Quatermass - the album

HOME

Click on one of the icons below to go to the various chapters of the Quatermass story

The album

	— the album

The self-titled first and only album by Quatermass was originally released in 1970.
In France the album was issued by Pathe Marconi (with the same catalogue number as the UK release).
A Japanese version reportedly exists on red vinyl.
The album was reissued with a different (single sleeve) cover in 1977 as a part of the Harvest Heritage series. The pressing quality is excellent.

As originally designed in its full gatefold glory, the album has been reissued on vinyl at least twice. A superb reissue was made by the German Repertoire label in the early 90s. This reissue is remarkable for the fine group photos included on the paper inner sleeve. Additionally, the Italian Akarma label pressed the album in a 2LP format, featuring the rare single A- and B-sides as bonus tracks.


Original issue: outer gatefold sleeve	Original issue: inner sleeve


1977 reissue, front	1977 reissue, back	1977 reissue, inner bag
		Note: This is the standard Harvest inner bag with the Quatermass album advertised top right. Other featured artists are Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Bakerloo, Tea & Symphony, Third Ear Band, Edgar Broughton Band, Love, Barclay James Harvest, Forest, Kevin Ayers, Shirley & Dolly Collins, Syd Barrett, Panama Limited Jugband, the Battered Ornaments and Pete Brown

		Here are four known variations on the vinyl album. N.B. The differences in label colours are authentic!
	original UK pressing Harvest SHVL 775

original Canadian pressing Harvest SKAO-314 (thanks to Benoit!)	original USA pressing Harvest SKAO-314	German mid-70's pressing Harvest 1C 062-91 248	Reissued UK pressing Harvest SHSM 2002

Credits
		The Orchestra
Engineers: Jeff Jarratt, Andy Stevens Produced by Anders Henriksson (at right) Recorded at EMI Studios, Abbey Road An A.I.R. (London) Production. Published 1970 A.I.R. Record Productions, (London) Ltd. Original cover design and Photographs by HIPGNOSIS Reissue sleeve design and illustration by Steve Newport Entropy and Laughing Tackle published by Quatermass Music (and Alan Keen Music) Gemini published by Jamarnie Music Black Sheep Of The Family, Post War Saturday Echo, Good Lord Knows, Up On The Ground, Make Up Your Mind - all published by R.U.G. Music (and Alan Keen Music) One Blind Mice, Punting — publisher unknown	Anders Henriksson, producer	VIOLINS: Tony Gilbert (leader) John Kirkland David Katz Billy Millar Charlie Vorsanger Les Maddox Gerald Enns Harold Parfitt Paul Scherman Homi Kanga Jack Rothstein Henry Datyner Bill Armon Michael Jones Laurie Clay Derek Jacobs	VIOLAS: Steve Shingle Chris Wellington Henry Myerscouh Ian White Bernard Davis John Graham CELLOS: Paul Buckmaster (leader) Boris Rickelman Francis Gabarr Peter Wilson Freddy Alexander Chris Green DOUBLE BASS: Frank Clarke Joe Mudele Arthur Watts


	The songs
	(Song by song critique by Bas Möllenkramer)
	1. Entropy (Peter Robinson) 1:10 The album kicks off with a quiet, mysterious keyboard-based melody, vaguely cyclic in nature, and almost classical in execution. On the vinyl edition of the album this opening tune is so quiet it almost gets lost in the groove noise, even on near-mint copies, but on the remastered CD the tracks blossoms to its full glory, revealing a rich deep organ-pedal bass underpinning the melody. In the final seconds a frantic discordant synth-loop pattern fights for control and wins, to lead into the album's real opening rocker. 2. Black Sheep Of The Family (Steve Hammond) 3:36 Starting off with a series of crashing chords, interspersed with some powerful drum breaks, this is the album's real first song. It's a great rock tune with a rich variety of keyboard styles, ranging from a low throb in the verses to broad dramatic styles in the bridge. The backing tracks are a layered mix of organ and piano, skillfully arranged to make a guitar unnecessary. Great vocals too. The song featured on the B-side of the Italian Gemini single and on the A-side of a German single. 3. Post War Saturday Echo (Peter Robinson/John Gustafson/Graham Ross) 9:42 This is one of the album's certified masterpieces. It is a huge electric slow blues with a difference. Kicking off briefly with an urgent, fast merry-go-round rock riff pattern which leaves you wanting more, it transforms imperceptibly into a slow blues extravaganza. The verses in this slow blues were recorded so quietly that both tape hiss and groove noise were real risks to vinyl owners. Thankfully the remastered CD has successfully addressed both these issues. An otherwordly quality is achieved by delayed and double-tracked vocals in stereo, which makes bass player and lead singer John Gustafson sound like he is bemoaning the condition of the world from underground. Peter Robinson shows his keyboard mastery in the bridge which has a classical feel despite the intense frenzy shining through it's multi-layered synth magic. A return to a slow final verse leads the song into it's surprisingly abrupt crashing finale. Post War Saturday Echo leaves a devastating impact on the listener through its dark lyrics "A million lonely people in a hurry, sharing nothing but a burden of worry". 4. Good Lord Knows (John Gustafson) 2:54 A personal prayer by John Gustafson, backed by harpsichord and strings. A haunting melody, sung with compelling conviction, about becoming a man and about soldiers not coming home. The production is divine and the orchestra introduces major goosebumps at precisely the right moment. The string arrangements were done by Peter Robinson. 5. Up On The Ground (John Gustafson) 7:08 A powerful hard rock song with virtuoso bass riffing and rock organ solos. A high-octane mover.	6. Gemini (Steve Hammond) 5:54 This song, which opened side two on the original vinyl edition, showed up at least once before this album. Eric Burdon recorded the song with his new Animals on one of the many albums he recorded in the USA between 1967 and 1969. Although Burdon certainly does the song justice, Quatermass definitely laid down the best version. Peter Robinson shows his deft arranging skills in the way piano and organ form a texture which leaves no room for a guitarist. Quatermass is one of the most artistically successful of all bands to attempt survival without the otherwise ubiquitous lead guitar. This song was the A-side of an Italian single. 7. Make Up Your Mind (Steve Hammond) 8:44 The brief vocal opening and ending of Make Up Your Mind are a vehicle for Quatermass to show off their confident mastery of start-stop instrumental magic. A wide range of playing styles is explored. featuring blistering synth riffs in odd time signatures, to a rousing build-up organ solo. 8. Laughing Tackle (Peter Robinson) 10:35 This is the album's other masterpiece, a wonderful, extended, throbbing exploration by keyboard wizard Peter Robinson, and featuring a full orchestra too. Starting off with a pulsating, driving bass guitar pattern and nimble cymbals, the organ solo slowly builds to a wonderful descending chord break which signals the arrival of still more magic to come. The drum solo is superb and shows why Mick Underwood was tempted away to other rock bands after Quatermass' demise. Here too the string arrangements were written by Peter Robinson. 9. Entropy (Reprise) (Peter Robinson) 0:40 The original vinyl album gently closes with this mystical repeat of the opening instrumental. One imagines oneself saying goodbye to a circle of druids greeting the dawn. One Blind Mice (John Gustafson) 3:15 — not on the original album Quatermass' best known single is a killer and was not included on the original album. So far only a German pressing has been identified. No list of English Harvest singles with the famous HAR prefix has ever mentioned the record. The Swedish TV appearance mentions the single so it may have been pressed there, or, more likely, German copies were sent to Sweden to test the water. Either way it is a heavy metal masterpiece, with a stunning opening riff and a weird descending chord progression. A powerful organ solo releases into a swirling phasing wash and onto the final verse and chorus. No fade out here, the song ends with a bang. Punting (John Gustafson) 7:09 — not on the original album Obviously a filler for the single's B-side, this rambling jam shows Quatermass off-duty and having big fun. Bass and drums lay down a solid pre-funk groove while Peter Robinson explores the outer limits of his new war-toy the ring-modulator. The word Punting, for non-native English speakers, means gently rowing a flat boat up and down the Thames river, while wearing coloured blazers and straw hats. Precisely!