Colosseum

Within the varied history of progressive rock, little has ever really been said about Colosseum, a British band that -- for various reasons -- has always been less well known than the scene's giants. The reasons probably have to do with the group's short period of activity (from 1969 to 1971, before their 1997 reunion) and the lack of CD reissues under their name before 1991, but perhaps also the fact that they were among the first to venture into territory that was still (almost) completely unexplored didn't help their cause either.

Formed in London in 1968 by drummer Jon Hiseman, Colosseum debuted the following year with "Those Who Are About To Die Salute You," a decidedly rock-blues LP with jazz influences. It certainly wouldn't have gone down in history on the strength of their debut alone, but that same year they released "Valentyne Suite," the album that would forever remain their undisputed masterpiece, as well as the first rock record to use the word suite in its title.

It was November 1969, just a month after King Crimson had debuted with “In The Court Of The Crimson King“, an album often considered (though not unanimously) the official starting point of the prog-rock era, yet one that lacked anything that could be defined as a suite. That said, this doesn't mean Colosseum were the first to attempt a rock version of the classical suite. Back in 1968 – a year earlier – Procol Harum had already recorded “In Held Twas In I”, eighteen minutes split into five movements, featuring their trademark baroque sound, an intro in the typical psychedelic-raga style of the era, and the remaining movements playing out like different songs skilfully stitched together as in a collage. That same year, Keith Emerson's Nice released “Ars Longa Vita Brevis”, nineteen minutes divided into five movements that come very close to classical music (Bach's Brandenburg Concertos), but which come across more as a showcase for virtuosity than the starting point for a new idea of the rock suite. From this perspective, then, Colosseum got there first, offering a new take on the suite as a small, cohesive concept piece (constrained by the physical running time of one side of a vinyl record, so around twenty minutes), allowing musicians maximum freedom within it while still keeping a common thread running through the movements.

In “Valentyne Suite”, the standout is therefore the title track, which opens up the uncharted territory mentioned earlier. Territory that would go on to become genuine common ground for encounters and clashes among all the prog bands attempting to record ever more complex suites, as if locked in a continuous challenge with one another. The title track of “Valentyne Suite” (seventeen minutes split into three movements), certainly the most ambitious and adventurous composition of their short career, opens with the movement “January’s Search”, featuring keyboard and vibraphone joined by two saxophones, with rhythms ranging from orchestral jazz to improvisation, gradually building into a genuine instrumental tour de force that would only later come to be called progressive.

After around six minutes, the second movement begins, “February’s Valentyne”, opening with a choral theme magnificently underscored by keyboards and sax that seem to foreshadow something of Pink Floyd's “Atom Heart Mother“, before arriving at a twisted, fugue-like finale.

The third and final movement, “The Grass Is Always Greener”, is the longest (almost seven minutes) and – after a brief, vaguely psychedelic guitar interlude – closes with a commanding instrumental finale that sounds like a joyous fanfare, unwittingly ushering in a decade of suites that would go down in history as the golden age of prog.

Faced with such greatness, it's clear that side A of the album pales by comparison, even though it contains solid hard-blues tracks like “The Kettle”, at times spiced up by Dick Heckstall-Smith's saxophone, which lends a jazz flavour (“Butty Blues”). But it's precisely thanks to the visionary title track, dedicated to the stunning Valentyne on the cover, that Colosseum's story will forever stand as a significant piece in the epic tale of the emerging progressive rock movement.

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30/04/2023