Walking in the park (Colosseum) (LP 2180 - 2182)

Colosseum  Those Who Are About To Die Salute You (CD, Sanctuary Records, 1969 - 2004 reissue) **** 

Colosseum  Valentyne Suite (CD, Sanctuary Records, 1969 - 2006 reissue) ****  

Colosseum  Live (CD, Sanctuary Records, 1971 - 2004 reissue) ****  

Genre: Jazz rock; prog rock 

Places I remember: Fopp; HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Walking In The Park (Those Who Are About To Die...)

Gear costume: Tanglewood '63 (Live)

Active compensatory factors: I am a relative late-comer to the joys of Colosseum as you can see from these reissues that I bought while living in England ten years ago.

I have written about their other album, Daughter In Time, much earlier in the countdown (you can read it here), but for some reason neglected to feature these other three fine albums.

Their debut album, Those about to Die etc, is a tightly arranged affair. It starts with a great passionate song - Walking In The Park and from then on the intensity is maintained throughout.

The extra bonus tracks for once are indispensible. I Can't Live Without You alone is worth the price of admission.

Their second album, Valentyne Suite, continues the dense jazz fusion sound brilliantly, but it's the Live album that is my go-to Colosseum album.

It's intense, unrelenting and very rewording. All the musicians are at their peak on this live album, the material is top notch and the live setting is to my liking.

Where do they all belong? That completes my Colosseum collection.

Time lament (Colosseum) (LP 329)

Colosseum Daughter Of Time (CD, 1970) ****

Genre:  Prog rock 

Places I remember: Fopp (London) 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Theme For An Imaginary Western




Gear costume:  The Daughter Of Time

Active compensatory factors: Aptly named: the big meaty prog jazz rock sound of Colosseum is a force to be reckoned with. 

Jon Hiseman and his dominating drums are superb throughout this album and the big voice of Chris Farlowe is a feature as well.

However, the Colosseum sound is largely down to Dick Heckstall-Smith - soprano and tenor saxophones. His jazz fusion sax honking is a strong component!

Stand out track for me is always the Jack Bruce/Pete Brown song, Theme For An Imaginary Western. The version by Mountain is my favourite but every version has an appeal. Here it's the Farlowe vocals that hit me between the eyes!


Where do they all belong? This album, their fourth, is a great place to start if you are new to the delights of Colosseum.