NURSERY CRYME

I'll take the deepest of the breaths: if ever an album was balancing between four and five stars, this is the one.

Seven tracks, three of them absolute masterpieces, four of them highly enjoyable. The masterpieces are, of course, "The Musical Box", "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed" and "The Fountain Of Salmacis"- it's not a coincidence they are also the longest tracks here, the epics. But I don't love them just for the sake of being epics. They're delicate yet powerful. They are telling a story. They ARE a story. I used to wave my hands (I still do), alone at home, listening to my MP3 player cranked up to the maximum, imagining I am each of the band members, playing with them...my role in the band will change with the next musical passage. And that's all I'm going to say about it. I'm not going to describe you my brain washed with the tides of Mellotron, the gurgling guitars, sincere drumming, tear-jerking Gabriel's vocal delivery or the lyrics, although I could knit a story just about the lyrics...but I'll move to the next paragraph, and give a word or two to the other four songs.

Let's use the coinage "non-masterpiece" instead of "weaker", shall we? Alright then. The four non-masterpieces are gorgeous in its shortness and great in its gorgeousness "For Absent Friends". "Seven Stones" and "Harlequin", nothing short of beauty and memorable guitar passages. And some pseudo-madrigal vocal section. Incredibly catchy "Harold The Barrel"; it could easily fit next to the QUEEN or ELTON JOHN back in a day. I admit, the piano riff borrows (coincidentally?) a chord progression of that LOVIN' SPOONFUL thingie "hot town, summer in the city" but what the heck, it's entertaining anyway.

As I've said this one is balancing perfectly between 4 and 5 stars. As this facility is not supporting 4,5 ratings, I will go (sigh) for four stars, but this reflects more the reviewing policy and the overall tensions of the site and my personal opinions about it (less than about the album itself).

The album is essential for any serious music collector. Not having it in your collection is a cryme :)

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