01	captain ward						03:44
	02	dancing girl						03:49
	03	dance of the sandwitches						04:20
	04	iron lady						04:38
	05	two sisters						05:25
	06	wicked spring						03:50
	07	old man flint						03:30
	08	villemann						04:34
	09	battle mountain breakdown						02:54
	10	the journeyman						05:35
	11	between us						04:22
	12	royal oak						04:00

Tempest - Balance

Released: 2001
Label: Magna Carta
Cat. No.: MAX-9053-2
Total Time: 50:47


Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, April 2001
Fans of Jethro Tull will be delighted to hear there is a brand new album by Tempest filled as always with loads of Celtic elements, yet with a drive that is so reminiscent of all Magna Carta artists. In the last twelve years this Californian band has released nine CDs and played well over 1000 gigs (that's one thousand to you!) to critical acclaim all over the world.

Fronted by a Norwegian singer, who also plays a double-necked mandolin, and a Cuban drummer, Tempest fuses Irish and Scottish influences together with a Skandiniavian approach topped by American professionalism. Take the great jig "Dancing Girl" with some outstanding violin to boost. Trying to keep the balance between folk and traditional rock'n roll, Balance is indeed the ideal title for the band's new album with the instrumental "Dance Of The Sand Witches" an ideal example of how the Tempest music really sounds like. Just listen to that wonderful guitar here which blends together with violin and the driving force of the drums. Pure witchcraft with even a dash of Arabian atmosphere thrown in for good measure!

The intro and feel of "Iron Lady" in a way could also be vintage Rush but then singer Leif Sorbye rubs shoulders with Ian Anderson and we're back to square one. There's also a nice "balance" where traditionals are concerned, as this album contains one Irish ("Two Sisters"), one Scottish ("Captain Ward") and one Norwegian ("Villemann") traditional. The album is produced by Robert Berry with whom Leif already collaborated on the Jethro Tull tribute album To Cry You A Song where Leif accompanied Robert on bodhran during his rendition of "Minstrel In The Gallery". Robert returned the favour during the Tempest version of "Locomotive Breath" were he played keyboards. [Berry also produced and played on Tempest's Turn Of The Wheel (1996) and The Gravel Walk (1997) - ed.] So the band and Berry go a long way which smoothens the situation in the recording booth giving way to a nice album.

"Old Man Flint" is a fierce jig with all the right ingredients to really please a demanding audience, but my favourite certainly has to be the stomping, fast "Battle Mountain Breakdown" which sounds more like Malmsteen meets Rhapsody than anything folky I've heard in my life. The album closes with the folk fireworks of "Royal Oak," another great example of how well the violin works within the enjoyable music of Tempest.

I wouldn't say Balance is the absolute best Tempest album ever as this wouldn't be fair to the other great music they have released but I can say that by working together with Robert Berry and by putting everything into perspective the band has come up with an album which will certainly do very well and will introduce new fans to their incredible music. Sad that so many of their older titles are OOP. Maybe Magna Carta will one day re-release these little gems so they can be placed next to their big brother Balance.

[Read also Steph's and Keith's reviews of this title -ed.]

More about Balance:

Track Listing: Captain Ward (3:34) / Dancing Girl (3:50) / Dance Of The Sand Witches (4:19) / Iron Lady (4:39) / Two Sisters (5:26) / Wicked Spring (3:49) / Old Man Flint (3:28) / Villemann (4:35) / Battle Mountain Breakdown (2:53) / The Journeyman (5:35) / Between Us (4:22) / Royal Oak (4:00)

Musicians:
Lief Sorbye - lead vocals, acoustic and electric mandolins and octave mandolas, harmonica, bodhran
Adolfo Lazo - drums
Todd Evans - electric and acoustic guitars, harmony vocals
William Maxwell - fretless and fretted basses, bass pedals, keyboards
Jim "Hurricane" Hurley - fiddle

Guest:

Robert Berry - B3 Hammond organ, synthesizer, harmony vocals

Contact:

Website: www.tempestmusic.com
Note: will open new browser window

Discography

Springdans (1987) (Lief Sorbye)
Bootleg (1991)
Serrated Edge (1992)
Sunken Treasures (1993)
Surfing to Mecca (1994)
Across The Borders (1994) (Sorbye)
Turn of the Wheel (1996)
To Cry You A Song - A Tribute To Jethro Tull (1996) contrib. one track
The Gravel Walk (1997)
Caliban (1998) (Sorbye & Michael Mullins)
10th Anniversary (1998)
1999 Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival (1999) (only available through Tempest)
Balance (2001)





Tempest - Balance

Released: 2001
Label: Magna Carta
Cat. No.: MA -9053
Total Time: 50:47


Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck, September 2001
Tempest has a new release; it's a Balance of the old and new. With modern sounds of progressive rock and traditional Celtic folk music, Tempest offers a wee bit of the past, and a plentiful helping of the new. It's all done Celtic style.

With the sweeping success of the stage play Riverdance, world-folk music became more acceptable, and popular. Groups like Tempest are now in perfect position to seize the moment. This group has been around for several years, and their music has been critically acclaimed, although not on large scale. It has, nevertheless, been recognized for its value and content. Perhaps now, after getting a few albums (3) under their belts with the progressive rock label Magna Carta, the name Tempest will become more recognizable on a world level, like they so richly deserve.

I could really see a balance between the old and the new on this CD, not specifically with genres, with several different aspects of the musical universe. I could see that by allowing themselves to take off on a musical departure, forgetting about the tale to tell, letting everyone in the group go on cruise control, and giving their astute musicianship a chance to shine, proved to be really good for the band. Some of the instrumentals are the result of this musical freedom. "Battle Mountain Breakdown" and "Royal Oak" (which is a medley of jigs) are real instrumental charms.

They really show all of their colors and hues as a complete group, with a horn-of-plenty made up of song and dance, to offer up the faithful. A live performance by this group must be a sight to behold. I think they have found the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow. Get ready, because the journey has just started, and there are many more rainbows to be discovered. They stand as one with their music and heritage. They have readily established themselves as storytellers and prog rock-world music maestros. St. Patrick is smiling upon these lads. I just know it.

[Read also Bobo's and Steph's reviews of this title -ed.]

More about Balance:

Track Listing: Captain Ward (3:34) / Dancing Girl (3:50) / Dance Of The Sand Witches (4:19) / Iron Lady (4:39) / Two Sisters (5:26) / Wicked Spring (3:49) / Old Man Flint (3:28) / Villemann (4:35) / Battle Mountain Breakdown (2:53) / The Journeyman (5:35) / Between Us (4:22) / Royal Oak (4:00)

Musicians:
Lief Sorbye - lead vocals, acoustic and electric mandolins and octave mandolas, harmonica, bodhran
Adolfo Lazo - drums
Todd Evans - electric and acoustic guitars, harmony vocals
William Maxwell - fretless and fretted basses, bass pedals, keyboards
Jim "Hurricane" Hurley - fiddle

Guest:

Robert Berry - B3 Hammond organ, synthesizer, harmony vocals

Contact:

Website: www.tempestmusic.com
Note: will open new browser window

Discography

Springdans (1987) (Lief Sorbye)
Bootleg (1991)
Serrated Edge (1992)
Sunken Treasures (1993)
Surfing to Mecca (1994)
Across The Borders (1994) (Sorbye)
Turn of the Wheel (1996)
To Cry You A Song - A Tribute To Jethro Tull (1996) contrib. one track
The Gravel Walk (1997)
Caliban (1998) (Sorbye & Michael Mullins)
10th Anniversary (1998)
1999 Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival (1999) (only available through Tempest)
Balance (2001)



Tempest - Balance (2001)

Genre-blending is something often found in progressive rock. The genre itself is often defined as a blend of rock with jazz and/or classical music. Individual bands often draw from easily identifiable multi-genre influences. Sometimes, the results are outstanding. Other times (like the album I am about to discuss), they are less so. Tempest meets rock with Celtic/folk music, although it often sounds merely like Tull-meets-Dregs. The music is heavily reliant on "Hurricane" Hurley's fiddle, with guitars and mandolins in more of a backing role. The folk elements are very heavy here, more so than most other so-called "folk-rock" bands.

Mixed in with the band's original compositions are some arrangements of traditional songs, including the pirate romp "Captain Ward" and the old folk song "Two Sisters". Though these arranged tunes separate Tempest from the pack, they are also easily the weakest material on the album. Vocalist Lief Sorbye has the uncanny ability to be annoying. His delivery seems almost comical, reminding me of singing from a Monkey Island game (which, incidentally, "Captain Ward" itself reminds me of though I greatly prefer Michael Land's soundtracks to that silliness). He also seems to be able to make bad lyrics painfully conspicuous, undermining my best attempts at ignoring them.

Not inconsequentially, the two instrumental tracks on the album ("Dance of the Sand Witches" and "Battle Mountain Breakdown") are the best moments on the disc. Both are entertaining, up-tempo scorchers, and while neither of them contain a whole lot of development, they are fun little rides nonetheless.

Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets. Tempest's folk-rock shtick wears thin well before the end of the album. Too many of the songs traditional or otherwise seem too similar, and the music would not be terribly out of place in use as Disneyland "Frontierland" muzak. While Tempest is reputed to be a sizzling live band, this album gives all too few glimpses at that potential. - *Legion* [April 2002]













Serrated Edge
Artist Tempest
Album Title Serrated Edge
Date of Release 1992
AMG Rating
Genre Folk
Tones Reflective, Organic, Literate, Sophisticated, Earnest
Styles Progressive Folk, Contemporary Folk, Prog-Rock/Art Rock
Time 42:23
Library View Click here to see this album in MARC format
Product Purchase Click here to buy this album

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Here is an American band in the tradition of Fairport Convention during their Leige and Leaf sound. They play "Raggle Taggle Gypsy," "The House Carpenter" and "Tam Lin" with electric abandon and sound like an electric Irish bar band cleaned up for the studio. - Richard Meyer

1. Hal-An-Tow (Traditional) - 4:10
2. Raggle Taggle Gypsy (Traditional) - 3:57
3. A Kiss in the Morning Early (Traditional) - 3:23
4. Reels on Fire (Traditional) - 3:03
5. The House Carpenter (Traditional) - 6:53
6. Whiskey in the Jar (Traditional) - 4:28
7. Dark Lover: Love Song to a Vampire (Lackey/Sorbye) - 3:20
8. Tam Lin (Traditional) - 5:09
9. Mad Tom of Bedlam (Traditional) - 3:50
10. The Ballydesmond Set [medley] (Sorbye) - 4:10



Tempest - Arranger, Producer
Q
Lief Sorbye - Flute, Mandolin, Composer, Vocals, Whistle (Instrument), Mandola, Tin Whistle, Electric Mandola
Ian Butler - Bass
Michael Demmers - Producer, Engineer
George Horn - Mastering
Mercedes Lackey - Composer
Adolfo Lazo - Percussion, Drums
Teri Lee - Producer, Executive Producer
Michael Mullen - Fiddle
Robert Wullenjohn - Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Gut String Guitar
Irene Young - Photography
Larry Dixon - Title Graphics
Luciano Tempesta - Producer

1993 CD Beacon BCN-10100-2
1995 CD Firebird 10100
1995 CS Firebird 10100
CS Beacon BCN-10100-4






Tempest - Balance
Artist: Tempest
Title: Balance
Label: Magna Carta MAX-9053-2
Length(s): 51 minutes
Year(s) of release: 2001
Month of review: [04/2001]

Line up
Todd Evans - guitars, harmony vocals
William Maxwell - bass, pedals, keyboards
Jim "hurricane" Hurley - fiddle
Adolfo Lazo - drums
Lief Sorbye - vocals, mandolins, harmonica, bodhran
with
Robert Berry - b-3 hammond organ, synthesizer, harmonmy vocals


Summary
Compared to Gravel Walk and the 10th Anniversary Compilation, quite a bit of line-up changes. Maybe that is why it took them rather long to return with a new studio record.

The music
The album opens loudly with plodding folkrock and an organ in the back. Typical folkrock I guess with the folky vocals of Sorby. Dancing Girl is a bit too simple for me, but the instrumental Dance Of The Sand Witches (and you can add your own pun there). Very technical and fast and delivered with verve we hear some Arabic melodies and the electric guitar also gets to play it notes. Think of dervishes here.
The tenseness of the previous track lingers in Iron Lady, but this track is much slower. Quite nice. Back to playfulness in Two Sisters. A bit bluesy, but also tame. Wicked Spring does not bring much new.

Organ and drum rolls feature on the melodic instrumental Old Man Flint where the pace goes up continuously. Melodious and Norwegian is the traditional Villeman. A nice variation because of those lyrics.

Battle Mountain Breakdown is Tempest at its most furious on this album, but The Journeyman is tame folk again. A bit like the folk equivalent of A Horse With No Name.

Between Us is a a somewhat Greek sounding ballad. Nice, but the closer Royal Oak is much better. A strong instrumental finale.

Conclusion
It is telling that the instrumental tracks are the most likable and interesting to me. Here the band shows its prowess and the self similar typical folk vocals are not present. The instrumentals are really quite good, but being in the minority...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c Jurriaan Hage



Tempest, "Balance"
Magna Carta, 2001

These are the times that try a man's soul and so you've got to have music to come between you and the times, something that makes you smile even if it's not entirely light fare. Such is the case with Tempest's newest release, "Balance," an appropriately-titled CD if ever one existed. There's balance here between the light and heavy, the comic and tragic, the simple and the complex.
Featuring the delicately wizened vocals of Lief Sorbye (who also plays mandolin, octave mandolas, harmonica, and something called bodhran) Balance may remind listeners of Renaissance, Fairport Convention, and the most eclectic moments of early Gentle Giant. Of course, there's more to this record and this band than mere imitation, for they work with traditional folk instruments but never lapse into the kind of Celtic/folk/acoustic music clichйs that other bands often do. There's something special about a group that can mix smiles with prog on "Wicked Spring," "Old Man Flint," and "The Journeyman," foot-stomping metallic riffs ("Battle Mountain Breakdown," "Captain Ward"), and still find time to cover a tune by folk legend Phil Ochs ("Iron Lady").

Maybe it's the way that Todd Evans attacks his guitar, maybe it's the way that Jim "Hurricane" Hurley fiddles his way through the entire record, as though his life depended on it, or maybe it's just the nature of all those elements plus the cheery drumming of Adolfo Lazo and the inspired bass and keyboard playing of William Maxwell, or the way that they bravely take on a Norwegian folk song, but I have fun each and every time I listen to this record (the grim "Iron Lady" being the one exception)-something I can say about few others. (And so what if Sobrye doesn't have the prettiest voice in rock? It's certainly one of the most honest.)

If you haven't done so, check out Balance and make sure you catch Tempest live when they make their way to your town.


Reviewed by:
Jedd Beaudoin, jrbwriter@yahoo.com
10/29/2001