Post Description

Due to the date of release of their only album "Oceanworld" in 1998, anybody could believe AUTUMN is a new band trying to recreate the glorious sound of the pioneers from the 70's, so when a friend lend me their CD, I was expecting some Yes or Genesis wannabees.

Great mistake easily discovered when reading the credits, this band dates from 1974 and was formed by the guitar player Mark Easton who apparently had designed and art cover for Caravan and later made a career in Blues, but only became a real band in 1976 when Nick Magnus in the keyboards (Ex Enid who would later join Steve Hackett's staff), Robbie Dobson on the drums (Ex Enid who would later join HAWKWIND) plus Steve Hoff in the bass, in other words, almost a super group that followed the general rule of dream teams becoming a nightmare.

Their style is a product of the era, Punk already had wounded Progressive Rock, but this guys wanted to continue performing the music they loved, but they had to write something softer and less complex than what the pioneers did.

At a first listen they make me remember the style of FOCUS, specially because Mark Easton has obvious Jan Akkerman influences, but there's something from the early brilliance of Genesis, and certainly Camel or Happy the Man, provided by atmospheric keyboards of Magnus, the problem is that they seemed to light for the older progheads that were expecting something closer to their early heroes and too complex for a new generation that would later embrace Neo Prog.

In their album they include a booklet that recognizes this, they admit that it was no longer the time for the music they pretended to play and that was the reason why they never were able to release an album and around 1978 - 1979 they split leaving around 40 minutes of music that would only be released 21 years later.

If AUTUMN would have started two years later, probably the history would be different, but that's a prove of how fast things change in the surprising world of music, at least we can enjoy "Oceanworld" a pretty good album ideal for progheads interested in beautiful melodies and the lighter side of Symphonic.

Studio Album, released in 1999

Songs / Tracks Listing 
1. Oceanworld (13:08) 
2. Some Like It Crunchy (8:34) 
3. Little Finger Excercise (8:35) 
4. The Celebrated Court Jester (4:15) 
5. Oceanworld (Reprise)(1:30) 

Total Time: 36:10

Line-up / Musicians 
- Nick Magnus / keyboards 
- Robbie Dobson / percussion 
- Steve Hoff / bass 
- Mark Easton / guitars 


Thanks to original poster