Customer Reviews

Those Who Are About to Die Salute You

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

 

 

Featuring some of the best, road-honed musicians from the UK's mid/late 60's R&B scene, Colosseum's first release is one of the most interesting & exciting albums of its era. Why? Well first off it's underpinned throughout by some quite superb playing, including Dick Heckstall-Smith's wonderfully gutsy, brilliantly executed sax breaks, and a series of strong, unforgettable melodies that, on their own, make it a stand-out record. But what elevates it into a different league is the way it takes "standard" British Blues and shakes it up into something very different by incorporating large elements of modern jazz and the emerging progressive rock scene into the formula. Sure there are moments of self-indulgence, in particular on "Beware the Ides of March", but even these somehow fail to intrude on the incredibly powerful drive that just keeps pushing everything along. And on the way this self-evidently enthusiastic, highly ingenious and unfortunately short-lived combination deliver some quite stunning numbers, including the magnificent "Debut", "Walking in the Park", "Plenty Hard Luck", "Backwater Blues" and "The Road She Walked Before".

Brilliant and timeless "Those Who Are About to Die.." is a marvellous example of jazz-rock crashing head-on into the blues to produce an album that remains as effective and enjoyable today as it was all those years ago.

Colosseum was one of the truly unique supergroups of its time as all or most of its members had legitamately played on the jazz/blues scene since the early sixties. Drummer Jon Hiseman and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith had spent time with Graham Bond and later with John Mayall, along with bassist Tony Reeves. Dick had also played with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. As a result, each musician had the improvisational skill and discipline that those fields demanded, which often resulted in tightly arranged musical excursions. Unlike many of their contemporaries, every note that Colosseum played mattered. Each jam was not only well thought out and executed, but had soul and emotion to match. This album was a brilliant starting point for the band. "Debut" is a great loose jam that features solos by Dick and Dave Greenslade on organ. The sax solos especially have great drama, starting out simple, then getting more complex and then building to a cresendo, at which point sounding like there are three sax players all blending together! "Beware The Ides Of March" is arguably the standout track on the album. It is based on the same Bach chord sequence on which Procol Harum based "A Whiter Shade of Pale", but Colosseum ups the ante by taking the idea beyond a simple commercial context. Dick again plays the guide melody on sax, while Dave Greenslade plays an absolutely haunting organ track in the middle section, which in my opinon exemplifies classical/rock fusion better than anything that Keith Emerson ever did with ELP (much as I do love Keith Emerson's work, I have to be honest here!). This song too starts out calm, then builds up to a climax, then returns to the original idea before reaching its truimphent conclusion. "Mandarin" gives Tony Reeves a chance to stretch out with a bass solo, while "Walking in The Park", a track they borrowed from Graham Bond, is a great, almost big band sounding song as the brass section has a driving force that dictates the song's every move. Meanwhile, James Litherland's guitar work provides some chaos to the order during the middle section of "Park" with some effects that makes you wonder "how'd he get those sounds to come out of there?". This album and Valentyne Suite taken together represent Colosseum's finest hour. If you're a fan of Valentyne Suite, then you'll want this album too. Fans of sixties British blues or progressive rock are also strongly advised to give this album a listen.

Colosseum was one of the truly unique supergroups of its time as all or most of its members had legitamately played on the jazz/blues scene since the early sixties. Drummer Jon Hiseman and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith had spent time with Graham Bond and later with John Mayall, along with bassist Tony Reeves. Dick had also played with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. As a result, each musician had the improvisational skill and discipline that those fields demanded, which often resulted in tightly arranged musical excursions. Unlike many of their contemporaries, every note that Colosseum played mattered. Each jam was not only well thought out and executed, but had soul and emotion to match. This album was a brilliant starting point for the band. "Debut" is a great loose jam that features solos by Dick and Dave Greenslade on organ. The sax solos especially have great drama, starting out simple, then getting more complex and then building to a cresendo, at which point sounding like there are three sax players all blending together! "Beware The Ides Of March" is arguably the standout track on the album. It is based on the same Bach chord sequence on which Procol Harum based "A Whiter Shade of Pale", but Colosseum ups the ante by taking the idea beyond a simple commercial context. Dick again plays the guide melody on sax, while Dave Greenslade plays an absolutely haunting organ track in the middle section, which in my opinon exemplifies classical/rock fusion better than anything that Keith Emerson ever did with ELP (much as I do love Keith Emerson's work, I have to be honest here!). This song too starts out calm, then builds up to a climax, then returns to the original idea before reaching its truimphent conclusion. "Mandarin" gives Tony Reeves a chance to stretch out with a bass solo, while "Walking in The Park", a track they borrowed from Graham Bond, is a great almost big band sounding song as the brass section has a driving force that dictates the song's every move. Meanwhile, James Litherland's guitar work provides some chaos to the order during the middle section of "Park" with some effects that makes you wonder "how'd he get those sounds to come out of there?". This album and Valentyne Suite taken together represent Colosseum's finest hour. If you're a fan of Valentyne Suite, then you'll want this album too. Fans of sixties British blues or progressive rock are also strongly advised to give this album a listen.

This is Colosseum's first album. When originally released in the US, it had a different cover.

I would give this 4 stars, but am giving it 3 stars because of questions about the sound quality.

There have been many CD versions of this album. To be honest, I haven't heard this one, but I would be cautious. Many original CD releases had poor sound quality. There are now "remastered" versions of this CD, making me think that this version has poor quality. If you are buying MP3's you might not care as much about the sound quality. This is the only version that does offer MP3 downloads. Note that the "Remastered" version also has some bonus tracks (although I don't think bonus tracks are that good).

This album is like the first album of many groups, a little bit raw and a little bit unfocused.

Colosseum was blues oriented progressive rock band. This album is more blues oriented than later Colosseum albums. There are some very good tracks on this album.

The thing I like about this album better than later albums is the vocals. Colosseum was only around for 3 years, but released 5 albums and had personnel changes. The vocals were originally done by guitarist James Litherland. We wasn't a great vocalist, but he was adequate. When he left the group, he was replaced by Chris Farlowe who vocal stylings were bombastic and over the top. I found it irritating at times.

I don't know about the comment that they were "underrated". Who underrated them? I have never seen a bad review of them. All reviews talk about what great musicians were in the band. Now, the band might have been unknown by many, but they were "underrated".

Colosseum's second was released as Valentyne's Suite in the UK. In the US, the same cover was used, but the title was changed to the "Grass is Greener" and some of the songs were changed (Valentynes Suite was not included).

The group disbanded. The drummer formed a British progressive jazz band, that ended up being named Colosseum II. The Colosseum group that was on the last Colosseum album (not Colosseum II) reunited in the 1990's for concerts. There are some CD's and a DVD of that reunion.

This is Colosseum's first album. It had a different cover when released in the US.

There have been many CD versions of this album (as is typical for UK progressive rock bands). This is a remastered version with bonus tracks. The original album was 8 tracks and just at 40 minutes long. With bonus tracks, this CD is 63 minutes. There is another version with bonus tracks, that lists two extra bonus tracks (for a total of 16).

I don't think the bonus tracks make this worth buying if you already have another version of this. The only bonus track of value is "I Can't Live Without You", which is a good addition to the CD. It is a rocking blues tune in line with the rest the CD. I think that the rest of the tracks acutally bring down the level of this CD. Two tracks are just other versions of "Beware the Ides of March". One of them is called "Whiter Shade of Mayall". These 3 tracks are instrumental versions of Procol Harem's "Whiter Shade of Pale". It is probably the worst piece on the CD and you get it 3 times. There are two live versions of "Walking in the Park" taken from BBC shows. They have the annoying BBC DJ introduction and they are shortened "single" versions of the song.

By law, only so much of BBC radio content can be prerecorded (probably pushed the radio performer unions). So, there are many, many archival BBC live performances. Some of them are quick run throughs of "hits" to sell an album (as is the case here). The group Caravan did it right. They created an album of unique BBC performances and edited out the BBC announcers.

The sound quality of the remaster is good, but it is a little thin and on the high end.

The CD comes with a booklet describing the history of the band and musicians up to the point of this album. However, it is almost impossible to figure out who is actually playing on this album.

Colosseum was a blues/jazz oriented progressive rock band. This album is more blues oriented than later albums. Also, like many band's first albums, this one is a little unfocused. But, it does have some very good tracks on it and none of them are bad.

The thing I like most about this CD is that vocalist Chris Farlowe had not yet joined the band. I was never a fan of his over the top vocal style. James Litherland who plays guitar on this album and is the lead vocalist is not a great singer. His vocals are a little subdued in parts. However, he isn't bombastic like Farlowe.

Colosseum was around for 3 years. It was started by session players. Some of the members played with John Mayall (as did Eric Clapton and the original members of Fleetwood Mac). The drummer, saxophonist and keyboard player were in the band from the begining. The bass player and guitarist changed after about a year and 2 albums. The group broke apart. The drummer formed a British progressive jazz band called Colosseum II. The last version of Colosseum reunited and played concerts in the 1990's.

Colosseum's second album was entitled "Valentyne Suite". It was released in the US with the same cover, but a different title "The Grass is Always Greener" and with some different tracks.

a blues based band locked into some progressive rock nuances. i am not a big blues fan, so i can't give this band all the praise that they may deserve. but this is pretty good collection of songs. "Valentyne Suite" would be the starting place for this band. Colosseum is for those who like a bit of unusual spice added to their blues plate. if that is your thing, then buy these Colosseum records and dig deep. enjoy!