Short Reviews [Jeremy - 2024 - "Mystery of the Seven Stars"]

One of the real delights of Jeremy is that when a CD arrives (yes, he still sends out physical CDs to review, and 30 years ago he was sending me cassettes!), one can look at the artwork and try to guess what the music is going to be like but until it is on the player one rarely knows. Lyrically I felt this was going to be religious, something which was confirmed when checking the words in the booklet, but it was when I turned it over to look at the track listing that I felt I knew what was coming as we only have seven songs, but a total running time of more than 70 minutes. Yes, Jeremy Morris has taken a time out from his psychedelic power pop albums or his guitar-driven or piano-driven instrumentals, and here we find him again taking a foray into progressive rock. He is again accompanied on this journey by his long-time friend and drummer Dave Dietrich, but Jeremy provides everything else. This album has an early Seventies feel, and there is no doubt that many people will point to early Pink Floyd and Hawkwind as being influences, but then they have been given the psychedelic and pop touch which Jeremy is so well-known for, and the music is not nearly as dark and deep as one may expect. So much so that this is a real crossover album which will attract fans of both genres who may not normally imbibe of both. It is musically light-hearted, designed to give the listener something to smile about as opposed to frowning in concentration as they follow Jeremy through his message. Any album containing Mellotrons is enough to get a proghead interested, and we have plenty of those, while Dave is a great drummer who provides plenty of fills to keep the interest as Jeremy provides vocals, guitar, bass, piano, synthesisers and of course, Mellotron. Jeremy has a vast catalogue, and unless I go to my shelves, I have no idea how many I have reviewed, but let's just say 'lots'. But there is quality control at work, and even though it is not unusual for him to release four or more albums in a year they are always worth listening to and if you have yet to appreciate his works then this is a good place to start.