Customer Reviews

Green

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

though 'Fish Rising' might be called Steve Hillage's finest solo album, it bears remarkable influence from Gong and contains most of the Gong lineup, relying on their pool of resources to perform that album, with composition ranging back to his days with Khan. this album , however, after finding his footing with 'L' and 'motivation rising' finds Hillage's compositional skill flowering with a consistently balanced performance as well as dynamic and progressively spacey instrumentation throughout on synthesizer and his wonderful and amazing guitar work. all the songs are strong and enhance the total sequence and progression of the music on this cd. this is another landmark in the field of space rock and is practically the blueprint for the career of the contemporary space/psychedelic band Ozric Tentacles. a stratospheric performance.

Green was the 1978 followup to Motivation Radio. This time around, Hillage and Giraudy returned to England (Motivation Radio was recorded in Los Angeles and L was recorded in New York). The original LP was pressed on green vinyl, came with an insert with lyrics to all the songs, a poster with a picture of Hillage himself with that strange symbol on his face, and mountains in the background, and the cover to the album was embossed. 1978 was obviously difficult times for many British bands not willing to hop on the punk bandwagon, but in '78 Hillage managed to stay true to the space rock that he obviously done so well since his days with Gong. What's even more surprising is a good deal of this album has a very strong hippie theme to it (the lyrics dealt with being in spiritual connection with the trees and with nature). "Sea Nature" sounds the most like something off Motivation Radio, reminding me of "Light in the Sky". "Ether Ships" finds Hillage experimenting with delayed guitar. This was the method you heard on Pink Floyd's The Wall (especially "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1") and many of Ozric Tentacles' works (like "Dissolution" off Pungent Effulgent). "Musick of the Trees" is prime example of hippie-oriented lyrics, the subject literally being he's talking to the trees. I especially love those electronic effects near the end. "Unidentified (Flying Being)" is one of those songs dealing with New Age mysticism, of him not wanting his auras messed about. "Leylines Over Glassdom" is another experiment in tape delay, but what's really interesting is none other than Nick Mason of Pink Floyd plays drums here! He also produced the album. It's also interesting to note he produced Gong's Shamal (in which Hillage was credited as a "guest" as he pretty much left the band by that album). "The Glorious Om Riff" is actually just an instrumental version of the theme to "Master Builder" from Gong's You. Ozric Tentacles also happened to play that song live in their early days and it also appeared on their early cassette, Live Ethereal Cereal (1986), which proves how much an impact Green had on the Ozrics. Green might not be the best space rock album out there, but definately you'll want this if you like Gong, solo Hillage, or Ozric Tentacles, for that matter.

Green - Ref. V2098, released 1978.

Steve Hillage, at the time of this album, was one of the last great hippie guitar heroes, and was at the very top of his form. He had been touring with the group he assembled for this album for some time, so they were tight and knit together very well. By 1978, Hillage had lots of solo experience, with three solo albums behind him, and plenty of group experience, (most notably with Gong during their most successful period, 1973-75, composing and playing on the "Radio Gnome" trilogy of albums). He had worked with some of the best producers (Todd Rundgren and Malcolm Cecil), and some great musicians. For Green, his producer was Nick Mason, Pink Floyd's drummer and co-producer, and the quality of his work shines out. The guitars sing, the drumming is punchy, the bass infectious and funky, and the synthesisers are other worldly and spacey. Hillage's vocals are usually not his strong point, but here they are very good, while Miquette Giraudy's add an other worldliness and, it must be said, a nice feminine touch.

Regarding the music, Green is basically a mix of hippie, funky, heavy and spacey rock. It works on different layers, keeping both ears and intellect happy. The first listening gives you a really tight group playing great guitar based hippie rock. Later, you can hear and appreciate the sophisticated bass lines, the imaginative drumming, not to mention the superb and highly distinctive guitar playing from Hillage. After that, well, if you really want to, you can get into the Gong references, the influence of Nick Mason, the almost fugue-like repetition of riffs. But let's not go too far, after all, I'm trying to convince you to buy it and listen to it! Ultimately, this album deserves a listen, and if you .

On to the tracks: SEA NATURE is a fairly conventional rock track, but with fascinating liquid synth noises, a good song. ETHER SHIPS is an instrumental, with a repeating guitar riff that sounds like someone running, a funky bass line, drumming that fills the sound stage, and a wailing guitar solo. MUSICK OF THE TREES is quite relaxing, with a nice flute-like synth as a backdrop to drums, guitar and very interesting bass lines. PALM TREES (LOVE GUITAR) is a love song, with lots of echoed guitar, a cool drum beat, and a bass line that drops in now and then to say hello. UNIDENTIFIED (FLYING BEING) is unashamedly funky, with a bass line to match, wah-wah rhythm guitar and punchy drumming - a really great song. UFO OVER PARIS is an exercise in synthesisers going from low to high (you can test your speaker's responses with this song alone!), while LEYLINES TO GLASSDOM is a very relaxing theme played initially on synthesiser with a rising and falling guitar riff in the background. Eventually a solo guitar takes over the theme, and its worth the wait. CRYSTAL CITY is fairly heavy, with lots of guitar synth effects. ACTIVATION MEDITATION is fairly short, and acts as an intro for the next song. It's hard to describe - the best I can do is to say it's bouncy and synthy. THE GLORIOUS OM RIFF shows Hillage saving the best until last. Its a fairly heavy, intricate song, with an intro that builds throbbing drums on top of bass and a repeating synth riff that refers back to Gong, and yet sounds kind of North African. Soon the guitar zooms in, and takes over the riff, really heavy and powerful. The guitar squeals and sings, the synths seems to swirl around, the bass drum throbs, while the bass backs up the guitar. This is not a song, its an adventure in music! It ends with Hillage's Fender playing plaintive notes, like a whale singing in the sea.

Hillage is first and foremost an electric guitar player, and if interesting and technically excellent guitar playing is what you like, then this is the album for you. The thee of the album is nature. The cover describes the album as "a celebration of time-space travel through nature". The lyrics speak of "the power of nature under the sea" and of "talking to the trees", and Hillage really meant it! A theme of Hillage's music during his entire solo career, he was a great believer in spirituality, especially reflected in nature, the sea, electricity, love, technology, music, etc., etc. If you can just transport yourself back to the mid 70's, to the simplicity and earnestness of hippiedom, to people who really believed in stuff, and try to suspend your disbelief for a bit, then it really is quite attractive. It's a pity there isn't a bit more of that kind of open hearted sincerity and genuineness in modern music. My advice is, buy it and listen to it - you won't be disappointed.

Over 25 years later this still sounds superb. Hillage and his partner Miquette Giraudy were responsible for several excellent albums in the late seventies and for many this is the best.

The musicianship from the Hillage band is exceptional as is the production by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd. By the time of this album, Hillage had evolved away from the early (still excellent) Canterbury sound of "Fish Rising" and incorporated elements of funk and even hints of punk into his electric space-rock. Here, tracks such as "Unidentified (Flying Being)" and "Ether Ships" have moments of pure transcendent energy. Another standout is the full production of rippling synthesizers, glissando guitar and effects on "The Glorious Om Riff", a magical, high energy, re-recording of a classic guitar riff from Hillage's previous band Gong.

All the idiosyncratic trademarks that made Hillage unique are here. Some may find some of the lyrics a bit hard to swallow, but he did have a sense of humour about it all! The unique and brilliant Hillage lead guitar and guitar synthesizer is scattered across "Green", with his playing on the emotional "Palm Trees (Love Guitar)" as good as it gets.

After hearing many or most of his solo albums, this one still stands out for me as his best. It has been almost 25 years or so since it came out, and it's slightly dated in its sound, but it still gives me goosebumps to hear it.

If you like this album, you may also like the rather whimsical album by Gong simply titled "You", which was recorded around the same time (note the Glorious Om Riff on "Green" featured on "You" as well). Although "You" is the third of a trilogy, it stands well by itself, and is my favorite effort of Daevid Allen's version of the Gong gang.

Though Hillage does not seem to be doing solo albums these days, he is hard at work behind the scenes. Check out Orb's album "UFOrb", where he helped produce and contributed guitars, at least for the most important track "Blue Room" (look for the version of this album that includes a second disc with the 40-minute version, or a single of the latter). Or "You Remixed Gong!", a two-disc set of modern remixes of Gong's "You", including one done by Hillage.

More recently, Hillage has been working with an Algerian ex-pat, Rachid Taha, marrying middle-eastern melodies with new age and techno sounds. Hillage produced and contributed guitars to Ole Ole (1996) and Diwan (1998). The former is really starting to grow on me; the latter needs more listening to see.

Steve Hillage plays and sings on this album as if the coming of Utopia depended on blasting the listener's heart wide open. Other reviewers have said plenty about the style of music, to which I can only add that as a guitarist, he seems totally unconcerned with technique; his goal is transparency to the incredibly joyful, optimistic burning spiritual energy he's got to share. He is really a jewel among prog-rock/psych guitarists (and his band here is pretty darn rocking, too). This album is also the epitome of 70s British free-festival type music, so if for example you're a Grateful Dead fan, this will give you a window into the corresponding British scene (totally different in musical form, very similar in underlying ethos).

Green is my absolute favorite Steve Hillage album. It is 70's retro, cleanly produced and packed full of great songs. But most impressively, much like a Pink Floyd album of the 70's it is cleverly joined together as an album weaving into another song. Even the separated songs have that same feel. Great album, can't say that much anymore in this world of one hit wonders. Hillage is in my top five all time overall greatest guitarists. The guy is quite the performer and much like Adrian Belew, he is quite the accomplished producer as well. His style cannot be mistaken with anyone else in his generation and I always like what I hear. If you have his Aura album, Green was produced the same year and is 80% the same with a few songs different, so they were released separately. Both tremendous albums top to bottom.

Originally released in 1978,as 'Green' was Hillage's fourth solo effort.Good thinking man's music,it was produced by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.Tracks I dug the most were "Sea Nature","U.F.O. Over Paris","Crystal City"(check out the Bowie-like vocals)and "The Glorious OM Riff".Noticed that his collaborator and partner in System 7,keyboardist Miquette Giraudy appears on this reissue.Nice progressive/art rock title to check out when you can.Most Gong fans should get something out of it.

Green - Ref. V2098, released 1978.

Steve Hillage, at the time of this album, was one of the last great hippie guitar heroes, and was at the very top of his form. He had been touring with the group he assembled for this album for some time, so they were tight and knit together very well. By 1978, Hillage had lots of solo experience, with three solo albums behind him, and plenty of group experience, (most notably with Gong during their most sucessful period, 1973-75, composing and playing on the "Radio Gnome" trilogy of albums). He had worked with some of the best producers (Todd Rundgren and Malcolm Cecil), and some great musicians. For Green, his producer was Nick Mason, Pink Floyd's drummer and co-producer, and the quality of his work shines out. The guitars sing, the drumming is punchy, the bass infectious and funky, and the synthesisers are other worldly and spacy. Hillage's vocals, normally not his strong point, are good, while Miquette Giraudy's add an other worldliness to the proceedings, and, it must be said, a nice feminine touch.

Regarding the music, Green is basically a mix of hippie, funky, heavy and spacy rock. It works on different layers, keeping both ears and intellect happy. The first listening gives you a really tight group playing great electric guitar based hippie rock. Later, you can hear and appreciate the sophisticated bass lines, the imaginative drumming, not to mention the superb and highly distinctive guitar playing from Hillage. After that, well, if you really want to, you can get into the Gong references, the influence of Nick Mason, the almost fugue-like repetition of riffs. But let's not go too far before you've even bought it! Ultimately, this album deserves a listen, and at the price listed across (at time of writing, 19 Oct 2000, $11.97) this is very good value, and I would certainly advise anyone to go out and buy and listen.

On to the tracks: SEA NATURE is a fairly conventional rock track, but with fascinating liquid synth noises, a good song. ETHER SHIPS is an instrumental, with a repeating guitar riff that sounds like someone running, a funky bass line, drumming that fills the sound stage, and a wailing guitar solo. MUSICK OF THE TREES is quite relaxing, with a nice flute-like synth as a backdrop to drums, guitar and very interesting bass lines. PALM TREES (LOVE GUITAR) is a love song, with lots of echoed guitar, a cool drum beat, and a bass line that drops in now and then to say hello. UNIDENTIFIED (FLYING BEING) is unashamedly funky, with a bass line to match, wah-wah rhythm guitar and punchy drumming - a really great song. UFO OVER PARIS is an exercise in synthesisers going from low to high (you can test your speaker's responses with this song alone!), while LEYLINES TO GLASSDOM is a very relaxing theme played initially on synthesiser with a rising and falling guitar riff in the background. Eventually a solo guitar takes over the theme, and its worth the wait. Crystal City is fairly heavy, with lots of guitar synth effects. ACTIVATION MEDITATION is fairly short, and acts as an intro for the next song. It's hard to describe - the best I can do is to say it's bouncy and synthy. THE GLORIOUS OM RIFF shows Hillage saving the best until last. Its a fairly heavy, intricate song, with an intro that builds throbbing drums on top of bass and a repeating synth riff that refers back to Gong, and yet sounds kind of North African. Soon the guitar zooms in, and takes over the riff, really heavy and powerful. The guitar wails and sings, the synth seems to swirl around, the bass drum throbs, while the bass backs up the guitar. This is not a song, its an adventure in music! It ends with Hillage's Fender playing plaintif notes, like a whale singing in the sea.

Hillage is first and foremost an electric guitar player, and if interesting and technically excellent guitar playing is what you like, then this is the album for you. The theme of the album is nature. The cover describes the album as "a celebration of time-space travel through nature". The lyrics speak of "the power of nature under the sea" and of "talking to the trees", and Hillage really meant it! A theme of Hillage's music during his entire solo career, he was a great believer in spirituality, especially as reflected in nature, the sea, electricity, love, technology, music, etc., etc. If you can just transport yourself back to the mis 70's, to the simplicity of hippiedom, to people who earnestly believed in something, and try to suspend your own disbelief for a bit, then it really is quite attractive. It's a pity there isn't a bit more of that kind of open hearted sincerity in modern music. My advice is, buy it and listen to it - you won't be disappointed.

A simply magnificent album, and quite a comeback for Steve after the lackluster Motivation Radio and the new age-inspired Rainbow Dome Musick. Green's immaculate production (by the Floyd's Nick Mason)is simply perfect for Steve's crystalline guitar/synth textures. Songs like "Sea-Nature" and "The Glorious Om Riff" are some of Steve's hardest-driving space rockers, while "Palm Trees" is a terrific "ballad." Add some superlative electronic-oriented pieces ("Leylines to Glassdom" and "Aktivation Meditation")and what you have is perhaps the Octave Doctor's best album, though Fish Rising and L are also excellent.