Ache - 1977 - Blå Som Altid

Ache
1977
Blå Som Altid

01. Den Mellemungende Tid
02. Kilometerstenen
03. Pantomime
04. Evig Søndag
05. Perafinn
06. Se dig omkring
07. Ingen returbillet


- Finn Olafsson / guitars, vocal
- Per Wium / keyboards, vocal
- Steen Toft Andersen / keyboards, harmonica, vocal
- Torsten Olafsson / bass, vocal, vibraphone, shakuhachi
- Gert Smedegaard / drums


Delightul 70´s prog rock band from Denmark. I really didn´t know about its existence before I saw some reviews here on PA. I wanted to start with them with their third album, the conceptual Pictures From Cyclus 7, but when the CD arrived they had mistaken it for this one. Oh well, guess I´ll have to write about that one afterwards. Anyway, Bla Som Altid is far from bad. In fact I liked very much. Although they sing in their native language on this work, their sound is very much international.
The music here is a mix of heavy rock with some folk inlfuences, plus a little bit of jazz and symphonic elements. Sometimes they sound like Deep Purple MK I (around the time of their self titled LP), sometimes like Uriah Heep or Jethro Tull, but most of the time you can say they have a personality of their own. Their main feature here is the guitar talents of Finn Olafsson: the guy is very good. I also loved the keyboards (lots of Hammond!). Vocals are only average, but some backings are very well done. Production is ok. A shame this CD is so short (35 minutes)
Their songwriting is quite good, but not exceptional: there are no fillers, all tracks are good and varied, with tasteful arrangements and nice perfomances by all involved. Nothing is very complicated or bombastic as one might expect from a symphonic band, but it is still good. If you like 70´s prog rock with the aforementined highs and lows, you should check this out. Ache definitly deserved more exposure.