WILLOWGLASS

What a nice surprise! Very good progressive instrumental music done with competence and love. This one band project is much better than I expected when I first heard about it. Ok, nothing here is very original or groundbreaking. In fact, Andrew Marshall does not even try to hide his fondness for the music of Genesis (around the Wind & Wuthering period), Camel, Pink Floyd and even some bits of Yes. Even the arrangements and instruments seem to be drawn from that classic era. But boy, does it sound good!

There is little doubt that the man also knows how to write some nice tunes in that frame of work. His compositions sound fresh and exciting, even if lacking some personality and boldness at times. But since this is his first efford, I guess it is ok. All the tracks are very good with lots of vintage keyboards (mellotrons, Hammond, Arp, etc), Hackett-like electric guitar solos, nice flute parts and so on. Sometimes I miss a little vocal here and there, but otherwise Willowglass is a strong debut. The guy is a very talented artist and I´m looking forward to hear their next releases.

In the end I don´t think this CD is really essential, but it is far more than just good. My final rating would be somewhere between 3,5 and 4 stars. Recommended to any fan of good instrumental prog music with lots of classic 70´s bands references.