This album has a cool mix of progressive rock, psychedelia and a lot more. This is a classy new vinyl issue. I love the white to clear vinyl look of this record. The sound is great, and it would be an excellent introduction to this act.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2015 Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Side One
Fight Back
The intricate melodic sounds that open this are simply stunning and quite beautiful. The cut grows out gradually from there mixing psychedelia with something a bit like early Genesis. That runs through and ends. They power out into a slightly left of center jam that makes me think of Curved Air a bit from there. I really love the organ solo later in this piece.
City by the Sea There is something tastefully awkward about this piece. Yet, it’s also got some classic progressive rock in the mix. It’s fast paced, energetic and quite cool. The cut loses that awkward element to a large degree as it builds. It’s definitely dynamic and potent.
White Ships and Icebergs This powerful instrumental combines melodic progressive rock, Spanish guitar elements and much more into one of the most effective pieces of the set. It’s a great number.
Seaside Evening A killer melodic prog tune, this has a lot of great melodies, shifts and changes and more. It’s one of the most effective pieces here.
Side Two
Take What's Yours
I can make out some early Genesis in the mix on this number, too. It’s fast paced, fairly hard rocking progressive rock, though. I love how the instrumental section later shifts this way and that and drops down to a rather mellower part. It works from there into a seamless connection with the next number.
Eagles With some great melodic guitar soloing built into it, this melodic prog number is like a continuation of musical themes from the previous cut in some ways. There are hints of something like Pink Floyd in some ways. There are also some fusion-like elements at play.This instrumental is dramatic.
No More Time Coming in mellow, this works out to a very psychedelic rock styled cut. Again, I can make out some Pink Floyd, but also some decidedly 60s “hippie-like” music. This works through a number of shifts and changes. There are parts of this that make me think of a combination of early Uriah Heep with something like Vanilla Fudge. It’s great stuff.