LIGHT AGES

Whether intentional or not, the title of the album is actually a very good indicator of what to expect. Back after 16 years, Light Ages essentially sees Wigwam continuing on the same path they left off many years ago. Obviously, Ronnie Österberg isn't here anymore, which is a shame, and Mikko Rintanen had replaced Hessu Hietanen on keyboards, but apart from that, there are not many changes to their overall sound. Sure, the album is quite possibly the "lightest" Wigwam album in many ways, the whole band seems relaxed, and full of "spirit", so to speak. The album has four old Wigwam songs with new versions, and nine totally new tracks. While I thoroughly enjoyed the new versions (especially Tombstone Valentine), I still think those were more or less pointless. I would've preferred to hear completely new material, but I guess we don't live in an ideal world, eh? Some of the new compositions have a slight AOR-ish twist to them (not exactly my cup of tea), but for the most part, this is good old Wigwam playing their very own "deep pop". Mikko Rintanen on keyboards fits the band nicely, and offers some very tasty keyboard solos during the album. Rekku Rechardt - well, no need to mention him at all, he's always superb! Absalom is a downright Wigwam classic nowadays - and for good reason. A couple of the tracks sound a tad uninspired, namely False Alarm and possibly Pleasure Street, but that's just a minor complaint. Overall, Light Ages is surely a good album. While it doesn't reach the level of their masterpieces, it's still a very worthy effort, and brings a smile to my face everytime I hear it. That's all what matters, right?

Wigwam's reunion from the 90's gathered together the three living members of the "Nuclear Nightclub" personnel. Drums are played by JAN NOPONEN, and MIKKO RINTANEN paints some light soundscapes with the keyboards, leaving still piano for the singer and main composer. This album continues the "less-artsy" evolvement of the band, and the result is professional adult oriented pop rock with some vintage features, like the vinyl's sound mimic in the start. The feeling is quite relaxed and positive, and the old days are being remembered with new performances of "Tombstone Valentine" and "Friend from The Fields", thus these don't bring much new content to these songs. "Absalom" is the longest track here, and the melody truly reminds of the classic hey day of this band, and it is repeated hypnotically, letting it grow with patience. The compositions done by both PEKKA RECHARDT and JIM PEMBROKE are clearly best here. Though I'm not very fond of this album, I would suggest the fans of "Nuclear Nightclub" to give it a listen, and also if peaceful slightly artistic AOR is your cup of tea, please take a sip of this!

After making three studio albums in 1975-77 (the first one, Nuclear Nightclub, being highly succesful) WIGWAM had to call it a day in sad feelings. The next decade wasn't happy for the old Finnish prog legends in general. There was a group called Filthy Rich featuring Jim Pembroke and other seasoned prog musicians, but they collapsed before managing to record an album.

The first step towards the comeback of Wigwam was taken in a gig of Filthy Rich in the late 80's: guitarist Rekku Rechardt was invited to climb on the stage during 'Grass for Blades' in the encore. In 1991 Provinssirock, one of the biggest Finnish rock festivals, succeeded in getting the legendary band on the stage. The reception was encouraging and they continued touring. But it all was only about the old nostalgia; everyone understood that something new had to be done, too. The first member to leave was keyboardist Heikki "Pedro" Hietanen who was replaced by Mikko Rintanen. He in particular thought that it's the old classic stuff that the audience wants. while Pembroke and Rechardt preferred to move on.

There are several renditions of old tracks (from Wigwam or Jim Pembroke's solo material) on this album. In a way, Light Ages was more like a document of things that had to be preserved than a brand new studio album, the drummer Jan Noponen has said (the original Wigwam drummer Ronnie Österberg had committed suicide in 1980). According to Noponen, some excellent new compositions were left out, as the album was made with safety. Another criticized thing was the rather 80's-sounding production of T. T. Oksala. For the contents, Light Ages is quite uncoherent and uneven, and not very progressive.

'Borders to Be Crossed' and 'Pleasure Street' are throwaway American-style rock polished with saxophones, and Rechardt's old composition is given a rock'n'roll treatment on 'Skyscraper' . Of the recycled songs, 'No New Games' originating from Pembroke's second album and 'Friend from the Fields' (a.k.a. 'Marverly Skimmer' from Being) are more worthy that the other two.

Some new tracks dated from the Filthy Rich times, such as 'Talking Brought Me Here' to which Mats Huldén wrote lyrics based on a zulu folktale. The best new songs are written by Rechardt: 'Absalom' and 'The Next Breakfast'' both resemble the mid-seventies stuff to a suitable degree. Atmospheric 'Crystal Ball' features a nice, hazy synth riff, and 'Planetstar' has a strong, relaxed feeling.

Considering the complete Wigwam discography, this album is clearly among the least essential ones, but I feel more sympathy for it than for the last two studio albums. 2½ stars rounded up.

(I wrote this with my book script in front of me, which explains the large amount of background information.)