Well, the new Quarkspace album, All These Suns, has been out for a little over two months now, and we are pleased with the support. Check out these few fine reviews of the album posted in one place for your convenience.
Thanks again, and stay tuned for some upcoming news on the next two Church of Hed albums.
All These Suns #3 on Psychedelic Waves Top 3o Albums of 2018
All These Suns ranked at number 3 on the Top 30 Albums of 2018 list at Psychedelic Waves. Here’s their quick review of the album.
The legendary US space rockers return for the “first real Quarkspace album since 2001’s Drop.” 2018 finds the band in fine form weaving their distinctive brand of space rock with both composed and improvisational parts. Solar and majestic with all the brooding power of their classic works. – Jeff Fitzgerald
Legendary, majestic, and brooding. We’ll take it!
A Five-Star Review from Sea of Tranquility
Here’s a five-star review of the album from Pete Pardo at Sea of Tranquility.
Longtime fans of US space rock outfit Quarkspace can rejoice with the release of All These Suns, the first release from the band since 2001’s Drop, and now available digitally via their Bandcamp page (link below) as well as all major download & streaming services. The line-up for this release includes Darren Gough (guitar, vocals), Chet Santia (bass, guitars, vocals), Jay Swanson (keyboards, vocals), and Paul Williams (drums, keyboards, vocals), with special guests that include Carl Howard (synth), Stan Lyon (bass), and Carlton Smith (drums), each appearing on a few tracks.
The 12-minute title track is the centerpiece here, a piece that the band have played live many times, here a percolating mix of haunting space rock, folk, and jazz, with hazy vocals drifting in and out of the mix, dreamy keys & synths, wah-wah guitar solos, and plenty of tribal drums and percussion. One can totally envision this track taking on epic proportions in a live environment. There’s a nice blend of jazzy piano with bubbling electronica, busy drumming, and rock guitar on “Who Lost Frederick?”, while the lovely “The Prodigal Spaceman” will just sweep you away with glorious ’70s styled synth explorations and Mellotron sounds. It’s Tangerine Dream meets Hawkwind on the stunning “Solar Progenics”, spacey synth blips & bleeps colliding with heavy guitars, and the drifting “Watch For Swimmers” follows suit, with a dollop of Pink Floyd thrown in for good measure. Let us not forget just how well Quarkspace can throw some addicting grooves into their music too, which they do so well on “Starbridge Freaks 4” and the chilling “The Prodigal Galaxy”, the latter again tossing in some jazzy piano to match up with the haunting Mellotron, synths, booming bass, psychedelic guitar leads, and intricate drumming. And, wait until you hear the killer guitar solo on closing cut “Space Folds Upon Itself”…talk about going on a journey.
Honestly, not a weak track to be found here, and I can safely say that All These Suns is easily one of the best space rock albums I’ve heard in 2018. Hopefully it’s not another 17 years before we hear from this talented outfit again. Mandatory listening right here folks. – Pete Pardo, Sea of Tranquility
You heard the man. It’s mandatory listening, head on over to Bandcamp and give it a “spin.”
Jerry Kranitz chimes in with His Take on All These Suns
Jerry Kranitz used to publish Aural Innovations, a legendary resource on spacerock and psychedelic music. He still posts album reviews on that popular social media network that likes to sell your personal data. Let’s check out his review of All These Suns.
The long defunct Quarkspace lives on thanks to the archival efforts of original drummer and electronics maestro Paul Williams. Billed as the first ‘real’ Quarkspace albums since 2001’s Drop, All These Suns was recorded by founding members Williams, Darren Gough, Jay Swanson and Chet Santia between 2009-2014, with help from guests, including new bass parts added this past year by later Quarkspace guitarist Stan Lyons and keys by Williams.
Starbridge Freaks 4 opens the set with the trademark Quarkspace blend of propulsive, rhythmically grooving and cinematic soundscape flowing space rock. The 12 minute title track brought a smile to my face, being a classic Quarkspace blend of space jam and song, the likes of which we’ve not heard since Drop and the classic Hidden Moon album. Strumming acoustic and psychedelic bluesy electric guitars lead the way, along with a steadily drifting yet intense space/prog jamming vibe. It’s a pleasure to hear Chet’s haunting vocals again after all these years. And I like the nasty fuzz injection from Stan’s bass. Who Lost Frederick? is symphonically majestic, led by Jay’s piano, jamming guitar and a Star Wars mélange of electronics. The Prodigal Spaceman is shear space orchestral beauty, with Blues guitar and it’s given an industrial grunge edge by Stan’s fuzz bass. Solar Progenics features more luscious piano from Jay, ripping guitar licks, and space symphonic intensity, and I love the spaced out prog key melody.
Watch For Swimmers is beautifully mesmerizing and groove jamming, with a cool psychedelically shimmering Bluesy edge and corrosively soaring effects. The Prodigal Galaxy sounds like a space-orchestral sci-fi soundtrack, with a gorgeous combination of Jay’s piano, dirty Blues guitar, floating Mellotron keys, and eerie electronic effects. And Space Folds Upon Itself is classic Quarkspace high intensity yet meditative prog infused space rock.
Quarkspace may be long gone but as long as Williams plays curator to the unreleased material, I for one am happy to them keep comin’. I miss the days of yore when Quarkspace live shows happened regularly.” – Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
We miss those days of yore as well, Jerry. Sadly, there isn’t enough unreleased Quarkspace material left worth curating.
Expose Online Reviews All These Suns
Finally, Peter Thelen of Expose Online recently published the following review of the new Quarkspace album.
The long hiatus has come to an end; Quarkspace is back recording again. Frankly, oh me of little faith, I wasn’t sure they would ever be back. It’s been at least fifteen years since Node in Peril, and even a few more years since Drop, and with all the Church of Hed releases by Paul Williams… But let me say this: what we have here on All These Suns certainly rivals anything from their classic period from 1996 to 2001. The band features longtime bassist Chet Santia, also covering some guitar and lead vocals, longtime keyboardist Jay Swanson, Paul Williams on drums, synths, loops, keyboards, and the mighty “fake” Mellotron, plus backing vocals, and guitarist from an earlier era Darren Gough, who also features on backing vocals. Welcome back, all. In addition, veteran guitarist Stan Lyon joins on a few cuts, as does Carl Howard (analog synth) and Carlton Smith (drums on three tracks). The band members share the composition credits, and in fact much of what’s here sounds like a blend of composed material mixed with heady improvisation, but that’s much like it always was, a swirling psychedelic space rock with an abundance of keys and electronics, and it still works effectively. The title track is a sprawling 12-minute epic driven by guitars with shimmering undercurrents, a tune that the was part of the band’s live repertoire for many years, now given the studio treatment. “Solar Progenics” moves in mysterious ways, growing loosely over a piano based groove with fiery exchanges of electric guitar and synth, it’s a fine example of group improvisation. “Watch for Swimmers” is another improvised piece, following a groove set in motion by bass and drums, over which we have a cauldron of synths and effected guitars stirring the pot, the result being a dreamy slab of ordered chaos. There’s a lot more excellent psych to be found here, eight tracks in all, but you won’t find this in your local record store in any format. As for now and the foreseeable future, this will be available as a download only. – Peter Thelen, Expose Online
There you have it. A few new reviews of All These Suns for your reading pleasure. As noted earlier, stay tuned for additional news on the upcoming Church of Hed albums. Thanks for listening and reading!