Customer Reviews

Mainhorse (Reis)

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This is for the fanatic, if you played this for someone and told them it was a new alternative prog-metal band from Sweden they would believe you. Guitar sounds are a little retro sounding by todays standards. But the keyboards and drums are way ahead of thier time.Patrick Moraz and other members went on to better things, But this primitive monster could have been a big threat with the high energy take on classical-rock they were brewing up here, really worth a listen for the fanatic.....

While it's pretty well known that when two members of The Nice, Brian Davison and Lee Jackson wanted to reform, they knew right away they couldn't get a hold of Keith Emerson, especially since he was doing just fine with ELP. So they found a Swiss-born keyboardist by the name of Patrick Moraz to fill in Emerson's shoes. The band decided to call themselves Refugee, since they figured it couldn't be The Nice without Emerson, and released their one and only album in 1974 on Charisma. Of course Refugee would quickly dissolve, with Moraz replacing Rick Wakeman in Yes, and then later on, filling in Mike Pinder's shoes with the Moody Blues. Prior to Refugee, Moraz was a member of Mainhorse, which also featured Jean Ristori (who was also Swiss, like Moraz) on bass and cello, Peter Lockett on guitars and vocals, and Byrson Graham on drums. Ristori would later play on some of Moraz's solo albums (such as The Story of "i"). Mainhorse released their one and only album in 1971 on Polydor (the album also had an American release on the small budget label called Import Records). While Moraz was well known for using tons of keyboards, here he only uses organ, piano, electric piano, and I presume a VCS-3 synthesizer. The music is rather typical organ-driven prog rock, as you expect from the British scene of the time, so it's a bit lacking in originality. At times they remind me a bit of The Nice, especially in the keyboard department. Many of the songs tend to be energetic like "Introduction" and "Such a Beatiful Day". There is also a ballad called "Passing Years" as well. "Pale Sky" starts off quite similar to "Passing Years" but then the music added on a lengthy solo as well, getting out some unique organ sounds. The second half of the album is pretty much the same, so you know pretty much what to expect. The album ends with the sound of shattering glass, which Moraz did again on the Refugee album and on Yes' Relayer. The Mainhorse album is a historical album, as this was the earliest album Moraz recorded. It falls short of being essential only because it doesn't give you any new surprises for those in to early British prog, but if you like that kind of music, you'll like this album.

Patrick Moraz and company have created some kick-ass hard-rock music, infusing it with jazz, psychedelia, classical, and even a little Mancini-like bossa nova. The instrumental work is layered and intricate, and shows off the virtuosity of keyboardist Moraz, bassist/cellist Jean Ristori, guitarist Peter Lockett, and drummer Bryson Graham.

Mainhorse is actually the second incarnation of a band Moraz formed with Jean Ristori called Integral Aim. Its lead vocalist and co-songwriter, David Kubinec, later renamed it Mainhorse Airline. When Kubinec departed due to health reasons, guitarist Peter Lockett was recruited as lead vocalist...and herein lies the album's only weakness. Lockett's lead guitar work was brilliant, but his vocal contributions were far too mellow to convey the album's theme of heroin addiction. Those of Kubinec's were bold and edgy, and delivered the more effective narration. Had he remained as lead vocalist, Mainhorse could have soared much higher than it did, artistically and commercially.

The earliest recordings of several Mainhorse songs were produced in 1969-70 and could be heard on the The Geneva Tapes. BOTH CDs are fantastic, and both should be included in any music fans CD collection. When comparing them side-by-side, one could only imagine what could have been.

Here is a list of Mainhorse song titles along with their corresponding titles on The Geneva Tapes:

Introduction --- Overture and Beginners
Basia --- Blunt Needles
Such A Beautiful Day --- Directions For Use
God --- God Can Fix Anything