Norwegian hard rock band formed in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1969 and active until 2014. Its members came from Norway and Great Britain. Norway is not precisely the cradle of
Progressive Rock, but a band formed in 1969 when the genre was still on diapers, a group of musicians from Oslo, decided to form a Hard Rock band inspired in legends such as LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE, but gave a step forward and created a unique sound that blended all this influences with this genre and a strong Psychedelic element.nd active until 2014. Its members came from Norway and Great Britain.
The group formed in Norway in 1969. Its members were Kenny Aas (organ & bass guitar) (born Kjell
Olav Aas, 1947), Kjell Asperud (percussion & vocal), John Lorck (drums), Janne Løseth (guitar & vocal) Roy Robinson (lead singer) and John Williamson (bass & guitar). Janne Løseth was the band's primary songwriter and Roy Robinson its main lyricist. In October 1971, Titanic reached Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart, with their instrumental track, "Sultana" in the style of Santana.
But their recording career had started a year before with the self titled debut. By that point TITANIC had recruited the British vocalist Roy ROBINSON, who not only gave them a more
international sound allowing the band to reach the UK and North American markets, but turned into a compositional force of the band. Their second album "Sea Wolf" is released in 1971, after this album Kenny AAS leaves the band and is replaced with Helge GRØSLIE with whom they release their definitive "Eagle Rock" in 1973 in which they present us a clearly Psyche, Heavy Prog release and a mature sound with an impressive Hammond performance and chorus in the vein of URIAH HEEP.
The band dissolved in 1979. Janne Løseth started a solo career, releasing singles including "Take Me Down" (bw. "Nobody's Man"), and "I Wished I Was a Poet" (bw. "Dancing Girl"), which featured his operatic vocal, and then became the lead singer for the French electronic band Space, best known for its
1977 album and single Magic Fly. In 1991, Løseth and Robinson reformed Titanic and recorded the album Lower the Atlantic. The album was re-released as Heart of Rock in 1993. This Titanic reunion was short lived. In 2006, Løseth reformed Titanic with three additional members: Mick Walker, Phil Wilton, and Didier Blum. Roy Robinson later joined and this quintet released the single "I'm the Law" in the same year. Their album Ashes and Diamonds was released on 20 February 2009 in Europe. A strong Hard Rock and Psyche band with evident Prog leanings that deserves to be included in Prog Archives, mainly for their early 70's releases.
01. TITANIC - TITANIC 1970
Norwegian Titanic were a great band with great musicians. Like Tasavallan Presidentti and Wigwam from Finland,Lake from Germany and Culpeper's Orchard from Denmark,they had an English singer/lyricist.I
guess to appeal to a wider fanbase. Titanic was big at home and France and Africa supposedly. On this their first album it sounds like they made a tribute soundwise to their favorite bands without making covers.They made songs that could be totally mistaken by the bands that we may have thought they were. There are hats of to mainly Santana, Procol Harum,Beatles, Cream and Jethro Tull it seems. Even Booker T. This may sound like a turnoff,but these guys pull it off in such a style, that is very convincing and they make the playing field totally their own.
Titanic – Titanic
Label: Repertoire Records – REP 4909
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 2000
Country: Europe
Released: 1070
Genre: Rock
Style: Hard Rock, Prog Rock, Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Searchin' 6:59
Written-By – Janny Loseth, John Lorck, Kenny Aas
02. Love Is Love 4:15
Written-By – Kenny Aas, Kjell Asperud
03. Mary Jane 4:31
Written-By – Kenny Aas
04. Cry For A Beatle 2:08
Written-By – Kenny Aas, Roy Robinson
05. Something On My Mind 5:46
Written-By – Janny Loseth, Kjell Asperud, Roy Robinson
06. Firewater 2:38
Written-By – John Lorck, Kenny Aas, Roy Robinson
07. Schizmatic Mind 2:51
Written-By – Janny Loseth, John Lorck, Kenny Aas, Kjell Asperud
08. I See No Reason 8:15
Written-By – Kenny Aas, Roy Robinson
BONUS TRACKS
09. Half Breed 4:16
Written-By – Kenny Aas, Roy Robinson
10. Santa Fe 2:56
Written-By – Janny Loseth, John Lorck, Kenny Aas, Kjell Asperud, Roy Robinson
LINE - UP
Kenny Aas / Organ
Kjell Asperud / Drums
John Lorck / Drums
Janne Loseth / Guitar
Roy Robinson / Vocals
Flac Size: 287 MB
02. TITANIC - SEA WOLF 1972
After the surprising self titled debut (surprising because Norway's Rock was practically unknown), TITANIC managed to maintain the same lineup and went for a more mature release which was named
"Sea Wolf".
This album came after the success of the Santana oriented single "Sultana" which was the B side of a less famous track named "Sing Fool Sing" that has been added to "Sea Wolf only as bonus track, a song that was well received in Spain, Holland, Germany and other European counties and allowed TITANIC to be known outside Norway.
Titanic – Sea Wolf
Label:Repertoire Records – REP 4842
Format:CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered 2000
Country:Europe
Released: 1972
Genre:Rock
Style:Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock, Hard Rock
TRACKS
01. Sea Wolf 5:54
Written-By – Loseth, Lorck, Aas, Asperud, Robinson
02. Underbird
Written-By – Loseth, Kenny Aas, Robinson 4:30
03. Confusion 2:59
Written-By – Aas, Robinson
04. Sultana 4:12
Written-By – Titanic
05. Hanging Over 3:16
Written-By – Loseth, Aas, Robinson
06. Covered In Dust 3:14
Written-By – Loseth, Aas, Robinson
07. A Stones Throw 2:06
Written-By – Loseth, Aas
08. Scarlet 3:59
Written-By – Aas, Robinson
09. Exiled 3:43
Written-By – Aas, Robinson
BONUS TRACK
10. Sing Fool Sing 3:22
Written-By – Titanic
LINE - UP
Kenny Aas / Organ
Kjell Asperud / Drums
John Lorck / Drums
Janne Loseth / Guitar
Roy Robinson / Vocals
Flac Size: 260 MB
03. TITANIC - EAGLE ROCKK 1973
Being a Symphonic fanatic, my relation with Hard Rock (even if Prog Oriented) is a mixture of love and
distrust, mostly because I'm not too fond to the extreme loudness, but the first time I listened "Eagle Rock" by the Norwegian band TITANIC, was only able to say WOW, while rising my jaw from the floor. Their sound is a mixture of late 60's Psyche, based in frenetic but brilliant Hammond performance, Hard Rock with outstanding guitar solos and Progressive Rock with chorus a la URIAH HEEP, a structure close to DEEP PURPLE and very elaborate arrangements. After their second release "Sea Wolf", the
keyboardist Kenny Aas leaves the band and is replaced by "Helge Groslie" who obviously feels more comfortable with Progressive Rock and the Hammond than his predecessor, and incredibly has no problem taking the place of a capable musician and long term friend of the rest of the members. This band has a real sound of his own even if their style are quite reminiscent of the great hard/heavy rock bands of the era (I already pointed this out in a previous review of their work).
Titanic – Eagle Rock
Label:Repertoire Records – REP 4881
Format:CD, Album, Reissue 2000
Country:Europe
Released: 1973
Genre:Rock
Style:Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Prog Rock
TRACKS
01. One Night In Eagle Rock 7:45
Written-By – Siggs, Loseth, Robinson
02. All Around You 3:56
Written-By – Siggs
03. One Of Your Kind 5:27
Written-By – Siggs
04. Heia Valenga 1:36
Written-By – Siggs, Groslie, Loseth, Lorck, Asperud, Robinson
05. Dying Sun 6:15
Written-By – Siggs
06. And It's Music 3:14
Vocals – Arica Siggs/Written-By – Siggs
07. Richmond Express 3:36
Written-By – Loseth, Robinson
08. Maureen 6:12
Written-By – Siggs
09. The Skeleton 2:30
Written-By – Siggs, Groslie, Loseth, Lorck, Asperud, Robinson
BONUS TRACK
10. Rain 2000 3:44
Written-By – Aas, Robinson
11. Blond 5:34
Written-By – Aas, Robinson
12. Macumba 3:51
Written-By – Williamson, Robinson
13. Midnight Sadness 3:44
Written-By – Loseth, Robinson
LINE - UP
Bass – Arica Siggs
Drums – John Lorck
Guitar – Janny Loseth
Keyboards – Helge Grøslie
Percussion – Chappy Asperud
Vocals – Roy Robinson (tracks: 1 to 5, 7 to 13)
Oh la la...i don't know...thank you Josef
ReplyDelete