Galliard - New Dawn (1970) {2009, Remastered}

Galliard were in on the ground floor of the British progressive rock movement, releasing their debut album, Strange Pleasure, in 1969 and mixing jazz, rock, folk, and psychedelic influences. The following year, New Dawn pretty much picked up where its predecessor left off, with one key exception. The band had initially featured two wind players, Dave Caswell and John Smith; though Smith was absent from New Dawn, a whole brace of additional horn players had been brought in to augment the sound. This was during the period when the likes of Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears (and their British equivalents) were starting out, and brass-rock was all the rage. That's not to suggest that Galliard were trying to ride the brass-rock gravy train – their work is too skilled and varied for that – but simply that they were right in time for the Zeitgeist. Some cuts, like "New Dawn Breaking" and "Open Up Your Mind," make full use of the horn section, coming off like a cross between early Chicago and jazzy U.K. prog rockers Colosseum, but that's far from the dominant sound on this eclectic outing. Lead guitarist Richard Pannell's sitar work on "Ask for Nothing" contributes to a swirling Eastern atmosphere that seems soaked in a kind of psychedelic afterglow from the late ‘60s. "Winter – Spring – Summer" is an ambitious suite full of shifting dynamics and settings, while the gentle, acoustic-based "And Smile Again" echoes Jethro Tull or the more folk-oriented moments of Traffic. "Premonition" is a straight-up jazz-rock instrumental pushed along by Tommy Thomas' congas, where Pannell and the horns get to stretch out a bit. Closing track "In Your Mind's Eyes" (sic) opens with a couple of minutes of atmospheric, otherworldly tones before bringing things home with a blast of bold-faced, brass-filled prog rock. The striking thing is just how good Galliard were at all of the varied styles they attempt on New Dawn, but sadly, it was to be their last album.

~ James Allen, All Music