GREGORY ALLAN FITZPATRICK'S SNORUNGARNAS SYMFONI

Wonderfully played, instrumental piano-focused Swedish prog! This is a good SMM album and is a substantially good introduction for newbies to the RIO/Avant genre.

1. Forsta Satsen- Very good song. Instruments are all extremely well-played and I like the typical SMM folk touch to it at parts, it really is a lot of fun! Plenty of song changes and masterful playing keep this song heavily enjoyable and exciting. 9/10

2. Andra Satsen- From the bizarre circus-like opening, this shorter piece continues the same feel as the previous one, light-hearted, enjoyable music with Swedish folk and other influences thrown in to create one long symphony split into four songs. Great part, but it barely misses the mark that the first one set for it. 8/10

3. Tredje Satsen- Continuing the same vein, this is another well-played track. This one is my least favorite on the album though simply because it doesn't strike me as much, but I can't find much other than personal preference to justify that since there is nothing wrong with the instruments or the composition. Out of any of the parts, this one has the potential to drag the most. Nonetheless, it's still a pretty decent song and keeps the same mood. 6/10

4. Fjarde Satsen- This song is not as frantic or upbeat in a bizarre dance-type of mood as the previous three, but it is still pretty good. Serves as a wonderful and more serious closer to this series and I really like the instrumental playing. The ending gets a bit repetitive, however. 7/10

This is a good album, but not the best from SMM. It is a good starting point for anyone who likes piano-driven instrumental compositions and for RIO in general, but it doesn't have the same masterpiece value of other SMM albums like Maltid or Knossa.

Still, an excellent addition to any prog collection.

It took me quite a while to locate this album on Spotify because it was listed under Gregory Allan FitzPatrick and not Samla Mammas Manna. This was of course not the first time that I've heard this charming record and I recall vividly listening to the LP many times during my teen years. But although I remember every track quite well the album doesn't convey a classical sense of nostalgia that I have for many of the other albums that I've listened to in those days. Don't get me wrong it's a very nice album with great playing all around, but I lack that little extra that only a Lars Hollmer & co record can supply me with.

Snorungarnas Symfoni has its distinct Samla Mammas Manna-sound but with a much more jazz-oriented flavor to it. In a way it might be considered the next logical step after Klossa Knapitatet that featured quite a few jazz-inspired compositions. It might not be the direction I would have preferred the band to undertake after the excellent Måltid but it was clear that the band had already reached their peak in the particular writing department and a change felt inevitable.

Still I would be lying if I said that this is anything less than an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection!

**** star songs: Första Satsen (11:46) Andra Satsen (5:39) Tredje Satsen (7:46) Fjärde Satsen (8:43)

The last album of Samla Mammas Manna's first phase (before they metamorphosed into Zamla Mammaz Manna) is a jazzy collaboration with Gregory Allan FitzPatrick, whose compositions the band interpret in their usual Canterbury-influenced style. A bit more accessible and engaging than their preceding album, and with less circus music about it than any previous Samla disc, the album sounds to me like Caravan and the Uncle Meat incarnation of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention getting together in order to record musical backing for classic Tom and Jerry cartoons; it's whimsical, clever, and playful, and tempered with just a little bit of nostalgia.