KHAN - SPACE SHANTY
– 1972 (UK) progressive rock
What a nice surprise this album is to me. I´ve never heard of this band before I read a review in Prog Archives. This means that I had never heard of Steve Hillage before either. BIG MISTAKE. What a fantastic guitarist he is and a great singer too. Steve sounds a lot like Rob Halford ( Judas Priest) when he sings in mid-range ( Not his high pitched screams) and sometimes like Ozzy. Actually the whole band is bloddy magnificent. There are other hints to early Judas Priest ( Rocka rolla and Sad Wings of Destiny) along the way, but these are only hints. Don´t expect Heavy metal on Space Shanty though only some really mean hard rock riffs.
The compositions on Space Shanty are 6-10 minutes, and in these minutes much happens. There are both some of the meanest hard rock riffs I have ever heard, great rock/ jazzy instrumental passages, nice vocal melodies and an overall feel that these musicians are having fun. Too bad they only made this one album.
- Nick Greenwood - bass, vocals
- Steve Hillage - guitars, vocals
- Eric Peachy - drums
- Dave Stewart - organ, piano, skyceleste, marimbas
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1. Space shanty (8:59)
2. Stranded (6:35)
3. Mixed up man of the mountains(7:14)
4. Driving to Amsterdam (9:22)
5. Stargazers (5:32)
6. Hollow stone (8:16)
Best known as the album that first brought the guitar playing talents of guitarist Steve Hillage to public prominence, Khan’s sole album is a splendid example of a fusion of Canterbury flavoured rock combined with jazz and space rock influences. Originally released in 1972 by Deram Records, the Eclectic Discs reissue is the album’s first appearance on CD in Britain for over ten years and has been remastered from the original master tapes. This expanded edition includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks and extensive liner notes and is sure to appeal to all fans of Steve Hillage.
Jazz-space progrock with the absolutely Highlight of Stevie Hillages guitar work!
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Biography by Richie Unterberger
An obscure footnote of early-'70s British art rock, Khan featured guitarist Steve Hillage, keyboardist Dave Stewart, and ex-Crazy World of Arthur Brown bassist Nick Greenwood. Their sole album from 1972 was dominated by Hillage's lengthy, ambitious compositions and Stewart's organ, which owed much to the Canterbury Scene of British prog rock. The group didn't offer much to distinguish themselves from the many other British outfits exploring similar territory, and disbanded after one LP. Hillage went on to join Kevin Ayers and Gong before establishing a solo career; Stewart played with Hatfield & the North and National Health.
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Review by Richie Unterberger
Almost stereotypically overreaching early-'70s progressive rock; quasi-operatic vocals, spinning guitar solos, lengthy suite-like tracks on the order of "Stargazers" and "Hollow Stone (incl. Escape of the Space Pilots)." The highlight is Stewart's effervescent organ work during the gentle and meditative passages.
[Bonus Tracks]
Review by Dave Thompson
The sole album by the sense-shattering union of the pre-Gong Steve Hillage and the post-Arthur Brown Nick Greenwood, Space Shanty has long been regarded as one of the touchstones of the early- to mid-'70s space rock boom — albeit one that has been heard all too rarely. Originally released in 1972, this often-thunderous collision of driving riffs, blistered rhythms and swirling organ (courtesy of special guest Dave Stewart) has been unavailable for more than a quarter of a century, but now returns fully, beautifully remastered, and as powerful today as it was back then. Not one of the six tracks is less than five-minutes in length; three of them hover around nine, with the dynamic title track and the closing "Hollow Stone" bookending the ferocious mash of guitar and organ lines that lurk within the album's visceral core. Nor does the fun stop there. Appended to the album itself: two bonus tracks take us back to the earliest days of the album sessions, via the previously unheard "Break the Chains," and a substantially different take on "Mixed Up Man of the Mountains," itself little more than half the length (and half the ambition) of the released version. Long thought lost, the two tracks were discovered on an old acetate disc but have been cleaned up so well that their source is scarcely noticeable. Khan were never going to break out of the tiny prog rock circles in which they moved; not for them the sudden shock of a Hawkwind-style hit single. But still Space Shanty stands as a vibrant signpost in the history of space rock, and a wicked reminder of just how much invention Hillage brought to Gong.
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