Circus – Circus(1976 Eclectic Prog • Switzerland)Full Album

Circus biography Formed in 1972 in Basel, Switzerland - Disbanded in 1980 Coming from the NW Switzerland city of Basel, on the language border between the Alemanics and the Romands, this unusual quartet of musicians has a strange line-up. Hauser is one of the better percussionists (still playing but in jazz bands nowadays), and bassist Cerletti (the only non-Alemanic in the band) is certainly excellent and plays acoustic guitar. The other two, Frei and Grieder, share the wind instruments with the vocals. That's it! No KB and almost no electric guitars, at least on the first two albums. They had started with keyboardist Stephan Amman in their line-up, but he left before their first S/T recorded album. An album which developed a raunchy progressive rock somewhat similar to VDGG, AUDIENCE or GNIDROLOG. Their second album "Movin' On" is certainly a couple of notches above, and not just in terms of production composing values, but the sidelong eponymous suite is a major tour de force. Their original member Stephan Amman returned for their third album, "Fearless, Tearless And Even Less" and the results are convincing, even if the songwriting is not quite as excellent. They also found time to release a live album with an extended line-up, but this changed the usual band sonics. This group is one of the real gems still unknown to most progheads, developing a fusion between classical and rock much like early MANEIGE did, but also includes some influences from VDGG (mostly the sax but sometimes also the singing) and also KING CRIMSON to a lesser extent. Please also check the ensuing project called BLUE MOTION, where a lot of the band is present. For decades, CIRCUS recorded legacy remained un-reissued (other than pirate labels), because of one of the band member (undisclosed reasons). But in later years, the Japanese labels Big Pink, Belle Antique and now the Polish Chickasic have reissued their catalogue, sometimes with bonus tracks. Studio Album, released in 1976 Songs / Tracks Listing Side A 1. Stormsplineter 00:00 2. Nowadays 03:01 3. Sundays 13:50 Side B 4. Dawntalk 20:50 5. Room For Sale 26:04 Line-up / Musicians - Roland Frei / lead vocals, 6- & 12-string acoustic guitars, tenor saxophone - Andres Grieder / flute - Marco Cerletti / bass, bass pedals, guitar - Fritz Hauser / drums, vibes