Gravy Train - Staircase To The Day

Get on, get on, get on, get on the Gravy Train

Adorned in a Roger Dean gatefold sleeve, this eight-song collection is expanded with four single sides, but the fourth album by guitarist/ vocalist Norman Barrett and his band of merry prog men stands proud in any case. While Gravy Train never moved to the premier league with the likes of ELP and Yes, their BJH-styled approach is understated but equally as gripping. Hence, the psych-tinged chorale of opener Starlight Starbright is redolent of Yes, while Bring My Life On Back To Me is akin to BJH’s The Great 1974 Mining Disaster, which can’t be bad. Never Wanted You is a psych-leaning number with harmonica wails, while Staircase To The Day has pastoral flute and mellotron à la Camel. The knowingly-titled Going For A Quick One actually adopts period glam tones rather than Yes, but the clavinet and piano of Evening Of My Life impresses, and the wahrich Busted In Schenectady closes proceedings in Grobschnittian fashion.

Repertoire | REPUK 1089

Reviewed by Tim Jones
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