Quarkspace's eponymous album was released in 1996 on the band's own Eternity's Jest label. This first complete studio effort contains nicely crafted songs and a truckload of good ideas, but also unrealized potential and poor sound quality. These were learning times for the band. Musicianship will be much better later on (lack of tightness becomes obvious on a few tracks) and, overall,
Quarkspace is only a pale foreteller of subsequent albums like
Live Orion and The Hidden Moon. Yet, compositionally, all the main elements were already in place. This album is song-oriented and contains only two space jams ("Youthful Breeze" and "Teton Range"). From
the Beatles ("On a Beach") to Peter Gabriel ("She Has") and a bunch of psychedelic and space rock bands, most of the group's influences are represented. Highlights include the opener "Dancing Swan," the pop songs "I Feel" and "See the City," and "In My Lost Mind," a very nice song written in 5/4 that will reach its full potential on
Live Orion.
Paul Williams uses a lot of electronic drums and drum programming on this release, and one wonders why. Maybe it was in order to cut back on studio expenses, but the music suffers from it (the rhythm track in "In My Lost Mind" gets pretty sloppy at one point).
Quarkspace is an interesting document of the band's early days, but its poor production will discourage newcomers. Start with
Live Orion or The Hidden Moon.