In progressive rock it is often the case that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. There are exceptions. Off the top of my head: Jon Anderson: “Olias of Sunhillow”, Rick Wakeman’s “Six Wives of Henry VIII” (and others), Patrick Moraz’s first album, Chris Squire’s “Fish Out of Water” (your own lists are welcome!) This may be because the artist wants to branch out in another direction: Bill Burford’s solo jazz rock fusion albums are also a case in point.
A mixture of instrumentalists and songs it is a pleasant enough listen. Rick’s keyboards don’t dominate it in any sense as might have been the temptation and it is a real band effort with guitar (Snowy White, the Floyd’s touring guitarist) and sax (Mel Collins) shining brightly throughout. It gets lauded on some internet sites as a “lost” Pink Floyd album, but it is too personal for that, and the production, short tracks, vocals and lyrics do not have the same intensity. I think, for example DAVE GREENSLADE’s “Cactus Choir” (1976) was a more ambitious and varied album, and the number of ***** reviews “Wet Dream” gets online puzzles me.
It definitely deserves a listen if you haven ‘t heard it though and Steven Wilson’s remix has attracted praise in some quarters.
Comments