RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE

Emboldened by the positive reaction to the instrumental side-long suite on Midnight Mushrumps, Gryphon went all-instrumental for this concept album, which essentially presents a single cohesive composition structured around the ebb and flow of a game of chess. The loss of the vocals is something I suspect many listeners won't exactly be mourning, since I thought they were the weakest aspect of Mushrumps, and in their place comes complex and technically sophisticated prog compositions which challenge the listener. Comparing it to the title track from Mushrumps, there's not much between them - medieval compositional approaches and instrumentation (Krumhorn ahoy!) are still the name of the game, and the main difference between the two suites is that Red Queen is twice as long. I wouldn't put it in the absolute top rank of instrumental prog albums from the era - I'd say both Tubular Bells and Camel's The Snow Goose rank above it - but it is a fine album and probably the peak of Gryphon's career.