SIX PIECES

I discovered this amazing progrock band while I was searching the section 'Symphonic Rock' in the famous Amsterdam record shop Boudisque. Reading the back cover of the album "Six Pieces" from a formation called The ENID I couldn't believe my eyes: a six-piece band including no less than three keyboard players, what a thrilling idea (like SPRING and EELA CRAIG)! I didn't even listen to the album but bought it immidiately. At home I felt in love with their unique and compelling sound, this sounded lke genuine progrock in every inch: classical inspired compositions (six pieces) with lots of changing climates featuring sumptuous Wagnerian sounding orchestral keyboards, some Emersonian synthesizers (brass sound), sparkling pianoplay, fiery electric guitar, a dynamic rhythm-section and varied percussion. I still don't know any other band that succeeded to blend classical music and symphonic rock the way The ENID did, what a mindblowing progrock! Within a few weeks I bought all their LP's, from the debut album entitled "In The Region Of The Summer Stars" until "Live At Hammersmith Vol II" but despite the high level of all those records "Six Pieces" remains my favorite, a matter of taste I think while reading the other reviews on Prog Archives. Anyway, thanks to all fellow reviewers for the advise concerning the CD (re- releases).

Oh my dear prog, I haven't been so disappointed for a long time. Such a void and empty music this is. After listening few of their albums, I stumbled also over this one and was surprised how high ratings are on this one. So I checked it, but I'm not sure now where's the mistake (more like on whose side), but this simply fails to attract my attention. Only stronger piece that steps in front is The Ring Master, others hold back and are more similar to ambient background. Where are strong orchestra pieces, monumental sound backgrounds and thunder like compositions (Wagner, think of Wagner). If they want to for instance make calm, why it's so weak and void ?

3(-), one of my most angry reviews so far. Being beautiful doesn't mean that you have to be afraid to do anything at all. Fail, this simply fails.

Although, ostensibly, each of the six band members were provided the opportunity to offer up a composition, Robert Godfrey's orchestration and exposition are present on each of the album's six songs.

Each track of this album is worthy of careful consideration and contemplation. I'll go in depth to describe track one, in the hope that you will be encouraged to "chart your own course" of exploration through the remaining 5 tracks of this masterpiece!

Punch and Judy Man:

The first song of the album begins with a captivatingly energetic combination of percussive keyboards sounds (flute and some type of xylophone. glockenspiel or vibraphone sound). A little over 20 seconds into this introduction section, we are greeted by powerful drum and electric guitar punctuations. At around the 40 second mark, we come across our first fully stated theme. Let's call it the "PUNCH" theme. Counting out musical sections is tricky, but I hear this as alternating from a 9/8 measure to a 13/8 measure.

Proceedings soon escalate into a swirling frenetic section with the first 8 notes of the PUNCH theme cascading over the top of all the craziness. The first few notes of the Punch theme recur above the action before leaving for other musical territory. This is the kind of counterpoint I've come to expect from The Enid. Simply superb!

Things continue in a nicely developmental manner until, at around the 1:18 mark, the originally stated PUNCH theme returns verbatim in all of its alternating 9/8 & 13/8 glory.

The JUDY theme begins at around 1:45. Our introduction to JUDY is quiet and gradual, through whisperingly quiet piano and keyboard (flute). The music builds in both volume and intensity as the JUDY theme is presented in magnificently beautiful and rich tones.

Although the JUDY theme clearly includes new melodic elements, a key passage of it is comprised of a sequence of tones lifted sequentially from the PUNCH theme. At this point, the astute listener realizes that, despite all their emotionally stylistic differences, PUNCH and JUDY share musical content. This is particularly appropriate, for had this piece of music been intended to simply contrast the dispositions of two diametrically opposed individuals, it would have most certainly been named "Punch and Judy". Instead, its name is "Punch and Judy Man" because it describes the emotional ups and downs of a singular person, a "Punch and Judy" man.

JUDY's developmental section culminates in a passage of elegant quietude at around the 3:15 mark, which (we should know by now) effectively sets the stage for a grand reentry of loud drums and guitar at around 3:35. Everything grows faster, louder, more frenetic until, at around the 5 minute mark of the song, the PUNCH theme returns, enigmatically with 10/8 (instead of 9/8) and 14/8 (instead of 13/8) sections. The next time through, however, it reverts back to its 9/8 & 13/8 incarnation.

More frenetic fun ensues to the point of creating an almost absurdly carnivalesque, keystone cops atmosphere.

Yet another sudden shift at around 5:45 marks the beginning of a slow and mightily majestic passage not unlike the ending sequence of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Remarkable!

Close to the 7 minute mark? You guessed it! One final shift back to frenetic energy. The song will end as it began. With a PUNCH!

From the beautifully orchestrated explorations of colors and melodies surrounding the popular melody of Scarborough Fayre (Track 2 "Once she was?") to the soaring electric guitar of "Sanctus" and the emotional grand finale of "The Dreamer", this album is remarkable. If the fifth track, "Hall of Mirrors", seems to enigmatically wander a bit, perhaps it is only because it is successful in evoking the very feelings it seeks to musically convey. The Enid, once again remind us that they are the singular standard by which all orchestral symphonic progressive rock is to be measured. As always, electronic keyboards rule the day. But guitar, bass guitar and drums are still very important elements of the band's unique "sound".

Six Pieces is an album that's too dynamic. The quiet parts are barely audible, and the loud moments are cacophonic. The heavy passages contain little or no melody- just noisy, varying runs, sputtering notes, or seeming haphazardness. It's a chore to sit through. The delicate symphonic parts are definitely the best thing this album has to offer, but quite frankly, it feels like I'm listening to a Disney soundtrack in several places. The last two tracks, "Hall of Mirrors" and "The Dreamer" are the best offerings on the album, but beware: They are much closer to classical music than progressive rock.

"Punch and Judy Man" Frivolous light notes create a feathery texture of an introduction, but soon powerful keyboards and bass launch into an ELP-like flamboyance. Following this, and with nary a transition (they could be moving onto a new track, really), there is a sweetly delicate mix of orchestral keyboards. The third section of the piece relies on rapid bass notes on the piano with various interrupting notes leading into a nasty, messy passage of music.

"Once She Was" This is very pleasant pseudo-orchestral music- one could almost be fooled into thinking he was hearing a classical work. Midway through, again with no transition, various synthesizers and percussion create a grand symphonic display for about a minute, and then it's back to the synthetic orchestra.

"The Ring Master" The title is appropriate, given that this sounds like exaggerated circus music. In a nutshell (one not yet eaten by an elephant), this represents most of what is wrong with this album- the arrangement is so boringly busy. There is no centerpiece, precious little melody, and nothing to make me recall what I'd just heard.

"Sanctus" While this doesn't sound terribly original, it is pleasant and has a clear direction- a happy, cheerful one...at least for the first 45 seconds. It gets loud for a bit, and then settles into a dirge-like mellowness. Again, a bunch of passages thrown together does not good progressive rock make. Fortunately it does pick up into something similar to my favorite composer, Tchaikovsky. There's a guitar theme that interrupts the music a few times, and it really doesn't fit at all- I have no idea why it got wedged into the piece, and not just once.

"Hall of Mirrors" Quiet piano treads softly underneath a weepy lead in this delicate waltz. The soaring guitar over the orchestral keyboards is a stunning moment of grandeur.

"Intro / The Dreamer" The introduction to "The Dreamer" is a ghostly, almost nightmarish piece with eerie percussion and frightening noises, but the piece proper is unassumingly beautiful with a mighty climax.

It's hard to believe Robert John Godfrey originally intended this to be a single composition. If he did then the record label had far more influence than they ever should have for an Enid album since the final product lacks any sort of overall cohesive feel, theme or message. Well maybe a little bit of a common feel since like nearly everything the band did after 'In the Region of the Summer Stars' sounds a bit like Andrew Lloyd Webber doing Wagner for a Disney animated film soundtrack. And that's no different here, except that as we've seen since the debut record Godfrey continues to cede increasingly larger portions of his works to the 'rock' side of the band, namely guitarists Stephen Stewart and Francis Lickerish as well as percussionist Robbie Dobson (who is quite brilliant here, especially on the opening "Punch and Judy Man" and the somewhat schizophrenic "The Ring Master").

As the title states this record consists of six pieces of music, ostensibly one dedicated to each member of the band although I've not been able to confirm that conclusively. They are all compositions in the expected late-seventies Godfrey mold (eg., quite symphonic with just enough rock to merit the genre label), but there are slight differences worth noting.

"Punch and Judy Man" is pretty much what the title would suggest, a back-and-forth musical sketch of with alternating masculine and feminine themes. The masculine portions are confident and bold, while the feminine parts tend to be timid to the point of lackluster, and at times almost imperceptible. While I enjoy this album as a whole I think this was a weak choice for the opening track.

In contrast though the next four tracks are quite brilliant, led by "Once She Was..." which is one of the more unique variations on the traditional English ballad "Scarborough Fair" I've ever heard. The band takes the familiar refrain and weaves it into several musical variations that blend together quite well for an overall pleasant and curiously nostalgic feel. I'm not English at all but listening to this song almost makes me wish I was.

"The Ring Master" is a classical-meets-rock mash-up of a circus-like mood set to orchestral music produced by three sets of keyboards and lots of varied percussion. You should be able to take that description and get a sense; cacophonic at times, lively, melodic and overall a quite fun piece of music to listen to.

When listening to "Sanctus" and "Hall of Mirrors" I do wonder a bit if these two songs and "Punch and Judy Man" were meant to work together at one point, so maybe there is something to that single-composition story after all. The former sounds quite like 'Punch' parts of that song while the latter smacks of 'Judy' but with a little more volume and definitely more accompaniment for Godfrey by the other band members. These feel like variations on the opening track that are worked out a little more fully and meant to stand on their respective own. "Sanctus" comes off solid, but "Hall of Mirrors" suffers from being a bit too laconic in my opinion.

As with several other Enid albums the band closes with a longer track, in this case the nearly ten minute "The Dreamer". Here Godfrey lapses back into his chamber-hall motif with a work that has basically no rock attributes whatsoever and could easily be passed off as classical music by a student or local community orchestra with few people the wiser. I love the guy's music but once again he seems to vacillate on what sort of music the Enid is meant to create. Gorgeous ending though.

This would be the end for this group of musicians for the most part, although the name 'The Enid' would live on. Pye Records would fold, Lickerish and Dobson would leave and Godfrey and Stewart would essentially become a duo with a revolving door supporting cast for the next several years. The nest album would even have (egad!) ? vocals. So this is the last 'true' the Enid album as far as I'm concerned, and the band acquitted themselves quite well on it all things considered. Their best and most varied work yet I think. This band is definitely an acquired taste, even for progressive music fans. But if you're willing to take the time the experience can be worth it, and of everything they created in the seventies this is the one I'd most highly recommend. Fourt stars out of five and well recommended.

peace

Despite the problems with their label, The Enid were in a creative mood at the end of the 70's and less than a year after the release of ''Touch me'' they reentered their studio to work on a new album.''Six pieces'' was recorded between August and September 1979, Terry Pack was no more among the members (although he occasionally helped the Enid as a session member) and he was replaced by Martin Russell.Now, there is an interesting rumour that the front cover, with the six members on a chess, was refering to the PYE label and the fact they were used as pawns than a proper signing.Anyway the album was released eventually in 1980.

The opening ''The punch and judy man'' was a huge suprise, it's quite complex keyboard-driven Symphonic Rock with many similarities to the sound of GENESIS with all these Moog synth effects and solos and the propelled rhythm section, althought the Classical and cinematic atmospheres are still present, but much more pronounced on the ethereal follower ''Once she was...''.''The Ringmaster'' finds The Enid in their familiar style of fairytale Symphonic/Classical Rock with the powerful orchestrations showered by the guitars of Steve Stewart and Francis Lickerish, I especially like the naughty flute parts and the interplays with the guitar and keyboards.''Sanctus'' is again closer to cinematic Classical Music, featuring some brilliant atmospheres based on the synth parts and the discreet electric guitars, but as with many of The Enid's offerings, this comes more into music arranged for orchestra than a Rock band.More of the same with ''The hall of mirrors'', excellent music for a Soundtrack and a guiding light for Classical Rock lovers, but somewhat losing the true progressive spirit.The 9-min. ''The dreamer'' is the longest track on the album.Half of the track is dedicated to a soft atmosphere exhibited on piano and light electric soloing, before turning into more bombastic orchestral music towards a grand finale, again this is contemporary Classical Music with minor rock elements than the fascinating Prog/Symphonic Rock The Enid played in their previous releases.

I am impressed by the extremely high artistic value of the album, we are talking about 1980 here, and the band still insists on creating technically flawless cinematic music.The rockin' vibes are somewhat reduced, but the bombastic atmosphere of the album will please fans of majestic, symphonic arrangements.Recommended.