Customer Reviews

Elysian Encounter

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Elysian Encounter explores alot of musical bounderies. It is explosive,booming,syncopated,rythmic and dynamic. Thanks in big part to Ginger Bakers fine drumming. You could also describe this music as Inspired,expressive,harmonious and lively. Thanks to some very interesting arrangements from the Gurvitz brothers.
1. Ginger pulls out all the stops with regard to his drumming.
Mr.Ginger Baker is also a Master at tuning his drums.He tunes them very open and melodic {especially his tom toms}.
2. Guitar work is top notch.
3. An enjoyable mix of various music styles are featured.
4. Great musical concept and well thought out by the entire band.
5. Good job with the vocals !!
6. Excellent futuristic album cover art work. Way ahead of its time. My admiration to the unknown artist who created it !!

Song descriptions:
"People"- Powerful drums. A virtual non stop drum solo that Ginger incorporates within the structure of the song. A frenetic ear splitting guitar solo by Adrian Gurvitz {done with taste}
Dynamic ending with full orchestrated keyboard parts. This is a furiously fast syncopated Rocker !!
"The Key"- Ginger lays back a little on this one. His approach is light and crisp. Soulful blues rock lead vocal {so grateful for the woman in his life}. Bass playing is superb.
"Time"- Drum intro featured. Southern Rock flair going on with this one. Intricate Bass and guitar riffs.Nice guitar playing throughout. Voacl harmonys are wonderful.
"Gambler"- Vocals are the centerpiece. Great stereo seperation is accomplished between the lead and harmony vocals. Keyboards are blended in as well. Also, a slide guitar solo.
"The Dream"- Another Southern Rock feel happening. Due in part to the country rock style of guitar picking. Drumming is in the fore front with some creative interplay between the snare and tom toms.
"Remember"- A moving ballad that tends to build to an expressive climax, thanks to the keyboards. Features Gingers trademark steady 4 beat on the hi-hat.
"The Artist"- Ginger Baker gives us his tasteful use of the soft mallets during the verses {very cool} !! Strange interlude and interplay with all the instruments during the middle portion of the song. Nice lead guitar solo.
"The Hustler"- Up tempo Funk Rock feel with some blues rock vocals thrown in. Various counter melodys are precise and articulate which adds to the excitement. The song grows louder towards the ending with some awesome Ginger Baker drum fills.
The album "Elysian Encounter" is a real winner !!

Some Ginger Baker trivia: Ginger Baker, for a time lived in Italy's Tuscany region wher he built a successful olive farming business. He was inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame in 1993 along with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce for his role as a member of Cream.
Finally, at 65 yrs. of age Mr.Baker still manages to capture our attention with his driving "yet" flowing drum technique.
The definition of Elysian is: Devine-inspired-paradise-causing happiness.

This record is awesome. After the demise of Blind Faith, Ginger Baker hooked up with the Gurvitz twins to form Baker Gurvitz army. Let me tell you, if you like Cream, you will love this record. It will remind you of Cream in some ways, but Baker Gurvitz Army is definitely a unique band of its own. Actually it will remind you more of Rush than Cream. Placing a little less stress on solos and riffs, Gurvitz puts more emphasis in his playing on chords and textures than Clapton ever did, thus giving the record an entirely different feel. As for Ginger Baker, you can tell as time passed on his drum playing became more creative and intricate and a fan of his in the days of Cream will be impressed hearing his evolution as a drummer. All of this talent, including a strong and melodic singer, makes for a great band. There is not one bad song on this record. Nor do any of the songs on the record fall into a trap of mediocrity or commonality. Every song is dynamic and different. The record ranges from strong percussive tracks like "People" to the beautiful "Dreamer". Take a gamble and buy this record, one of rocks true hidden gems.

This is simply a class A rock and roll album. Ginger Baaker formed a band with two guys names Adrian and Paul Gurvitz, who were in a power trio called Gun. Check out Gun/Gunsight.

Straight ahead enough, but with Baaker's athletic African-influenced drumming, great guitar work and writing and vocals, plus a complete lack of showboating, this is really a straight rock dream formula: not the head and ten minute jam some power trios tended to fall into.

Get this. You won't regret it.

This is a great LP. The first 3 tunes are as good as any rock songs I've heard and I have a pretty large collection. "People" is fantastic and uplifting, a nice guitar riff that cuts a wicked groove, and Baker's non stop propulsive drumming. The theme of the song "Now is the time...to let it out of yourself...people like you, people like me, people like you and me, should be together" and as uninteresting as that may sound, the music has such power and the lines are sung with such conviction that it is very moving. A masterful finish, especially as the keyboards start to kick in. Nice rhythmic changes in the middle.

"You're the Key" is a nice bluesy rocker that really establishes a nice long groove while the band repeats "Heaven knows how I found you, Heaven knows what it is". Great smooth funky bass line holds it together. Adrian gets a nice slide sounding guitar intro and outro figure going.

"Time Around" - what I like is the way they twist the words around in this to get their meaning accross. The melody is almost a country-like piece, but they completely transform it into a funky blues type thing. "Living in the street...going in a side door...it weren't my time around yet"

The rest of the stuff on the LP is pretty good, but these tracks really shine. My one criticism might be that Adrian Gurvitz seems more interested in playing with alot of speed. I would have liked to hear a bit more melody and hooks, but he can really fly.

I wouldn't pay $30 for this, but if you find it used or on vinyl somewhere I'd grab it. Again, the first 3 tunes are excellent and you'll want to hear them again and again.

Side One
1. People
2. Key
3. Time
4. Gambler
Side Two
5. Dreamer
6. Remember
7. Artists
8. Hustler

THIS ALBUM IS ROCK AND ROLL AT ITS BEST CANT GO WRONG WITH ANY CUT ON THIS DISC REMEMBER IS ONE SONG YOU WILL NOT FORGET HANG ON TO YOUR HAIR AND CRANK IT UP ONLY WAY TO GO GOOOOO AND GET IT NOW