This week I want to feature the self-titled first album by the Dutch band Trace which came out in 1974. The rise of the band Focus in the seventies meant that some of us her in the UK began to look to see what else Holland had to offer in this field. We had heard of Ekseption and it was with the demise of that group and the departure of Pierre Van Der Linden from Focus that the line up for this album came about. Ekseption didn't want (the late) Rick Van Der Linden (a sort of Dutch Keith Emerson) for some reason and so Phillips gave him the opportunity to forma new band. He tried working with the Ekseption drummer but that failed. Then with Pierre Van Der Linden (second cousin of Rick they now say; I had thought they were completely unrelated) and Jaap Van Eik (bass) forming a trio he got it together with this album. (They were to have been Ace but the name had been taken so someone suggested Trace). The album was no Moving Waves as far as success was concerned but I just loved it and still do. They did come to Cardiff but it was prayer meeting night so I didn't join my friends for that. What I like is the reworking of Bach, Grieg and folk tunes from Scandinavia and Scotland plus the obligatory solos for bass and drums. The synthesisers sound dated now but were state of the art then an can still sound good. Much later copies of the album add two bonus tracks. Two further albums were produced after this one with altered line ups. This is by far the best.
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