TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN

A fantastic piece of work, with heartfelt emotional vocals from Tracy Hitchings. This set is full of melody and meaning. Some really nice orchestral anthems knocking around on this album - the title track is excellent.

The album has an 80s-ish feel about it, but is basically timeless . . not quite as 'newagey' as a lot of his stuff apart from the actual theme of the music (mans nasty wrath upon the world & rainforests etc).

a nice piece of music.really good vocals.pretty serious lyrics about how we destroy ourselfs and mother nature.with such serious topics you will think this album will make you sad,but it does not.it brings you up.gives you power.buy...

It is really a suprise for me how can this album be so overrated... After "The Shining" this is the second album of Gandalf that features vocals in almost entirely. Well, what can I say... this album simply looks to be the worst moment in the career of this fine Austrian multi-instrumentalist. Don't expect to hear those wonderful guitar solos or tons of different instruments that you usually find on most other Gandalf releases; this album features female vocals in the best part of the record, vocals that sometimes even irritating. With the exception of four average instumental compositions you'll get average to bad songs with vocals.

This album is about an important problem of destroying our enviroment and with it, our future as well. But the serious lyrics don't save the album: it is an interesting example how can a collaboaration of a professional musician and a talended singer result a work that's below their standards. The strong and harsh vocals of Tracy Hitchings simply doesn't fit to Gandalf's well crafted, complex but still gentle music. Best pieces are the title song and "Aquarius" which is re-released in an instrumental version in the following Gandalf album (and is better without vocals) while "The Machine" is the absoulte bottom.

If you're a newcomer to Gandalf you shouldn't start with this album. Instead, try almost any other outings from the 80's, especially "Visions" or "Magic Theatre". If you prefer vocals, you might try the earlier album "The Shining" where the vocals fit a lot better to Gandalf's music.

This album is a sad ending of a great period of Gandalf's career; but after this forgettable release he switched to a new record label and had started to find fresh new ways to express his wonderful musical thoughts again and again...

The call of nature

My introduction to Gandalf was 1992's Gallery Of Dreams album on which he collaborated with one of my great heroes in Steve Hackett of Genesis fame. On this follow-up album, Gandalf collaborates with the queen of Neo-Prog, Tracy Hitchings, known from (among other bands) Quasar, Landmarq, and Strangers On A Train. Hitchings, who also sang on one song on Gallery Of Dreams, provides vocals throughout on this vocally dominated album. I absolutely love Tracy's powerful and distinctive voice and it brings great value to Gandalf's music and makes To Our Children's Children a very nice listen for me (even if the lyrics are often clichéd and full of environmentalist myths).

Soundwise, the closest comparison would probably be with Strangers On A Train where Tracy worked with Clive Nolan and Karl Groom. As such, this is a bit softer than most of the other projects that she worked on (Quasar, Landmarq, etc.). Still, people who appreciate Hitchings voice and enjoyed her participation in various (mostly Neo-Prog) bands should definitely check out To Our Children's Children.

We have here sweeping, symphonic soundscapes with piano and acoustic guitars and occasional electric guitars and some percussions. There are no proper drums as such and the tempos are usually slow. You might perhaps call this "progressive Soft Rock" with a pleasant New-Age feel. But even though softer than I would normally appreciate, Tracy's magnificent voice commands my attention and drives the well-structured compositions along.

This is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it!