A little known masterpiece from the Dutch
“Beyond Expression” by Finch
Not a very artistic or impressive cover art for an album but that only belies what lies beneath in the record/CD.
By the way, it’s been a long time since I made a post. I have been busy mostly due to the move into my new home. Now that I have almost settled posts on great-anonymous-albums.com should come quicker but let me see.
If someone were to say to you that the greatest keyboardists of the world were John Lord (Deep Purple), Keith Emerson (Emerson Lake and Palmer), Rick Wakeman (Yes) and or Tony Banks (Genesis) then you could tell that persion that it is like saying that the only beautiful women in this world are the ones who end up in the top 5 of the Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. It is unfortunate that whenever we talk or write about rock music we look only towards the U.K, U.S.A/Canada and a few other english speaking countries. But doesn’t that make it outrageously silly that non-english speaking countries hardly have anything to do with rock or rock n’ roll. What were other musicians doing in other countries at the same time when the “rock” revolution” were going on? Simple answer: They were into “rock” as well. But lack of english speaking and poor marketing (barring a few big bands such as ABBA, A-Ha from Scandinavia, AC/DC, Inxs, Men At Work from Australia, the Reggae legends from the Carribean and several other similar groups) many great bands from other nations have hardly been given their due.
One such band whose album is in review is Finch, the progressive rock act from the Netherlands who lasted only four years, from 1974 till 1978. The band was founded by Peter Vink on Bass (his inspiration, Chris Squire, bassist of Yes and also played the similar Rickenbacker RM1999 bass as his idol) and Beer Klasse on drums (influences – Mahavishnu Orchestra, Cream). After a few initial members they finally settled with the 19 year old wonder who auditioned on guitars, Joop Van Nimwegen (influences – Stewe Howe of Yes, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Alvin Lee, John McLaughlin), and Cleem Determeijer on keyboards who was pursuing music studies at the Academy of Music in his country.
Lack of vocals did not stop Finch from making music. In all they released only three studio albums. My pick of the three will be this one, “Beyond Expression” their second album. It was more matured than their debut. Certainly it will be difficult to believe this one came from Netherlands although the Dutch are aware that they were never behind the top bands of the times when it came to Progressive Rock. However to the rest of the world they remain anonymous. Finch did have some fan following during their world tours but they soon disintegrated and have been almost lost in oblivion.
This is one album worth a listen if you are into progressive rock. There are only three songs in this album and in true prog-rock style are timed 20.05 minutes, 8.51 minutes and 14.24 minutes. The music is a wonderful mix of great riffs, exciting moments, music played at incredible speeds, and music that is both exhilirating and beautiful in melody. Cleem Determeijer on keyboards and Joop Van Nimwegen on guitar stretch their instruments to the maximum and you cannot help admiring their talents.
A description of the three songs:
1. A passion condensed - 20.05 minutes
Not a very impressive 5 minute intro but let that not fool you into what’s coming. After that upto the 8.5 min mark the slow and mellow instrumental takes over and gets even more slower into an acoustic delight on guitar and keys till the 11.00 minute mark. Then drums and bass join in and culminates with a soul touching blistering lead guitar solo from the guitar prodigy that goes on till the 13.00 min mark only to fade into the acoustic tune started before the song. This goes on till the 15.00 minute mark. Then they are joined by drums and bass slowly taking the concluding tune using the lead guitar to its conclusion with soulful and great playing. At 17 mintues the tempo changes to a quicker pace this time Cleem on the keyboards doing the honours in the beginning and later joined by Joop. At 18.20 the organ and guitars trade classic licks to get back to the earlier tunes for a conclusion in style.
2. Scars on the ego - 8.51 minutes.
Starts of like a fire engine/police car sound gradually moving into a sound typical of 70′s deep purple/Uriah Heep with riffs, organ bass and drums and the works. 2 minutes after the intro a peaceful acoustic on piano/guitar remeniscent of Genesis in their progressive days goes on (making the tunes remind you of days of peace and serenity and of other such quiet days gone by). Bass and drum join lightly after 2 minutes but go full bloom when the lead guitar takes off for another soulful face-melter at 6 minutes and to return to the melancholic acoustic they started with. Once again they go back to the earlier 70′s sound riff then change the pace to a quick drum beat with muffled lead guitar doing its speedy works to be joined by some synthesized keys. both then join, and conclude.
3. Beyond the Bizzarre – 14.24 minutes
Starts in a slow organ style. Guitar joins the lovely tune. After the intro and at 3 minutes a different tempo and keyboardist takes over in another Genesis like tune. Guitar once again joins in and together play some tunes together in the only slightly boring part of the album. At 6 minutes the music stops and a melodious piano takes over, setting the scene for the next onslaught where the lead guitar takes the limelight. Others join in to make good music together. 8 mins later music changes course. You also hear some synthesized siren sounds from Cleem with ocassional bass and cymbals. A mini Pink Floyd effect fills the room. This is followed by acoustic sound guitar chords and piano/synthesizer. The acoustics are beautifully supported by cymbals/bass that soon turn into another instrumental with lead guitar taking lead. Meaningful tunes are belted out. Keys join to keep echoing the tunes till the musicians bring it to a nice conclusion.
Actually the descriptions of the songs have their best effect if you are listening to the music as you read. If you are looking for a rare album from a non-english speaking country that was missed, this is the one.
Check for Finch’s albums at UnlimitedDownloadCenter.com where you can even download it for free.
