THE MAKING OF... GALLEONS OF PASSION / STAGE '76

I rate all the releases by Finch , but this is my favourite as it contains elements of the styles of the first and last albums in a wonderful mix. The making of Galleons CD 1 is full of inventive playing and wonderful guitar. These tracks are more adventurous than the versions which appeared on Galleons . The live CD is just awesome and shows what a wonderful aural experience Finch were.Highly recommended

Finch has a special place in my (prog)heart...as i purchased them on vinyl...when they came out (back then)...actually i found "Glory of the inner force" in a second hand store for Danish kroner:25,-. (which is aprox. 4 us dollars)and i was immediately hooked. So i own all 3 (original) cd´s.....imagine my surprise ( boy in a toy store) when i learned that this item were up for grabs ....and i must say..its a MUST HAVE.. for Finch freaks at least....cd´1 is demo versions of "Galleons of passion" plus an extra never before released track "Phases"....and i really have to emphazise that this is a "you cant live without it" item!!! Filled with fabulous playing (Joob´s guitar are just amazing) and the songs well written and executed!! Cd 2 are live and historic.... again with a plus (unreleashed) track "Necronomicon"...what can i say...im amazed and ...quite frankly..annoyed....well...annoyed to learn ...that the good Mr.Nimwegen has refused to ever(?) take up his magnificent art of playing again. So fellow Finch freaks and other "pardners in crime" lets send him a letter..ha..ha Ok...this one (2 cd´s) is a... in my opinion... MUST OWN!! Ohhh...and for those of you who do not know these brilliant musicians....imagine Focus without the singing ( and yodelling)...then add Akkermansque ( and then some) furious guitarsoloing.....and you are halfway there...OK ???!! 5 stars......certainly!!!

Finch was a very appreciated progrock outside Holland, especially in the USA and Japan. I 've seen them once in the famous 'pot-drenched' club 'Het Paard' in The Hague, they blew the audience away but there was never a live-recording from Finch. Fortunately Pseudonym Records managed to lay their hands on master tapes from the period with Ad Wammes as their keyboard player. This material is now released on this double-cd.

CD- 1 (with drummer Hans Bosboom) contains 8 demo-versions for the LP "Galleons Of Passion". Five of them eventually found their way on that LP. The recording quality is excellent and the numbers closely resemble the original. Yet there are various delicate distinctions as regards to tempo, intensity of the solos and sound-coloring (the keyboards in particular) making this release a must for the true Finch adepts. In addition to this the three remaining, previously unreleased tracks "Dreamer" (opulent as velvet with translucent guitar work and loosely woven strings), "Nightwalker" (playful with varied keyboard play) and "Phases" (exquisite build-up with a splendiferous interlacing of guitar and keyboard) are certainly no hand-me downs.

CD-2 contains over 70 minutes of fascinating live-performances from December 1976 (with Beer Klaasse still behind the drums). You will hear Finch at their best playing four numbers from the albums "Glory Of The Inner Force" and "Beyond Expression" recreating the unique live-atmosphere and performed with a passion that is guaranteed to give you goose bums. Throughout the tracks you will notice the various improvisations. On the track "A Passion Condensed" in particular guitarist Joop's loops wind and twist around each other reaching a crescendo of pure white noise. Furthermore it's interesting to notice how new keyboard player Ad Wammes manages to give the old Finch repertoire his own unique twist. With the help of his newly purchased Mini-moog synthesizer he artfully whips off many spectacular sounding solo. In addition CD-2 contains the previously unreleased track ''Necronomicon". This composition has a playing time of over 15 minutes and is a typically 'Seventies' composition with extended soli on guitar, synthesizer and bass, GREAT!

A HIGHLIGHT IN THE DUTCH PROGROCK HISTORY!

I have only the live part of the album as I already had the "Galleons of passion" studio version. The live concert is full of power, some improvisation and confirms the band's ability to replicate the focused studio efforts into a rawer stage outcome. Thankfully we can hear selections from the both first studio albums and the masterpiece "A passion condensed" in its entirety. There is a new piece called "Necronomicon" which is fine but does not match the released studio tracks. While the material is outstanding in general, playing is sometimes over the top and the sound is relatively mediocre. There I rate it with 4 stars.