Release date: December 1970
Label: Vertigo Records
Producer: Gerry Bron
Length: 38:04
Genre: progressive rock/jazz rock fusion
Rating: 8.5/10
Colosseum’s fourth album, “Daughter of Time,” was born in a turbulent stretch that saw them burn through three bass players in a short span, and it was their first with Chris Farlowe on lead vocals. Farlowe, who took the lead vocal load off Dave “Clem” Clempson, was a major boost for the English prog pioneers, since he was already a successful solo artist and a hugely respected singer. The charismatic vocalist joined Colosseum just as they were sacking original bassist Tony Reeves during the making of “Daughter of Time” — Reeves later went on to join Greenslade and Curved Air.
Reeves’s spot was filled first by Louis Cennamo (ex-Renaissance) and then by Mark Clarke, later of Uriah Heep, Tempest and Mountain. Uriah Heep fans know Clarke mainly as the co-writer of the classic “The Wizard,” and after Colosseum reunited in the mid-nineties, he became their most dogged and dedicated bassist. Saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith already had one foot out the door too, so drum maestro Jon Hiseman, who would later establish himself as the unofficial Colosseum chief, called in his own wife Barbara Thompson to help out on flute and extra saxophones.
Colosseum’s sound on “Daughter of Time” got even more colorful thanks to a more frequent use of lavish symphonic arrangements, which you can already hear on the incredibly intense opener “Three Score and Ten, Amen,” while Farlowe’s mighty singing pushes the mood of most of the tracks to be even more dramatic than before. Blues elements became rarer in favor of jazz fusion and symphonic touches. “Time Lament” is soaked in a melancholy atmosphere, further heightened by Farlowe’s inconsolable vocal approach, while combative rhythmic shifts and rich sax-and-keyboard arrangements keep ratcheting up the tense drama. “Take Me Back to Doomsday” puts a great piano solo front and center, while the title track is distinguished above all by regal symphonic arrangements and yet another passionate vocal performance from one of the best British rock singers of his day.
Even though it was made while the cult band was already falling apart at speed, “Daughter of Time” was a thoroughly solid effort, serving up plenty of interesting and fun moments and pulling Colosseum further away from their blues roots. With a lineup featuring Farlowe and Clarke, Colosseum also made the live album “Colosseum Live” (1971), which was their last act before the split. Just when it seemed they would belong forever to some romantic, long-gone musical era, they returned to the scene in 1994 — right when the spread of the internet and its growing offerings were slowly sparking renewed interest in progressive rock — and stayed active, in the studio and on stage, until breaking up again in 2015, a split finally sealed by Hiseman’s death in 2018.
Review by: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Three Score and Ten, Amen (5:38)
2. Time Lament (6:13)
3. Take Me Back to Doomsday (4:25)
4. The Daughter of Time (3:33)
5. Theme for an Imaginary Western (4:07)
6. Bring Out Your Dead (4:20)
7. Downhill and Shadows (6:13)
8. The Time Machine (live) (8:11)
Colosseum:
Chris Farlowe – lead vocals (on 1,2,4,5,7)
Mark Clarke – bass guitar (on 1,5,7)
Dave “Clem” Clempson – guitar, lead vocals (3)
Louis Cennamo – bass guitar (on 2,3,4,6)
Dave Greenslade – organ, piano, backing vocals
Dick Heckstall-Smith – soprano and tenor saxophone, spoken word (1)
Jon Hiseman – drums, percussion
Tony Reeves – bass guitar (8) [uncredited]
Barbara Thompson – flute, alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, backing vocals (on 1,2,3,4)
