Rock On! Wednesday, 5 March 2025 – Marsupilami, Maxophone, Bachdenkel, Titus Groan & Aardvark

Psychedelic, heavy, prog and more innovating sounds spanning the late 60s and the early 70s – Dan’s pick of the week: Marsupilami (Arena ), Maxophone (Maxophone), Bachdenkel (Lemmings (And Other Songs of Alienation)), Titus Groan (Titus Groan) & Aardvark (Aardvark).

Marsupilami was een Engelse progressieve rockband die actief was in het begin van de jaren 1970. Hun naam was ontleend aan een beroemd Belgisch stripfiguur van de Belgische tekenaar André Franquin. In 1969 toerde de band met Deep Purple en speelde op de opening van het Isle of Wight Festival toen King Crimson zich terugtrok. Ze brachten twee albums uit, Marsupilami (1970) en Arena (1971), op Transatlantic Records.

Prog Archives review: “But one thing they sure had in common with the vintage Italian acts on their second and final album `Arena’ in 1971 (after a superb organ-heavy proto-prog flavoured self-titled debut the year before) was an energetic, unpredictable heavy sound jam-packed with filthy keyboard danger, thrashing drums, mangled guitar intensity and a deranged and coarse singer full of charisma! A concept album about the gladiator arena of the ancient Roman Empire, the LP was produced by Pete Bardens of Camel fame, but those expecting a similar lush symphonic ride similar to that will be rudely kicked in the plums right from the start of the disc!

Mostly performed in the studio live to best capture the lively spontaneous energy of the group, the album instantly rages to life from its opening seconds with possibly one of the greatest ever introductions on a Seventies prog album. (…)

Some will find the borderline flat vocals in parts to be a bit of a deal-breaker, but `Arena’ contains all the symphonic grandiosity you could want from a Seventies prog album without the fancy production polish and politeness, and the welcome tougher edge and raging sense of danger is refreshing and highly distinctive. While it’s far from a complete obscurity, `Arena’, so close to being a minor masterpiece and not sounding like any other album or band before it, definitely hasn’t received the attention it truly deserves over the years, and this gutsy symphonic rough gem deserves a complete reappraisal and rediscovery now.”

Wednesday, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 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.