WILLOWGLASS

The man behind the Willowglass project lives and work in the same village as the chaotic, hilarious TV sitcom Last Of The Summerwine was filmed. The music on this album is not chaotic though.

Take some of the best from the 1970s symphonic prog scene and then add some New Age, folk and jazz to the stew. The result is a very melodic, melancholic brand of symphonic prog. Yes, the music here does soar to the top of the mountains too. Mostly through some long guitar runs. But most of the music here is melancholic and pastoral.

Combining New Age and symponic prog is a difficult task. This album is an almost perfect blend of those two genres. Of Clearlight and Genesis. That makes the music here both interesting and soothing at the same time. It makes the listener both float away and take notice of some intricate details. It is perfect beached-whale-on-the-sofa music.

The quality is great throughout too. It is never dull. But I am missing the dot over the i which could had made this a real classic album. But it is still an excellent addition to my music collection and one I really savour.

4 stars