"Never Tease Wolves Who Arrive at Your Door:" On the Splendour of Progressive Rock Band Aragon

In 1996, an acquaintance lent me two CDs. One was IQ's The Wake (which made an IQ fan out of me) and the other was Don't Bring the Rain, the first full-length CD from the lesser known Australian progressive rock gem Aragon. And I took to the latter immediately.

The band was formed in Melbourne in 1986 by Tom Behrsing (keyboards), John Poloyannis (guitar) and Les Dougan (vocals), and added two more members – Rob Bacon (bass) and Tony Italia (drums) – after having spent months writing songs. Don't Bring the Rain was first released as a mini-LP in 1988, but as it made some success in Europe, the band recorded extra tracks for a full-length CD release, which saw the light of day in 1990 (and reached my own hands some five to six years later). Bacon left the band even before the release of the CD, however, and Italia followed suit in 1991 (albeit for different reasons), leaving the band in its original trio format, in which it has remained since.

After having been introduced to the band, it was not long before I had bought Don't Bring the Rain myself as well as their 1995 concept album Mouse, and the preceding six-tracks mini-CD The Meeting (1992), which is actually Act 5 of the concept album served up as a kind of work in progress teaser (in fact, in 1999, Mouse was re-released by LaBraD'or Records as a double-CD incorporating The Meeting in its proper place in the story). I also managed to track down the rarer 1993 release Rocking Horse and Other Stories, which collects material from demos and the like, including the 20-minutes epic "Rocking Horse." While this material is recorded in lesser quality, it nevertheless provides a good glimpse into the earliest stages of the band, and "Rocking Horse" alone makes the CD worth getting.

By the time Mr. Angel was released in 1997 (as the band's first recording in their own studio and their first release on LaBraD'or Records), I was eagerly anticipating the album. At the time, it represented something of a break from the progressive rock found on Don't Bring the Rain and then developed in the concept album format on Mouse, and while I know that this slightly more pop-rock oriented music disappointed some of my friends at the time, I liked it (albeit in a different way than the earlier CDs).

That being said, when the band's latest album to date, The Angels Tear (2004), I was not in the least bit saddened by the fact that the band was returning to their progressive roots. Rather the opposite.

So what is that makes Aragon so fantastic in my humble opinion? Well, one need only consider the great melodies and the fantastic lyrics, wonderfully interpreted vocally by Les Dougan. Dougan's vocals are quite particular, and I know people who find them hard to digest (just as some people have a hard time digesting the vocals of Rush's Geddy Lee), but the emotion expressed is raw, beautiful and gets me every time.

Or to let you sample their greatness on your own, allow me to present four highly recommended tracks I found on YouTube.

First out, "In Company of Wolves" from Don't Bring the Rain, the playful lyrics of which I absolutely fell in love with the first time I heard it:


Secondly, "The Changeling" from The Meeting (and consequently Mouse), which certainly gives a good sense of where and what the band was about during this period:


Thirdly, a step back into the past, Aragon's epic 20-minutes song "Rocking Horse", which is a really well-constructed song with a good set of narrative lyrics:


And finally, I would like to leave you with a sample of the band's latest release. "Growing Up in Cuckoo Land" is the opening track on The Angels Tear:


And for those of you who find this stuff interesting, I can also inform you that the band is currently working on new material. While there is not yet any set release date, this is indeed great news for all Aragon fans out there – old and new!


(And lest I kill any people from the suspense, I better end this post with a quick tie-in with the preceding second anniversary post. The blog's new sibling (of sorts) arrived not on the day of the anniversary itself, but half an hour into the following day (as if to ensure a celebratory day of his own). So, as predicted, I was indeed elsewhere as the post went up, but after many an hours wait, my son deigned to grace us with his presence. And that, as they say, is that.)

"Listen as the Syllables of Slaughter Cut with Calm Precision"

So, a new year is upon us, and I thought it somewhat appropriate to focus a little bit upon on music, seeing as how it is a somewhat under-represented category given this blog's subtitle.

And, as it happens, during the last few days I have been revisiting an old favourite of mine, which still holds up with razor sharp excellence. Dear readers, I give you Marillion's 1984 album Fugazi.

The album consists of seven tracks, "Assassing" (7.02), "Punch and Judy" (3.21), "Jigsaw" (6.50), "Emerald Lies" (5.09), "She Chameleon" (6.53), "Incubus" (8.30) and "Fugazi" (8.13); the B side of the vinyl starting with "She Chameleon". In the strictest sense, it is not a concept album. There is no plot running through the album, tying the songs together and shaping a unified narrative, but that having been said, I would strongly argue that it is a conceptual album. Because the songs are cleverly tied together thematically. Fugazi, as an album, is all about human relationships, and more specifically ones that "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In" (the acronym stemming back to the Vietnam war).

The brilliance of the album comes, to a large extent, from Fish's lyrical genius. As a huge Fish fan, I would say that this album in many ways constitutes one of the man's finest hours. Each song deals with the aforementioned theme, but each song does so by placing the theme in a certain semantic field. The reference is always to the human relationships going down the drain, but the fantastic metaphors used create seven very different tableaux.

In "Assassing", Fish opens up by creating a mixed metaphor of a battle and linguistics, appropriately expressed in a phenomenal piece de resistance of word play extraordinary. As the title of this post ought to demonstrate quite adequately.

The short, but very intensive, second track, "Punch and Judy" makes use of the commedia dell'arte character Puncinella, or more commonly in English, Punchinello or Mr Punch; or even more precisely it uses the old puppet show classic about a relationship taken to murderous levels (Mr Punch killing both his baby and wife before moving on to other pastures – for people interested in the story, I would strongly recommend Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's interpretation in The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch) to express the theme in a more modern, urbanised, and bourgeois setting.

"Jigsaw" is built up on several metaphors, from the notion of jigsaw pieces fitting together (or not, as it were) in the first verse, through the hopelessness in "Screaming out a ceasefire, snowblind in an avalanche zone" in the second one, to the utter despair of playing "Russian roulette in the waiting room / Empty chambers embracing the end" in the final verse. All of these, however, are nicely fitted together as functioning puzzle, almost working as a mise-en-abyme of the album as a whole (i.e. I would argue that it expresses the artistic and stylistic principle behind the lyrics on the whole album, neatly compressed in a single song).

Closing the original A-side of the album, "Emerald Lies" combines a medieval reference involving the Inquisition with a modern day courtroom drama. The colour green is obviously the colour of jealousy and this in turn suits the semantic fields of choice when it comes to the metaphors, since the invasive nature both of the Inquisition and a prosecution eloquently expresses this feeling that can almost literally tear a relationship apart.

Opening the original B-side, "She Chameleon" uses the metaphorical value of a chameleon as type of shape-shifter or deceiver to express physical encounters that somehow never amount to any true meaning, yet which the poetic I nevertheless do not refuse or abandon. Incidentally, I would dare anyone to find a better, more poetically apt use of the word fuck (repeated at that) than in this song.

One of my favourite tracks has always been "Incubus", with its use of photography-, cinema- and stage-related metaphors to describe the lingering remnants of the torn-apart relationships around which the album centres. The power in a phrase like "You who wiped me from your memory like a greasepaint mask / Just like a greasepaint mask" never ceases to amaze me, and never fails to affect me emotionally.

The title track, "Fugazi", brings the theme to a strong close. In some sense, it opens up the notion of failing relationships to a larger stage. It starts with the somewhat intimate lines – "Vodka intimate, an affair with isolation in a Blackheath cell / Extinguishing the fires in my private hell / provoking the heartache to renew the license / Of a bleeding heart poet in a fragile capsule" – but then moves this loss of faith in the Romantic beyond its simpler application on twosome relationships to human relationships on a larger scale, referencing the Holocaust, race riots and the ever-present (at the time) threat of nuclear annihilation.

After establishing that "This world is totally fugazi," the song, and the album, closes with the repeated lines "Where are the prophets, where are the visionaries / Where are the poets, to breach the dawn of the sentimental mercenary," which suggests a desire on the part of the lyricist to plead for a way out of the madness, or perhaps more accurately a way of seeing outside the box, when it comes to human relationships.

Ah well, do not take my word for it. Listen to the album yourselves. And be sure to give those lyrics some extra attention.

The Mad Piper Cometh: Jethro Tull in Göteborg, 2010

I discovered Jethro Tull back in 1995 with the release of the album Roots to Branches, which is fairly late, I know; both in that they had already been around, releasing albums for some 28 years at that time and in that I was already 20 years old. Nevertheless, I found them at just the right moment in my life, while my deepening interest in music slowly started to turn more and more towards the progressive rock scene. Thus I was truly tempted to go see Tull in concert already that year (they did visit Göteborg), but passed on the opportunity as I was already going to two other concerts that fall (Fish and Levellers) and didn't want to spread myself to thin money-wise. Although I did get to see two memorable concerts, I have always regretted my decision not to go see Tull as well.

For various reasons, I have since managed to miss subsequent opportunities to catch Tull, most recently in 2008, when I waited too long with deciding. So, when the opportunity arose this time, I didn't waste much time in ordering my ticket... and after Saturday evening, I have no regrets for doing that whatsoever.

The concert opened with "Dun Ringill" from the 1979 album Stormwatch and definitely set the pace for the evening. Sadly, though by no means unexpectedly (after all, this is hardly news for Tull fans), Ian Anderson's voice is not what it once used to be. Obviously, this becomes more of an issue with older songs that were written for a younger Anderson's register and much less so for later songs (e.g. the excellent rendition of "Budapest" from the 1987 album Crest of a Knave). That being said, one could imagine it becoming a rather big issue with a set list where the majority of songs dated back to the late 60s and early 70s. However, Anderson and his merry men nevertheless pulled it off and most certainly rocked!

Despite the vocals lacking in high pitch and strength on many occasion, especially early on in the set, the musicianship more than made up for this; and Anderson's stage persona is still a sight to see. Not to mention the fact that the man is a absolutely tremendous flautist.

The first half of the set included the new song "Hare in a Wine Cup", which Anderson presented as a song somehow related to the "Hare who Lost his Spectacles" section from the B-side of the 1973 album A Passion Play; and it ended with a marvellous rendition of "Bourée", which was rather welcome after an admittedly less than stellar rendition of "Songs from the Wood" (mostly so because it lacked in vocal harmonies; partly drowned out by the instruments and partly, from what I could tell, non-existing in the first place). All in all, the concert up until the 20 minutes break included a heavy representation by the 1969 album Stand Up (three songs out of eleven played).

The second half opened rather calmly with King Henry's ballad "Pastime with Good Company", which was followed by the Anoushka Shenkar co-written (and originally co-performed) song "A Change of Horses" (previously also known as "Tea with Anoushka"). The latter no doubt would sound all the more interesting with the inclusion of the intended sitar, which is not to say that Martin Barre's guitar playing in those places wasn't enjoyable; but there is something special with sitar music, I think most people would agree upon.

After these two songs, the second half of the set (five songs in total) really kicked into gear. First off, "My God" from the 1971 album Aqualung really provided a full on rock assault upon the audience, that was much appreciated. This was followed up with the aforementioned "Budapest", where Anderson's vocals probably had their finest moment during the entire evening. Closing the second half of the set, Anderson and his merry men pulled out a no holds bar version of "Aqualung", much to the enjoyment of the audience (albeit a very much seated and rather static audience on the whole, I am sad to say).

Naturally, the notion of an encore is, by now, a well worked in feature of any rock concert and Tull returned to the stage to follow up their successful rendition of "Aqualung" with an equally brilliant rendition of "Locomotive Breath" from the same album. And that was that, a very good concert ended and an evening well spent.

Sure, I would not have minded to hear the abbreviated version of Thick As a Brick or a track or two from Roots to Branches, but I honestly have no real complaints whatsoever.


Set list:
"Dun Ringill" (Stormwatch, 1979)
"Beggar's Farm" (This Was, 1968)
"Life Is a Long Song" (Living in the Past, 1972)
"Jack-in-the-Green" (Songs from the Wood, 1977)
"Hare in a Wine Cup" (new song with its roots in "The Hare who Lost his Spectacles" on A Passion Play, 1973)
"Eurology" (Ian Anderson, Rupi's Dance, 2003)
"A New Day Yesterday" (Stand Up, 1969)
"Nothing Is Easy" (Stand Up, 1969)
"Cross-Eyed Mary" (Aqualung, 1971)
"Songs from the Woods" (Songs from the Wood, 1977)
"Bourée" (Stand Up, 1969)
[20 minutes PAUSE]
"Pastime with Good Company" (The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull, 2007 (also available as "King Henry's Madrigal" on the remastered edition of Stormwatch))
"A Change of Horses" (previously known as "Tea with Anoushka", written and originally performed together with Anoushka Shenkar in 2008)
"My God" (Aqualung, 1971)
"Budapest" (Crest of a Knave, 1987)
"Aqualung" (Aqualung, 1971)
[ENCORE]
"Locomotive Breath" (Aqualung, 1971)