Cressida Cressida

Cressida was known as a British progressive rock group for the obvious reason that this is exactly what they were, but this album shows what set them apart from most of the competition – they were fun. The songs may have been serious and complex, and the mix of organ and Mellotron with classical-style acoustic guitar and melodies derived from classical and folk traditions may have intersected with the Moody Blues and King Crimson. But their approach was so upbeat and cheerful (even songs with titles like "Depression") that the stuff had the ambience of finely crafted pop/rock – a lot like the first Bee Gees album, which is not surprising since Ossie Byrne, who produced that record, also produced this one.

More highly melodic progressive rock, this time built around longer songs and extended instrumental passages – among the latter, "Munich," which was alternately titled "Munich 1938: Appeasement Was the Cry; Munich 1970: Mine to Do or Die," was surprisingly accessible at nine minutes and change, built on Peter Jennings' extended organ cadenzas embellished with John Culley's crisp electric guitar flourishes, all wrapped around a pleasing array of melodies that easily carry the song's length. The three extended numbers that comprised the original LP's side two also make for fascinating listening, Angus Cullen's McCartneyesque vocals calling to mind the Moody Blues in their prime, while the band's hard, at times slightly jazzy, instrumental attack evokes echoes of Caravan with, perhaps, a touch of the most energetic of Deep Purple's Jon Lord-spawned classical experiments.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a 2CD Anthology by the legendary Progressive Rock group Cressida. One of the finest groups to sign to the legendary Vertigo label in 1969, Cressida’s unique Progressive Rock style earned them a loyal fan base in the early 1970s, with their legend growing over the ensuing decades and their followers growing, with notable aficionados including Mikael Akerfeldt of the band Opeth. The roots of Cressida were sown in March 1968, when guitarist John Heyworth answered an advertisement in Melody Maker, and later travelled to London to join The Dominators. With vocalist Angus Cullen he settled down to some serious writing, eventually welcoming bassist Kevin McCarthy and drummer Iain Clark to the fold and now calling themselves Charge…

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
Cressida’s short career will be unfortunately unnoticed, despite having a lot of trumps in their hands. Just two albums, but both fetching small fortunes (partly due to the fact that they were released on Vertigo’s Swirl label), but the music quality is simply excellent on both records although there are very notable differences between them.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the first ever CD released of Trapped in Time, a collection of rare demos and recordings made in 1969 by the legendary band Cressida. The band would later sign to Vertigo records, recording two classic albums for the label. Trapped in Time reflects the very first recordings made by the band prior to signing to Vertigo and was previously released as 500 limited edition LP. Featuring a line-up of Angus Cullen (vocals), John Heyworth (guitar), Kevin Mccarthy (bass), Lol Coker (organ), Peter Jennings (organ on tracks 3,4 & 5) and Iain Clark (drums), this Esoteric Recordings release features two extra tracks not included on the original vinyl LP and a booklet that features a new essay and rare photographs and coincides with the band’s first ever performance in the United States in early October.

Tragic love story: after her celebrated album with Benjamin Britten's “Sinfonia da Requiem”, the Lithuanian star conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla is dedicating her latest release to a composition by William Walton that has hitherto hardly been noticed in this country: the opera “Troilus and Cressida”. The stage work is full of energy, drama and surprising twists. First performed in 1954 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the opera soon fell into oblivion and is no longer on the repertoire of major theaters. The publisher of William Walton must have guessed what was in the work, because after the composer died in 1983, his publisher suggested the music writer and arranger Christopher Francis Palmer to create an orchestral suite with the musical highlights of the opera.

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
5 stars CRESSIDA’s “Asylum” is a wonderful example of early British symphonic progressive rock. This 1971 release mixes catchy Paul McCartney-esque vocals with adventurously colorful instrumental passages.