Chronos 1

If you’re a fan of their classic Yes-inspired prog then you should own this terrific collection of rare tracks and demos from the first two Starcastle albums. Despite the aging sources, all this has excellent production and sound quality, and the liner notes by the late Gary Strater (RIP) are interesting and informative. You get the unedited take of “Lady of the Lake” that, other than reinserting some deleted measures and a more prominent “Firebird” reference in the mid-section, isn’t much different from the released version. But it’s still one of their finest numbers, so there. On the other hand, the demos for “Forces” and “To the Fire Wind,” both excellent, are substantially different, almost enough to be entirely new tunes, especially Terry’s vocals on “Forces.” Next comes a set of demos for Fountains of Light, with all album tracks excepts “Silver Wings” appearing. While this album seems to be the fan favorite for its music, I for one always found the sound too slick, especially the vocals, and am vindicated to read that the band felt the same way. From start to finish the five demos here are musically similar to the released versions but looser and a lot more live-sounding on the vocals – hence much closer to the character of the first LP. Finally, a few words on the rare tracks: “Where Caverns Wind” is a Fountains outtake, a lovely Yes-ish acoustic number that conjures up “Madrigal” or “Wondrous Stories,” while “Dance of the Phytons” recalls the Yes cover of “America” musically while lyrically seeming to be an attempt to write “Return of the Giant Hogweed” by Genesis. Heavier and riffier than what we’re used to, but still a fine tune. Last of all is the studio version of “Breath & Thunder,” previously know only form the live album. I prefer this version, which omits Herb Schildt’s keyboard jamboree and is better for it (IMHO). Tight prog hard rock -- or hard prog-rock -- that wraps things up with a bang. Nice Hubble pic on the cover, too.

If you love Fountains of Light, you'll almost certainly enjoy this. There are several cuts from other sources, but the highlight is a more or less complete alternate version of Fountains. The sound quality is good, but not quite up to the standard of the original album. Mostly you get a substantially different mix with Gary's bass a little more up front and Steve's drums a bit drowned (unfortunately). I think most interesting is the atmospheric use of the synth. There's a lot of reverb on many of the synth parts and it gives the whole thing a much more dreamy quality. It all comes of a little more lush, hazy, sleepy, and loose, but this isn't a bad thing. Just a different angle on an old friend.

Thanks to the late Gary Strater fans of Starcastle can have a look back to where their music began. This album contains different versions of some of their songs, as well as three songs that were never on a studio album. It shows the evolution of certain songs by showing the differences between the working tapes and the finished product. A couple of songs have lyrics not on the album, while others are different arrangements of songs. It gives insight into the recording process. If you're a fan of Starcastle you might find this to be something you will want in your collection.

Some interesting things here. An obvious reference to the Firebird Suite.

Some great demos from one of the best Prog Rock bands of all time! Pick this one up if you're a Starcastle fan!