WALLY

I had never heard of this british band before and upon hearing their debut CD it was easy to understand why. While those guys were good musicians and could write some nice tunes, they laked two critical qualities: personality and a strong sense of direction. They were labeled as symphonic prog and the fact that it was produced by Rick Waleman may lead to some misinterpretations. They are far from being symphonic, at least most of the time.

The album starts very well, with The Martyn a song that reminds of Kansas (more specific, that group´s The Wall). Fine symphonic piece, with some good keys and violin lines. The next is the very country-ish I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy (the title tells it all!), a song that would fit very well in any Eagles or Poco early LPs. Both tunes are very good, although completely different between themselves in the matter of style. From then on things are not as smooth: What To Do is another try on the country field: ok, but a bit too long. Sunday Walking Lady is more folky and reeks of Wishbone Ash harmonies, but add nothing in its short time.

Then comes their ´epic´ The Urban Man, an almost 14 minute suite that should be the highlight of the album. But clearly, Wally was not up to the task. The first part is ok, a nice ballad with good harmonies and decent guitar and keyboards lines, but it just drags after a while and the instrumental break after that is not exactly convincing with some boring noises at the end. It seems it would be better if they used 3 different smaller songs instead, I don´t know. the album closes with a typical early 70´s ballad Your Own Way, that seems to mix the styles of bands like Bread and Poco

Conclusion: more interesting than good. If you´re into country rock you might enjoy this album. I certainly don´t recommend it to symphonic prog lovers, because they will be disappointed. Maybe their second album shows some improvement on that field, I´ll have to listen. This one is little more than a country rock CD, even if it was made by british musicians. 2,5 stars.