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Lake - Lake

Lake

The debut album by Lake was released in 1977 (in North America), and I picked it up in 1980 or 1981 - I can't remember exactly, but it was my senior year of high school. The first time I heard of the band was when I bummed a ride with a buddy when our art class went on a field trip. This was when you could still load up a car and drive off the school lot. Anyway, he had a cassette copy of the album, and he really liked the song "Jesus Came Down," which was odd to me as he swore like a sailor with Tourette's syndrome.

Anyway, it was a bit of a drive (these things are relative in a small town), and I got to hear most of the album. True to his word, "Jesus Came Down" was indeed a pretty awesome song. In fact, it was a really solid album, and I played it a lot. Over time, I'd end up with a few of their albums. I didn't play the second album as much - although I've not heard it in over forty years - and their third album, Paradise Island, I really liked too. Oddly, when I finally found Lake on CD, it was one of those two-in-one things, and it was their first and third albums, so I may not have been alone in dismissing their sophomore effort.

At the time, I didn't know they were an English/German band. I just thought they were the German version of Supertramp without all the unnecessary saxophone solos, but their harmonies would have felt at home on a Little River Band album, and at times a little bit like Yes. The songs were neatly fitted into the mid-'70s pop genre, and these guys were as good as or better than most of what I heard on the radio. The songs were good, and the lead-off track, "On the Run," comes out of the gate with a great groove and a killer guitar solo. Apparently the song "Time Bomb" got some airplay, but didn't really blow up (come on, you know I couldn't resist) on the charts. The closing track on side one, "Do I Love You?" is an awesome power ballad, with some great guitar work.

Side two is three songs, one of which is the song that sold me on the album. The big surprise was the nearly eleven-minute "Between the Lines," which didn't feel overlong or boring. It was the '70s, Al Stewart could drop "Nostradamus" and Supertramp "Fools Overture," so there was no reason Lake couldn't stretch things out a little if they wanted. The guitar solo here still makes me smile. If keyboards are your thing, there's enough finger gymnastics here to give you a grin too. Heck, the introduction sounds like it was lifted from Jon Lord from Deep Purple. It's a great piece of music.

I'll be honest here, I'm listening to this for the first time in a long time, and I'd actually forgotten it was this long. I never really thought about it. I just pulled out the album and put it on, and as I read the back cover I was a little surprised the album had only eight songs.

I should list the boys in the band. After all, they should at least get some credit where credit is due.

  • Martin Tiefensee - bass guitar
  • James Hopkins-Harrison - lead and backing vocals
  • Alex Conti - guitar, vocals
  • Dieter Ahrendt - drums, percussion
  • Geoffrey Peacey - keyboards, vocals, guitar

Since I didn't have the internet or anything, there was really very little information other than what you could pick up from the credits. All I knew was these guys were as good as anyone out there, and it's too bad they didn't get a wider audience. James Hopkins-Harrison had a great voice, and he was perfectly fitted to the music the band was writing. It was just unique enough to not sound like every other singer out there.

The other great surprise was Alex Conti on guitar, who could play a mean guitar and knew what was needed for the song. Nothing was needless wanking or overplayed. The songs were also grounded with a lot of keyboard work that was at times very prominent and at others just holding things together - the opening notes to "On the Run" let you know this wasn't just like every other band.

Of course, I don't want to dismiss the rhythm section. Dieter's drumming is solid and thick and was wisely recorded clean and crisp. It's right in the pocket with Martin Tiefensee's bass, which was a little more elaborate than anchor notes but was never distracting or out of place.

This really is a pop gem and a lost classic.

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