Gerard - Gerard (1983) [2008, Altovoz, ALT-20]

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Gerard - Gerard (1983) [2008, Altovoz, ALT-20]

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The japanese progressive rock scene tends to be one of strongest and surely one of my favourites prog rock movements with a personal bombastic sound.From what I've listened to (Ars Nova,Midas,Outer Limits,Kenso etc.), I'm totally blown out.GERARD must be considered one of the most consistent bands from Japan.Formed in early 80's by keyboardist Toshio Egawa,GERARD have a long and succesful career that lasts over 20 years.Egawa is a veteran of japanese prog rock,being formerly a member of great bands like Schezerade,Fromage and most importantly Novela,maybe the band who established the nowadays japanese symphonic style of rock.After his departure from Novela,Egawa formed GERARD without denying his former ''symphonic'' past.After several gigs,the band released their first eponymous debut in 1984.

This album is another example of great japanese prog rock created by mature musicians.The ELP influence is quite obvious through the grandiose and bombastic style of the keyboards of Egawa.Things do not stop here.There is an evident hard-rocking sound mostly created by the guitars,as well as some neo prog touches here and there.The ''Meridian'' intro sets the listener into the general atmosphere of the album with its symphonic/bombastic/melodic sound.The ''Orpheus'' suite is a decent example of a symphonic rock opus,with superb classical influenced piano,keyboards and vocals,a track very much in the vein of early ARENA.''Incantation'' is my favourite track.A 9 min. mini epic with beautiful melodic symph keyboards haunting it,followed later by equally melodic guitars.An emotional stunner!''Lasting memory'' is another ELP influenced without much variety,it's like a ballad-like suite with alternating keys and vocals.''Revenge'' is the first track where the hard rock influences of the band are in first place with the strong guitar start and the solos that come later,accompanied by bombastic synthesizers of Egawa.''Melting time'' is another mini-epic that has a slow start mainly covered with the voice of Yukihiro Fujimura,but later it changes to a mind-blowing over-complex organ/keyboards/guitars interplay.Great track!''Visionary dream'' should be considered as the ballad of the album without lacking in grandiosity or classical influences.The closer of the album is the most neo-proggish track of all,with AOR-ish synthesizers,rhythm,guitar solos and vocal melodies,it is quite enjoyable but has a lot of weaknesses compared to the other tracks…

GERARD's debut is a fine effort of symphonic progressive rock in the vein of ELP,mostly keyboard- driven (amazing work by Egawa in this section),lots of strong moments and great melodies…Don't let the neo-prog label prevent you from buying this album…This is pure grandiose quantitive symphonic prog!

Review by psarros

Gerard Biography

In the Eighties NOVELA was a pivotal Japanese band that gradually turned from heavy progressive into hardrock. Their keyboardist Toshio Egawa left NOVELA to start his own band with a bunch of musicians from which guitarist/vocalist Yukihiro Fujimura was the most important. The first two albums "Gerard" ('84) and "Empty Lie, Empty Dream" ('85) are masterpieces with Toshio Egawa (his mother was a piano teacher) as the Japanese answer to the great keyboardplayers from the UK: he has the androgyn looks from Eddie Jobson, the elegant virtuosity from Rick WAKEMAN and the bombastic approach from Keith EMERSON. An attempt to a description is "a harder-edged mid-GENESIS". Their third LP "Irony of Fate" ('91) was a good effort to create a more original sound but sound less symphonic. That's probalby why GERARD's next album "Save Knight by the Knight" and the mini-CD "Evidence of True Love" (both '94) were presented as Toshio Egawa's GERARD. It contains strong and impressive synthesizerplay but the songs are a bit too predictable. In '96 Toshio Egawa's GERARD returned in the world of progrock with new musicians: Atsushi Hasegawa (bass), Masuhiro Goto (drums) and the hugh Canadian singer Robin G. Suchy. Their strong and compelling album "The Pendulum" ('96) is still highly acclaimed and their next album "Pandora's Box" ('97) is also OK. Then the singer left and down to a trio GERARD released "Meridian" ('98), "Live at Marseille" ('98) with the BANCO cover "La conquista della posizione erretta", "The Ruins of a Glass Fortress" (2000) and "Sighs of the Water" (2002).

The albums "Gerard" and "Empty Lie, Empty Dream" contain all the elements that makes progrock worth listening: good vocals, beautiful keyboards (soft piano, heavy organ, sumptuous Mellotron or flashing synthesizer runs), moving and biting guitar play, a strong and tight rhythm-section, spectacular breaks and alternating compositions with a lot of tension and variation. The longer tracks contain a captivating building up, culminating in moving interplay between guitar and keyboards. The new line-up in '96 impressed with a dazzling rhythm-section as a foundation for the splendid keyboard pyrotechnics by Toshi Egawa, especially when GERARD became a trio after the singer left. The magnificent CD "Meridian" was a special edition with old songs in new versions, loaded with spectacular Eddie Jobson-like synthesizerplay, often so sharp that it sounds like a biting guitar! Altough "Live in Marseille" is great with exciting and spectacular music GERARD gives the impression to run gradually out of ideas, the music sounds less captivating and less creative on "The Ruins of a Glass Fortress" and "Sighs of Water". They need some fresh blood, for example a singer or a guitarplayer, like in the first line-up.

~ progarchives

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Gerard - Gerard (1983) [2008, Altovoz, ALT-20]

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Gerard - Gerard (1983) [2008, Altovoz, ALT-20]

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