Early '70s Pop Rock: The Tremeloes - Master 1970 (2007 Fruitgum2000)

The Tremeloes apparently regard Master as their best album. It marked the point where they tried to redefine themselves in a much heavier guise. In place of covers of Four Seasons material and rousing singalong-type numbers, the group delivered a dozen originals that were close in spirit to Crosby, Stills & Nash, steeped in singer/songwriter-style personal lyrics and self-consciously heavy playing, and a very serious attitude.

 The result is something akin to the kind of music that Badfinger was starting to do at the time, though perhaps still lacking the identifiable personalities that Pete Ham and Tom Evans brought to their work. The playing, especially by guitarists Alan Blakley and Rick West, is often quite beautiful, and as are many of the melodies -- the major exception to the latter statement is the most self-consciously pretentious track on the album, "Boola Boola," a protracted Jimi Hendrix-style guitar jam. Both that track and the Elvis Presley-inspired "Baby" fail to mesh with the rest of what's here, but most of Master is above average melodic hard rock. (Bruce Eder, allmusic.com)

What you get to hear on the album is above average good pop rock but no melodic hard rock in my opinion. Of course there are some harder guitars here and there (like in the opening song ''Wait For Me'' or also in ''Try Me''. But even in these songs pop shreds shimmer through again and again. And ''Boola Boola'' has nothing in common with Hendrix except maybe the use of a Wah Wah here and there.  Apart from that you usually get very good pop rock. Maybe it really is the best Tremeloes album, in any case it seems to be their most independent one. Four fat stars out of five. Enjoy.(Frank)

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