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Rating: 
Summary: I haven't reviewed it.
Review: I am tempted to buy this CD, but only if this is the same band that produced an album in the 80's or 70's called "Get Your Dog Off Me". I can't find the album available for sale anywhere. Is this the same band?
Rating:
Summary: I haven't reviewed it.
Review: I am tempted to buy this CD, but only if this is the same band that produced an album in the 80's or 70's called "Get Your Dog Off Me". I can't find the album available for sale anywhere. Is this the same band?
Rating: 
Summary: Act One
Review: This is the first album for Beggars Opera and in many ways carries on from the Nice in musical terms. The music is definately progressive rock with heavy influences from classical music (their name is taken from an opera by John Gay).If you like you music with pomp and circumstance aplomb you will love this album. Vinyl copies now change hands in England for £30 upwards. Further albums did not neccessarily live up to Act One with the notable exception of the tongue in check "Get Your Dog Off Me" which surely is due for release on CD.
Rating:
Summary: Act One
Review: This is the first album for Beggars Opera and in many ways carries on from the Nice in musical terms. The music is definately progressive rock with heavy influences from classical music (their name is taken from an opera by John Gay). If you like you music with pomp and circumstance aplomb you will love this album. Vinyl copies now change hands in England for £30 upwards. Further albums did not neccessarily live up to Act One with the notable exception of the tongue in check "Get Your Dog Off Me" which surely is due for release on CD.
Rating:
Summary: The Beggars Opera Masterpiece
Review: This is the one to start with!!! Beggars Opera began their career as an excellent heavy organ/guitar prog band that used a lot of classical motifs (even "borrowing" little segments of light classical music). On "Act One" they serve up an intense (mostly instrumental) over-the-top, vintage rock with frantic drumming, blistering guitar and powerful organ. This is their MOST organ-driven record. I love some of those "carnival" sounds achieved by Alan Park. Some of the long instrumental jams recall early Deep Purple, not least because Ricky Gardener achieves a plaintive sound like Ritchie Blackmore which works well over pulsing keyboards and "galloping" rhythm section. Singer Martin Griffiths is the mad ringmaster of this pomp carnival. His vocals would be given much more space on later albums. The album relies on intense instrumental blowouts rather than smooth production or studio effects. Its raw, "period" sound will appeal to lovers of organ-driven British prog. The Cd bonus tracks include "Sarabande", which was released as a 45 in Europe (where the band was much more popular). I've enjoyed this album from the time I first heard it and will always consider it to be THE definitive Beggars Opera. It's good all the way through, while the other albums just had a few "shining moments".
Rating:
Summary: The Beggars Opera Masterpiece
Review: This is the one to start with!!! Beggars Opera began their career as an excellent heavy organ/guitar prog band that used a lot of classical motifs (even "borrowing" little segments of light classical music). On "Act One" they serve up an intense (mostly instrumental) over-the-top, vintage rock with frantic drumming, blistering guitar and powerful organ. This is their MOST organ-driven record. I love some of those "carnival" sounds achieved by Alan Park. Some of the long instrumental jams recall early Deep Purple, not least because Ricky Gardener achieves a plaintive sound like Ritchie Blackmore which works well over pulsing keyboards and "galloping" rhythm section. Singer Martin Griffiths is the mad ringmaster of this pomp carnival. His vocals would be given much more space on later albums. The album relies on intense instrumental blowouts rather than smooth production or studio effects. Its raw, "period" sound will appeal to lovers of organ-driven British prog. The Cd bonus tracks include "Sarabande", which was released as a 45 in Europe (where the band was much more popular). I've enjoyed this album from the time I first heard it and will always consider it to be THE definitive Beggars Opera. It's good all the way through, while the other albums just had a few "shining moments".
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