Instrumental
International relevance: ***
Following the demise of Malmö based
Asoka who released a very rare and sought after album in 1971,
guitarist Robert Larsson and keyboardist Claes Ericsson went on to
form Lotus, abandoning the heavy rock of their former band in favour
of an all instrumental straight up progressive sound.
”Lotus” is a less organ oriented
album than one would expect, the emphasis being on the guitars which
are sometimes heavy, sometimes lyrical and melodic, as in the case of
the quirky ”At El-Yago 9-3”, and of album highlight, the Zappa-esque ”Zero”. However, Ericsson gets his chance to show off his skills
in ”Ungersk dans”, suggesting Dave Stewart of Arzachel/Egg was a
major inspiration of his.
There's no doubt about Lotus being a
very tight unit, pulling off every track with an effortless grandeur.
But while their collective chops may be alluring to some – quite a
few even, judging by a couple of reissues prompted by the price tags
usually attached to copies of the original pressing – the
cleverness and aptitude soon get boring to anyone not merely into
applauding their well rehearsed efficiency. Still ”Lotus” is a
far more listenable effort than their second album, the fusion
permeated and impossibly overbearing ”Vera O'Flera” released by a
different line-up in 1976.
"Lotus" was released on CD with bonus tracks in 2002.
"Lotus" was released on CD with bonus tracks in 2002.
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