LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

‘Ekseption was like going to college. After graduation, I decided to continue my study with Trace’, said Rick van der Linden. The band was his brainchild from 1974 to 1977, after almost ten years in Ekseption. Trace was a symphonic heavy pop group that made three albums full of classically inspired original material. With drummers Pierre van der Linden (Brainbox, Focus) and Ian Mosley (Marillion, Steve Hackett Band, Gordon Giltrap) and bassist Jaap van Eik (Cuby & The Blizzards, Solution, Panda, Vitesse), the keyboard maestro developed himself as a composer and performer on the albums Trace and Birds, while three old mates from his early Ekseption-days helped Rick on the final Trace album The White Ladies.

Now for the first time ever, the three Trace albums have been properly remastered (24 bit) from the original master tapes. In addition, each album contains bonus tracks, featuring outtakes, demos and live material. Trace has been expanded to a double CD, featuring over 100 minutes of extra tracks, while Birds contains a rare single edit of the title track and one hour of pure ‘Trace on stage’, recorded in Sweden and Germany. The White Ladies features some raw sketches and mixes of album tracks, as well as an overture Fugue on the pipe organ during one of the last ever gigs that the band gave in 1977. All three albums come in beautifully designed gatefold sleeves featuring rare photos and exclusive new interviews with Jaap van Eik, Ian Mosley, engineer Jan Schuurman and arranger Job Maarse. With these long anticipated reissues, the Trace story is now finally displayed in the most honest and correct way.

Track listing:

2CD TRACE – Trace + 17 bonus tracks

CD 1

1. Gaillarde - part one 6:23
2. Gare Le Corbeau 2:05
3. Gaillarde - part two 4:36
4. The Death Of Ace 5:16
5. The Escape Of The Piper 3:11
6. Once 4:13
7. Progression 12:04
8. A Memory - part one 3:48
9. The Lost Past 3:27
10. A Memory - part two 1:43
11. Final Trace 3:50

Bonus Tracks

12. Progress 4:04 - single version
13. Tabu 4:14
14. Bach-Atel 3:30 - single version
15. Another World 5:14 - demo
16. Gnome Dance 5:07 - demo
17. Final Trace 3:52 - demo

CD 2

1. Fairy Tale - overture 4:48
2. A Swedish Largo 19:46
3. Gnome Dance 4:29
4. Nocturne 6:01
5. Bach-Atel 4:11
6. Another World 5:10
7. Escape Of The Piper 5:21 - extended version
8. Once 6:00 - jam
9. A Memory 8:47 - demo
10. A Swedish Largo 5:49 - demo
11. Once 4:50 - demo