ENTERTAINING ANGELS

It's been quite some time since Landmarq released a studio album, the last being Science Of Coincidence way back in 1998. There have been a number of live releases since then including the band's first DVD - Turbulence, Live In Poland in 2006. The delay has in part unfortunately been down to vocalist Tracy Hitchings diagnosis with cancer a few years ago. Thankfully she has now been given the all clear and made a full recovery and is back in fine form.

Entertaining Angels is a great comeback for Landmarq and whilst I don't have all their albums in my collection it's the strongest set of songs I've heard from them. It's a consistently enjoyable collection of neo prog verging on crossover with strong and memorable melodies throughout. Lush keyboard work prevails alongside some fantastic and very tasteful guitar work from Uwe D'Rose including some searing Gilmour style soloing. Icing on the cake though has to be Tracy Hitchings gorgeous vocals whose theatrical delivery soars over this excellent collection and proves that she's one of the finest female vocalists working in prog, or any other genre today.

Most of the songs exceed the eight minute barrier with album closer Calm Before The Storm reaching sixteen minutes. Landmarq go for strong hooks over complex instrumental workouts and it works in their favour. Whilst unlike many prog bands we don't get a myriad of changes on most the tracks but they never appear overly long and laboured. This in part has to be down to the way Tracy expertly builds her vocal parts keeping the listener captivated, Part 2 of Glowing being a shining example. There's still room for some strong instrumental passages though with sax making a guest appearance on a couple of occasions for added colour.

The album is also available in a limited edition which includes a bonus disc with a further four tracks making up an extra thirty minutes of listening. Whilst these make a welcome addition there's nothing on here as strong as the main album but nevertheless worth the extra few quid. Overall then Entertaining Angels is a great return for Landmarq and sure to keep fans of the band happy and hopefully get them a few new ones along the way.

Turbulence?

If you happen to know the live concert DVD Turbulence released in 2006 (or, if you have seen the band live recently?), several of the tracks on this new studio album will be familiar to you. The title track, Mountains Of Anglia, Prayer, and the 16 minute plus Calm Before The Storm were all included on the Turbulence DVD (but ironically not the track called Turbulence itself). As such, more than half of the music on this album is at least six years old. But during this time little or nothing has happened to these songs or to the sound of the band in general. Like on the previous Science Of Coincidence from 1998, the songs are lush and melodic and filled with modern keyboard and clean, soaring lead guitar. I again find this music very pleasant and enjoyable, but somewhat lightweight.

Even if I think that Tracy Hitchings is a fantastic vocalist, I much prefer the Damian Wilson-era of Landmarq. The excellent debut album Solitary Witness remains my favourite Landmarq album and nothing they did after that has impressed me. There is no denying that these people are very talented musicians, and this is certainly another good Landmarq album, but again I fail to be impressed. As I said in my review of Science Of Coincidence, anyone looking for something dark or heavy should definitely look elsewhere.

Long overdue, Entertaining Angels will please fans of the band and many fans of the lighter side of Prog

It has been some 13 years since the last Landmarq album, due in no small part to Tracy's battle with cancer. This got me thinking, as the keyboard player is Mike Varty who is also in Credo ? whose singer Mark Colton also suffered a life-threatening illness which long delayed an album. If I was in DeeExpus, Shadowland, or anything else Mike is involved with I might be concerned?.Anyway, I first came across Tracy's singing a million years ago when she was in Quasar with Dave Wagstaffe and Steve Leigh, and after they all left that band they formed Landmarq, although with Damian Wilson on vocals while Tracy worked with Clive Nolan and also followed a solo career. It was only towards the end of the Nineties that Tracy became the singer on a full-time basis (after Damian, then Moon, and then Damian again if my memory serves me right) and she appeared on their last studio album 'Science of Coincidence', but this is the first to feature Mike as he has only been there seven years. The rest of the guys are those who have been there since the beginning, namely Uwe D'Rose (guitars), Steve Gee (bass) and Dave Wagstaffe (drums). Although since the release of this album Dave has had to announce his sad departure as he is no longer able to commit to touring, as he also plays with Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash.

So, what about it then? Production is top class, as one would expect from Mike, and although Tracy has been through a lot on the last ten years it doesn't show in her voice at all. I have always felt that Tracy is one of the most under-rated singers from these shores (go and find her solo album if you don't believe me), and is easily on a par with Lana Lane, and here she sings with a passion and strength that totally belies what has been going on in her personal life. In many ways this is easy listening prog, in the sense that the music is here as an accompaniment to the vocals and although there is a lot of complexity in the arrangements it is all about the singing. There are Floydian moments ("Mountains of Anglia" features some great slide guitar as well as sax) and others that are more in your face, but at all times it is about mood.

My favourite Landmarq album is always probably going to be 'Solitary Witness', but in many ways this is a rebirth and to my ears is a totally different band who produced that album 20 years ago, not just in personnel but in approach. 2012 has been a wonderful year for bands that first came to prominence in the 90's to produce great albums, and Landmarq are no exception.

This album was a complete surprise for me. And a pleasant one at that.

For some reason, I've been checking out more female voiced prog lately, including newer stuff from Panic Room, The Reasoning and Karnataka. Landmarq's earlier albums from the 90's were voiced by a man (Damian Wilson), and I'm not much of a fan of their music from that era. Tracy Hitchings took over lead vocals for their 1999 album, and then endured a period of illness and remission for cancer during the mid-2000's.

When "Entertaining Angels" was released 14 years after that previous studio effort, her voice was back to its typical strong and cheerful tone, with lyrics inspired by her battle with cancer. Lest you think this might be a morbid affair, fear not - it is very inspirational and uplifting music with some great refrains and musical motifs. There is a passion to Tracy's vocals as she sings over a combination of complex and easier progressive arrangements. I put her vocals right up there alongside the best of the prog female vocalists that I've heard.

Some of the guitar solos are reminiscent of David Gilmour's work, and are a nice accompaniment to the great vocals. If this music were a little more original, it might get a full 5 stars from me. Nevertheless, it is still a really enjoyable album to listen to from beginning to end; you can't beat that these days.

I see where Tracy Hitchings passed away this past December. This album stands as a great testament to her talents and will.