Abel Ganz - Back From The Zone (F2 Records)

From Glasgow, Abel Ganz have been around on and off for a few years, and were Alan Reed’s band before Pallas.

Onto the album, it is a kind of greatest hits outing, and a fine introduction to the band for anyone. The songs have lasted well into the 2000-year mark, and the recordings show their age a little, but lets not get too technical, the songs are fantastic in their original form.  In the ‘80s, Abel Ganz were in the shadow of many bands like IQ, Marillion, Pendragon, Twelfth Night just to name a few, but to many people, could be compared to those bands in a way that they had, say, a ‘Gentle Giant’ status compared to Yes, Genesis and Emerson Lake and Palmer in the 70s.

From the 7 tracks, 5 are in their original form, apart from a re-recorded version of The Pretender recorded last year, and a new track Ventura. It seems they are moving towards a folk type of sound, and I feel this will work with the current line up. 

So, for those of you who know Abel Ganz, it is worth getting it for the above tracks alone, but for the ones who don’t know them, it is worth getting as a great sampler and a piece of great 80’s prog. Just listen to the two classics Little By Little and the Ganz song everybody loves The Dead Zone.

I feel it is a good idea to have released this, as it should see a few sales and establish a good following in the UK and overseas.

Danny Mayo

Abel Ganz

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