Customer Reviews

War Dance (Mlps)

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

 

 

An outstanding release, "War dance" teams founding Colosseum drummer Jon Hiesman with legendary guitarist Gary Moore and keyboard ace Don Airey. This band blew away the best fusion bands of the era and rocked our socks off in the process.

Good rock guitar and keyboards all instrumental but one vocal track probably to rest them after a battery of super jam instrumentals. Not for the lighthearted.

This 1977 album of proggy jazz rock is a bit unusual in that War Dance incorporates elements of hard rock. In large part, the searing leads on the electric guitar courtesy of Gary Moore are primarily responsible for the hard rock aspects. Although other jazz rock guitarists had a heavy sound (John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola), Gary really seemed to be in tune with hard rock; come to think of it, Gary did enjoy a brief stint with Thin Lizzy in the early 1970s.

The lineup on War Dance, which was the last album by Colosseum II, includes bandleader and virtuoso Jon Hiseman (drums and percussion), Gary Moore (electric and acoustic guitars, vocal), Don Airey (Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano, ARP Odyssey, ARP Solina string synthesizer, mini-moog, Hammond organ, clavinet and percussion) and John Mole (bass guitar). These guys are simply fantastic players although I really need to single Jon Hiseman out - his drumming is mindblowing. I also like Gary's playing and his lightning fast scalar runs on the electric are really exciting (he favors a distorted tone, although he uses a clean tone too). Gary also wrote a good deal of the music on the album, although my favorite tracks were written by Don. Speaking of which, Don adds a lot to the music and his use of banks of synthesizers lends the music a fairly prog-rock feel.

Musically, this album is closer to the prog rock end of the spectrum although this album neatly fits under the jazz rock umbrella. War Dance is largely instrumental and boasts virtuoso soloing over an ostinato (usually played on the bass or doubled with another instrument), intricate ensemble work, odd time signatures (for example, there is a nice passage in 5/4 on the title track written by Don Airey) and breakneck tempos. Although maybe a little too much emphasis is placed on rapid-fire riffs, they manage to break things up with decent use of dynamic contrasts and loads of nice synthesizer tone colors. The most rocking tune on the album is Gary's Fighting Talk, which is a rowdy piece played in standard time (4/4). There is even a tiny smidge of Brand X-like funkiness in there too. Melodies are also used to a degree that was unusual for jazz rock bands and they work well. Although I generally enjoyed the album, the only weak track for me was the vocal track Castles, which is a bit dated sounding. In contrast with the positively blazing instrumental tracks, this (essentially) R&B-ish track did not fit in very well.

This reissue by One Way records is pretty skimpy and seems to be commanding very high prices. Fortunately, I was able to find a copy on this website for under five dollars. The sound quality is good and the liner notes list musicians only.

All in all, I found War Dance to be more or less comparable to other Colosseum II records I have heard and consider it a worthwhile addition to the progressive rock/jazz rock collection. Before I forget, most folks seem to like the debut (Strange New Flesh, 1976) which has a lot more in the way of vocal tracks.

This album will knock your socks off!if you are a fan of jazz fusion or great musicianship this will not dissapoint.jon hiseman is the britsh billy cobham.gary moore is at his best on this and the other colosseum 2 albums as well.bands like this dont exsist anymore.too bad because if they did they would blow people away.THE ENFORCER.

Here is Gary Moore at his peak of career, expecially when He can perform a mini-suite like "STAR MAIDEN/MYSTERIOSO/QUASAR" by playing both acoustic and electric guitars, with a great skill, a certain creativity and originality as well. But also when He performs such a typical fusion, rock standard, He shows an aggressive and influential impact on the british guitarists, without forgetting the influence of the early Colosseum works, completely diverse!! A great fusion prog intro at the keyboards by Don Airey in the excellent title track, another memorable track("Inquisition") and other fine stuff as well!!
Recommended also to the fans of fusion prog...

In regards to the review by the guy who says Colosseum II wasn't a fusion band. Well they were but more like a half fusion half heavy progressive rock band, but the fusion or jazz spectrum comes out mostly in Hiseman's blazing drumming and the keyboard meanderings. So this in fact makes the music a bit more fusionesque, if you will. Gary Moore could be a funky guitar player but he could also lay down the more hard rock oriented sound . Due more to the aggressive nature of his playing. The easiest thing to do is pigeonhole Colosseum II as "jazz-rock" maybe the most ambitious and aggressive form of jazz rock ever to surface ("Winds" from Strange New Flesh). Not quite jazz but something jazzy and extreme. Fusion sounds better. This album was their last statement and I guess you could say,It is a winner.

This group was formed in 1975 by drummer Jon Hiseman after the break up of Tempest in early 1974. They released only three albums before calling it quits in 1978. The group was originally a quintet consisting of band leader Jon Hiseman (drums), Don Airey (keyboards), Gary Moore (guitar), plus singer Mike Starr and bass player Neil Murray who both left the group after the recording of their 1975 debut album "Strange New Flesh". On bass, new member John Mole was recruited, while Starr was not replaced leaving the vocal spot to guitarist Moore.
This line-up proceeded to record the second album "Electric Savage" released in early 1977 while later in the year the band released their last album "War Dance".

It's an awesome album to say the least. Highlights include "The Inquisition" where Airey and Moore show great interaction throughout and in the middle Moore pulls out the acoustic guitar playing some flamenco inspired runs!
"Last Exit" closes the album with a scorching solo by guitarist Moore. Also of note is the sci-fi multi-part epic "Star Maiden/Mysterioso/Quasar" where you'll hear a cool bass solo from Mole in the first part which he also wrote. Definitely one of the best songs on the album! Then there's the lone vocal song featuring great singing from Gary Moore in the pleasant R&B sounding ballad "Castles". Track number two "Major Keys" (Moore/Mole) is a good funky workout that could have been an outtake from Jeff Beck's "Blow By Blow" album!
The weakest spot I would say it's the song "Fighting Talk". A cool riff and melodies are featured in the beginning but the jam in the middle seems to drag a little. However, even this song is well worth hearing!

This album is a great listening experience! So if you like jazz-fusion, you ought to add this masterpiece to your collection as soon as possible!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Later...

This is third and last of the Colosseum II albums. It is certainly better than the second, Electric Savage, but not as good as the first, Strange New Flesh.

This is jazz fusion from a quartet of capable to excellent musicians. The group founder, Jon Hiseman is a very good, energetic jazz drummer, on par with Bill Buford and almost an equal of Billy Cobham. Hiseman had a long career of playing blues, and progressive rock with John Mayall and the original Colosseum. John Airey is a good keyboardist who gets in some excellent solos. The real star is Gary Moore and his flaming guitar style.

The problem with this album is the compositions. The tracks start with a theme, that is repeated several times. Then a new riff is done that is repeated several more times. Then they go back to the opening theme. In the middle, there will be a short solo, and the track will finish with the repeated themes. It is like a 2 minute track is stretched out to 5 minutes. In spite of the excellent solos, or the driving drumming or the searing guitar work, it is all tedious and boring. The fourth track is the only vocal track on the CD and is by far the worst vocal track Colosseum has ever done.

The CD does pick up in the second half. Although some of the later tracks don't start out great, they move into some really great, energetic playing.

With a CD burner and some editing software, this CD could be cut down from 40 minutes to 20 minutes of really inspired playing.

Forget what you may have read elsewhere: Colosseum II was *not* a 'fusion' band, but instead an extremely hard instrumental rock band which occasionally veered into progressive (please, not 'prog') territory.

Although many listeners find Gary Moore the top card in the band's hand, I think this is superfical: the real driving force is Hiseman's propulsive drumming - powerful, crisp, subtle and confident. Gary Moore is playing here with musicians here of a far higher calibre than those he was used to in more mainstream rock bands such as Thin Lizzy, and he raises his game accordingly, playing with a discipline and driving creativity I'd not heard from him before.

Don Airey - apparently responsible for helping bring Moore up to speed with chords/modes/scales etc - is a fine match for the guitarist, matching his solos with excellent synth lines of his own...as well as colouful supportive layers on organ and pianos. And John Mole's bass playing is inventive and fluid.

Stand-out track? Maybe 'The inquisition'. The reviewer above is right - this is rather repetitive, but it's also a great exercise in controlled dynamics and ensemble power: if you want to let someone know how a *real* band plays, this is a great demo track.

'Electric Savage' (stupid name, stupid cover art) is probably a stronger album compositionally, but buy both: the tunes and performances are leagues apart from the bulk of dull orthodox rock bands - including those with far more famous names than Colosseum II.