THE STRANDS OF THE FUTURE

Slimming down to four-piece after the exit of Philippe Roman, the second album from Pulsar maintains the same sonic course set by debut release 'Pollen', offering up another dreamy helping of cosmic rock obviously influences by the likes of Pink Floyd. However, whilst 'Pollen' proved a pretty if somewhat underwhelming listen, 'Strands Of The Future' provides a more textured approach, featuring many of the stylistic hallmarks that would come to be emphasised on the group's classic 1978 release 'Halloween', the album that pretty much sealed Pulsar's reputation. Featuring heavily-synthesized keyboards, fuzzy guitar squalls and occasionally ominous keyboard drones, 'Strands Of The Future' isn't quite in the class of it's follow-up, yet there is still much that impresses on an album packed with atmosphere. Blending the worlds of British-style symphonic prog and cosmic space-rock, Pulsar were always a rather unique European outfit - their sound wasn't dominated by the strains of jazz or folk like many of their European colleagues - instead looking west for their inspiration. The results were a deeply-ambient and carefully-crafted sound that slowly grew into the magnificent forty-minute composition that spreads across 'Halloween'. Both 'Pollen' and 'Strands Of The Future' can be seen as the building blocks for their highly-rated third album, with both featuring the same ethereal style and woozy instrumental passages that make their music so appealing. Of the two, this 1976 effort is undoubtedly the superior release, yet both are recommended to fans of dreamy synthesized rock. Impressive. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012