InsideOut Music has created a small but valid (and valuable) side business via its "Special Edition" line of reissues. Among the latest titles to receive this treatment is More Than Meets the Eye, the debut album from British neoprogressive rockers Jadis. In addition to a remastered version of the original seven-song album, this comes with a 13-track bonus disc containing rare and previously unreleased material.
With ties to IQ and Marillion – keyboardist Martin Orford and bassist John Jowitt are also members of IQ, and Marillion's Steve Rothery produced early Jadis demos – Jadis emerged with More Than Meets the Eye in spring 1992. It's full of flowing yet complex melodies and plenty of light and shade. With nontraditional song structures ("Hiding In One Corner") and long instrumental epics ("Holding Your Breath"), the album fits the neoprog mold of the time. But More Than Meets the Eye is actually more exciting to listen to than some of its peers from the period, thanks in large part to guitarist and vocalist Gary Chandler's crisp and friendly singing. Jadis didn't (and still don't) distance themselves from the music or the audience. It's a credit to the band that the same lineup that recorded More Than Meets the Eye also recorded the most-recent Jadis record, 2003's Fanatic.
The bonus disc includes the eight Rothery-produced demos, recorded between 1987 and 1989 (which wound up on a 1989 limited-edition vinyl release), an early version of "This Changing Face" and a very rough version of "The Beginning and The End." Jadis also shows off its sense of humor with "Baboon Enquiries," two bits the band used to intersperse songs on two cassettes it recorded early on. Liner notes from Chandler fill in the holes and lend the package added context. As a historical document, this "Special Edition" certainly is "more than meets the eye."
Track Listing
Disc One:
1) Sleepwalk
2) Hiding in the Corner
3) G.13
4) Wonderful World
5) More Than Meets the Eye
6) The Beginning and The End
7) Holding Your Breath
Disc Two:
1) This Changing Face
2) Follow Me To Salzburg
3) Scratching the Surface
4) Taking Your Time
5) G.13
6) Out of Reach
7) Don't Keep Me Waiting
8) In the Dark
9) Lost For Words
10) This Changing Face
11) Baboon Enquiries (One)
12) The Beginning and The End
13) Baboon Enquiries (Two)
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