PRIVATE PARTS & PIECES II - BACK TO THE PAVILLION

I like this one of the series "Private Parts and Pieces". He added here some further instruments (piano, keyboards, electric guitars) to enhance the beauty of the compositions.

With the piano, keyboards and guitar effects here, it sounds sometimes like Brian ENO, or even GENESIS' "Trespass". Mike RUTHEFORD plays the bass on couples of tracks. There are couples of tracks containing wind instruments too. The songs are often mystic. Anthony PHILLIPS is really talented to produce very good piano parts and keyboards ambience.

Another hodgepodge of old and new material, featuring a return (of sorts) to "The Geese & The Ghost". PHILLIPS acknowledges the similarity between the opening "Scottish Suite" and "Geese"'s "Henry", and fans of his first work will enjoy the encore. Recorded in the summer of 1976, the suite actually pre-dates the release of "Geese", with "Salmon Leap", "Electric Reaper" and "Amorphous, Cadaverous and Nebulous" again picking up where "Trespass" left off (MIKE RUTHERFORD and ANDY MCCULLOCH support PHILLIPS' arsenal of guitars and keyboards). The rest of the record is a continuation of the music found on the first "Private Parts & Pieces"; instrumentals featuring PHILLIPS on keyboards or guitar, sometimes incorporating a flange effect, other times playing tracks backwards, with a homespun sense of studio experimentation. Ever the sentimentalist, PHILLIPS stoops to conquer our hearts in some instances (none more annoying than "I Saw You Today", in which PHILLIPS croaks out maudlin lyrics), but there are some pretty and wistful pieces to be salvaged, such as "Spring Meeting" and "Nocturne." Most surprising is an excursion into Eno's ambient world on "K.2." that recalls Discreet Music; this song and "Heavens" suggest that PHILLIPS might have a very good album of fuzzy keyboard music up his sleeve. Given the fact that many of these songs date from 1976 and 1977, it's no wonder Back to the "Pavilion" sounds like a cross between "Geese" and "Private Parts". Due to PHILLIPS' uneven and occasionally unrewarding catalog, some critics have pegged "Pavilion" as a worthy successor to "Geese", which it's not. That said, it does rank among the more substantive of the "Private Parts & Pieces" archival digs, and will prove more amenable to fans of "Geese" and the first PP&P than his "pop" albums, which have sent more than one listener into synthetic shock.

Like "PP & P VIII", this album has several great tracks and a good bit of variety. Of the 10 or 20 Ant albums I've owned or heard, this is one of my favorites. First I bought the LP, then I got a cassette, and finally the CD when it was released. This was an all-too- common method for me as I made the change to the modern technological age....

Amorphous, cadaverous and nebulous

In light of the facts that (1) the first Private Parts & Pieces album was initially a free give-away that came together with the Sides album in the UK (and only later got a separate release), and (2) that it consisted of an assorted collection of guitar and piano solos, duets and ensembles from 1972 to 1976, I think it is fair to consider this second Private Parts & Pieces album subtitled Back To The Pavillion as the proper beginning of the series.

This album is certainly an improvement over the first one, but the real interest here lies in the opening five-part Scottish Suite. It is here, and only here, that we find anything that deserves to be counted as Prog on this album (and indeed these moments are very rare it Anthony Phillips' Private Parts & Pieces-series). The rest of this album is again an assorted collection of further Classical guitar and piano solo pieces plus some ambient, electronic numbers. Ant would later develop his electronic side further, but at this stage it is fair to consider these numbers as experimental. The nine minute K2 is overlong and uneventful. I Saw You Today sees Ant taking to the microphone, otherwise this album is entirely instrumental.

While Back To The Pavillion is the natural starting point when it comes to the Private Parts & Pieces-series, it is not all that impressive in its own right. It is recommended to fans of Ant's debut The Geese And The Ghost to which it bear some occasional resemblance.

This second leg of these "Private Parts & Pieces" has little to share with the average first one. You can read the details of the birth of this album in the good review from my fellow review Dave; so I will start immediately with the music.

When the epic suite which opens the album starts, I was submerged with such a great feeling: grandiose and bombastic intro ("Salmon Lead"). I was rather charmed and curious to listen more of it. Unfortunately this long suite is more a collage of short parts with no real liaison between them. Still, after a weaker "Parting Thistle" the artist plays a softer prog section with fine acoustic & electric guitar moments (but not only).

The longest part from this "suite" is a chance to discover Anthony's maestria on the acoustic guitar. It almost sounds as ?I guess you know who. This track is really a marvel of delicacy and it is sooooo melodic. My fave part from this work probably. "Trespass" atmosphere is fully reconstructed. And that's so great!

The "Scottish Suite" ends up on a quiet and relaxing note (piano mainly). If I had to rate this part only from this album, four stars would be definitely granted.

The songs that complete the album are quite different: from very short "interlude" tracks that are not really necessary to splendid and ambient passages like during the emotional "K2" which is very much Schulze oriented (or TD is you prefer). The same sort of music can be experienced during the well named "Heavens".

Some usual and obvious acoustic guitar track are of course featured ("Spring meeting" or "Nocturne"). The last few songs are not memorable ("I saw you today") but I rate this album with four stars thanks to the great "suite" as well as a few very fine tracks (four or five).

The second Private Parts and Pieces collection--many of which, I'm sure, were culled from The Geese and The Ghost era of Ant's production but others which were developed as he worked on his mastery of keyboards. - N.O.R. Side 1. "Scottish Suite" (15:15) (26.25/30): - i) Salmon Leap (2:46) (4.25/5) - ii) Parting Thistle (2:26) (4.5/5) - iii) Electric Reaper (3:03) (4.25/5) - iv) Amorphous, Cadaverous And Nebulous (4:53) (9/10) - v) Salmon's Last Sleepwalk (2:07) (4.25/5) 2. "Lindsay" (3:50) beautifully melodic solo piano ballad. (8.5/10) 3. "K2" (8:53) slow moving sustained synthy organ chords with keyboard-generated flitting angel noises over the top. (17/20) 4. "Postlude: End Of The Season (0:32) - S.O.R. Side 5. "Heavens" (4:22) more church-like synth-organ music. (8.5/10) 6. "Spring Meeting (3:52) outstanding solo classical guitar piece. (9.5/10) 7. "Romany's Aria" (0:50) reversed electric guitar vignette (4.5/5) 8. "Chinaman" (0:41) solo 12-string theme. (5/5) 9. "Nocturne" (4:05) solo classical guitar piece--slower, more cerebral, than the previous one. More of an étude of style and technique. Beautiful. (9.25/10) 10. "Magic Garden" (1:56) solo piano piece. Again like an étude. Ant sure can find odd but beautiful chord combinations and melodies. Like a keyboard version of "Tibetan Yak Music." (5/5) 11. "Von Runkel's Yonker Music" (0:41) a variation on a familiar theme from The Geese and the Ghost. (4.5/5) 12. "Will O' The Wisp" (3:30) heavily-flanged slow down-strummed 12-string guitar chords. Experimental and étudinal. (8.75/10) 13. "Tremulous" (1:06) 12-string with Mel Collins' flute. another outtake from The Geese and the Ghost? (4.25/5) 14. "I Saw You Today" (4:34) sensitive solo 12-string with Ant's plaintive singing. A longing love song to two friends from his past. There's a lot of very real-feeling emotion packed into this simple song. (9/10) 15. "Back To The Pavilion" (2:51) quiet solo piano, bass chords and treble single notes, then turning full-bodied. Definitely original though taking inspiration from so many classical pieces and styles. (5/5)

Total time 56:58

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of truly sensitive, emotional and personal progressive rock music. Beautiful.

The nice and colored painting on the sleeve let's intend that this album doesn't have anything to do with the poor "Sides". And effectively this is a prog album.

It starts with an epic in 5 parts, what more prog than this? Scottish suite sounds very Genesis, even if the piano parts remind sometimes to the Wakeman of Six Wives. What I find bad is the excessive use of tapes, often played reverse as in part 5. Playing at the countrary to obtain what you want when the tape is played reversed, is a good mathematical excersize, but one minute is enough, or at least, let me joke, add a hidden satanic message.

On the good side, the piano parts are very good. Not that Anthony Phillips is a Wakeman or a Keith Emerson, but he plays good enough and is a good composer, so a track as "Lindsay" can be interesting. I think the inspiration comes from Chopin or similar, but even with the classical mood tgere are clues of The Geese and the Ghost.

"K2" is quite a newage track, slow and repetitive with the echoed guitar adding an oriental touch. It's an excellent ambient track.

What is a 35'' track for? The guitar harping is quite good but...

"Heavens" is another instrumental track with a neo-classical mood very close to Genesis. Relax and enjoy.

Back to classical guitar with "Spring Meeting". If you have present some Steve Hackett's tracks like "A Cradle Of Swans" , this is the genre. In terms of passages in some moments it strongly reminds to The Geese and the Ghost.

Unfortunately Ant restarts playing with tapes for 48 useless seconds, then other 41 seconds of acoustic guitars before a real track starts again.

I have previously mentioned Chopin, so why don't insert a "Nocturne"? A very nice one, but made of classical guitar instead of piano. Technically is nothing more than a studio, but the composition is good.

Back to piano again for less than two minutes. I think this album is made of a lot of non- developed ideas. This could have been the intro for a long track like "Henry" but remains just a short piano track. Same for the 45 seconds of the following track which feature the Oboe of Rob Phillips.

"Will Of The Wisp" is a bit longer but also it seems to be no more than an "idea". "Tremulous" features the former King Crimson and Camel Mel Collins at the flute and it's just a flute solo with a bit of acoustic guitars in the background for a couple of minutes.

"I Saw You Today" is the first song with lyrics. Anthony sings and this is a pity. The song is not too different from "God If I Saw Her Now", but Ant's voice is everything but nice.

"Back To The Pavilion" is the (sub)title track. It's a piano solo, again very melodic and with a classical flavor.

As usual when reviewong old stuff, I can't comment on the bonus track because it's not present on my vinyl copy

It's a good album, light years better than Sides, but it doesn't reach the level of the first PP&P. Considering the weaker parts I think that 3 stars is a honest rating, just a little generous.

The second Private Parts and Pieces collection suffers from a lack of focus - only to be expected considering that it's a grab-bag of bits of music assembled for other projects. The highlights of the album are the epic Scottish Suite, representing some of Phillip's most aggressive and spooky progressive rock composition, and K2, a dreamy new age synthesiser piece. The remaining tracks, however, whilst often pretty are also a bit of a mixed bag - there's some rejects from Wise After the Event which aren't that much better than the pieces that made it onto the album, some classical guitar and piano pieces which seem more like first drafts than finished works, and a lot of forgettable material. A mixed bag, then.

Come 1980 and Phillips would again return to the memories of the past, releasing an album with compositions originally written for other projects and some leftovers from the ''Wise after the event'' sessions.The album was titled ''Private parts & pieces II: Back to the Pavilion'' and was originally released for the US label Passport in June.Phillips is the main figure on this work, playing electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, piano and singing, while his only regular assistant was ex-King Crimson drummer Andy McCulloch.Mike Rutherford appears on bass on ''Scottish suite'', Rob Phillips plays the oboe on ''Von Runkel's Yorker music'' and Mel Collins enters in ''Tremulous'' with his flute.

Special mention should be given to the 15-min. excellent opening ''Scottish suite'', described by Phillips as ''a collection of Scottish Salmon farmer's songs and 12th century Paraguayan tin-miner's threnodies''.This belongs among Phillips' most genuine, sophisticated and progressive compositions, a meld of late-70's Symphonic Rock with bucolic British Folk, dominated by excellent handling of classical guitars, dark keyboard flavors and melodious symph-based textures in an all instrumental majesty very close to his days with GENESIS, at least during the acoustic lines.Definitely a highlight of his career with a nice balance between acoustic themes and electric energy and a charming combination of dramatic and gentle musicianship.Cut off the ''dramatic'' and ''electric'' words from the previous description to follow the storyline of the rest of the album, which is filled with romantic piano lines, acoustic crescendos and embryonic pre-New Age flashes with Phillips being the absolute officer, passing through stylistic variations, which have all in common the mood for sentimental, heavily acoustic and ethereal soundscapes.The material here is not bad at all, but falls short compared to the impressive opening opus.This comes indeed as a collection of short pieces and different sources of inspiration with Folk, Classical and minimalistic Music as the guidelines, leading to instrumental isolation, always led by Phillips' lovely tunes and accomplished skills on guitar and keyboards, but leaving much to be desired regarding a richer and more progressive side.

An uneven release, which somehow manages to keep a high level of musicianship.Maybe too mellow and experimental for the casual prog listener, but the acoustic tracks have a nice and attractive atmosphere, while ''Scottish suite'' is a real stunner and a good enough reason to purchase the album.Recommended.