Strange New Flesh [Import]

strange new flesh [import]

Track Listings

1. Dark Side of the Moog

2. Down to You

3. Gemini and Leo

4. Secret Places

5. On Second Thoughts

6. Winds

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Reissue of the debut album by jazz fusion group formed by Colosseum founder John Hiseman, legendary Irish blues rock guitarist Gary Moore & famous metal keyboardist Don Airey. Contains all six cuts from the original 1976 release on Bronze Records, plus the original cover art. 1999 release.

Strange New Flesh,Colosseum II,Castle Music America,Album Rock,Fusion,Hard Rock,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock/Pop

Strange New Flesh [Import]

Average customer rating:

Strange New Flesh/Expanded Edition: an overwhelming and spectacular performance of the great (and forgotten) drummer Jon Hiseman
2 great bonus tracks.
Simply fantastic
wow !!!

Strange New Flesh
Colosseum II
Manufacturer: Castle Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000B6TR0C
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Tracks:

Dark Side Of The Moog
Down To You
Gemini And Leo
Secret Places
On Second Thoughts
Winds
Castles (Version 1)
Gary's Lament
Walking In The Park

Tracks:

Night Creeper
The Awakening
Siren Song
Castles (Version 2)
The Scorch
Rivers
Interplanetary Slut
Dark Side Of The Moog (Live)
Siren Song (Live)
The Awakening (Live)

Customer Reviews:

Strange New Flesh/Expanded Edition: an overwhelming and spectacular performance of the great (and forgotten) drummer Jon Hiseman.......2007-03-29

It's the 2005 reedition - digitalized and remastered, but this time in 2 CDs - of the 'first work,' "Strange New Flesh", of Colosseum II dating back to 1975-1976 (first CD). The first and second CD present also 10 'demos' recorded a few weeks after the release of the album (June-July 1976)and 3 'live' pieces performed by the English group in concert for 'BBC Radio' in June 1976.
There isn't much more to add - to what has already been said and written -about the value and worth of the album: in substance, we are dealing with a promising and decisevely good work, which launched Colosseum II on a large scale, in the mid seventies,among the best and better known groups of then 'jazz-rock' music scene, even if - apart from the splendid piece 'Winds'(10:25) - the other tracks of the album appear at a notable and appreciable level even if not superlative.
What deserves to be valued mostly - of the recent and current publication of 'Castle Music' - is the proposition of the 'unpublished'(13 in all between 'demos' and 'live performances'), which indisputably prove that this group could have left a wider and deeper trace in the history of 'progressive music' if it had been able to safeguard for a longer period of time this first and original 'line up' (towards the end of 1976, in fact, both the bass player Neil Murray and the singer Mike Starrs left the band and were replaced only by the bass player John Mole in the two album that followed of 1977 and 1978, 'Electric Savage' and 'War Dance').
Out of these 'unpublished', 5 pieces are to be regarded, by all means, as exceptional: 'Walking in the Park' (7:05), 'The Awakening' (11:43), 'The Scorch' (4:39), 'Interplanetary Strut' (5:32)and the 'live' 'Siren Song' (12:13), where - on everything and everyone - shines and excels the drummer Jon Hiseman, absolutely unrestrainable and devastating in his inconfoundable 'drumming' at the height of power, speed and elegance with performed results of such a level which - at least in the 'jazz-rock fusion' - not even Billy Cobham of the early Mahavishnu Orchestra (1971-72)and of his first 'solos' album (1973-74) was probably able to achieve.
An excellent addition to any progressive music collection: 4,00/4,50 stars.

2 great bonus tracks. .......2006-04-10

Strange New Flesh was Colosseum II's first and best album. This new Expanded edition adds 2 great tracks that might get this up from 4 start to 5 stars.

The original Strange New Flesh was 41 minutes long. It was a mixture of British progressive jazz, blues and progressive rock. The featured Jon Heisman, from John Mayall Bluesbreakers (home of Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac), Gary Moore (between stints with Thin Lizzy) and Don Airey who would later play with Black Sabbath and is now in Deep Purple.

The group had a horrible lead singer, Mike Starrs whose grating vocals almost ruined many of the songs. He would leave after this album to go to Lucifer's Friend where his screaming type vocals were more appropriate. After this, Colosseum II would do mostly instrumentals.

IS THIS WORTH BUYING FOR THE BONUS TRACKS?

There certainly is a lot of bonus material. The first CD is now 67 minutes long and the second is 76 minutes. Most of the bonus tracks are demo's to try to get a record contract. The last three tracks are live, from a BBC show.

There are 2 great bonus tracks which I think are the best things Colosseum has ever done. The first is a studio version of Walking in the Park, which used to be part of the original Colosseum's live shows. The second is a live versions of Sirens.

In general, everything on the first CD is very good. There is an original 11 minute version of Castles. This song is much better than the shorter version that ended up on Colosseum's third album, War Dance. However, it is almost ruined by Starrs vocals. The advantage the War Dance version has is that Gary Moore does the singing, and that part of it is better.

Gary's Lament was redone for Colosseum II's second CD, Electric Savage. It is better here.

The second CD starts out with a bunch of uninteresting demos. Rivers and Intergalaxy Slut were reworked and included on Electric Savage. Intergalaxy Strut (as it was retitled) was about the only really good track on Electric Savage. Rivers is an annoying vocal.

It ends with the three very good live tracks. They take up 34 minutes. It is unfortunate you have to listen to 40 minutes of the lesser demos to get to them.

It is amazing to me that Colosseum II and Strange New Flesh would warrant an expanded edition. The band struggled to make and were never very popular. They are probably more popular now than back when the albums were first released. It is probably on the strength of Gary Moore that there is new interest in Colosseum II. There was even a Colosseum II compiliation disc that was attributed to "Gary Moore with Colosseum II".

After Strange New Flesh did not sell very well, the group started playing around with the format and eventually had to find a new record company. I think the group made comprimises that made Electric Savage a boring CD. The group started to get back on track with War Dance.

Simply fantastic.......2006-01-06

Colosseum II have always been horribly underrated, but hopefully this great release will finally raise their profile. The original album was great on its own, but this "Expanded Edition" adds an entire extra disc of bonus tracks, including the entire "Live On The BBC" perfomance, which was never available commercially before. The basic album has been remastered, and while not a huge leap over the old edition, it does benefit from a slightly expanded soundstage and is a bit louder. If it were simply a remaster it might not be worth it, but the bonus CD makes it a must buy. The "Electric Savage" demos...WOW!! A true prog/fusion classic, and mandatory on the shelf of the true rock fan.

wow !!!.......2005-12-10

i've got a few of the Colosseum cd's and i've never been terribly impressed with them...but this incarnation of the band is something else entirely. they take a much more rock approach and prog it out with fantastic results. the pace is driving and speeds along with purpose and supreme musicianship. every song is full of intricate time changes, killer solos, and great vocals. the second disc is a fine addition to the original. there's no sign of a filler cut...it's all outstanding stuff! a nice surprise, overall. i'm hooked!

Average customer rating:

Turbocharged version of the original Colosseum
Turbocharged version of the original Colosseum

Strange New Flesh
Colosseum II
Manufacturer: Castle Music America
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000J9S3
Release Date: 1999-04-19

Tracks:

Dark Side of the Moog
Down to You
Gemini and Leo
Secret Places
On Second Thoughts
Winds

Album Description

Reissue of the debut album by jazz fusion group formed by Colosseum founder John Hiseman, legendary Irish blues rock guitarist Gary Moore & famous metal keyboardist Don Airey. Contains all six cuts from the original 1976 release on Bronze Records, plus the original cover art. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews:

Turbocharged version of the original Colosseum.......1999-10-27

I also bought the vinyl cutting of this album in the early eighties and played it so often it wore out. This was everything you'd hoped Colosseum 1 would metamorphose into. Two other albums followed Wardance and Savage all contained sublime tracks

Turbocharged version of the original Colosseum.......1999-10-27

Average customer rating:

Strange New Flesh
Colosseum II
Manufacturer: Disk Union Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000BSSAHG
Release Date: 2005-12-24

Tracks:

Dark Side of the Moog
Down to You
Gemini and Leo
Secret Places
On Second Thoughts
Winds

Album Details

Paper Sleeve Edition of the 1976 Album from the Prog-rock Band. Comes with a Bonus Disc that features 10 Previously Unreleased/Live Recordings.

Average customer rating:

Best of the Colosseum II albums
A group that turned over a new page !

Strange New Flesh
Colosseum II
Manufacturer: One Way Records Inc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Dark Side of the Moog
Down to You
Gemini and Leo
Secret Places
On Second Thoughts
Winds

Customer Reviews:

Best of the Colosseum II albums.......2003-01-11

Colosseum was a progressive rock band that played a mixture of blues, jazz and high energy rock. They were more blues oriented than any of the other progressive bands. When Colosseum disbanded in the early seventies, the drummer former a new band, called Colosseum II. This new band was a jazz fusion band, dominated by guitarist Gary Moore.

This album is a nice mixture of the old progressive rock style mixed with jazz fusion. The group still has some blues influences. Half of the tracks have vocals. They range from 4 minutes to 10 minutes long. It is very interesting through out.

This is the best of the Colosseum II albums. Colosseum II released two more albums after this (War Dances and Electric Savage). Those two albums are straight ahead jazz fusion, with only one vocal. There are some interesting compositions, but over half the tracks are tedious and boring. A lot of British jazz fusion could be very tedious as musicians tried to demonstrate their musical dexterity instead of concentrating on creating interesting compositions.

In the mid seventies progreesive/art rock was dying out. It was pushed over the edge by the overblown and self indulgent excesses of bands like Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Many groups moved to jazz fusion or new age jazz, such as Gong, Camel and Colosseum. Many progressive musicians moved into new jazz fusion groups. This included Phil Collins who did a stint with Brand X.

A group that turned over a new page !.......1999-01-12

One of the best albums I heard in my life... (My best is Brain Salad Surgery, E.L.& P., 1973) Italy was one of the first countries to appreciate "Colosseum II", as well as "Genesis"... I liked Genesis too, so I wanted to know a little more about this super-group. I remember that this album was imported directly from Japan, and cost twice as much as the others.. The first time I heard this album my attention was focused on the performers, but afterwards my mind was captured by their fantastic, powerful, not obvious music! Pay attention at the hard-fusion track "The dark side of the moog" ! Listen carefully to the arrangements of "Down to you", a Joni Mitchell composition, much more interesting than the original. Enjoy with Gemini & Leo, a funky composition, with a very noticeable vocal part... Please hear the slow paced "On Second Thoughts", and finally, after a John Hiseman drums solo, the masterpiece "Winds", a great composition and performance: a Milestone in `70s progressive rock. Unfortunately the following album, "Electric Savage", was another chapter...

Tracks:

Dark Side of the Moog
Down to You
Gemini and Leo
Secret Places
On Second Thoughts
Winds
Castles [Version 1][#][*]
Gary's Lament [#][*]
Walking in the Park [#][*]

Tracks:

Night Creeper [#][*]
Awakening [#][*]
Siren Song [#][*]
Castles [Version 2][#][*]
Scorch [#][*]
Rivers [#][*]
Interplanetary Slut [#][*]
Dark Side of the Moog [Live][*]
Siren Song [Live][*]
Awakening [Live][*]

Album Description

Strange New Flesh was Colosseum II's first album, recorded not long after they formed in 1975. Over the years it has been regarded as probably their finest recorded work. Musically, it presented a much heavier and more Rock-oriented style than the earlier Colosseum, although rather less overtly HM-slanted than their immediate predecessor, Tempest. This expanded 2 CD reissue is boosted by the previously-unheard studio outtakes 'Scorch', 'Rivers' & 'Interplanetary Slut', plus the mind-blowing John Peel sessions of 'Dark Side Of The Moog', 'Siren Song', 'The Awakening', 'Put It This Way', 'Intergalactic Strut', 'Lament' & 'The Inquisition'. Castle. 2005.

Average customer rating:

Best of the Colosseum II albums
Second greatest progressive hard-rock album of all time
Good 70's British jazz-rock
The 1970's...
Amazing masterpiece!

Strange New Flesh
Colosseum II
Manufacturer: Castle - Old Numbers
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000K1MZ
Release Date: 2002-06-11

Tracks:

Dark Side Of The Moog
Down To You
Gemini And Leo
Secret Places
On Second Thoughts
Winds

Customer Reviews:

Best of the Colosseum II albums.......2004-10-12

This is the first and best of the Colosseum II albums. It is an interesting mix of jazz fusion, blues, and progressive rock. The songs are 4 minutes to 10 minutes long and the CD is almost 42 minutes.

Colosseum was a progressive rock band with blues and jazz tendencies. They spun off from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (like Fleetwood Mac). When the group broke up, the drummer, Jon Hiseman created Colosseum II, which was more of a jazz fusion group. This first album is a transition between the old Colosseum and the new Colosseum II.

Colosseum II released 3 albums (not including a "greatest hits" compilation). The next two albums consisted of shorter jazz fusion tracks, with a little heavy rock influence. The problem with the last 2 albums is that the compositions were fairly repetitious and not very interesting.

Second greatest progressive hard-rock album of all time.......2003-07-04

This is the second greatest progressive hard-rock album ever made after "Moving Pictures" by Rush & it's a shame that for every thousand people that has that album, not even one has heard of this one. You cannot do a more awesome cover of a song than CII's extended arrangement of "Down to You" by Joni Mitchell, which improves on the original by two miles & a half. There are no two cooler hard-rock songs in existence than "Secret Places" & "Winds" with their relentless but completely tone-conscious & warm virtuoso guitar & drum attack topped off by perfect, mind-bending pipes-of-steel vocals. There is no greater rock singer alive than Mike Starr who, if he had stuck to it, would be as famous today as Ronald James Dio & David Coverdale. Don Airey, the keyboardist of CII, went on to play on Ozzy's Blizzard of Ozz & a hundred other heavy metal albums not half as progressive as SNF. As for Gary Moore, he's famous now for his cliched, boring blues albums, but if you want to hear Moore at his best, then SNF & the next two fusion barnstormers "Electric Savage" & "War Dance" are absolute musts. Jon Hiseman is the leader of the band & the only hold-over from Colossuem mark I, & he puts on a master class in showy fill-crazy rock drumming here. The point of this review is: if you want to experience the thrill of music that whups your rear so hard, it's sore for a week, get this album & crank it up to 11.

Good 70's British jazz-rock.......2000-12-29

Colosseum seem to be on the cusp of being forgotten. The band merits just over a column in 'The Penguin Encyclopeadia of Popular Music', but don't get a mention in 'The Rough Guide to Rock'. But they were a hub in many important personnel transfers of the period:

Dave Greenslade and Tony Reeves played for the original Colosseum and left to form Greenslade. Clem Clempson also left to join Humble Pie, replacing Peter Frampton. Gary Moore was a member of Colosseum II in between bouts with Thin Lizzy. Don Airey left CII to join Blackmore's Rainbow. Leader Jon Hiseman married saxophonist Barbara Thompson and played in her fusion band Paraphernalia.

The line-up on this CD is Hiseman, Airey, Moore, Murray and Starrs, in case your sleevenotes are, like mine, non-existent. The music is the usual partly convoluted fodder served up at the time by the likes of the Mahavishnus, Jeff Beck, Eleventh House and Return to Forever. At times the keyboards sound a bit Genesissy, and occasionally the sound is a bit Camelly. Goodness knows why they needed a vocalist -- maybe it helped at concerts to focus audience attention.

The standard of the musicianship is, as usual for the period, higher than most of today's. Dump the singer, improve the quality of the compositions slightly, and Colosseum could have been a jazz-rock supergroup. If you like this, you'll love Return to Forever's 'No Mystery' and 'Romantic Warrior'.

The 1970's..........2000-04-12

I bought this album sometime in the late 70's. I had heard something from this band late one night on the radio.. back when radio was a place where you could hear new and different types of music without the station being concerned if liked every tune they played.. anyway, I got around to buying one of their albums although not the one I heard that night. The album has some decent stuff.. but it's masterpiece is an absolutely stunning rendition of Joni Mitchels "Stange New Flesh". The band is very tight and the lead vocals have a soulful and gritty feel. The price is worth just having that one tune.

Amazing masterpiece!.......2000-04-11

Am I the first one to review this masterpiece? I can't believe it. I am a great fan of UK. There are so many great bands but only a few can be compared to UK(at least for me). CII is one of them. Great musicians' greatest playing and quite pretty melodies, what can I say more? Jon Hiseman's druming is amazing, Gary Moore and Don Airey showed their best shining moments in their carriers. Bass playing was fluent, too. And finally, why was Mike Starrs fired after 1st album? They would release 2 more excellent albums but I think this first one is the best! Strongly recommended! GO and Get it!

Average customer rating:

Strange New Flesh
Colosseum
Manufacturer: Castle Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B00000DQBX
Release Date: 1998-02-03

Average customer rating:

Strange New Flesh
Colosseum II
Manufacturer: Sanctuary
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000LX2LJ4

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