NERBELLUS OF BLOG (AS GAVIN O'LOGHLEN)

While one of GAVIN O'LOGHLEN's first loves was music, and his ability to master multiple instruments was apparent even in his preteen years, his early vocation was in theatre, where he appeared comfortable in roles ranging from actor to composer to lyricist, musician and director. His love of prog led him to work on and even spearhead rock operas, one of which was "Nerbellus of Blog". While this is not an original cast recording, it was self produced before the lavish stage production that was performed in South Australia in November 1983, and only released 40 years later. When admiring his prolificacy at that time, one wonders what other gems from his time machine he may yet introduce.

While his "solo" albums are less Celtified than those of his 2000s group COTTERS BEQUEST and exercise his lyrical muscles in the service of storytelling, this is the only one so far which is mystical and supernatural in nature, layered in symbolism such that its most effective interpreted message might be different now than it was in the 1980s, but then again maybe not. When he has this much to impart and only 90 minutes with which to do so, vocals do dominate, but not at the expense of arrangements, both of which are honestly delightful if you were raised on the epics of the 1970s as he clearly was. Many of the ambitious epic productions of that time come to mind, be they "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "Thick as a Brick", or "Lamb Lies Down", with nods to other giants like KING CRIMSON, MOODY BLUES, and YES, but O'Loghlen keeps it consistently accessible and melodic, and as song oriented as it could be under the circumstances, that being 3 acts with multiple separate yet paradoxically inseparable numbers. The angst ridden subject matter notwithstanding, the musical mood is often jaunty and even sing along at times, which is a characteristic shared with some of my favourite prog folk, usually of traditional origin.

I highly recommend "Nerbellus of Blog" to any fans of the old school over the top musicals who wish more of them at least knew how to spell "prog", or to those who liked "The Poet and the Priest". If you enjoyed the COTTERS BEQUEST work, this might please you as well, as long as you realize that it predates those more Celtically rooted projects.

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