Saturday, February 14, 2009

Taï Phong - Taï Phong [1975]


I had a request the other day for some killer rare symphonic prog, Taï Phong jumped to mind. These guys' backgrounds are a little odd, in the sense that they are a French band founded by the Vietnamese brothers Kahn and Taï Ho Tong. The mystery here is not why this album was never very popular, but why it is not highly regarded among fans of the genre. This is truly a symphonic progressive masterwork, with plenty of good playing and writing, but mostly excelling in the arrangement category.

The music is an excellent mix of Yes, with added Floyd like atmospheres. Hell, lead singer Khanh has even has a higher vocal pitch than Jon Anderson and he is not afraid to let it rip! Be this good or bad it certainly is a thing to behold. The playing is absolutely first rate. These guys knew how to write and craft prog.

Link: http://sharebee.com/7a451e71

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're perfectly right - the song Sister Jane was a big hit in the seventies in my home town Berlin - but only there. On no.1 on the radio charts for months, and a dancing floor filler in the prog clubs - mostly in combination with the Doors' Riders on the storm - blending the thunderstorm sounds of the 2 tracks.
Thanx for the memory !

Anonymous said...

Frenchman Jean Jacques Goldman, who shared the writing credits, went on to be a very successful solo artist in France. Unfortunately very much a pop artist - don't go there IMHO.

Hugh Munn