Rock On! Wednesday, 26 June 2024 – Yezda Urfa, Neuschwanstein, Gracious, Metamorfosi & Genesis

Psychedelic, heavy, prog and more innovating sounds spanning the late 60s and the early 70s – Wednesday April 17th. Dan’s pick of the week: Yezda Urfa (Boris), Neuschwanstein (Battlement), Gracious (This Is…Gracious!!), Metamorfosi (Inferno) & Genesis (Seconds Out).

Yezda Urfa was een Amerikaanse progressieve rockband die werd opgericht in de herfst van 1973. De band nam twee albums op voordat ze in het voorjaar van 1981 uit elkaar gingen. Klinkt een beetje als een mix van Yes en Gentle Giant. De groep stond bekend om het spelen van energieke progressieve rock. Halsbrekende tempo’s, veranderende maatsoorten en diverse instrumenten waren kenmerken van hun sound.

Sputnik Music review: “As happened with many other prog releases in the 70’s, “Boris” had a very difficult child-birth. After more than a year of rehearsals, concerts and home recordings, the band reunited at Universal Recording’s Chicago studios recorded all of “Boris” tracks in just a few days. 300 copies of the demos were pressed, which would serve as publicity material. The band sent the first record demos to several record labels, even travelling to New York to try their luck distributing some copies door to door on some major record labels and radio stations. But, all the effort was in vain. In 1975 no one was interested in signing with bands featuring a sound as complex as Yezda Urfa had. So, “Boris” went almost to oblivion.

“Boris” has a hidden honourable sound that is a reminiscent of Gentle Giant. The melody is sorrowful and beautiful, the ensemble oriented performance is just like Yes and the chorus are like Gentle Giant. The sound quality is very good that incorporates the slow rhythm and its time signature is like Gentle Giant too. This is seamlessly connected and the good melody is combined to create a sound that isn’t very common in the majority of the prog rock bands. The sound of the ARP synth fits perfectly well on here. In addition, guitars and keyboards, wind instruments, mandolins and some strange sounding percussion are used to create an old fashioned atmosphere. The vocals are similar to Jon Anderson. (…)

So, if you’re hungry for the early 70’s prog and looking for something great you’re in the right place.”

Wednesday, 26 June 2024 12:00 noon CET Brussels – 11 a.m. GMT London. Repeated: 16:00 & 20:00 hrs CET Brussels, 3 p.m. & 7 p.m. GMT London
Ends: 12 midnight CET Brussels, 11 p.m. GMT London.