Haze - 1983 - The Cellar Tapes [30th Anniversary Edition]

(49:58; Gabadon Records [2013 Edition] )

In 1983 Haze released an eight-track tape recorded on a borrowed Portastudio with a line-up which featured Paul McMahon (guitars & vocals), Chris McMahon (bass, keyboards, bass pedals & vocals), Arthur Deas (drums & vocal), with Judith Copley & Jill Stodart (flute) and Derek Nash (sax). To celebrate the 30th anniversary Haze released a much-extended version in 2013 which includes such gems as both sides of their 1981 single “The Night” when Chris and Paul were joined by drummer Andy McNaghten, two demos with Paul playing drums, plus two unreleased live songs from 1982. That doesn’t sound that extended I hear you say, but I have the full version which includes another 10 songs which includes their Radio Hallam session, live and demo recordings which takes us up to 24 songs and a playing time in excess of two hours.

Although the band had been in existence for five years by the release of the original cassette they were really up against it in the UK as the media decided that prog music had been killed by the advent of punk, and if it hadn’t been then it should have so there was little in the way of promotion, even for a band travelling the length and breadth of the UK in a beat up old ambulance. Marillion managed to open the door a crack, due primarily to their larger than life singer, but before anyone else could get through it was slammed hard on their foot ensuring that many bands would survive by word of mouth and gigging hard.

Haze were fraught with the line-up issues suffered by many bands, and prior to this cassette had only released a single (on their own label – many prog bands followed the punk/NWOBHM route in this regard). Recorded in their cellar, hence the name, there is very much the feeling of a band still finding their way, although they were already getting their head around creating their own classics, as well as taking influences from the likes of Genesis. “The Vice” is a song they still perform to this day, and rightly so with great linked interplay from Paul and Chris, and some stunning shuffles from Arthur.

The additional demos and sessions available on the longer version show just how raw the band was in their early days, full of passion and power, all of which add to the picture of just what they were like in the days long before a colour monthly magazine devoted to the genre. Along with Pendragon, Solstice, Quasar, IQ, Twelfth Night, Pallas and others Haze was a band who refused to accept a genre of music they loved was no longer viable, and some 40 years (now) since the original tape was released they are still out there proving their worth. This is a great way of discovering more about one of the UK’s most important Neo acts.  

Kev Rowland, January 2025

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/HazeUK
https://www.gabadon.co.uk/