LADY LAKE

Like all the very best progressive rock, Gnidrolog's 1972 album 'Lady Lake' takes several listens to completely grasp, making the listener work for their musical rewards, of which there are plenty. The group's second album, after the discordant and oddly-titled 'In Spite Of Harry's Toenail', 'Lady Lake' would also be there last for almost three decades, before Gnidrolog surprisingly reformed for a one-off reunion album called 'Gnosis' in 1999. It's also by far and away their strongest release, sporting a spirited and complex variation on the King Crimson sound, with elements of Caravan, Van Der Graaf Generator and Genesis thrown in for good measure. Stand-out tracks include the anthemic opener 'I Could Never Be A Solider', it's carefully-crafted, elegiac follow-up 'Ship' and the album's epic closer 'Social Embarassment', but the real treat is the militant, symphonic rock of 'Lady Lake', a haunting, eight-minute-plus centrepiece to this excellent album. Fans of progressive rock in the truest sense of the word will find a hard-won treasure chest of proggy delights filling 'Lady Lake'm with the only disappointment being the fact that Gnidrolog would never repeat the trick. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010