboardist Sven Jansson. Singer/guitarist Staffan Ahlbom had a couple of solo singles out in the mid 80s on Transmission (the reformed version of Nacksving) before turning to studio production along with Sven Jansson recording some rather well-known Swedish bands in the 90s and 00s. They also had the Helikopter label connected to the studio and released quite a few albums in the early/mid 90s.

All previous members have stayed in touch and they still meet for some unpretentious jamming at their old rehearsal space. A full-time Kattegatt reunion is ruled out according to themselves, but a compilation of thirteen tracks called ”The Gårda Tapes” was released digitally in 2023. Still quirky, but nowhere near as charming as their original LP.

Full album playlist

PANTA REI – The Naked Truth (Mellotronen, 2012; rec. 1973)

English vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

The live session included in ”Progglådan” was a welcome addition to Panta Rei's uneven yet worthwhile album – the only thing they released – and their small output was further expanded when Mellotronen put out ”The Naked Truth” in 2012. Four tracks recorded in concert in Kummelnäs near Stockholm 1972 , with another '72 excerpt from a show in Panta Rei's hometown Uppsala. The Kummelnäs tape shows Panta Rei at their vivid best and has songs not on their album (including one Chick Corea composition), but the sound quality is questionable. I'm not too sensitive when it comes to the fidelity of archival releases, but the mono sound here is flat, and the lack of dynamics doesn't really do Panta Rei's intricate music justice. The Uppsala track is in even lesser fidelity, with a rather intrusive distortion on especially the vocals.

Mellotronen's original idea was to reissue the original album, but Portuguese label Golden Pavillion beat them to it, so ”The Naked Truth” is a kind of 'plan B' solution. I'm not sure if there even exists any better sounding tapes of the original Panta Rei, maybe this is the best there is, but it would benefit from a cleaned up reissue. With the modern AI technology, it could surely be remixed in stereo and better dynamics be extracted from the source tape. It's also a bit disappointing they re-used the cover art for the original album. One of progg's most stunning sleeves, it feels a bit lazy not bothering to come up with something more imaginative.

Full album playlist

SUSPEKT ASPEKT – Den årliga vårliga konserten på Röhsska muséet (no label, 1979)

Instrumental
International relevance ***

Probably one of the most obscure bands ever to be featured here, Suspekt Aspekt never even released any music when they originally existed. Originating from Gothenburg, they formed in the mid 70s and disbanded in early 1980. This recording were distributed privately by the band after having reunited in 2003. It's a live recording made at Röhsska museet, an art museum in the centre of their hometown. Sound quality is good, even excellent for an audience recording from 1979. The music is soft instrumental symphonic prog with an epic quality, somewhat reminiscent of UK bands like Camel. It's well played and rather pleasant, but with 23 tracks clocking in at over two hours, it's too much to chew in one sitting for the casual listener, Genre fans however will surely be delighted by the discovery.

Had Suspekt Aspekt had the opportunity to have a proper album out when they existed the first time around, they would most likely have been widely recognized among aficionados, instead of being a hardly known footnote in the history of regional symph prog.

Full album playlist

TEDDYBJÖRN BAND – Teddybjörn Band (Piglet, 1980)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

A late-coming wannabe progg band based in Uppsala with a stupid name to boot ('Teddybear Band'). Teddybjörn Band released their sole folk shaded progressive styled album on the baffingly inconsistent and diverse Piglet label, home to Jonas Palm and others.

Opening track ”Toradans” is half decent as a lead-foot Samla Mammas Manna rip-off, but marred by stiff drumming and a synth sounding as if it was nicked from ABBA. The drumming is in fact a problem to the entire album, which is perplexing once you realize there are three different drummers playing here; Hasse Bruniusson (Samla Mammas Manna), Ingemar Bergman (Kaipa), and Per Gulbrandsen (Sub-gruppen, Störningen). It's not easy to tell them apart as all of them offer up such stiff performances they make a pile driver sound like a James Brown 45.

The vocals are mostly overwrought and overbearing and the worst singer of them all is Ann Chabaan who appeares on a couple of tracks. She takes the lead on ”Du har gett upp”, sounding like a bad dream to ruin even vibrato wobbler Jan Hammarlund's sleep.

To top it off, the production is clinical, almost sounding like a Nacksving album.

Teddybjörn Band tries contortionally to come up with something worthwhile but constantly lose themselves in a morass of clichéd pretentiousness.

One of the singers in the band, Frans Mossberg, did the cover painting and released 1982 solo album "Tystnader", also on Piglet.

Full album

VON ZAMLA – Zamlaranamma (Urspår, 1982)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Samla Mammas Manna's first 'Z incarnation' Zamla Mammaz Manna disbanded following the marvellous ”Familjesprickor” in 1980. The year after, Lars Hollmer and Eino Haapala formed the second 'Z incarnation', Von Zamla, and recorded this album in the autumn of 1981. Von Zamla continued up until 1984, and put out two albums before disbanding, this one and ”No Make Up!” (1983).

Like ”Familjesprickor”, the much more synthesizer heavy ”Zamlaranamma” sits firmly in the RIO category but lacks the powerful tension and brilliance. Most of this album sounds like Lars Hollmer's solo music but with a more serious approach. A lot of it sounds like a bit too intrusive background music to a TV series you're not sure if you like.The album's OK but a far cry from "Familjesprickor".

An album of previously unreleased 1983 Von Zamla live recordings, simply called "1983", was eventually released in 1999 on Cuneiform.

Full album

ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD – Delayed (Silence, recorded 1973-1974, released 2001)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

The history's full of albums that have become legendary in their absence. The fewer that have heard an unreleased album, the better it gets in the imagination of those who haven't. Only rarely, albums like that can live up to the expectations.

Recorded in 1973 and 1974, the recordings subsequently released as ”Delayed” was meant for a follow up to Älgarnas Trädgård's highly regarded debut ”Framtiden är ett svävande skepp förankrat i forntiden” from 1972. During the mixing sessions for the album, cracks began to show within the band which led to them disbanding before the work was done, leaving the recordings unfinished until 2001 when Silence finally released it on CD with its appropriate album title.

If ”Framtiden är ett svävande skepp” was spacey, ”Delayed” is much less abstract with only ”My Childhood Trees” reminiscent of the debut. ”Delayed” is heavier in a more typical contemporary prog rock fashion. Unfortunately, when members Dan Söderqvist and Jan Ternald mixed it for the posthumous release, they added tons of reverb which make the album sound more anachronistic than I believe it would have if released as originally projected. I don't think the music is particularly good to begin with, but it would have been better if given a drier mix. Now it's still something of a lost album.

Full album playlist

SOLAR PLEXUS – Complete albums 1972-1975

In terms of sheer musicality, it's hard to beat Solar Plexus. Led by married couple Carl-Axel and Monica Dominique, and featuring Jojje Wadenius and Bo Häggström from Made In Sweden, they could play anything – and sometimes did. They were originally named Bäska Droppar, a name they shared with the traditional Swedish wormwood liqour.

Solar Plexus (Odeon, 1972)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals [Swedish version] / 

Instrumental, English vocals [export version]
International relevance: ***

Funky, jazzy, bluesy, progressive, folky, avant, silly, serious, dull, exciting – all of it is true at one point or another on the album. The sheer musicality of it all is the greatest thing about this album. Sometimes they're actually too clever for their own good, but when it works it's certaonly better than Made In Sweden.

Jojje Wadenius original Swedish vocals for the album were substituted with English vocals by Tommy Körberg for an international launch. Körberg made a guest appearance on the Swedish version of the album, but after re-recording Wadenius's vocals, Körberg became a full time member of the band. Which version you prefer is a matter of taste I suppose. Both have their advantages, but my impression of the export edition is that Körberg doesn't quite feel at home being only a hired gun.

2 (Odeon, 1973)

Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

Their second album, aptly titled ”2” and without Jojje Wadenius who had just left Sweden to join Blood Sweat & Tears. Tommy Körberg in turn was here a fully integrated part of Solar Plexus. You win some and you lose some; the band won a powerhouse vocalist but lost some of their curious-minded experimentation. ”2” isn't as adventurous as their first album focusing more on soul styled songs to fit Körberg's vocals. I wish they would have gone further out on a limb like they did on their debut.

Det är inte båten som gungar – det är havet som rör sig (Harvest, 1974)
Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental 

International relevance: ***

The album kicks off with the great, funky title track, but loses steam after that. Most of the album lacks real punch; the sound and songs are too polished, and it sounds like just another day at the jazz rock work.

Hellre gycklare än hycklare (Harvest, 1975)

English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

If the previous album was weak, this is even lamer. The band goes through the motions and true inspiration is hard to find. Körberg's vocals sound a bit detached and uninspired, with a style hinting at his future career in musicals. Great rhyming album title though, especially if think of "better a joker than a hypocrite" as a well deserved quib at the increasingly holier-than-thou factions of the music movement.

Solar Plexus appears on several albums outside of their regular discography, most notably on ”Progglådan” that features a radio concert, probably from 1974. (”Progglådan” compiler Coste Apetrea cared as much for proper dates and correct info as he did for liner notes proof reading...) Solar Plexus provided music to actor Beppe Wolgers's children's album ”Gullivers resor” in 1971, appears on one track on Abdo's album ”Salma”, and provided music to comedy duo Hasse & Tage's live radio broadcast ”Öppen kanal – eller stängd?” in 1975, released on LP later the same year.

Although I don't like everything they did, I have the deepest respect for them and particularly the Dominique couple. They had free souls and a huge non-discriminating love for music, which in itself is a grand source for inspiration.

Solar Plexus (Swedish version) full album playlist

Solar Plexus (English version) full album playlist 
Solar Plexus 2 full album playlist
Det är inte båten som gungar full album playlist
Hellre gycklare än hycklare full album playlist

SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA – Måltid (Silence, 1973) / Klossa knapitatet (Silence, 1974) / Snorungarnas symfoni (MNW, 1976)

It probably says more about me than about guitarist Coste Apetrea that the two Samla Mammas Manna albums I like the best don't have him in the line-up, the one they did before he joined the band, and ”Familjesprickor” by the Zamla Mammaz Manna incarnation. Most people would say that the 1972-1976 is their prime period and it's generally acknowledged as their most classic era.

Måltid (Silence, 1973)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

”Måltid” is the first album to feature Apetrea, and needless to say it's a much different album to the band's eponymous, guitarless debut. With Apetrea, the music lost most of the mysterious aura that surrounds their maiden work. Instead they developed their famed complexity and patented humour. Sometimes it's far too much of that make-a-funny-face sing-with-a-silly-voice thumbs-up tomfoolery. And sometimes, it's very good, as in "Folkvisa i morse". Often within the same song. And that's why I find ”Måltid” so frustrating to listen to.

Klossa knapitatet (Silence, 1974)

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Coste Apetrea's influence on the band was really beginning to show here. A greater amount of fusion was beginning to creep into the slapstick music, with constant time changes (”heh heh, funny, eh?”) and over-complex compositions (”aren't we clever, eh?”). I can't shake off the feeling that they do it just because they can, to impress. It's peacock prog. Again, some good moments but on the whole, well, juvenile really.

Snorungarnas symfoni (MNW, 1976)

as Gregory Allan FitzPatrick/Samla Mammas Manna
Instrumental
International relevance: *** 

Greg FitzPatrick wrote ”Snorungarnas symfoni”, an extended work in four movements. Considering Samla Mammas Manna's considerable skills, it was a natural thing to let them perform it. Augmented by a horn section, they toured with ”Snorungarnas symfoni” and recorded it for MNW in 1976. Although it has parts that allow Samla Mammas Manna to show off and despite its grander scope, it's less overwrought and not as hysterical as Samla's regular albums. The downside is that it's not imaginative enough to warrant a 34 minutes playing time. Some parts could easily have been cut down to make for an overall more effective piece. 

After ”Snorungarnas symfoni”, Samla Mammas Manna took a break during which Coste Apetrea left the band (good riddance). Eino Haapala stepped in as his replacement, and the band officially reformed as Zamla Mammaz Manna.

Måltid full album playlist
Klossa knapitatet full album playlist
Snorungarnas symfoni full album playlist

BO HANSSON – Ur trollkarlens hatt (Silence, 1972) / Mellanväsen (Silence, 1975) / El-Ahrairah (YTF, 1977)

 Ur trollkarlens hatt (Silence, 1972)

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

It's impossible for anyone to follow up a masterpiece like ”Sagan om ringen” with something equally good, Bo Hansson included. Therefore, his subsequent albums will always stand in the shadow of his monumental debut. You almost have to forget you've ever heard ”Sagan om ringen” – at least, that's what I had to do to fully appreciate ”Ur trollkarlens hatt”. Truth is, it's a very loveable album, not as dark as its predecessor (see? now I'm comparing it to ”Sagan om ringen” again!), more like drinking dewdrops in the morning with the sun shining through the foliage of trees. It's a wonderful album, meaning both incredibly beautiful and full of wonder.

The album was released abroad as ”Magician's Hat” with cover variations.

Mellanväsen (Silence, 1975)
Instrumental

International relevance: ***

There's something about ”Mellanväsen” (international title: ”Attic Thoughts”) that makes it more intangible than Hansson's previous albums. It has more guitars (courtesy of Finn Sjöberg of Kvartetten Som Sprängde, and Kenny Håkansson) that somehow seem to restrict the album, and with more syntesizers in use, it also has an unbecoming coldness to it. Also, Hansson's regular session drummer Rune Carlsson has a stiffer way of playing here than before. It's also a bit worrying that the music at times veers towards fusion, only a tiny bit as if it doesn't want you to notice, but you can't help but doing it anyway. ”Mellanväsen” isn't a bad album but somewhat unsatisfactory.

The international cover seen above is eye-slicingly terrible. The drawing of Hansson makes him look like a mean-spirited caricature of Sweden's then prime minister Olof Palme.

El-Ahrairah (YTF, 1977)

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Another album based on a book, this time Richard Adams's ”Watership Down” (the album's international title is ”Music Inspired by Watership Down”). ”El-Ahrairah” also saw Bo Hansson signing with a new label, YTF. My concerns with ”Mellanväsen” are even greater here. It's further down fusion road and despite several excellent names in the credits list – Kenny Håkansson, Bosse Skoglund, Sten Bergman, Göran Lagerberg et al – the music just won't come to life. The best track is the first part of ”Flykt” which sounds like the music to a porn scene in an Italian horror movie. I want to like this album more than I do, but unfortunately, there's too little here to invite me into the music.

The cover art was again mutilated for the album's international release:

”El-Ahrairah” is the last of the 'real' Hansson albums. He made ”Mitt i livet” for Silence in 1985 but that one doesn't count.

Ur trollkarlens hatt full album playlist with bonus track
Mellanväsen full album playlist with bonus track
El-Ahrairah full album playlist with bonus track

BO HANSSON – Sagan om ringen (Silence, 1970)

Instrumental 

International relevance: ***

 Ranked #3 on the blog's Top 25 list

The beauty of Bo Hansson's solo debut is unfathomable. Few albums are as evocative and visual as ”Sagan om ringen”. It's no wonder that Anders Lind founded Silence for the simple reason of releasing it. (Gudibrallan's ”Uti vår hage” was recorded earlier but released after ”Sagan om ringen” was out.)

Based, of course, on J.R.R. Tolkien's ”Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Hansson's music takes my mind on a much longer and a much more vivid journey through the fantastic and the splendorous than Tolkien ever has and ever will. It's the sound of one spectacular man's spectacular vision, so perfectly moulded that it's impossible not to get carried away by it. So richly textured that you could almost touch the sounds with your fingers, smell the scents of that other world he shows you through notes and timbres, hear the sounds that will forever surprise your ears in utter wonder.

Hansson already used his Hammond organ like a painting tool as one half of the psych prog jazz duo Hansson & Karlsson, but compared to ”Sagan om ringen”, the Hansson & Karlsson albums sound restricted and two dimensional. Here he opens everything up to a dynamic experience of brooding darkness and jubilant light.

So much has been written about this album, so much has been said, so much love has been poured over it, and still no-one has been able to fully explain its grandeur. Neither have I. The only way to approach it properly is to listen to it, to give in to it, to fall in love with it again and again and again. This is a masterpiece of a magnificence that time can never diminish.

However, be aware of the different versions of ”Sagan om ringen”. Its release history is a mess, but I'll try to explain it to the best of my knowledge. Corrections/clarifications are much welcome!

First Silence pressing with the first and exclusive mix lacks ”En vandring i mörkret” and has no musicians credits on the back cover. The 1971 reissue adds the missing track, and has the credits, but is remixed. The international versions retitled ”Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings” have track titles in English, and a different cheesier cover that makes it look like rejected Genesis cover art. Some tracks are also shortened, and the album is remixed by Bo Hansson himself. Subsequent releases have this version. International cover variations exist.

 Original international version

First Swedish CD release from 1988 has a new remix version of the album, adding unnecessary and bad reverb, plus bonus tracks from Hansson's subsequent albums, plus the worst cover version of them all. Later CD reissues have the 1988 mix, but also previously unreleased bonus tracks recorded around the same time as the original album, plus the original cover art.

1988 CD version

The 2018 Silence CD is a reissue of the previous one including the unreleased track but with the international 70's cover art scaled down to fit within a too large and cheap looking frame.

 

 2018 CD version

Full album playlist 2018 CD version with bonus track

VILDKAKTUS – Vindarnas vägar (Polydor, 1971) / Natten (Ljudspår, 1973)

Vindarnas vägar (Polydor, 1971)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

Another very fine effort from Vildkaktus. Not quite as good as ”Tidsmaskinen” but not far from it. ”Vindarnas vägar” is a more 'typical' prog than their debut, whatever that means and besides, nothing about Vildkaktus is exactly typical anyway. ”Vindarnas vägar” reveals influences from late 60's harmony laden American bands with jazzy inclinations. But it's isn't an epigonic work; it's tight, meticulously constructed and imaginative. The songs are excellent and confirm Vildkaktus as one of the most original bands of the era.

The album had a Record Store Day reissue in 2017.

Vildkaktus had a non-album 45 out on Polydor in 1972, "Vila vid denna källa"/"Natur du kämpar", before leaving the label for their third album.

Natten (Ljudspår, 1972)

Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: ***

Vildkaktus' third album is their weakest. It's less intricate than their previous two, on one hand opting for a little heavier sound (case in point: ”Ånglåt”) and on the other for a more straight-ahead West Coast sound, as on ”Substitute Woman”. It sounds as if Vildkaktus had lost a bit of interest in their music, and not surprisingly they disbanded after ”Natten”. Guitarist Olle Nilsson, pianist Gösta Nilsson and bassist Tommy Johnsson reappeared in Ibis a couple of years later.

A 1971 session for the Tonkraft show is included in "Progglådan".

Vindarnas vägar full album playlist

Natten full album

Tonkraft 1971 full album playlist (Vildkaktus starts at track 8)

GREG FITZPATRICK – Det persiska äventyret (MNW, 1977) / Bildcirkus (Mistlur, 1978)

 

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***/***

Beverely Hills born Gregory Allan FitzPatrick was the son of director and documentary maker James A. Fitzpatrick who began making movies in the 20's and whose career spanned five decades. He left the States in 1966 and spent a year in Finland before settling down in Sweden. He earned his living as a street musician, and eventually formed a band with Jan Bandel and Sten Bergman. They turned into Atlantic Ocean and recorded one album in 1969 (released the following year), then FitzPatrick left for Asia. Upon returning to Sweden, he initiated Handgjort that in turn spawned the Tillsammans project with a line-up large as a small city. In 1976 he teamed up with Samla Mammas Manna for ”Snorungarnas symfoni”. His first solo album appeared in 1977.

”Det persiska äventyret” is an unintentionally funny album. FitzPatrick sings in Swedish – or he thinks he does. With an American accent so thick you could chop bricks out of it to build a house with, it's sometimes almost impossible to understand what he says. You've got to admire his linguistical braveness though, more than the album itself. It's more peculiar than good due to his lack of proper Swedish. For some reason the album has a several cover versions of songs by Hoola Bandoola Band, Bo Hansson/Fläsket Brinner, Stenblomma, Robert Broberg, Gläns Över Sjö Och Strand and Philemon Arthur & The Dung's ”Du var min enda vän”. His passion for Sweden and the then contemporary music is endearing for sure but ”Det persiska äventyret” is actually rather dull apart from the curious pronounciation.

For his second album ”Bildcirkus”, released under his full birthname, he dropped the lyrics altogether in favour of an all instrumental semi-symphonic music that's closer to ”Snorungarnas symfoni” than ”Det persiska äventyret”. His pioneering infatuation with synthesizers shows. He uses them a lot on the album, making it sound dated and sterile. Parts of it remind me of Samla Mammas Manna member Lars Hollmer's solo albums, but ”Bildcirkus” isn't as heartfelt as say ”XX sibiriska cyklar”.

Greg Fitzpatrick later became an in-demand session player, and opened a synthesizer shop in Stockholm in the 80's. He then turned to jingles making for commercials, and he's also worked in the field of music pedagogy.

Det persiska äventyret full album playlist
Bildcirkus full album playlist

KEBNEKAJSE – Vi drar vidare (Mercury, 1978)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

If a band loses its most important member and radically changes the musical style, is it still the same band?

Is ”Vi drar vidare” really a Kebnekajse album?

Kenny Håkansson, guitarist par excellence, left the band after ”Elefanten” and that should have been the end of the once godlike Kebnekajse, but instead they signed to Mercury for one more album. Trying to fill the void Håkansson left gaping galaxy wide, Mats Glenngård stepped in as the main songwriter and turned the band into some kind of fusion/symph rock amalgam.

A Kaipa parody? A Jean-Luc Ponty charade? Something even worse?

Call it what you will, this album drags Kebnekajse's name in the dirt and then drags it back again twice as hard. I feel genuinely sorry for Kenny Håkansson who had to see this happen to his former band. And I feel sorry for myself and every other Kebnekajse fan that this even exists. It hurts.

People told me long before I had heard the album that it was bad, but crikey! I couldn't imagine just how bad it actually is. And it does not get better over time. Had it been a Coste Apetrea or a Kornet album, then it might have been excellent. Sort of. But Kebnekajse's name's on that catastrophic cover, in large letters, and that makes ”Vi drar vidare” an insult. No more, no less. 

Full album playlist