TURN OF THE CARDS

Each time I hear the term symphonic progressive, this album is one of the few that comes to my mind. The music of Michael Dunford combined with passages of Jehan Alain (in the opening of "Running Hard"), Joaquin Rodrigo (in the second movement of "Mother Russia") and Tomaso Albinoni (all the music of "Cold Is Being"), the wonderful orchestration and the voice of Annie Haslam comprise a real masterpiece of symphonic progressive. "Things I Don't Understand" is the oldest track of the album, writen by Jim McCarty before being replaced by Terence Sullivan. The best song in the album is "Mother Russia" and I would like to know if there is any prog fan in the world who disagrees with that statement. This epic quickly became a live favourite (usually the last song in their concerts) and is also included in "Live At Carnegie Hall" (magnificent performance). Favourite tracks: "Running Hard", "Black Flame", "Mother Russia".