WILLOWGLASS

'The Dream Harbour' is a shimmering and glimmering musical cove, a recording that exudes a strong sense of pastoral beauty, a sonic reverie for the dreamer who aspires to transcend the boring routine of life in the technological age. I like to call this 'Sunday morning prog' (a new category, chaps?), a restful respite from the vagaries of stressed-out existences, nothing too jarring and certainly never boring. The album has some epic pieces (such as the massive opener , the 20 minute + 'A House of Cards Pt1' and its subsequent 9 minute companion, 'Part2 ' , interspaced with 3 short interludes, as well as two tracks that fit into the 7-8 minute frame. All are sheer aural delights of the highest order and again, mellotron fans will have to purchase 'wetnaps' to soothe their exhilaration.

The first dramatic impression is one of subtlety, Marshall having now personalized his style, moving away from direct Genesisian influences into a more keyboard-oriented package that simply elevates the classical/orchestral feel of his music. In fact, I pleasantly detected some Gryphon-like influences, a strong sense of playfulness and textural contrasts, mostly due to the violin mentioned earlier. Highlights include of course the previously mentioned 'House of Cards' suite, a constantly evolving blossom of sound, sprinkled by a multitude of variance moods and detail touches (flute is another welcome addition), deft soloing and a sense of journey and escape.

The title track is also a worthy competitor, a glittering musical prize very much in the hallowed tradition of classic Genesis (the only return to the past here) with intricate acoustic guitar phrasings, augmented with wispy string mellotron waves that induce storybook daydreaming. Playfully majestic, the symphonic mood revels in its pastoral beauty to the listener's pleasure. The second segment involves spirited synthesized flights, sizzling violin runs and intense contemplation.

'Helleborine' is the short medieval tinged intermezzo, with mellotron and flute conjuring images of grandiose splendor, as perfect prologue for the lush finale. 'The Fall of Eurydice' invokes the majestic Steve Hackett but with enormous doses of quirky rhythms, whopping cascades of mellotron, terrific drumming amid a massive symphonic swirl. There is a slight sense of more complexity and playfulness which was not always apparent previously, showing the attention to detail within the tight symphonic parameters Andrew chooses to follow. Cool organ phrasings, military march drumming and extensive soloing rule the arrangement, creating an entertaining finale.

Willowglass has progressed to another level, perhaps less saccharine and more experimental and orchestral, with noticeably less lead guitar soloing, nothing wrong with all those mellotrons blazing the road ahead. Unruh and Schmitz have given Marshall a new direction which this writer feels more than exalted with. Lovely stuff indeed. 4.5 Fantasy wharfs

Even though the music here isn't very risky or creative it is still very enjoyable. Though the songs offer little diversity there aren't any bad ones. One little issue I have with the album is that it can lose a bit of interest at times and it all sounds sort of the same; it works better as background music rather than with full concentration. But looking past this I actually enjoy it. My favourite songs are Garden and Waking The Angels. I also love the artwork. It creates a good indication of the sort of atmospheric music likely to be heard. (In fact it's what influenced me to listen to this album.)

Overall it's an enjoyable album for a nice relaxed listen. It makes me happy to hear things like this nowadays. I recommend this for symphonic prog fans. 3.5 stars

I also recommend Willowglass' next album Book of Hours which has more direction and better compositions.

From the opening notes the influences from 70's UK Classic Prog are dominant.The short instrumentals on this album are definitely of the ANTHONY PHILLIPS/GENESIS school,attractive, delicate, pastoral acoustic music often supported by lovely flutes and mellotron.In the longer ones Marshall seems influenced by both the Symphonic and Folk Rock scene of the Island.''Remembering'' is absolutely fantastic,grandiose spacy synth Symphonic Music blended with CAMEL-esque jazzy guitars and some GENESIS soft folkiness towards the end.''Garden'' is closer to Folk Prog,excellent atmosphere under acoustic guitars and mellotron with a nice and intense outro.''Tower of the King's Daughter'' is maybe the weakest track,not because it's bad,but mainly due to the heavy plagiarism on the BANKS-ian moog synth sounds,seems like coming out of ''Selling England by the pound''.With ''Into The Chase'' Marshall goes back on his unique track,fine blending of KING CRIMSON-influenced mellotron,GENTLE GIANT-ish clavinet with a superb GILMOUR-ish guitar section later.On ''A Blinding Light'' organ makes its strongest presence,mixed well with the piano and guitars of Marshall,again delivering some trippy melodic soundscapes.''Waking The Angels'' is another huge highlight,almost entirely built around keys (mellotron-choir,spacey synths),flutes and acoustic guitars,offering absolutely dreamy musicianship of the highest quality.

Willowglass is one of the very few bands around with very strong retro-influences,which keeps the quality of their music on,at least, the same level as its loving bands of the past.This album is so elegant,dreamy,melodic and carefully composed,it is almost possible not to spin it back in your CD player.Highly recommended to all fans of 70's Classic Progressive Rock.

Take some of the best from the 1970s symphonic prog scene and then add some New Age, folk and jazz to the stew. The result is a very melodic, melancholic brand of symphonic prog. Yes, the music here does soar to the top of the mountains too. Mostly through some long guitar runs. But most of the music here is melancholic and pastoral.

Combining New Age and symponic prog is a difficult task. This album is an almost perfect blend of those two genres. Of Clearlight and Genesis. That makes the music here both interesting and soothing at the same time. It makes the listener both float away and take notice of some intricate details. It is perfect beached-whale-on-the-sofa music.

The quality is great throughout too. It is never dull. But I am missing the dot over the i which could had made this a real classic album. But it is still an excellent addition to my music collection and one I really savour.

4 stars

If you don't like derivative music, I guess that you'd better not listen to this album. It sweats "Genesis" at all time. Well, almost. I wouldn't say that I don't like it, but some forty years after the genuine masters, was it all necessary? I guess not.

The long and middle "The Maythorne Cross" is less catchy though. Little expression, little emotion: just a pleasant juxtaposition of excerpts. No fantasy but symphony. But I'm not really convinced by this number.

Andrew Marshall (the mentor of this "band") gets back to better territories with the title track which is a mellow symphonic piece of music which is quite enjoyable. It holds some lush keyboards, decent drumming and a truly bombastic feeling all the way through.

The epic track is full of "bombasticity" as well. But too much. It is quite elegant but I can't feel any emotion while listening to such a track. In all, this album is pleasant, lacks of vocals to shine a little more and scores no higher than three stars in my books.

Each of the genuine parts of this essential album is present: subtle fluting, gentle acoustic guitar and some good mellotron. What I am lacking is the drama of the lyrics, the ? absence of vocals. If you have read some of my reviews, you probably know that I quite like instrumental works (or at least passages), but with this sort of music; a few words might have been welcome.

This is at times too much derivative: "Tower Of The King's Daughter" (hi "Watcher"). When you look at the album cover, you have almost understood the content: pastoral English music. With a slice of a symphony.

The problem with such an album is that you get quite soon burned out with such content. The miracle of a couple of songs can't be repeated for long and at the end of the day, the music turns out to be quite average in terms of compositions ("Into The Chase").

I rate this album with no more than three stars. The more I listen to it, the less I can find any originality in here.

Early reviews in Progarchives were almost invariably positive (the familiar spectre of "vintage keyboard heaven" was raised) so I decided to give BOOK OF HOURS a go, and while it's an immediately likeable album, I found that it's perhaps not the "contemporary prog classic" some people seem to take it for.

I find it hard to put my finger on the problem since the album sounds very clean and professional. "Argamasilla", the 11 minute opening tune, is pleasant enough, but the same riffs are repeated a few times too often, and Marshall's solos (whether on synth or guitar) sound a tad too glib; they lack a certain degree of agressiveness; they never achieve the climax you hope they'll achieve.

Similar problems plague most of the other longer tracks on the album. If this had been a band playing, each and every soloist would probably have given their best while trying to outclass the others. Since Andrew Marshall is master of all he surveys, there is insufficient tension in his music. (Quite a few of Mike Oldfield's albums suffer from the same kind of problem.) I also agree with earlier reviewers that the absence of vocals is a disadvantage. Marshall is a highly gifted arranger but not a virtuoso of the calibre of, say, Steve Hackett, so you keep waiting for dramatic things to happen. A powerful singer could have made quite a difference.

Nevertheless, there is still a lot to enjoy. On "The Maythorne Cross", for example, Marshall plays solos on bass guitar, flute and churchy Hammond organ, and he tops it all by performing the most dramatic lead guitar solo on the entire album. This is undeniably impressive, and it makes you hope he will one day record a true masterpiece. "Willowglass" itself is a lovely acoustic tune, and on "The Labyrinth" there is one truly majestic moment where a church organ suddenly comes in. This particular trick has been pulled off quite a few times in prog history (most notably by the Flower Kings) but I've never heard it done so well as here!

Special kudos to Lee Gaskins for illuminating the CD cover with charming stained glass images based on one of the world's most fascinating books, DON QUIJOTE.

When I checked this album out first few times I often associated it with Camel, a band Willowglass is also referred to in the band description and is the best comparison I feel. Pink Floyd and Anthony Phillips are also mentioned, all with good right but will all three the vocals play an important role and Willowglass is 100% instrumental, one of the reasons I love this band so much.

When I played this album I always completely fell for second track (and first lengthy one) Remembering, such a wonderful tune making you surrender and long for more. And more there is on this fabulous debut. Most people prefer their follow up Book of Hours and all things considered so do I but that's no reason to sell this beauty short. Also the self titled debut is totally worthy of the four stars. If you want to sit back and relax, play this one. It's perfect !