SKY

The fifth album from Sky is in similar "easy listening classical ditties for rock group" territory to their previous album, Forthcoming. The major difference appears to be that whilst Forthcoming was fairly placid, this is positively jaunty - why, on Telex From Peru there's threats to actually creep back towards rock, to the extent that Sky ever rocked, though there's still gentler moments like Then and Now. As with the previous album, it's a collection of entirely acceptable background music, but isn't much more than that. Individual listeners will have to decide whether the crisp production and pleasing musicianship saves it from being muzak or pushes it into that category.

Whereas Sky 3 saw the group shift in a jazzier direction, Sky 4 found the band turning around and going straight back to their comfort zone of classical arrangements. In this case, this sees them overshoot the "smooth prog" approach of their debut album and land squarely in easy listening territory; it's good easy listening, mind you, the sort of gentle, laid-back music where I'm glad I have some of it in my collection for when the correct mood strikes, but it's not exactly the sort of material anyone who came to the band on the basis of the members' prog credentials in past projects would be at all likely to prioritise. The lack of Francis Monkman is especially acutely felt.

Sky's third album sees Steve Gray joining the lineup in place of a departing Francis Monkman. This seems to have prompted a backing away from the somewhat rockier and more energetic sides of the band displayed on Sky 2, focusing more on the sort of mellow, gentle sound of their first album, albeit with the classical aspects dialled back (but far from absent) and the jazz side of things dialled up just a tad. This will bore anyone who insists that their prog rock, well, ROCKS, but if the idea of taking early 1980s Camel and making it even more gentle appeals to you, then Sky 3 might be just the ticket.

Of the two Sky albums featuring co-founder Francis Monkman, Sky 2 has the edge - there's a few moments of additional bite which help maintain at least some connection to rock music, and the compositional approach is a touch more varied, with moments ranging from an update of "Vivaldi" (a classical adaptation from Monkman's former berth in Curved Air) to a touch of instrumental comedy in the form of Tuba Smarties to the accomplished side-long piece Fifo. Most of all, there's a bit more emotion on display. The band would take a different trajectory after Monkman left, but as a capstone to his era with the group it's very good.

What if prog rock simply wasn't very rock? The answer is that it would end up something like the debut album from Sky - a supergroup of musicians from a variety of backgrounds (John Williams from the world of jazz and classical, Francis Monkman from Curved Air, Herbie Flowers from numerous glam albums of yesteryear). On the one hand, if the basis of prog is to take a rock band lineup and let them perform virtuosic music informed by a broad range of musical genres, then this is undeniably prog - but it's prog as you'd implement it in 1979 by middle-aged musicians who seem to have decided to leave the harder-rocking stuff to the punk kids, set aside the psychedelic weirdness of prog's earlier days, and opted to turn out something reminiscent of the sort of fare Mike Oldfield, Camel, or the Alan Parsons Project were putting out at the time.

For some, this will no doubt seem unacceptably saccharine - but the power of music in part resides in its ability to touch a broad range of emotions and moods, and if you're in the mood for music which is often gentle, never aggressive, always thougthful, and generally quite light in approach, Sky aren't half bad. And it would be a flat-out mistake to regard this as some sort of commercial sell-out affair - unlike, say, Asia, it would be wrong to accuse this of being pop-prog, not least because if you were going to go pop in 1979 you'd never put out an all-instrumental album to begin with. Where Opposites Meet, the side-long epic that rounds it off, likewise demonstrates that these chaps can take a more overtly proggy approach when they decide it's merited - the trick is that these are all knowledgeable musicians who make excellent calls as to when it's good to go textured and complex, and where a touch of simplicity is needed. Hardly a world-changingly innovative work, but a slickly executed and seriously enjoyable one for that.

The alum opens with Westaway, a catchy instrumental with tremendous musicianship, as you'd expect with a band like this.

Carillion is a gentle, classically-inspired piece that builds up to a rousing prog climax a la Floyd before winding down.

La Danza is a bouncy folk piece that builds and ebbs. It reminded me of an instrumental Steeleye Span.

Their version of Gymnopedie is especially sweet. I found it's great for calming down highly-strung dogs and children.

Cannonball reminds me a little of a rockier version of Passport on their Ataraxia album. Passport meets ELP? Very European. Classical, folk and Krautrock influences.

The five-part side-long suite, When Opposites Meet is worth the money alone. Wow! What an extraordinary composition by Francis Monkman of 801 Live fame! The piece is full of excellent riffs, melodies and motifs. There's rock, classical and Krautrock influences, and odd time signatures aplenty, and more than one earworm. If Sky was more flamboyant and not wrongly thought to be "commercial" this 19-minute epic would be considered a prog classic along with Supper's Ready, Starless, Close to the Edge, Hamburger Concerto and 2112.

These are outstanding players. Tristan Fry on drums plays with tremendous authority and accuracy. Herbie Flowers has some outstanding passages, especially on When Opposites Meet. The same can be said for keyboardist Francis Monkman. Kevin Peek on electric guitar shows great versatility and acts as an excellent foil for the renowned John Williams.

Maybe not an essential album for proggers because a fair cohort of us demand instrumental flamboyance, so 4 stars (more 4.5, really).

"We were stretching our wings a little bit. When you've got two guitars, piano, bass and drums, you're stuck. Suddenly we had the opportunity to use a voice, brass and other things. It's definitely the most varied of the Sky albums but I'm glad about that. It stopped us being bored." -- Herbie Flowers in the liner notes of the Esoteric Recording's reissue from 2015.

Probably there were feelings of boredom also on the listeners' behalf. SKY had been repeating the formula based mostly on the classical pieces, although their previous, not very rewarding album "Cadmium..." (1983) only had an adaptation of Prokofiev's Sleigh Ride' amidst original compositions from the band. When the famed classical guitarist John Williams announced his departure just before an Australian tour, "disbanding at this stage was never really an option" according to Flowers. The tour was done with a couple of guest musicians, Ron Aspery (sax, keys) and Lee Fothergill (guitars), both of whom are guesting on this album among a few others.

In a nutshell, The Great Balloon Race will most likely (at first, anyway) disappoint a listener seeking for the typical SKY music, but listened to without prejudices it might surprise you in a positive way. Actually it feels more progressive than their usual rocking-the-classics approach, and in a modern way. Indeed this is a brave album coming from the mid-80's. I sense some kindred spirit to e.g. Mike Oldfield, Pekka Pohjola or The Enid.

'Desperate for Your Love' was composed by Tony Hymas -- a keyboardist from Jeff Beck's band etc. -- who also speaks the sparse lyrics and plays the airy synths. Clare Torry, remembered from Pink Floyd's 'The Great Gig in the Sky', adds nice backing vocals. This mostly very slow and spatial piece is a major departure in style, but a pleasant one. Steve Gray's 'Allegro' is a fast and sharply rocking piece with a more typical SKY sound. 'The Land' written by Kevin Peek and Trevor Spencer was inspired by the vast landscapes of Australia, their home country. Synths dominate this beautiful piece with an orchestral illusion.

Herbie Flowers wrote 'Peter's Wedding' as a wedding gift for the band's manager. This playful, ambitious and progressive composition makes me occasionally think of Pekka Pohjola's music from the 80's onwards. Flowers composed also the following title track that progresses from serenity to slightly annoying rhythmic sharpness. 'Lady and the Imp' (by Flowers/Gray) is a many-sided and playful piece that sounds orchestral like The Enid. Steve Gray's 'Caldando' easily satisfies the fans of SKY with its classically influenced calmness focusing on acoustic guitar and softly played keyboards, and pan pipes fit in very well.

Kevin Peek's lively 'Roleystone' has a hilarious drive; the bright synth riff reminds me of Mike Oldfield's 'Guilty'. The album closes beautifully with Steve Gray's serene 'Night Sky'. All in all this is a surprisingly interesting album. Despite some slightly irritating sonic details, the band's sound is rewardingly updated, and also the compositions show respectable bravery. 3½ stars rounded up!

— First review of this album —

As I said in my review of Sky 3 album yesterday, Sky 4: Forthcoming consists only of covers mainly from the works of classical composers. 'Masquerade' is a waltz written in 1941 by Armenian composer Aram Khatchaturian for a production of the play with the same title. Sky's version was arranged by keyboardist Steve Gray who did a fairly good job. The band was known for their rock combo adaptations of classical pieces, and 'Masquerade' is a good example of them. It cannot be compared to the marvelous 'Toccata' from Sky 2 (1980) but Sky sounds very much themselves here. A nice and suitable piece to be adapted by Sky.

'Fantasy' is John Williams' arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard piece Fantasia C minor BWV 906, probably dating from the late 1720's. According to Wikipedia "the piece is notable for being one of Bach's latest compositions in the prelude and fugue format, and for being a showcase of Bach trying his hand at the emerging galant and empfindsam styles of music that his sons were known to compose". Perhaps for Sky's benefit, it's not among the most familiar Bach tunes ever. This version features harpsichord notably accompanied by electric guitar. I think this time Sky comes uncomfortably close to the Hooked On Classics territory, or the Dutch EKSEPTION in the 70's. The adaptation is rather stiff compared to 'Toccata'.

I didn't find information of the reception of this single. Anyway at this point Sky's star and creativity were gradually descending. They were merely repeating themselves with their predictable classical adaptations. I prefer e.g. 'Xango' (Villa-Lobos) and 'Skylark' (Hoagy Carmichael) on Sky 4: Forthcoming.

3- stars for 'Masquerade', 2 stars for 'Fantasy'.

There are already several collab reviews for this album, but none dealing with the Esoteric Recordings' re-release (2015) containing a supplementary concert DVD. First shortly about the album itself.

I think at first SKY survived quite well the departure of keyboardist Francis Monkman (formerly of CURVED AIR), who also was a major composer for the group, especially concerning the long pieces such as 'Where Opposites Meet' and 'Fifo'. The new guy Steve Gray, known and invited to join Sky by drummer Tristan Fry, had his background in jazz. Therefore, what the band definitely lost in progressive rock flavour, they gained in a jazz/fusion touch. Gray's contribution to Sky 3 as a composer is understandably not vast in quantity but fairly gratifying, and as a musician he integrated to the line-up with natural ease. He wrote the delicate 'Hello' the day he joined the group. 'Sister Rose' is a more outgoing piece with some funk nuances, and 'Meheeco', co-written with bassist Herbie Flowers, is among the album's highlights.

Charmingly bookended by brief Herbie Flowers tunes, Sky 3 contains pleasant if not groundbreaking original material from each member except the classical guitarist John Williams, who in turn arranged G. F. Händel's 'Sarabande'. In that respect, Sky 3 is far more creative an album than its follower which consists only of classically oriented cover performances. The Esoteric reissue has both printed the original texts by the members themselves (with the tongue- in-cheek attitude -- which in the case of 'Moonroof' seems even harsh if you're not used to their humour) and the new liner notes by the established rock journalist Sid Smith. Flowers and Fry have offered their memories and thoughts.

Sky 3 was released in March 1981 and it peaked at No. 3 at the UK album charts. Shortly before the release, in 24th of February the fresh line-up performed in London's Westminster Abbey, the famous Medieval cathedral. They were among the first rock groups allowed to play there. The show/DVD is one hour and 24 minutes long and amidst the material of the new album there are well chosen pieces from the former line-up, even Monkman's epic 'Fifo'. Each member in turn introduces the pieces. Fry speaks of "the zoological part of the show": in Camille Saint-Saens' 'The Swan' he plays the cello part on marimba, and Herbie Flowers has penned a humorous tuba number 'The Whale'. The gig ends with a good performance of the superb Bach adaptation 'Toccata'. The visual quality of the concert film is pretty good, featuring shots of the church both inside and outside.

For the DVD (the Westminster Abbey concert hasn't been released separately) this release is among the essential ones of Sky.

"Instrumental classically-orientated double album", to these ears, automatically triggers a kind of weary wince: I'll praise the technical competence on display, and politely ask to skip to the last track. In the dim light of this, "Sky 2" is very much a pleasant surprise. Instrumental albums are often highly prone to slipping into the pretty yet sterile void; however flawless their execution, their conception struggles to attain thematic or philosophical significance that even the most sparsely-penned phrases can conjure up. This is the second most fatal error such albums make. More fatal still is homogeneity of noodle, where even the most defensible passage could be shifted by the unscrupulous editor to two-thirds of the way through a different song, with all but the most obsessive listener failing to bat an eyelid. To summarise, while Sky's second falls for the former (any Marxist critic looking for pedagogic or moral meaning in this record will be intensely disappointed; it's effectively a collection of 13 discrete, entertaining exercises in music, not a work of art per se), it avoids the latter superbly. A breathless overview of contents identifies a surprisingly hard-edged opener, repeatedly alternating between guitar- led theme and individual solo freakout (warning: solo freakout fans might be underwhelmed, but Sky are all classical musicians at heart), slow-building ditty in 5/4, slow-burning Arabic-infused masterpiece, the 17-minute-long one where we've given up 7 minutes in (there are some decent moments thereafter but not nearly enough), an unfunny tuba pun which still makes the music look good, a couple of variations on "traditionals" arranged for classical guitar, a couple too many variations on a Rameau Gavotte, some dreadful marimba garden thing, something stolen from Curved Air that, to be fair, sounds amazing, 12 frivolous minutes (although I absolutely love the idea of "Parts 1&2 running at the same time") that typify the slightly smug sterility of the whole album, and the famous one to end, which is still my favourite classical adaption of all time, and deserves to be very widely heard. So?Peek's influence seems to be the most inspired; Monkman's a little hit and miss. Not all of it works, and if this album were trimmed of its shorter softer notes, and the second half of Fifo, to a single vinyl, we'd be looking at a masterpiece. As things stand, 3.5 stars seems apt (argh!). I'm going to tentatively round this up, on the grounds that an album being bloated with a couple of weak songs is far more easily remedied (through judicious skipping) than one lacking a couple of strong songs and, for an instrumental double album in the "Eclectic Prog" section, which would usually signal a mixture of weariness and apprehension for me, this is probably as nice as it gets.