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Gryphon - Raindance CD (album) cover

RAINDANCE

Gryphon

 

Prog Folk

3.29 | 255 ratings

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greenback
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
5 stars This album is their most progressive rock one. The songs styles are very varied. The medieval patterns are less present than on the previous albums. For the first time, Gryphon use here omnipresent miscellaneous keyboards and excellent electric guitars. "Down the dog" contains an overload of clavinet. The "Raindances" track has magic and graceful keyboards arrangements, sounding VERY modern for 1975: the flute and the delicate small percussions enhance the enchanted tendency of this track: the very fast Fender Rhodes and/or Wurlitzer and/or clavinet? is amazing. The very acoustic, delicate, charming and catchy "Mother Nature's Son" has more the traditional medieval style of the earlier albums. "Le Cambrioleur Est Dans Le Mouchoir" is a short funny track made of melodic acoustic guitars, funny percussions, some badly spoken French vocals in the background and clarinet. The very short "Ormolu" is a stunning and funny exhibition of varied percussions played through repetitive clock ticks. The OUTSTANDING and structured "Fontinental version" is a more conventional complex progressive rock song, having abrupt air & pattern changes: the dissonant parts are well exploited, and the mellow parts remind me the PFM's "Photos of ghost" album. "Wallbanger" has successive parts of melodic harpsichord, electric piano, bassoon + flutes and harmonium. "Don't Say Go" reminds me the Caravan's "Golf girl" track. The last track, the epic "Heldenleben" is among my all-time favorite progressive rock tracks: the omnipresent electric guitars are very impressive! Richard Harvey's keyboards are speechless; the bass and drums complete well the complex whole. Some bits are even progressive hard rock! There are delicate and subtle moments, like the piano, flute and bassoon combination past the fourth minute; the canon bit around 6:30 reaches the quintessence; there are impressive pedal effects (delay among others) on the last electric guitar solo, near the end. All the tracks are at least excellent!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

greenback | 5/5 |

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