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Live at the Cleveland Agora — Harmonie Magazine, Issue #11 (France) An abrupt work, that is difficult to evaluate from what is on this album. It is hard to visualize what St. Elmo’s Fire realized in their performance at the Cleveland Agora in 1980. The first track is brutal, violent (heavy), and deranged. This expert/connoisseur progressive band is aggressive indeed. Imagine the sound of Hawkwind unchained/unleashed. The music changes imperceptibly in circles/cycles similar to King Crimson. The guitar is cast in an adventurous evolution of torture, sliding towards unchained outbursts of apocalyptic sounds that approach Fracture or Larks’ Tongues In Aspic. The overall feel is that this is the blackest, darkest of all the U.S. progressive bands. The music is tough, arid and without concession. |
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Live at the Cleveland Agora — Marquee Magazine, Issue #31, 1989 (Japan) Their fast paced music succeeds in the tradition of the progressive rock genre. Also, it can be compared to King Crimson’s style of music since they push the guitar sound rather than keyboards. Because of the live recording, this album may not fascinate you enough, but if you look at each player individually, they make the audience very interested in them. Their exciting performance contains a precise ensemble and accordingly all five members have very high technique. Although the total playing time is short, it is worth listening to all four tunes on this album. Particularly impressive are A-2 (The Balrog), which they say was inspired by Tolkien, and B-2 (Fantasy Come Reality) which has a Genesis style middle part. The members are: Paul Kollar, bass. Erich Feldman, guitar synth. Mark Helm, drums. Elliot Weintraub, guitar & vox. Stephen John Stavnicky, percussion, synth & vox. |