THE FINAL CURTAIN

I have several of the early recordings by Beggar's Opera. They are great and especially Pathfinder is a true masterpiece. As I found out that there is a new album by the band (and someone has given it a five) I offcourse had to get hold on to it. I have seldom been more dissapointed!

As you check the line-up you see that there are only three members in the band and only two are from the old setup. Gone is Martin Griffiths and his vocals that was a very important part of the band's overall appeal. Gone are also Ricky Gardiner with his guitar and the drummer Ray Wilson. Gone is also the songwriting of Gardiner and Griffiths that gave us most of the immortal music of the old BO.

One of the most remarkable things that affect this music is that Ray is substituted by a drum synthetizer. And a poor one. This reminds me lively the first pathetic efforts with midi and Sound Blaster. How about the songs here. The music is cheap. It is some kind of hit music, only. Maybe some sort of disco music. Even here this record is a failure. The sounds are so weak. It remains me a total mystery why this record was ever made? Is this really the same Alan Park? Did he get some money from this? Where did he lose his self respect?

One star is too much for this humiliation of a legendary band but as zero is not an option I'll give 1 star!

"Just for collectors, enthusiast."

This BO's last record (1996) contains new versions a couple of their old tracks and some new ones. Music style is a bit difficult to describe, it varies between R&B, AOR, prog.

In my opionion this is quite nice record, this complete my BO collection.(and this was cheap purchase). Booklet is as poor as possible.

I found some interesting "The final curtain" information from internet (how reliable these are... I don't know).

"www.gepr.net/ba.html" -Final Curtain contains last available tracks featuring three of the members of the band from the earlier (read "great") years: Linnie Patterson (voc), Gordon Sellar (bass, voc), Alan Park (keys). Some of the tracks were recorded in 1980 and the remainder in the late 80's when Linnie untimely died and Gordon took over on vocals.

"www.rock.co.za/rockit/playlist060201.html" -A final album of tracks recorded between 1980 and 1991, called "The Final Curtain", featuring Sellar, Patterson (who has since passed on) and Park, together with ex-Manfred Mann's Earthband bassist Colin Pattenden, keyboard player Lyndsay Bridgewater, vocalist Gordon Neville (ex-Alan Bown & Dragonfly), and drummer John Hollywood, was released in 1996.

I guess that there was no better title for this album, even if the band would have called it quit before this ugly recording.

There is absolutely not a signage of prog music on this album. It is frankly a very poor experience to go through tracks like Yes I Need Someone (but it is not the only one).

The majority of the songs have nothing to do with their earlier work. It is an awful journey into some extremely poor AOR (Africa At Last) or just weak songs overall.

This album should just not be appealing to any proghead really. It is a poor continuation of disgusting press next songs all the way through. At times, I feel like being tortured when I voluntary listen and write a review for such an album.

All of this because I once decided some two years ago to review the catalogue of a band from A to Z (whenever possible). I have to say that the exercise is useless with this Beggars Opera album.

This is a pretty [&*!#]ty album which features dreadful disco beats (Atmosphere, Bad Dreams). These songs have of course NOTHING to do with prog music (as the bloody and well named Bad Dreams). It is another press next song from this album that only holds such type of songs.

The best way to apprehend this album is to ignore it. Even one star is too much of a rating. I am really confused to have listened to such crappy record from a band who released some true and very good progressive recordings.

The band should have been brought to court to have released such type of poor work. One star of course (which is still one too much).

I feel like crying! Luckily that the album of the series "Noble Price" are budget line, otherwise... Oh yes, because "The Final Curtain" is an album that I would not recommend to anyone. Reading between the songs there is something good: "Yes I Need Someone" (good rock) or "Now You're Gone" (honest power ballad), but I can only think that if between 1981 and 1991 no one has given Beggars Opera a chance to release an album (and meanwhile recorded) was a valid reason. Yet it should be noted that in the 80's was published even worse (as today).

Ps: It closes the album "Poet & Peasant" a masterpiece if it would be recorded by Rick Wakeman. But here it fails miserable.