BOOK OF ROSES

As on "Dancing with the Lion", "Book of Roses" sees ANDREAS VOLLENWEIDER enlist a bevvy of talented guests to compliment his own ever growing instrumental palette. His harp shares billing with or cedes to keyboards, winds, strings, voices and even blinding Spanish guitar. The output is an eclectic alchemy of World and Jazz, highlighted by the Celtic Christmassy "The Grand Ball Of The Duljas"; the Andean inflected "Morning At Boma Park"; the acoustically proggy "In the Woods of Kroandal" and "Jugglers in Obsidian"; the surprisingly well developed and fiery "Hirzel"; the vivacious new age of "Letters to a Young Rose"; and the resoundingly symphonic bonus cut "Overtuerli".

Unfortunately, for every such triumph we can point to a failed idea like yet another misplaced LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO guest spot, a tepid bore like the title cut, or the excruciating death by vocal of "The Birds of Tilmun" and "Manto's Arrow". At best these missteps are failed transitional pieces, but at worst they sabotage momentum and derail what could have been his masterpiece. Arguably VOLLENWEIDER's most progressive release, "Book of Roses" might be the first one you open on that basis alone, but it's not quite a page turner.