HARVEST OF THE HEART

An instrumental (plus one song) compilation of Anthony Phillips's "Private Parts and Pieces" albums I-IV, released between '79 - '84, with two previously unreleased tracks. I found the LP with beautiful cover art cheaply from Athens in '89. I haven't heard any albums from that series but this gives a picture of the first four ones. From Vol. 1 there's only 'Beauty & the Beast', a pretty and sleepy piano/guitar duet with a faint Trespass feel (a Genesis album of 1970 in which Phillips seems to be a crucial factor). Two acoustic guitar numbers from Vol. 3, featuring Enrique Berro Garcia, don't bring me much interest for the album. Vol. 2 gets the highest points by this compilation. 'Salmon Leap' and the two tracks ending side one have the certain proggy tension á la Phillips, and also 'Lindsay' for a solo piano is fine.

The unreleased-before opener 'Trail of Tears' has a drum machine and is a sharp and dramatic synth track which would be more at home in a Gary Numan album or perhaps as a B-side of a Mike Oldfield single from Crises era. The other, temptingly titled 'Erotic Strings' is a minute-long sweet synth track. For some reason Private Parts & Pieces IV has as many as six outtakes, not all of them good at all. 'Bouncer' with a clumsy brutal drum machine sound may be the worst Phillips track I've heard. The sugary 'Sistine' is the only sung track and probably one of his poorest vocal attempts. The compilation ends with three IV-tracks, one of them a boring acoustic guitar number and all of them hollowly produced. All in all this compilation is surprisingly uneven but makes at least one of the source albums (II) look well worth having.

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