Ypsilon - "Metro Music Man" (Philips 1977)

The Greek trio Ypsilon (not to be confused with the German band Epsilon) was formed by former Aphrodite's Child drummer Loukas Sideras together with brothers Axis and Lakis Vlavianos. Musically they were quite different from other keyboard-based trios. Instead of complexity and breathtaking instrumental passages, they focused on tightly structured and song-oriented sophisticated pop/rock. Some songs on their first and only album "Metro Music Man" are fairly comparable to Procol Harum, especially "Morning Sunrise", "The President" and "Tender". But they also managed to develop a style more of their own on the more synth-dominated tracks, such as "Day of the Dove" and "Gambling Daddy". "Silver Swan" is a fully orchestrated song with a grandiose finale, and stands as the most symphonic moment on the album. The sweet and romantic "Corners of My Life" has a more typical Mediterranean feel to it, while the powerful "Ms. Lopez" and the almost danceable "Losing Sight" shows the trio from their most upbeat side. The title-track is a song about the hard life of a street-singer in Paris, and the mood and sound of the song fits perfectly to that. The impressively consistent and even songwriting together with good musicianship makes "Metro Music Man" a little gem of late '70s high quality pop/rock.


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