SATURATION POINT

Actually the most interesting reason to check out this group is their line-up . Everyone of them will pop-up elsewhere - Etheridge in Soft Machine , Mosley in Marillion , Messakar in Caravan . This sort-of-supergroup-to-be does not get much credit with me , however. Not that the music is bad , far from it , it has some cool-hard-AOR-melodic prog that will certainly appeal 70's completist - to which I almost qualify but in knowledge only because there is no way I will rebuy those album - maybe one day I will do a compilation of those three albums on a CDR ( a friend has them on Cd ). As you might guess WOLF is Darryl Way's group and it sure does sound like it as his violin and kb are all-over the place. He was also a big influence into early Curved Air with Monkman as the other writer - he left after three or four albums and Curved Air was never the same after. This first album has only two or three tracks that are sung and there is sufficient space for the apt musicians for some great interplay but to me the problem is not enough creative songwriting. The last two tracks on side 2 are my faves.

WOW! When a progressive rock band has violin and guitars in his music, usually they are not played at the same time. In fact, they are simultaneously played here, and this really contributes to give Wolf a very personal trademark. This not very well known prog band gives us here a wonderful album, full of impressive violin, electric + acoustic guitars and dynamic & punchy bass! No one else than Ian Mosley himself(Marillion)plays the drums here: they are very well played and quite complex. Everything is very well synchronized, like Gentle Giant. It sounds a bit like Curved air, Caravan, Happy the man, Gentle Giant and Frank Zappa, but this album has really its own sound, and this makes the band very interesting. The record is mainly instrumental, and the keyboards are surprisingly rare, simple and discreet: they mainly consist in electric piano. This record is heavier and more symphonic and straightforward than "Canis Lupus": there are some very seriously loaded parts, very progressive, and the violin is more omnipresent.

What a stellar line-up of excellent musicians, led by the crafty virtuosity of Darryl Way of Curved Air legend, with future Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge , future Caravan and The Strawbs bassist Dek Messecar and future Trace and Marillion drumster Ian Mosley. So what do we get? Some blazing string driven things with very few keyboards, the six string electric in battle with (at time against) the four string chin job! "The Ache" is a fiery instrumental opener that showcases Etheridge's rather tectonic playing as well as Way's capacity to parallel the emotional zeal with seeming ease. "Two-Sisters" leaves the station as a pleasantly sung Brit Rock piece, until the two soloists (the two brothers?) conspire to shred the arrangement to pieces, the little terrorists! Way in particular has a sizzling outro. "Slow Rag" is Etheridge's turn to show off his skills, weaving a leisurely guitar tapestry, in unison with Way's ultra-romantic glide, an ornate acoustic foray that has a definite Mediterranean feel, almost mandolin-ish , building up into a paroxysm of emotion and then gently ebbing, the violin's elegance leading the er. way. Mosley thrashes nicely on this fine piece. "Market Overture" supplies some electric piano musings, with supersonic jazzy electric guitar picking and a kindergarten violin sortie that builds inexorably, percussive adornments and booming bass taking this to an impromptu end. "Game of X" is at first straight ahead rock and roll, a two- fisted power boogie with scorching violin and some oddball hard scat singing but the shifting moods take this into a different expanse of improvisational violin screeching at the raucous guitar ramblings. Almost punkish at times, this definitely shows that the Wolf has big fangs. It becomes quite obvious that overproduced and lush symphonics are not what this rock predator is about. "Saturation Point" is a slow moving exploration that gives again both stringers the opportunity to forage above the bed of electric keyboards and seek out new sounds to play with, seemingly effortlessly. The classical tendencies here a quite remote as jazz or rock seem to be the prey of the day. Etheridge in particular has an electric guitar style that is enormously impressive, fluid yet raw, very animated as opposed to run of the mill. The bass rolls along nicely and keeps things nice and tidy. The fantastic finale is "Toy Symphony" (the definite highpoint here), which does revert to some intense violin classicisms but are quickly kidnapped by some weighty fuzz bass and cliff-hanger drumming, again flinging the arrangement into rockier geographies. Darryl Way displays his complete mastery over this tremendous instrument by choosing to eschew gratuitous note splashing and wringing out feeling and emotion from his trusted weapon. The final few minutes are a frenzy of exhilarating interplay that will leave you breathless. Just like being chased by a hungry wolf. Definitely worthy of your prog zoo, I mean.. collection. 4 canines.

This album was released the same year(1973) as "Canis Lupus" with the same four piece lineup of Daryl Way on violin and keys, John Etheridge on guitar, Dek Messecar on bass and vocals while Ian Mosely is the drummer. I do prefer "Canis Lupus" by a fair margin feeling it was a 4.5 star album while this one "Saturation Point" is a low four stars. I just don't feel the songs are as good plus the vocals which I really liked have been scaled way back and on top of that we get far more soloing from Way and Etheridge and the former dominates here unlike on "Canis Lupus". So if your really into the violin please come by.

My favourite track is the closer "Toy Symphony" as we really get some depth and nasty sounding stuff. Violin is all over this early then the guitar takes over around 1 1/2 minutes but they both lead the way on this track but the violin more so. I really am surprised at the lack of vocals when I felt they contributed so much to "Canis Lupus". "The Ache" is a scorching opener setting the tone and I like that bass at 3 1/2 minutes as it manages to break out of all that's going on. "Two Sisters" has vocals and it's a catchy tune and uptempo. The violin and vocals trade off leading the way.

They slow it down on "Slow Rag" not so surprisingly. Some beautiful moments on this mellow piece and the guitar and violin do take turns leading and we get some nice bass too. We get punchy drums and upfront bass on "Market Overture" as the guitar helps out on this mid paced number. Violin and guitar create a different sounding soundscape over that last minute. The only other track with vocals is "Game Of X" but it's vocal melodies not actual lyrics. Some heaviness on this energetic song too early on and later on as well. Keyboards too. The title track is where Etheridge really shines in my opinion. Keyboards on this one as well.

I like this album a lot but I feel it got spoiled a little bit for me with me starting with "Canis Lupus" instead of the other way around.