FANFARE & FANTASY

OK, so now I need to buy an autochanger for the car.... When I bought "Disobey" it's been one of the few CDs which has rarely been out of the car and one of the even fewer which I let run time after time! And then along came "Fanfare & Fantasy"!!! On first listening, this is not Disobey mark 2... Nor is it a reflection of the original mini album from the mid 80's. Fanfare & Fantasy shows Comedy Of Errors evolving and, whilst retaining the same direction in which they excel, developing the classic sound to break new ground. What's more, Fanfare & Fantasy more than Disobey gives Mark Spalding more of a chance to show just what a stunning guitarist he is. Some of the soloing is just mind blowing, and then you realise that there's even more layers to pick out - layers in which Mark is producing some amazingly rich picked textures on both electric & acoustic. From the opening couple of bars, Joe Cairney is in fine voice throughout! "Please don't mind me asking, if it's all the same, to me it's my life, to you it's a game..." I first heard these lines in the video samples Joe posted from recording at Hew Montgomery's studio and the heartfelt sentiment just continues to run through "Fanfare For The Broken Hearted". Joe's vocals throughout this album are simply stunning (and I know the inside story... :-)...). Some lovely vocal trickery too with overlayed and counterpart layered vocal tracks. Overall, Jim Johnton has penned another absolutely classic prog album! All the classic touches are here, the swelling pads of Mellotron sounds, lush strings and brasses to some really intricate Tony Banks / Mark Kelly-ish runs. Comedy Of Errors are a band who truly do seem to be in tune with each other - the sum parts combining to a result greater than the individuals. Truly awe inspiring. My favourites from the album, unfair as this may be as the whole piece of work stands up as a statement of brilliance, would include Fanfare For The Broken Hearted, The Cause, The Answer, Going For A Song... As I say, just my preference! This is truly an essential piece of work and essential to any music collection - prog fan or not! All power to the CoE guys, let's hope a prog revival can be sparked. Right, off to Halfords for that autochanger....