Ross-The Pit And The Pendulum (1974)

The second and final album from the British band Ross, this time conceived as a concept album based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 novel "The Pit and the Pendulum", which recounts the torments suffered by prisoners during the Spanish Inquisition. While their debut album featured a repertoire steeped in jazz rock, funk, hard rock, and progressive rock, this time their sound becomes more melodic without abandoning some heavier moments and the structures of classic symphonic rock. Recorded by the same lineup as the debut album: Alan Ross (guitar and vocals), Bob Jackson (keyboards), Reuben White (drums), Steve Emery (bass), and Tony Fernandez (percussion). In this second release, the magnificent work of keyboardist Jackson and the brilliant guitar work of Ross drive an excellent album that garnered high praise from critics and the progressive rock community of the time and remains highly regarded today. Replete with haunting and exquisite melodies like "Swallow Your Dreams", "Standing Alone", "Now I See", and "Nearer and Nearer", vigorous hard rock tracks like "Gotta Get It Right Back", progressive instrumentals like "The Edge", pleasant semi-progressive blues like "I've Been Waiting", and jazz and gospel sounds like "So Slow" and "Oh, I'm Happy Now", the album together forms a solid work of great musicality. This would be the epitaph of this ephemeral group, as shortly afterward, guitarist Ross would found The Alan Ross Band, while Bob Jackson would begin collaborating with the ill-fated Badfinger.