The T2s were unsung revolutionaries in prog rock during the late 60’s and early 70’s. The band put out only one record (ignoring their ill fated 90’s comeback), this week's AOTW: It’ll All Work Out in Boomland (henceforth Boomland), released in 1970. Boomland brings together the artful songwriting and chunky riffs of King Crimson as on In The Court of the Crimson King, alongside Syd Barret era Pink Floyd’s psychedelic and space-rocky tendencies. The album was among the first in my mind to truly prove prog’s worth as a genre so early in its life span. Epics like “No More White Horses” and the 22-minute “Morning” are expansive, balancing multiple disparate songwriting elements masterfully. T2 were exceptional at riding the fine line between atonality and chaos with melody and structure. “White Horses” and opener “In Circles” demonstrate the mighty weight of some of T2’s riffs, again calling to mind the likes of “21st Century Schizoid Man” with a gritty guitar tone and a viscous delivery that is combined with a diverse soundscape and soaring vocals.
Boomland is uniquely successful within Prog given that it works just as well as a collection of songs as it does an album. This is no Thick as a Brick, Wish You Were Here, or 2112, while the album is very cohesive it doesn’t necessarily do as much with the “medium of the album” as others in its genre. Thankfully, T2 carved out a unique enough niche with their sound to easily make up for this. Their hypnotic long-form song structures, bi-polar riffs that flip-flop from searing Sabbath-esque churns to Tull-ian acoustic passages, and distinctly Londonian vocal accent all total up to make a classic record that deserved more than it was given.
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