Alan White - Ramshackled (Remastered and Expanded)

In 1975 the decision was made for the five members of Yes to each release a solo album, and although the albums released by Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Patrick Moraz and Steve Howe were largely well-received, drummer Alan White's Ramshackled wasn't quite the same story.  While the others stuck close to the prog rock that fans were expecting, White’s release had minimal focus on that genre and was quite diverse stylewise, which for the most part didn’t appeal to their fans.  Another interesting aspect of the album was the fact that while it was released as his solo album, he only played drums and percussion.  This meant that everything else, including the songwriting and vocals, was handled by a group of musicians he had worked with before, primarily consisting of guitarist Pete Kirtley, bassist Colin Gibson, keyboard player Kenny Craddock and flute/saxophone player Bud Beadle (the five of them were in a short-lived band called Simpson's Pure Oxygen right before White joined Yes).  Now, fifty years after it was first released, the album has been remastered and reissued, and while it’s not without its weak spots, it is actually pretty good.  The album opens strongly with the catchy "Ooh Baby (Goin' To Pieces)," an upbeat soulful rock track with a great vocal performance from Alan Marshall, and “One Way Rag,” a seventies era midtempo classic rock cut with a touch of R&B (this could almost be classified as Yacht Rock).  Next up is "Avakak," the first of two instrumentals.  It's a jazzy rock track (more on the jazz side) with shifting tempos that again brings to mind prog a little, starting off slower and then kicking into more of a jaunty tune with horns.  With Jon Anderson and Steve Howe guesting on vocals and guitar, and lyrics taken from a William Blake poem, “Spring - Song Of Innocence” is a beautiful, laid-back and dreamy track that is very atmospheric and the most Yes-like song on the album.  Yacht Rock once again comes to mind at moments on “Giddy”, a fun, upbeat tune with a bit of a rock edge.  On “Silly Woman” he delves into reggae, but it really doesn’t work and is one of the album’s low points.  The second instrumental is “Marching Into A Bottle,” a stripped down, baroque folk tune consisting of acoustic guitar, flute and woodwinds with some very basic percussion.  While White’s percussion, which includes a little steel drum,  really stands out on “Everybody,” the upbeat soul tune is another of the weaker cuts here.   Closing the album out is “Darkness Parts 1-3,” a three-part song and another of the the more prog tracks.  It starts off soulful and bluesy and then shifts into more of an orchestrated jazz-rock sound before wrapping up with a quieter, bluesy section that is accompanied by orchestration, keys and some trumpet.  There are also two bonus tracks included here that are just single versions of “Ooh Baby (Goin’ To Pieces” and “One Way Rag.”  If you are a Yes fan looking for another Yes album then keep looking, but if you are looking for a fun and diverse Seventies era album do yourself a favor and check out Ramshackled.  

(Spirit Of Unicorn Music)