Review Summary: T2 was one of the great mysteries of prog. This album is a forgotten gem of the 70’s.
T2 was a British prog rock band formed in London. Their career took place between 1970 and 1972, then between 1992 and 1997. The band was formed in 1970 around former musicians from Bulldog Breed, Bernard Jenkins and Keith Cross and from Please, Peter Dundon. They were first called Morning. They changed their name to T2 because there was already a US formation with the same name. The success was immediate. T2 begins an important tour which sees them notably performing at the Marquee Club. In the meantime they recorded their debut album “It’ll All Work Out In Boomland” with four long tracks, where one occupies an entire side of the vinyl. It displeases Decca that decided not to promote the album. This decision was fatal to them. They separated before the departure for a great American tour.
T2 has a very curious, interesting and original story. In the 90’s, many forgotten bands had something like a second chance. One of such bands was T2. However, it wasn’t the first moment when audiences discovered T2’s work. T2 could enjoy their moment of fame back in the early 70’s. In fact, T2 is even to some extent a contradiction of the fate of most formations, about which we currently learn at most from deeply buried in Internet fan sites of enthusiasts. T2 didn’t release their album on their own. Its circulation did not amount to several dozen vinyls distributed to friends and families. T2 had no problems finding a record label. And even so they didn’t escape. The record label lost interest in T2 almost immediately after the release of “It’ll All Work Out In Boomland”. The album wasn’t promoted and the vinyls rarely found their way to music store displays. And so, all the circumstances created for T2 could not survive.
Refined is probably the best way to describe the music on “It’ll All Work Out In Boomland”. T2 played it with passion, expertise and a feeling, reflecting the essence of the presented music too well. In T2’s music, the dominant element that basically determines the reception of the pieces are the almost improvised parts that broaden and give character to the often catchy and quite compact leitmotifs. T2 has achieved an almost perfect balance between the extensive and the virtuoso progression mixed with the psychedelic and typically hard rock music focused on great riffs and catchy licks.
T2 were one of many power trios of that era, a popular configuration for bands back then, both in terms of economics, and logistics. T2 starred the prodigious talents of guitar wrangler Keith Cross, and were led by drummer, vocalist, and composer Peter Dunton. Keith should stick to the guitar, as his mesmerising fretwork is something to behold. Dunton, who, combining the conduct of the rhythm section with singing, turned out to be an extremely competent singer. Much of this is due to Dunton’s awareness of his limitations and not going beyond the range of the voice available to him.
“In Circles” opens the album, giving a good insight into the style dominating on the album with an unusual ability to combine often rough riffs with a perceptible gentleness. This is the 70’s hard rock more complex than the protagonists of UK hard rock at the time. The tune’s haunting vocals, pounding drums and versatile, virtuoso guitar define the T2’s sound. “J.L.T.” is completely different. It has a slightly different, softer tune, with Cross playing piano and a light orchestral backing as the track progresses. It’s somewhat psychedelic and with the vibraphone there is even a kind of floating jazz note. “No More White Horses” is a cover of a tune originally done by Dunton and Jinks in their previous band. The original three and a half minute psychedelic rock track was transformed by T2 into an eight and a half minute progressive masterpiece. In addition to the solid rock, there are psychedelic elements and even a brass support. It closes the tune and side one of the vinyl albums. Side two consists of a single track, the twenty one minute magnum opus “Morning” which gives each band’s member a chance to show off their chops. It’s basically divided in two parts, with a slow acoustic opening that leads into a mid-tempo rock song with more free-like hard rock chords. Taken as a whole, this is really a good piece of psych/hard rock which begins gently with soft guitar and vocals before becoming a roller coaster ride of twists and turns, with glorious playing. It’s an incredible ending to an amazing album.
Conclusion: You don’t have to mystically glorify all projects of the early 70’s. But some deserve more attention than others. T2 is such a band with their album “It’ll All Work Out In Boomland”. The special mix of hard rock, psychedelic and prog made this trio so attractive. They aren’t progressive like Genesis or Yes or even King Crimson but more like the psychedelic bands of the late 60’s. With just over 44 minutes, it gives the impression of being much longer, mainly due to the intensity of the music it contains. The team didn’t manage to repeat this level of expression and the original line up of T2 quickly went down in history, not fully using its potential. Fortunately, we have a debut to which every self respecting music lover of the 70’s should return many times. I would advise the album to every classic prog rock fan.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
