Lar-Las

Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara (CBS 64912, 1972)
Folk/Avant-Garde
Catherine Lara (lead vocals)
Lara’s debut album is as striking and eerie as its textured black-and-white gatefold sleeve, complete with a centrespread of scarlet poppies. Opening with crashing prepared piano, it draws heavily from her classical background and from folk music, creating a beautiful but very desolate sound. On ‘Ab Libitum’ she adds sparse rock band backing and dramatic strings, whilst ‘L’Étranger’ favours church organ and choir, and ‘La Pierre Tombale’ has some scorching fuzz guitar. It all comes together on the album’s best-known track: the epic choral piece ‘Morituri’, which remains one of her defining statements. GRADE: B–.
Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara (CBS 65304, 1972)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Catherine Lara (lead vocals)
Whilst not entirely removed from the style of her first, Lara’s second album ups the rock quotient considerably. The astounding opener ‘Tu Sais Mieux Que Personne’ alternates quietly despairing verses with simple piano accompaniment with choruses featuring squalling acid guitar and pounding drums, finally adding strings and horns before collapsing under its own weight. The other trippier cuts here (‘Mais Qu’y-A-T’il Au Fond De L’Eau?’, ‘Fleur De Sommeil’, ‘Ton Âme Se Lit Sur Ton Voyage’ and ‘Laisse Aller’) maintain the same stellar standard – the latter may just be the best psychedelic folk song ever recorded. A couple of the softer numbers (‘Et Le Printemps’ and ‘Les Années-Poussière’) actually remind me of Nana Mouskouri, but are delicately beautiful nonetheless. Once again, Lara’s classical and avant-garde roots strongly show through, and the album has an over-the-top production style using rock band, prominent Hammond organ, flute, backwards tapes, orchestration, horns and more. This aspect of the disc may annoy some listeners, but for me this is simply the pinnacle of the acid-folk genre, beating every celebrated rarity in the genre hands down. As the crowning glory, it also has one of the most beautiful psychedelic gatefold sleeves I have ever seen. GRADE: A+.
April Orchestra (France): Vol 2 (CBS SPR 84, 1974)
Progressive
‘April Orchestra’ was the generic artist credit for a lengthy series of library music LPs issued by Lara’s then-publisher April Music. ‘Vol. 2’ consists of reworked instrumental segments from both her albums, along with a couple of pieces I don’t recognise. As is typical for the genre, there are no musician credits, so it’s not clear whether Lara participates as a performer as well as a composer. For no obvious reason, nearly all the tracks are retitled, and her arranger and keyboardist Jean Musy receives co-writing credits. GRADE: C+.
April Orchestra (France): Vol 3 (CBS SPR 85, 1974)
Progressive
Like its predecessor, this library music disc features instrumental reworkings of previously released Lara numbers (in this case, mostly from her second album). Once again, it’s not entirely clear whether she actually plays on the LP. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara (CBS 65982, 1974)
Folk/Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
The stark black-and-white sleeve, depicting Lara looking homely in a long peasant skirt, immediately makes clear that her third album proper will be very different from its predecessor. Gone are the fuzz guitars, orchestrations and studio effects, replaced by a much more stripped-down (though still sometimes quite weird) folk sound. Overall this isn’t as good as her first two, including several rather throwaway cuts, but it really hits its stride on side one with three consecutive winners: ‘La Craie Dans L’Encrier’ (a mournful jazzy shuffle that became a mainstay of her live set throughout her career), ‘Les Immortelles’ (a wonderful piece of shimmering acid-folk) and ‘L’Arrière Paysage’ (equally haunting psychedelic folk with a menacing avant-garde introduction). Also notable is the excellent eight-minute instrumental ‘Le Manoir’, which closes the disc – the first time Lara had showcased her classical violin skills on one of her own albums. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Nil (CBS 80788, 1975)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, guitar, violin)
Her fourth album proper sees Lara moving in a more mainstream singer/songwriter direction, and is quite MOR in parts. However, there are strong classical and progressive influences here – this is a concept album, commencing with an orchestrated overture and closing with a violin-led instrumental, and most cuts have tempo changes and notable moments of complexity. Although highly mellow, this is a beautifully crafted album, and remains one of the highpoints of mid-seventies singer/songwriter sounds. GRADE: B–.
April Orchestra (France): Vol 9 (CBS SPR 98, 1975)
Progressive
Unlike Lara’s previous contributions to the ‘April Orchestra’ series, this isn’t entirely devoted to her music: nine cuts are instrumental adaptations of pieces from Nil whilst the remaining five are by other composers. Nonetheless, this is the best of the three, since Nil had an inherently filmic quality that mean its songs work brilliantly without lyrics. There are also some good contributions among the non-Lara pieces, including a couple of cuts with strong fuzz guitar. GRADE: B–.
Catherine Lara (France): Jeux De Société (CBS 81703, 1976)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, guitar, piano, violin)
Jeux De Société crosses the rather sedate style of Nil with the baroque orchestrations of her second album (though not, sadly, the wild psychedelic and experimental edges). The end result is a sumptuous, beautifully crafted LP that many listeners will find too precious. As was her custom at the time, the disc closes with a rather good proggy instrumental. This was the first of several albums on which Lara collaborated with the former Magma guitarist Claude Engel. GRADE: B–.
Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara (CBS 82385, 1977)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine Lara (principal vocals, guitar, violin, viola, cello)
This is Lara’s ‘unplugged’ album, with stripped-down, mainly acoustic, arrangements and the bulk of the instruments played by herself and Claude Engel (who contributes guitar, bass, synthesiser and percussion, and duets on ‘Babylone’). It’s still quite baroque in parts, with the usual classical and progressive touches, but overall this is much more sombre and reflective than her usual work. Whilst it’s a solid album, only the sixty-second acapella opener ‘Vaguement’ stands among her very best compositions. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Coup d’Feel (CBS 83586, with inner, 1979)
Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (principal vocals, guitar, keyboards, bells, violin, clarinet)
Recorded in Canada with a new set of collaborators (although Claude Engel remained), Coup d’Feel marked a complete change of direction for Lara. This is essentially mainstream pop/rock with a bluesy feel to several tracks, although her odd and ornate compositional style remains. The title track, composed by Engel, is even more of a departure: cheesy funk with soul edges, possibly intended to cash in on the success of Véronique Sanson’s similar ‘Bernard’s Song (Il N’est De Nulle Part)’. This gave Lara her first (minor) hit single. Elsewhere, she duets with Kate McGarrigle and Nanette Workman and covers a range of styles and moods; the best cut is the elegant, proggy ‘Éblouis-Moi’. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Geronimo (CBS 84246, with inner, 1980)
Pop/Rock/Progressive
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, piano, percussion, violin)
One of the more obscure albums in Lara’s back catalogue, Geronimo is mostly remembered today for the inner sleeve, which depicts her topless. That’s a shame, as it contains three outstanding cuts: the atmospheric title track, the irresistibly catchy ‘Bateau De Pluie’ and the mainly instrumental closer ‘Visage Pale’, an impressive piece of prog with a rather cinematic feel. Nothing else is of the same standard, but this is a solid pop/rock album throughout. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara (Tréma 310 100, 1981)
Progressive/Folk/Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, guitar, synthesiser, violin, flute)
Lara’s most eccentric album not only straddles genres across songs, but even within them: ‘Johan’ (her first big hit single) fuses Parisienne café folk and space-rock like an imaginary hybrid of Édith Piaf and Jean-Michel Jarre before concluding as a mournful instrumental played on the cymbalon. Elsewhere, ‘Cabine Dans La Nuit’ sounds like Blondie gone prog, ‘Bûcheron’ is based around a bouncy synthesiser line and samples of a man grunting (yet somehow manages to add in bluesy acoustic guitar) while the closing ‘De L’Autre Côté’ marries a reggae beat, doomy melody, slide guitar and choral backing vocals. Most remarkably of all, the album somehow manages to cram eleven tracks into just thirty-one minutes. GRADE: B.
Catherine Lara (France): Révue Et Corrigée (Tréma 310 121, 1982)
Progressive/Pop
Catherine Lara, Annie Girardot, Agatha De, Patricia Gilbert, Florence Davis
Lara ploughed much of her new wealth from ‘Johan’ into an epic stage show named 'Revue Et Corrigée', to which this is the soundtrack album. It was a massive flop, closing after a few nights and costing her a fortune. The LP isn’t brilliant either, covering all kinds of territory from progressive and orchestral instrumentals to light pop, and with fragmentary tracks as short as thirteen seconds. Nonetheless, there are several good pieces here. GRADE: C.
Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara (Tréma 310 133, with inner, 1983)
Pop/Rock/Progressive
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
This is an odd album, featuring seven songs arranged by Jean Musy (who did the same for her first two albums) and three arranged by Jean Roussel (who worked with her on Coup D’Feel and Geronimo). The former are dramatic singer/songwriter and rock fare, with pronounced classical and progressive edges, and are mostly excellent; the opening ‘T’Es Pas Drôle’ (also the album’s hit single) is especially outstanding. The latter are bouncy pop/rock, sounding like cast-offs from her 1981 LP, and nowhere near as good. The result is a schizophrenic and unbalanced album, but the majority of the music is very enjoyable. GRADE: B–.
Catherine Lara (France): La Rockeuse De Diamants (Tréma 310 153, with inner, 1983)
Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
Lara’s first album without any influences from progressive, classical or folk music is also her most slight, with eight songs totalling under thirty minutes. Nonetheless this is a good pop album, and the title track (once again demonstrating Lara’s fondness for terrible puns) gave her a smash hit single. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara En Concert (Tréma 310 171, 1984)
Pop/Rock/Progressive
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
None of the interpretations here match the studio originals (which is broadly typical for a live album) but there is a good cross-section of material. Nearly all of it is taken from Lara’s last two albums, with one previously unreleased instrumental and only three older cuts (inevitably, ‘La Craie Dans L’Encrier’, ‘Coup d’Feel’ and ‘Johan’). She offers a lively set with good musicianship, and the audience sound like they’re having a wonderful time. GRADE: B–.
Catherine Lara (France): Flamenrock/Espionne (Tréma 310 178, 1984)
Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
This is another strong pop/rock set, with the energetic rocker ‘Espionne’ and the symphonic ballad ‘Dom Juane’ providing a powerful double whammy to open. The remainder is pretty varied, with nothing breaking any new ground or demonstrating any progressive tendencies, but the material throughout is lively and catchy, representing a slight step up from La Rockeuse De Diamants. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Au Milieu De Nulle Part (Tréma 710 197, CD, 1985)
Pop
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
After Flamenrock, Lara parted company with Claude Engel and installed Chilean keyboardist Sébastien Santa Maria as her new songwriting and arranging partner. It was not a move for the better. This is dull pop, sometimes listless and sometimes cheesy, with rather symphonic keyboard arrangements and lots of programmed percussion; it sounds very dated today. The album was quickly reissued as Nuit Magique to cash in on the big hit single of the same name. GRADE: C–.
Catherine Lara (France): À Travers Les Autres/Encore Une Fois (Tréma 710 239, CD, 1987)
Pop
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
This is in a similar style to its predecessor, but the standard of songwriting is far lower. In fact, the album is often so sluggardly that one actually begins to wonder whether it was mastered at the wrong speed. Significantly, this was Lara’s first album on which she had not composed the vast bulk of the material, suggesting that she was as uninspired and disinterested as she sounded. The CD version added an extended mix of ‘Encore Une Fois’ just to prolong the agony; a pity it wasn’t ‘À Travers Les Autres’, which is the only half-decent cut.

GRADE: E+.
Catherine Lara (France): Catherine Lara (Tréma 710 250, CD, 1988)
Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (principal vocals, violin)
Although Santa Maria is still co-writing most of the tunes, this is a partial return to form. ‘Rocktambule’ recaptures the swagger and poise of Lara’s early eighties work, whilst ‘S’Envoyer En L’Air’ is an imaginative fusion of heavy rock, soul and jazz, and ‘C’Est Facile À Dire’ has a doomy, almost Depêché Mode feel. The two hit singles (‘Ticket Bleu’ and the African-influenced ‘IEO’) aren’t bad either, but there is some quite poor music here too, especially ‘Passion D’Avril’ on which Santa Maria proves himself an even worse singer than composer or arranger. GRADE: C.
Catherine Lara (France): Lara Live (Tréma 710 273, CD, 1988)
Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
Lara’s second live album focuses on material from the last three albums (plus ‘La Craie Dans L’Encrier’ and no fewer than three cuts from La Rockeuse De Diamants), but the live versions are generally rather pacier than the studio takes. Whilst not a well balanced set, this is generally pretty good. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Lara Live – Olympia 1988 (Tréma, VHS, 1988)
Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
Compared to the Lara Live album from the same year, this has a few extra tracks and presumably features an entire set (though probably taken from more than one show). The full-length performance makes clear the lack of variety in Lara’s material from the era, and a lot of the added soul touches don’t work well with her style. The performance isn’t spectacular visually, but this does look like a good concert to have attended. Overall this is a decent live document of one of the worst periods in her career. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Sand Et Les Romantiques (Tréma 710 355/720 355, double CD, boxed set with large booklet, 1991)
Rock/Progressive
Catherine Lara (principal vocals, violin), Véronique Sanson (occasional vocals), Maurane (occasional vocals), Joniece Jamison (occasional vocals)
Having settled into a pattern of producing comfortable, unchallenging mid-paced pop/rock albums, Lara surprised expectations by issuing this ambitious large-scale rock opera. Whilst it’s patchy, with some notably weak tracks, there is some fine music here and it’s beautifully put together, with excellent arrangements and orchestrations. Despite a plethora of big name guests (Véronique Sanson, Daniel Lavoie, Maurane and others), this avoids most of the pitfalls of the genre and succeeds in being grandiose without being pretentious. Only the first 3000 copies were issued as a lavishly packaged double CD (the second featuring orchestrated versions of selected tracks); the standard edition was a single disc packaged in an unusual printed jewel case. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Maldonne (Tréma 710450, CD, with blue tray, 1993)
Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
This is mostly mid-paced rock – well done, but a bit lacking in excitement – although ‘Flash Black’ is cheesy funky rock and ‘Birdy’ and ‘Requiem Pour Un Amour’ are dramatic orchestrated ballads. Overall this is a slightly odd album, but a perfectly listenable one. GRADE: C.
Catherine Lara (France): Mélomanie (Tréma 710716, CD, with digipak, 1996)
Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals)
The opening ‘Errare Humanum Est’ almost sounds like ‘Morituri’ given a pop/rock makeover, and classical influences return on a number of the cuts. Whilst there are still notable pop tinges, this is somewhat more adventurous than Lara’s other work since the mid-eighties (Sand Et Les Romantiques aside). GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Terre Indigo (Une Musique 191694 2, CD, 1996)
Progressive
Catherine Lara (violin)
This was not Lara’s first film or TV score, but it was the first to receive a full release on album. Musically it ranges from Enya-like piano music to more dramatic classical-influenced pieces, in keeping with the series’ early-to-mid twentieth century setting. The album closes with the title track, sung by Barbara Scaff and Philippe Candelon, which reached number one in the singles chart. Overall this is a charming album containing some lovely moments; with a few longer and more developed tracks, it could have been truly excellent. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): L’Arlésienne (Une Musique 191 788 2, CD, 1997)
Progressive/Classical
Catherine Lara (violin)
Offering another mainly instrumental project, Lara reinterprets Georges Bizet’s score for L’Arlésienne with rock backing. Some projects of this type are dreadful, but despite a few modernistic production touches this is a good one, with some very powerful moments and some virtuosic playing. In fact, it’s her best work for nearly fifteen years. GRADE: B–.
Catherine Lara (France): Aral (Une Musique U 1026 2, CD, with digipak, 1999)
Progressive/World Music/New Age
Catherine Lara (strings)
A logical step forward from L’Arlésienne, Aral was mostly co-written by Deep Forest member Eric Mouquet and blends influences from classical, progressive, world and new age music. Whilst richly arranged and excellently performed, it’s all a bit catchy and trendy, recalling the kind of ‘uplifting’ world music regularly used in TV commercials. Nonetheless, this is a nice album with a beautiful multi-fold digipak. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Passe-Moi L’Ciel (Tréma 982 964 0, CD, with book sleeve, 2005)
Pop/Rock
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, keyboards, violin)
Lara’s first album of songs in nearly ten years isn’t a triumphant return – there is no really outstanding material here – but it’s a listenable enough collection of mid-paced atmospheric ballads. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Graal – Une Légende Musicale De Catherine Lara (BMG 8 2876 66925 2, CD, 2005)
Rock
Jenny Mackay (joint lead vocals), Julie Victor (joint lead vocals), Audrey Lavergne (joint lead vocals), Catherine Lara (violin)
Lara tries her hand at another rock opera, this time not undertaking any of the singing herself. This isn’t as ambitious as Sand Et Les Romantiques, being a straightforward single album featuring song-based material with a more symphonic and Celtic flavour than her usual compositions. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara (France): Au Delà Des Murs (AZ 531 684 4, DVD plus CD, 2009)
Progressive
Catherine Lara (violin)
Another collaboration with Eric Mouquet, this sounds like the follow-up to Aral rather than Passe-Moi L’Ciel or Graal. The music is mostly instrumental (though there are sampled vocals, spoken word passages and a couple of guest appearances) and draws heavily on gypsy and ethnic traditions, with Lara’s violin well to the fore. Overall, this is considerably better than Aral and is Lara’s most interesting recent album. The package contains a live performance of the work (featuring Lara accompanied by a number of dancers in quite an entertaining spectacle) as well as studio recordings of most of the pieces. GRADE: B–.
Catherine Lara (France): Une Voix Pour Ferré (AZ 276 381-2, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2011)
Rock/World Music
Catherine Lara (principal vocals, strings)
This collection of Léo Ferré covers, recorded with backing mixing rock, flamenco and world music, is enjoyable but an odd departure for Lara. Strangely, I could much more easily Catherine Ribeiro, Béatrice Tékielski or even Brigitte Fontaine having cut this, but then Lara’s career in recent years has been so unpredictable that a new album from her could explore just about any genre. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Lara Avec L’Ensemble Sirba Octet (France): Au Coeur De L’Âme Yiddish (Sony Music 88765414122, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2012)
Classical/Folk
Catherine Lara (lead vocals, violin)
As the title suggests, this unusual album sees Lara reinterpreting material from across her career (though mainly seventies and eighties stuff, stretching back to her first album) in a Yiddish style. Actually, I don’t hear all that many Jewish references: it’s essentially elegant chamber music with lots of strings and a very palm court feel. I’m not a fan of artists reinterpreting their back catalogue, and an approach this radical could have proved disastrous, but this is wonderfully done and very firmly places Lara at the heart of the modern chanson tradition. That said, it’s inevitably very sedate and definitely a record one needs to be in the mood for. GRADE: B–.

Catherine Lara (France): Bô – Le Voyage Musical (Warner Music 0190295705213, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2018)
Progressive
Catherine Lara (violin)
Lara’s first album in six years is firmly in the vein of Au Delà Des Murs, offering instrumental music composed to accompany a live dance spectacle. The gypsy elements of that earlier work are mostly absent, with the music here being neoclassical and orchestral. It’s beautifully recorded too, with just enough variety and crescendos in all the right places, and it delivers one big surprise – Didier Malherbe appears on just about every track. GRADE: B–.

Lark Rise Band (UK): Lark Rise Revisited (Talking Elephant TECD124, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2008)
Folk/Rock
Ruth Angell (joint lead vocals, violin, viola, zither), Judy Dunlop (joint lead vocals), Jo Hamilton (occasional vocals, viola)
This isn’t a remake of the Albion Band’s Lark Rise To Candleford, as I had suspected, but a mixture of old and new material put together by Hutchings and various collaborators (including the three other members of the Rainbow Chasers). A very worthwhile accompaniment to the original set, it contains some lovely material. GRADE: C+.
See also Ruth Angell & Sid Peacock, Ashley Hutchings, Rainbow Chasers

Larry & Myra (USA): Eat The Day (The Alien Nation LS-101, 1970)
Folk/Rock
Myra Spatz
This beautiful harmony folk LP has all-original material and well-judged backing – mainly from acoustic guitars but also occasional bass, keyboards, drums, percussion, saxophone, flute, clarinet and harmonica. But lovely as it is, it doesn’t have the freak appeal that the label name suggests (and which is sometimes quoted as the artist name in dealer lists, in order to imply that this has some kind of ‘real people’ or space-rock credentials). GRADE: C+.

Laser Pace (USA): Granfalloon (Takoma R-9021, 1973)
Progressive
Maureen O’ Connor (principal vocals, guitar, keyboards)
This rather odd album offers jazzy progressive rock. It’s song-based for the most part, with fairly short tracks for the genre, but often rambling and diffuse at the same time. ‘Avatar’, for instance, tops off a funky clavinet riff with weird synthesiser effects, clarinet and saxophone soloing, and Maureen O’Connor’s strange voice: high, piercing and yet rather androgynous, her singing would be more appropriate on a soul or heavy metal album. The following number ‘Whoever You Are (You)’ is also somewhat funky, with a definite post-new wave feel recalling early Talking Heads or mid-eighties Martha & The Muffins. Meanwhile, ‘Oh Yeah?’ sounds like Sly & The Family Stone gone avant-garde, whilst the closing instrumental ‘Scatter’ ranges from free jazz-like minimalism to powerful guitar-led rock jamming, reminiscent of King Crimson. The lack of distinctive songs means this isn’t brilliant, but it’s certainly interesting, not least because (unusually for an early seventies prog band, most of which were male-dominated) O’Connor was the driving force, writing and singing the bulk of the material and playing some of the keyboards and all of the guitars. GRADE: C+.

Last Adam (USA): The Last Adam (Salvation Army TLA 7770, with insert, 1980)
Rock/Folk/Progressive
Patt Wadenpfuhl (lead vocals, percusson, flute, flügelhorn)
This is perhaps a marginal case for a B–: not everything works well musically and I find some of the lyrics trite even for a Christian album. But the flurry of drums that opens the powerful ‘Receive It’ make clear that this is not going to be your average Jesus rock LP, and whilst the album never gets that wild again it’s equally effective on the prog-edged AOR numbers and the delicate, beautiful acoustic cuts. Using French horn and flügelhorn as solo instruments adds distinction to their sound and overall they don’t really resemble anyone else: the dealer who sold me the LP, a good two decades back, compared it to Reign Ghost, which is as good a reference point as any though I prefer this. GRADE: B–.

Last Call Of Shiloh (USA): The Last Call Of Shiloh (Last Call SRC-5136, 1972)
Rock
Diane Murray (occasional vocals), Vicki Tsapatoris (occasional vocals, percussion)
Offering loose, amateurish guitar rock with Christian lyrics, this is mostly a good album and peaks on two long songs (‘Great Day Of The Lord’ and ‘Marriage Supper Of The Lamb’) with great guitar leads. Only about half the original pressing of 500 copies came with printed covers; subsequently, some dealers manufactured paste-on versions using photocopies. The reissue on the Greek Anazitisi label adds a large format 16-page booklet packed with fascinating information and memorabilia. The band subsequently mutated into Living Sacrifice. GRADE: C+.
See also Living Sacrifice

Last Days (USA): The Last Days (Crusade Enterprises LP S 487, with inner, 1972)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Rita Browning (joint lead vocals, guitar, piano), Vickie Smith (flute)
This must be about the only top-flight rarity to open with a child singing an excruciating ditty about Jesus, but it quickly improves to offer some lovely mellow folk/rock. Acoustic guitars, bass and flute are the primary instrumentation, but drums are used on most tracks as well as some carefully judged electric leads. ‘Only His Few’, which opens side two, takes an unexpected detour into heavy acid-rock, whilst the closing ‘Daybreak’ adds a nice jazzy edge. GRADE: C+.

Last Flight To Pluto (UK): See You At The End (No label, CDR, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2015)
Progressive
Alice Freya (lead vocals)
Last Flight To Pluto are an odd mass of contradictions. They display clear seventies influences, but this feels thoroughly modern, with a few rap and hip-hop touches thrown in. With plenty of robust riffs, they’re very much a rock band but this is packed with pop hooks and Alice Freya’s girlish vocals are as carefree and featherlight as you can imagine. As such, I can envisage this dividing opinion, though to my ears the music here is pretty good. I just wish I could say the same about the production and mastering, which are some of the worst I’ve heard, presenting the music as an exhausting wall of sound. GRADE: C+.
Last Flight To Pluto (UK): A Drop In The Ocean (White Knight WKCD0319, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2019)
Progressive
Alice Freya (lead vocals)
Last Flight To Pluto’s second album confirms their strong pop credentials, although with constant heavy riffing this once again isn’t lightweight music. It’s considerably more mature than their debut, though, and the move to a ‘real’ label has worked wonders in the sound quality department; the loss of the trip-hop touches also makes this sound less dated. Whilst I still have occasional reservations about Alice Freya’s singing (which threatens to invoke the ghost of Tracy Hitchings), this remains a pleasant, unpretentious album and one of the better discs with Rob Reed’s name in the credits. GRADE: C+.
Last Flight To Pluto (UK): Random Karma, Fate And Destiny (No label, CDR, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2022)
Rock/Progressive
Alice Freya (lead vocals)
The band’s announcement that their third album marked a move towards a lighter and more pop-oriented style seemed ominous, given that they weren’t exactly in Magma or Henry Cow territory in the first place. The good (or relatively good) news is that this doesn’t sound hugely different from their earlier work, offering a procession of melodic, inoffensive symphonic rock songs that I could imagine many people enjoying, though I can’t imagine Last Flight figuring among anyone’s all-time favourite bands. GRADE: C+.

Last Thing On My Mind (UK): Last Thing On My Mind (MJB REV LP 373, with booklet, 1966)
Folk
Lesley Guest (occasional vocals), Marilyn Collins (occasional vocals)
Technically a various artists set, this early venture from the Holyground stable is generally known by its title, as with the follow-up Number Nine Bread Street. Given the era, Bob Dylan unsurprisingly casts a long shadow over proceedings, both in terms of covers of his material and the vocal style of several of the participants. Nonetheless, there are several decent original compositions and a lovely version of ‘Geordie’ sung by Lesley Guest. The album is also notable for including the first original song by Holyground mainman Mike Levon as well as several appearances by Chris Coombs, who would go on to become a stalwart of the label’s projects. GRADE: C+.

Last Void (Costa Rica): State Of Mind (No label, CD, 2010)
Metal/Progressive
Adriana Muñoz (principal vocals)
Bridging the gothic and progressive metal genres, Last Void’s album offers a song-based style with some faintly jazzy riffing. Adriana Muñoz’s gentle, hesitant vocals, occasionally counterpointed by a few death growls, are quite unusual, but for the most part this is a solid rather than truly striking album. GRADE: C+.