This solo album from Jon Lord has been reissued with some bonus tracks. It's an intriguing album. Not everything here fits as prog, but most of the stuff does. I'd also say that not everything here is great, but most of it is. Lord is joined by a lot of musicians here including Deep Purple bandmate Ian Paice, Neil Murray, Simon Phillips, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke, Boz Burrell, Cozy Powell and more.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017 Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Chance On a Feeling
This is really very much an AOR prog number. It's not as heavy as Lord's stuff in Deep Purple. The keys are great as they drape all over this arrangement.
Tender Babes If the opener showed some prog in its mix, this one is full on progressive rock. It's very classical in nature, and the keys really drive it. In some ways this makes me think of the kind of thing Rick Wakeman often does. It's an instrumental that's very cool.
Hollywood Rock And Roll Keyboards start this off. The cut launches out from there into a more mainstream rocker. With a big chunk of Bad Company playing here, this is much more of a straightforward rocker. It's classy stuff and the female backing vocals add a lot to it.
Bach Onto This This is thoroughly based on Bach, but the title kind of gives that away. It's a killer instrumental that again puts things into prog rock territory.
Before I Forget As keyboards begin this cut, it's very much a prog rock thing. This remains fairly mellow. It's quite a pretty piece of music, and definitely one that lands in progressive territory. However, it might not really fit under the "rock" part of the prog rock banner, at least until much later.
Say It's All Right This has some prog and some blues built into it. Vicky Brown handles the lead vocals. It's quite a pretty number.
Burntwood This instrumental is another part of the album that makes me think of Rick Wakeman. It's a great keyboard excursion that's definitely prog rock.
Where Are You? Piano and vocals make up this cut. It's a bluesy kind of thing. It's a vaguely proggy ballad, particularly as more layers of sound power it up.
Bonus Tracks
Going Home (7" B-Side)
This is a more energized prog rocker. Sure, it's AOR styled, but it's definitely prog. The number is a keyboard dominated instrumental.
Ravel's Pavane (Album Outtake) Another instrumental, this is a keyboard journey. It's pretty and rather classical in nature.
Bach Onto This (7" Single Edit) As you can probably guess from the title and parenthetical, this is a shorter version of the earlier cut.
Lady I'm not all that crazy about this song. Vicky Brown is again the singer here. The cut is just keyboards and vocals. It's a bit too poppy, soulful for my tastes. It has kind of an adult contemporary vibe that just feels a bit cheesy to me.
For a Friend A keyboard solo, this is mellow and very pretty stuff. This actually feels a bit like something Vangelis might do.
