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Armada's music reminds of the first albums by King Crimson and Caravan, with a touch of Wishbone Ash. The atmosphere ranges from romantic 60's-influenced Psychedelic Rock and ends up in complex and challenging Prog Rock in the vein of Van der Graaf Generator and so does the mood of the album, starting from happy tunes and ethereal melodies to find its way through sinister and mysterious progressive arrangements to dense instrumental parts, light jams and lots of changing climates. There's a lot of tenor and alto saxophones, but also a lot of guitar and some flute. London-based sextet, never to release anything during its short existence.Singer/flutist Terry Cooke conceived the idea of forming Armada in 1972 and was joined by multi-instrumentalist Sammy Rimington, guitarist Graham "Kirby" Gregory, drummer Alan Wickett, bassist Rik Kenton and keyboardist John Donaldson.Guitarist Geoff Skates and bassists Brian Stanley and Colin Ellar joined also the band at some point. Cool band, although nowhere near the same level as Van der Graaf Generator. When they were discovered by the MAM label, Armada had became Rimington and later Rats, releasing two singles in 1973 and 1974 respectively, quite far from their proggy roots. Kenton went on to join Roxy Music for a brief period, while Gregory became a member of Curved Air. All recordings are coming from August 1972 and September 1973. Gatefold cover.
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