Customer Reviews

McDonald & Giles

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only solo project by Macdonald & Giles after leaving King Crimson, this album sounds as fresh & richly melodic & transporting as it did when I first heard it on vinyl. This is progressive rock at its finest: weaving different musical styles together to create something that's truly moving & enchanting, while never mistaking empty bombast for depth. It successfully combines both Beatlesque & jazzy influences with a symphonic approach, succeeding wonderfully. A serious work, it's all the better for its infectious sense of humor & wit.

"Suite in C" begins the musical journey by expressing the innocent exuberance of falling in love with that magical Someone. The sense that nothing in the world can stop this fated pairing just grows & grows, and can't help leaving anyone who's ever experienced the same thing with a warm, wide grin of recognition & delight.

"Flight of the Ibis" is almost ethereal, reminiscent of "I Talk to the Wind" & "Moonchild," a gentle glimpse of hope & promise. If there was a hippie creed, this song expresses it at its best. Naive & sincere as a short poem by William Blake.

"Is She Waiting?" is a gem in its purity & simplicity, a perfect song of longing for a love temporarily far away. Its loneliness is tempered by anticipation for a romantic reunion, making it both melancholy & reassuring. Haven't we all felt this way at some point in our lives?

"Tomorrow's People--The Children of Today" is probably the best single song about the positive aspects of the 1960s to come out of that era, brimming with optimism, looking towards a better future. Marvelous percussion! A pity far more of Michael Giles' work as a composer hasn't been recorded (as with his excellent "Progress" CD), as this is a standout track.

And finally we have "Birdman," a gorgeous, inventive, contemplative masterpiece that never overstays its welcome. The theme of flight, especially on self-made wings, was not unusual in those days (see Duncan Browne's "The Death of Neil," for example); it was the prevailing metaphor of personal & cultural growth, encompassing both escape from the confines of the present world & entry into a higher, more spiritually meaningful world. The English Romantics surely would have approved!

All in all, a superb evocation of its time, while also being timeless in its beauty. Most highly recommended!

When the original line up of King Crimson splintered, the various members went off into a number of projects of their own. Greg Lake formed ELP with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer: Ian McDonald and Michael Giles formed a duo and released their first and last solo album. Later, McDonald would reemerge as a founding member of the hard rock band Foreigner while Giles continued a career as a session drummer (Giles also appeared on the second Crimson album but not as an offical member--it was a favor to help Fripp until he could recruit permanent members).

The resulting album from McDonald and Giles would have, if combined with the second Crim album, created a sucessor that built upon the powerful debut by KC. The best songs on M&G are actually superior to many of the left over and rewritten tracks on In The Wake of Poseidon. Taking these tracks along with Greg Lake's and Peter Sinfield's Lucky Man from ELP would have created an amazing album. As it is, we're left with three fine albums that are less than the sum of the whole they could have created.

This remastered edition is still a powerful album. The sound quality is strong considering all the overdubbing and the age of the tapes. Additionally, the welcome addition of Steve Winwood allows McDonald to focus on reeds, guitar and his wispy vocals. Although not as strong as it could have been (Fripp's Groon and the collaboration Cat Food from Wake would have fit in perfectly here), it's still a fine document of this duo's talent.

Released in 1970, this excellent and mellow album features three ex-King Crimson members including Ian McDonald (guitar, piano, Hammond organ, saxes, flute, clarinet, vocals); drummer Michael Giles; and Peter Giles (bass). In addition to this core, Steve Winwood contributes an organ and piano solo on Turnham Green (Part 1 of the 11'14" Suite in C); Michael Blakesly plays trombone on Tomorrow's People; and subtle string and brass sections are featured here and there.

Musically, this is very nice and loosely played stuff that features a soft mixture of Beatle-esque harmonies, folk, jazz, and early British prog rock. For those of you that are curious, there is very little music on this album that sounds like King Crimson, so this is not in any way "In the Court of the Crimson King Part II". However, there are a few holdovers from the old Crimso' days, including the brooding soundscapes; a little experimentation; the original theme from Cadence and Cascade (In the Wake of Poseidon, 1970) turns up on Flight of the Ibis; and Michael Giles incredible drumming. There is a lot of pretty good (and very spur of the moment) jamming, with great interplay between Michael and Peter. The tracks range in length from the gloomy, acoustic piece "Is she Waiting" (2'36") to the large "Birdman" suite (21'22) and feature some excellent vocals. All of the tracks were written sometime between 1967 and 1970, and are well composed with great dynamic contrasts and wonderful melodies.

The remastering is pretty good and the album features some great sound quality (this is an HDCD) along with a ton of liner notes and photos.

All in all this is a great album of subdued English progressive rock and is very highly recommended.

Like most progressive rock albums, there are several different CD releases of this album. The different releases have varying sound quality. The one I have is a little flat. This newest version is supposed to be pretty good. The CD is 46 minutes long.

This is like a long, lost King Crimson album. Even back when it was first released on LP, it was hard to find. Then came a number of CD releases that were very expensive and were on the market for only a little while.

This album was made after the first King Crimson album, In the Court of The Crimson King and after King Crimson's tour of America. With this album, Ian McDonald quit King Crimson, but the Giles' stayed on. Some of the musical ideas here were originally going to be on the second King Crimson album.

This is a very good album (somewhere between four and five stars). It has a very unique sound. It is like King Crimson, but more melodic and accesible. It is certainly better and fresher than King Crimson's second album, In the Wake of Posieden (which wasn't that bad of an album, but was a partial retread of the first album).

Ian McDonald went on to make a fortune in Foriegner. We then showed up on some progressive rock all-star bands (look for some that were headed by Steve Hackett). He is now in 21st Century Schizoid Band, which features many old King Crimson members. They have a number of albums out.

Don't confuse this album with the earlier works by Fripp, Giles and Giles. That band played goofy songs, in the silly English humour tradition. They sounded like something right out of the Goon Show.

December 1969, somewhere on the road between Los Angeles and San Francisco, Ian McDonald and Michael Giles both decided to quit King Crimson. Robert Fripp, when hearing the news backstage at The Filmore West, offered to leave the band in their place, if they would stay on. Ian and Michael told Robert that Crimson, was more him, than them... {This point would be a matter of disagreement amoung critics and fans alike, for years afterwards.}

It was simply a matter of missing London and their ladies so much, that Ian and Michael, wanted off the USA Tour, and resigned their services to their band. King Crimson, would return home to England and survive this near-death blow, but...This band would NEVER be anything like the 1969 original powerhouse without the talents of Ian and Michael within it's ranks. As the overall sound owed so much to the amazing playing of this 1/2 of the band. Greg Lake was already talking with Keith Emerson about forming a group with him, and he as well would be leaving the good Ship Crimson in March of 1970.

Much of the material here on this wonderful CD: "McDonald and Giles" was written for the second King Crimson record. But, as the first recording: "In The Court Of The Crimson King" was so very dark in tone and was played very heavy, the new tunes were lighter and {dare I say} happy.

"Suite In C" goes through many changes and movements, Ian, plays guitars, keyboards, flutes & saxophones and sings. Michael, is of course featured on drums & percussion and also sings. "Suite" is a moving and pretty tune with a nice flute solo built in right over Michael's crisp drumwork. Steve Winwood, adds some organ & piano and the music builds to wonderful climax and then drifts back down into some strange places. Orchestration is used in the place of the usual mellotron, and brass is employed to jazz up the middle section in proper fashion. This is experimental music for sure, but... it is very different from the way Robert Fripp would experiment with the music of King Crimson from 1970 onwards.

"Flight Of The Ibis" is the original melody for: "Cadence & Cascade", and I tend to enjoy this version more than Crimson's: "Cadence" that would later appear on their second LP. "Is She Waiting?" was of course for the ladies, and it is my favorite track on this disc. It is a pretty and haunting piano ditty, that was written in the summer of 1969 for King Crimson, but, I really cannot picture Greg Lake singing this one, there is no way this tune would have suited his singing style.

Michael's, Big Number is next: "Tommorrow's People" - "The Children Of Today". Again, this is an epic piece of music. "People", fits in well here with Wonderful Flutes and Interesting Time Patterns from The Drums and Percussion, Michael, sings well here, and this is another Highlight from an already, Fine Record.

Side Two has the Epic: "Birdman", that is broken into 6 Parts, this is the most "Spacey" Music on this Record. But, like everything else here, it has a Charm and Style that suits this record rightly. "Birdman", will hold your attention over it's 21 Minute Span, lot's of things happen in this Music, and there is a Majestic Closing Section, that is regared as One of the very best moments of Progressive Rock. I would recommend Headphones for the Best Means of Enjoying this Record.

This is an almost forgotten masterpiece of progressive music. Don't let this amazing record slip past you in 2008.
Four Stars !!!

If you enjoy the "softer" side of the first King Crimson album,
this is an exellent quality extension. All the best of that sound is here,without Mr Fripp's guitar/synth sound and without Greg Lake's vocal stylings. You will not miss them
very much. This disk is musical effort obviously produced
with loving attention by multi-instrumentalist Ian Mcdonald
and drummer Michael Giles.Every ting of the cymbal,every
pluck of the guitar string,every tone of the flutes,sax, ect is
recrorded with depth and precision. Get out your headphones, pour your bottle of whatever--or light your whatever--and enjoy. You cannot go wrong with this one.

I love this album. It is a real gem that many people don't know about.

Mc Donald and Giles were charter members of King Krimson back when Greg Lake of Emerson Lake and Palmer was the lead singer.

It is full of beautiful melodies and lyrics. It is full of the spirit of the 60's era. The mucisianship of Mc Donald and Giles is excellent. The songwriting and execution are excellent.

It may not be for everyone, because some of the songs turn in to jazzy jam sessions. But the jam sessions aren't that long and they always start out of and resolve into a definite melody, a definite song.

If you like the early works of King Krimson or the gentler side of Emerson Lake and Palmer, you should give this album a try.

After the initial dismantling of prog-founders, King Crimson, Ian McDonald and Michael Giles went on to release one of the most argued over albums of the 1970s. Many fans were upset by the departure of these two gentlemen and felt that they should have defused their differences in order to continue with their prior engagements. But however you look at it today, McDonald & Giles is still one of the most underrated albums in the history of music. It also happens to be home to one of my all-time favorite songs, "Flight of the Ibis." Sometimes silly but always remarkable, there is just about everything on this record that a music lover could want. And forget that it sounds like a cross between Pink Floyd and The Beatles with amazing drums; one listen will reveal that this treasure is as timeless as they come.

This has turned out to be one of my favorite albums of all time. It is a shame that it got no promotion when it came out. It is a greater shame that these three guys never followed it up with more music. They are consumate musicians.
The spiritual nature of Birdman is incredible. The entire Birdman piece parallels the stages of a person's life journey. Although they sing of a short timeline in terms of building wings and flying, the music hits upon the concepts of birth, learning, creation, application of one's abilities (our industrious period), followed by retirement (landing) and finally death. Animals follow their lifespans instinctively, and with grace and beauty, they complete their life cycles even unto death. This piece of music is classical for paralleling that animal acceptance of the life cycle, but in a person. The flight "homeward" at the end and the very beautiful ending to this piece (musical "spirit" drifting into eternity)commmunicate that peacefulness, following a period of intense productivity (the flight) which has emerged from the creative juices of the person who "awakens" (finds his enlightenment) within himself for his personal mission. (Franz Litz would be proud!)
What a wonderful creation these musicians have given us. It is much more upbeat in its message than the isolation of ITCOTKC, even though that, too, is a VERY special album. They say that most geniuses make their most significant contributions early in their lives, and both the original King Crimson and Ian McDonald and the Giles brothers did on their first albums. Both albums are timeless and "classical" rock music. They are as good today as they were when they were created, and will never "age" musically. Enjoy and be grateful to have them in your life.

This is a pleasantly-produced, interesting sidelight to early KK. If you like their first album or even Lizard, you will find much here to enjoy. Mild prog/folk/jazz harmonic progressions, copious use of woodwind instrumentation, a precise and unique drum tone, a very well-produced sound (especially for its time), this album to me sounds like a missing link between the first KK album, early Ian Matthews, and Pink Floyd's Meddle. Pace picks up only slightly for "Tomorrow's People," a cosmic yet pastoral ode that is an album highlight. I have a feeling this one is going to grow on me....