HOPE

My first memory of this album was reading a review of it in a Canadian Stereo / Audio mag of the time. It called it the ultimate melding of a rock band & orchestra. And the thing is, the orchestra is present when their presence is called for, & absent when it would simply double other instruments lines. The opening & ending tracks bring back warm memories of melodies, happy & melancholic that such grand artists such as the Moody Blues & the Beatles. The Beatles were always the "weapon" some negatives would use to dismiss this group, likely because of the media's hyping the untruth that this was in fact the Beatles. Yet, while an influence, Klaatu never rips off the Beatles. Surprising to some, including me, is when I read that they felt their more obvious influence was the Moody Blues. But in between We're Off You Know & Hope lies a succession of such beautiful progressive music that I am at a lost to understand its' lack of standing, especially among a prog community such as ours here at PA. Around the Universe in 80 Days, Loneliest of Creatures, So Said The Lighthouse Keeper ... if it were any other group, another act that didn't have that Beatles hype albatross around them, I wonder . Would that make the difference ? Would people actually sit down & listen & see why this opus belongs among the great prog albums of the 70s ? Alas, some minds have set themselves in stone. But those who have listened & heard it as it should be heard, with an open-mind, with no thoughts of influences, media hype, they know the jewel that is in their hands. But ... remember ... All is lost if one abandons Hope. I haven't abandoned it in regards to giving this record the accolades it rightly deserves.