1995 (WMMS - Music Is Intelligence)
Tracklisting:
1. X-Ray - Fever (Intro)
2. Atomic Prayer
3. Hotel Hunger
4. Last Spring (also http://s45.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0QTT4M5N0SYI83L6ZLFJKFBK8O )
5. Die Flucht
6. Adam
7. One Night And A Dream
8. Dear Julia (also http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=06QSB9MZJ3MDI1JAOR2LVV2WOS )
9. Sunlight
10. L.O.V.E. (Outro)
I would either recommend a "lost/hidden/blabla" u.s. heavy/power/thrash metal gem from the 80s, an "obscure" prog/kraut/folk whatever 70s album, or a 90s album from a band that should have been famous and have thousands of fans praising its name. I chose the third option, because i think it has more chances to be liked (by more people here at least), than the first 2.
Mayfair come from Austria. They started as a "typical" progressive metal band with their demo that was totally influenced by Watchtower. Their first album "Behind" had obvious influences by the great Texans, but it focused more on sentimental songwritting, rather than technical. Their second album "Die Flucht" (in some copies it is called "The Escape") was released in 1995, and it was a bigger than huge, step forward for the band. Its style in this album can be described as "progressive rock" but then again, it doesn't remind any other prog rock band. It is not wanky, not even technical, its song structures are simple (it even has totally catchy songs), so are the arrangements. Drums, bass, guitar melodies (really few riffs) and the unbelievable voice of Mario. Mario's voice is a fucked up and lunatic mix of Geddy Lee and Brian Molko (yes the one of Placebo), yet he is a better singer than both. His voice follows no rules, no boundaries and no restrictions, just what his soul dictates him, and his performance is one of the most emotional, painful, deranged and intense i ever heard from a singer. The music is built on the incredibly inspired guitar melodies, the rhythms are mostly groovy and sooooooooooometimes pretty progressive. Mayfair in this album sound like noone, yet there are some almost clear influences from the most melodic moments of Rush. This is an album that will be liked (to say the least) by many: Progressive rock/metal fans, fans of Radiohead, post rock whores, generally anyone who likes melodic, highly intense and emotionally powerfull music. The band's next album "Fastest Trip To Cyber Town" was more progressive, more experimental and took the band in a higher level of creation. Of course the group was too ahead of its time and (like many others) it disbanded, with only some prog fanzines/magazines realizing the masterpieces that they created.
"Die Flucht" (and all their albums) is out of print, but you can find it on Ebay in ridicoulus prices, or in some store if you are lucky (for example: I saw a copy of it in a non-metal record store in Milan last September, for only 5 euros, and a friend of mine bought it from a supermarket in Germany 2 years ago).
