THE RAINMAKER

This, along with Space Revolver is a testament to what TFK can do, and is one of my fave albums. A single disc (now a rarely among Stolts more recent releases) it is never over long, and the epics are between 10 and 15 minutes usually, which makes them accessable and, as opposed to epics such as "Love Supreem" on the Adam & Eve album, stops the song dragging on. Personally I can't find the time to listen to a song for 30 minutes without doing something else at the same time (and so I miss bits).

The details here are well composed and executed, from the beauty of "Road to Sanctuary" to the comic band intros in the booklet. The reason I consider this a masterpiece is because unlike I've found with many of TFK's releases, the shorter tracks don't sound like filler (in my view, if a songs put on an album as filler it'd be better of not on there, it only removes the musical tension). Sure, there are atmoshperic tracks that help tell the story of the album, and this may not to everyones tastes, but shorter songs like "Elain" and "Sword of God" stand up on their own, and add to the album. More albums like this please!