REANIMATED MEMORIES

The Welsh legend MAN have made a new 60½-minute album. On ground of hearing a couple of their 90's works that were oriented to "let's have a good time" rock 'n' roll, my expectations were not high. Not that MAN has ever meant that much to me anyway. But I recognize a pleasant album even if the band in question, or the style they represent, wasn't among my favourites, and Reanimated Memories is fairly good for most of the time. The line-up is Josh Ace (g, voc), Martin Ace (b, voc), Phil Ryan (org, p, voc), James beck (g, voc) and René Robrahn (dr). I'm not a connoisseur of this band but I'm especially glad of Phil Ryan who participated in my favourite MAN era (e.g. Be Good To Yourself At Least Once a Day, 1972) and together with another MAN man, bassist Will Youatt, formed a relatively short-lived and criminally forgotten band NEUTRONS in mid-70's.

From the brief liner notes: "The songs are about time, love, the absence of God and all the other rock 'n' roll subjects". The Martin Ace -penned opener 'The Ballad of Billy Lee' tells a story of a man who fought in the US Civil War. Finished with B.J.Cole's pedal steel, the song is quite country-ish but nicely moody. 'No Solution' is a pretty harmless mid-tempo rock song coloured by the presence of piano. The obvious highlight - for me at least - is Phil Ryan's 10½-minute composition 'In Time'. Starting and ending in a more lively tempo with fuller lyrics and slowing down in the middle to a very dreamy and spacey soundscape with just the words "in time" repeated over and over, this piano-centred track is enjoyable like a foam bath.

B.J. Cole's pedal steel adds the country flavour again on the next two songs that are listenable but not really my cup of tea at all. 'Ordinary Man' is credited to Phil Ryan and his long-time collaborator Pete Brown. The song per se is pretty harmless in its slight tongue-in-cheek attitude, but a good amount of piano and the very balanced production (concerning the whole album) make it a nice one.

The second best track is Martin Ace's final track 'All the Birds' which is slowish, relaxed and emotional. All in all this surely isn't a spectacular album from prog's point of view, it may include too much of the American country-rock flavour and too little echoes of the band's better Space Rock days, but it's a very satisfying and dignified work from a greying group who don't need to convince anyone anymore.

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