England ~ Garden Shed

England are one of those long lost prog bands who only lasted for one studio album. “Garden Shed” was released in 1977 which was not the best year for releasing a prog album. However, the album has gained much attention over the years and was released on CD by the band back in 2005. For that issue, they used Tony Arnolds 1997 master and packaged it in a 7-inch sleeve with a 20 page booklet containing newly restored artwork not included in the original LP release. That has since sold out and is very hard to obtain.

Now I have come across a new version, released this year on Piper Records who seem to be based in Estonia! So not sure on the legitimacy of the release, but it is available on a few on-line shops. There is a web address on the packaging but that doesn’t seem to work. This version is packaged in a nice digipack with 8 page booklet which includes the lyrics but very little else. The sound though is pretty good, so not sure if it has been remastered or is taken from another source. There are two bonus tracks in the shape of the 1976 Olympic Studio recording of “Three Piece Suite”, which was included in the 2005 release and an excellent instrumental “Nanagram” which I believe was the b-side to the single "Paraffinalea". I have also seen some references to the track being called "Nanogram".

This is a very good slice of late period prog rock. Quite pastoral, with lots of excellent synth and mellotron work. I always regretted not getting the 2005 issue when it came out, but for now this edition will suffice until hopefully the band decide to re-release the special edition again.

England Web Site: http://www.gardenshedmusic.com/