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Artist: Gravy Train
Label: Sanctuary
Length: 25 tracks / 2 hours, 6 mins
Gravy Train shared stages with a host of big '70s names, including Genesis and Roxy Music. They once returned to the stage to finish a gig after main act ELP got booed off, but they remained just a well-kept secret.
This set collects their two Dawn label albums and, though inconsistent in places, it features some real treasure.
The first disc – their third album Second Birth showcases the band's potential, especially in the ballads. It is mainly let down by occasional dated twin guitar-and-flute arpeggios and a production that the band themselves fought against.
The treasure lies in the second disc - essentially the excellent 1974 Staircase To the Day album. From the moment that the spacey synth introduction flutters into the speakers to launch the single “Starlight Starbright,” you can see the band's promise fulfilled.
The album mixes a range of material, all finely played, superbly produced and with some unforgettable tunes. While there is plenty to please those who like their rock with a progressive edge (including some very decent synthesizer work), the thoughtful ballads broaden their appeal.
Throughout the disc they establish a unique Gravy Train sound: plenty of flanged guitar, a rainbow of instrumental colour and with keyboards taking most of the lines that flute would have taken before.
There is also an element of funk, which on the earlier, guitar-based tracks does not work, but on _Staircase to the Day_ is often expressed by an underpinning clavinet, reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's “Superstition.”
While several bonus songs are sub-standard (Free's “The Stealer” does not really work in this slower, funkier arrangement), Norman Barratt's admirers will love some of the unearthed work intended for Gravy Train's fifth album, but which ended up instead on the Barratt Band's _Playing In the City_. There are fine versions of its title track and “Never Seen Your Face”.
While several songs in the set have an apocalyptic edge, some give an unusual 'first-hand' take on subjects like the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the Northern Ireland troubles.There is talk that Gravy Train will reform this year, but it might be too much to hope for that they could restart at this standard. Whatever you pay for this release, the second disc alone will be easily worth it.
Derek Walker
