Galahad – Year Zero (2CD)
This edition marks the 10th anniversary of the original release of the album. It has been re-mastered and includes a second live 'official bootleg' CD, containing a rare live performance of the album almost in its entirety at Mr. Kyps in Poole, Dorset, UK in October 2002.
2012 was a very busy year for Galahad, having released two new studio albums (Battle Scars and Beyond the Realms of Euphoria), as well as a live CD/DVD (Whitchurch 92/93 – Live Archives Vol. 2). 2012 was also the 10th anniversary of the release of their Year Zero album, which is now available once again, re-mastered and expanded in a brand new digi-pack format.
Year Zero is actually a loose concept album performed as one piece of continuous music and is the most instrumentally orientated album Galahad has recorded. However, the music was split in to fifteen separate sections in order to make it more CD and ‘download’ friendly!
As you would expect with a Galahad release, Year Zero contains a myriad of styles, including classical, baroque and jazz interludes, a heavy psychedelic section incorporating techno beats and industrial grooves, as well as the usual nods to traditional prog and heavy rock punctuated by some quieter, more sensitive passages before the album reaches a grand, rousing choral crescendo to finish. Whew!!
As well as the core band members, including the late and much missed Neil Pepper, Year Zero features performances from the Cantori Catholic Choir, Sarah Bolter on woodwind and backing vocals and John Wetton (UK, Asia, King Crimson) on guest lead vocals, who even momentarily re-visits a classic Asia refrain, albeit in an extremely subliminal fashion!
This expanded edition also contains a rare live performance of Year Zero taken directly from the desk of a Galahad show at Mr Kyps in Poole, England in 2002.
While Year Zero is quite different from subsequent Galahad releases, it is equally valid and shows a band still evolving and experimenting to great effect with a range of musical and lyrical ideas. This is a must for all Galahad aficionados, but should also be of interest to those wishing to explore the Galahad back catalogue. This album is, in our opinion, an often overlooked gem from the early noughties!
So, sit down, relax, turn up the hi-fi, close your eyes and let Year Zero take you an extraordinary musical journey……
Tracks:
CD1: Year One – Studio Album
- Year Zeroverture
- Belt Up
- Ever The Optimist
- The Charlotte Suite
- Haunted
- Democracy
- Baroque And Roll Dementia
- A Deeper Understanding?
- The Jazz Suite
- Take A Deep Breath And Hold On Tight
- Hindsight 1 – Piano And Clarinet
- Hindsight 2 – A Very Clever Guy Indeed
- The September Suite
- World Watching
- Deceptive Vistas/Postscript – Perspective
CD2: Mr Kyps – Live on 19 October 2002
- Year Zero Parts I – iV
- Year Zero Parts V
- Year Zero Parts VI – X
- Year Zero Parts XIII & XIV
- Richelieu’s Prayer
Format: 2CD
Artist: Galahad
Release Date: September 2012