Quatermass - Monster In Paradise (1974)

Quatermass only released one album, but it's long been regarded as a classic of the progressive rock era. The trio consisted of bass player and vocalist John Gustafson, keyboardist J. Peter Robinson and Mick Underwood on drums, and like Emerson Lake And Palmer from the same era, they were one of the very few bands to do without a lead guitarist. Underwood had previously played with Ritchie Blackmore in the Outlaws, while Gustafson had been a member of The Big Three and The Merseybeats. Underwood later became drummer with Episode Six, and was joined by Gustafson after Roger Glover left to join Deep Purple, so all the links were already in place for Ritchie Blackmore to suggest that Deep Purple record 'Black Sheep Of The Family' for their 'Stormbringer' album, but this idea was rejected and it eventually became the first song to be recorded by Blackmore's next band Rainbow. The Quatermass sound was very much a power trio with Hammond organ as the main instrument, although some tracks on the album were enhanced by classical strings, especially 'Laughin' Tackle', which included 16 violins, six violas, six cellos, and three double bass, all arranged by Robinson. Following the release of the album the band issued one more single 'One Blind Mice' / 'Punting', and then disbanded. 
They briefly reformed in 1974 for a US tour, playing songs from the album alongside new material, and 'Bluegaloo/Broken Chords/Scales' is a live recording from that tour. 'Afraid Not' is a rehearsal take from 1970, and 'Monster In Paradise/Up On The Ground' is another live recording, which isn't quite as good soundwise as the other live take, but is a quite astounding piece of music, and fans of the band who haven't already found this on Youtube really do need to hear it. There isn't a huge amount of spare material from the band so this collection isn't one of my best compilations, but they were such a great outfit that any scraps are worth hearing, and if you've never heard of them before then check out the 'Quatermass' album to hear one of the best ever progressive rock records. 

Track listing

01 One Blind Mice
02 Punting
03 Bluegaloo/Broken Chords/Scales
04 Afraid Not
05 Monster In Paradise/Up On The Ground/Monster In Paradise (Conclusion)