Category Archives: Rebirth

CONSORTIUM Rebirth

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A step back in time for anyone who remembers the band from their heyday.

Evening Star (March 2006)


Mixing prog and pop, heavy folk in places, it’s a decent affair that would have probably sounded out of place at the time… Well packaged, as is usual from Angel Air.

www.getreadytorock.com ( February 2006)


After some long years of singles and live performances, the UK band Consortium finally sees the light of day for the first time ever of its sole album, Rebirth, recorded around 1975…

Like many albums of its time, Rebirth stands at the crossroads of psychedelic rock, hard rock and progressive rock. The music can be described as a hybrid between Grand Funk Railroad and Uriah Heep: its dirty, train-like rumble and down-to-earth lyrics (sometimes to the point of banality as in the case of ‘I Want You’) resembling the earlier, while its operatic harmonies and grandiose dimensions reminding of the latter…

And so Rebirth is about the decades that shaped rock music being reflected through a certain point in time. It is therefore a shame it was not released close to its recording, as it could have established its reputation as a pivotal album. Still, it holds most of its vitality to this day. (8.25/10)

Maelstrom, Issue 43


…after 30-odd years, the album finally – and deservedly – sees the light of day. Solid guitar riffs propel their hard rock sound…

Record Collector (May 2006)


The booklet details lots of information about the band and their career…as well as plenty of photos…there are some wonderful harmonies, along with some fairly interesting songs…

Feedback (May 2006)


Led by vocalist Robbie Leggat (also known as Robbie Fair), West Coast Consortium, as they were initially named, issued a half-dozen pop and psychedelic singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

As members left, Leggat soldiered on, assembling the heavier bass-drums twin-guitar attack that toured widely without releasing any new records.

These songs represent that lineup’s studio output, revealing a style that encompasses album-oriented pop, progressive and hard rock. Relying on his pure, choirboy tenor, Leggat brings a beautiful edge to songs such as ‘Rebirth,’ ‘For Me To Forgive’ and ‘I Want You’; with their changes in tempo and mood, the songs suggest the pop side of early Yes, minus the keyboards…

The guitarists mix pastoral folk patterns into the midst of the nine-minute ‘She Gave Me Life’ before closing the opus with a blistering dual-guitar playout. Rebirth is accompanied by a 20-page booklet filled with photos and Keith Smith’s liner notes tracing Consortium’s obscure history by directly quoting band members.

Joseph Tortelli, Discoveries (June 2006)


The outstanding feature is the harmonies, which had become the band’s trademark in a way…

Classic Rock Society (June 2006)


…if you’re into progressive rock, flavoured with some fine pop sweeteners then you’ll want to get your hands on this 11-tracker.

Hartlepool Mail (July 2006)


…swings between proto-metal dynamics…and rock and roll energy…A little gem, actually, that deserves to be recovered: as one used to say, better late than never.

Fulvio Adile, Silent Scream (August 2006)

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