Trillion


Wowzers, have i got an obscure album tonight. Even more obscure than Starcastle, if you can believe it. Here's the self titled debut by Trillion. Snow-leopard Cerberus doesn't lie, this is weird prog from Chicago, Illinois. 

Prog rock has always been one of those give it a decade genres, but Trillion got 1 album and no proper follow up. They fired their singer then drifted off on various side paths. Patrick Leonard had the most prolofic career, cowriting and arranging most of Madonna's biggest early hits. This album, though, is high octane glam with enough twists and turns to make you deeply regret eating all that deep-fried carnival food before strapping into the Tilt-o-Whirl. 

Let's talk about obscurity. It's a ridiculous concept, considering 100% of all bands start out as obscure. In fact, it's statistically bizarre to be famous. The industry cheats by spending millions of millions of dollars manufacturing that recognition, pretending that you should think their bands are already famous, or merely hiding the fact that the new guys are actually the kids and friends of already famous people with a built in fan base. It's the farm team approach to big business. In short, mainstream music is a byproduct of business, not the other way around. Unlike Steve Albini, or Sylvia Massey, or even Todd Rundgren, most big label affiliated producers are in it for the money and the things you can get away with when you have it. The individual members of Trillion were way more interested in their individual careers than this particular band, and they all succeeded in that respect. Does that make the sentiment of Hold Out ironic? Probably. 

Regardless, this album definitely deserves its inclusion on the list of highly underappreciated American Prog albums. It sounds a whole lot like Boston on more than two occassions, but it sounds like every other prog-rock band too, so who cares? 

I guess what i'm trying to say is that if you like over the top, glamy 70s rock with random excursions into folk and disco, then check out this album barely anybody remembers. It's quite enjoyable.

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