JADE WARRIOR

Eclipse & Fifth Element ESOTERIC

Longtime “lost” yet disjointed collections from early experimental proggers.

Never achieving the prominence of such contemporaries as Genesis, Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant, Jade Warrior released a number of albums throughout the 70s that drew on eclectic influences spanning folk, psychedelia, African rhythms, Latin grooves and spiky avant-garde jazz fusion.

Originally a trio of Tony Duhig on guitar, Glyn Havard (bass/vocals) and Jon Field (percussion/woodwind) but officially adding drummer Allan Price, they returned to the studio to record a follow-up to 1972’s Last Autumn’s Dream, producing a mountain of material, which they envisaged might constitute a double album. However, they were then stymied by their label, Vertigo, who refused to release any of it. Split into two separate albums, Eclipse and Fifth Element didn’t see the light of day until 1998 when they were released by a small independent label. Now remastered from the original tapes, they provide a fascinating insight to the band and to their evolution between 1972 and 1974.

It’s perhaps not hard, though, to understand quite why their label weren’t too keen. On Eclipse there are interesting explorations, like the African-leaning Soldier’s Song and the ambient sound experiments and slightly odd sudden gear change to Latin-infused electric rock of Mwenga Sketch, but songs like Holy Roller frankly sound too much like drug-induced blues jams to instil great confidence that they had a clear idea about where they were heading. Fifth Element continues the picture – it contains some great tracks, such as the dreamy Hey Rainy Day and the equally wafting early strains of Beatles-esque Have You Ever – but they don’t stick it to anything long enough to forge a solid identity. There are just occasional glimpses of what could have been.

It’s interesting to speculate on who might have had access and taken influences from this music when it was locked away – the riff for 24 Hour Movie is so close to the feel and tempo of The Eagles’ Life In The Fast Lane that it should raise questions.