AMAZING BLONDEL

Soft rock is still the stock in trade, but far more uniformly than ever before.. With glossy somnolence this sashays from one mellow string synth-heavy tune to another, and without the counterbalancing of more truly upbeat material, this can presumably only tug at synthesized heart strings because I felt nothing. Overproduction also coats every tune with a sickly syrup of sorts, a presumed prophylactic against melodic and character protrusion. I half expect Pet Clark to start singing after the intro to "Maybe", but why would she bother?

The only track that doesn't sound like a mediocre out-take of their glory years is "Fool's Gold", which could have sat quite well on the "Inspiration" album, and features fine accordion by Wincott. "Next Time" is also decent, but in general you are far better off listening to the "Going where the Music Takes me" compilation if you want more of this ilk.

One mystery is how they could only come up with 34 minutes given the quality, but that's definitely a plus. Amazing, Elsie, in all the worst ways.

I don't like this supersweetness. In fact, after the first two songs it realy starts irritating me and I want to stop listening. Just in case of reviewing this record, I forced myself to listen it at least two times, but I find this quiet challenging. The instrumental part is not interesting for me. Okey, this is a combination of rock and some orchestric, classical music, but I cannot place this music in a progressive context. The songs are not complex in structure or progression. The melodies are far too easy and the vocals are all so optimistic and happy sounding that it keeps annoying me.

The main instrument besides the (background) orchestra and strings is the flute. Don't expect any virtuosity here. This is no Ian Anderson playing the flute.

The first good song on the record starts in side two- song three. This is a string arrangement without vocals, which is the first progressive song. The good thing about this song is it's neutral sound and the absence of vocals. The last song is also quiet good and is also without vocals.

Sweet, sweet, sweet. I do NOT recommend this to prog-listeners and even to folk-fans - as I am myself. This kind of sweetness is not comparible with Steeleye Span e.a. This is hardcore sweetness.

While the sound remains predominantly acoustic, the sound is "updated" (acoustic instruments are less varied) and "modern" (thanks to drums and bass guitar played by Steve Winwood).

The fantastic opener "The Leaving of a Country Lover" starts with deep orchestral murmurings and then developes one of the most beautiful melodies I ever heard. The closer is even better, short, sad, aching, intense and romantic as never before.

In the middle a bunch of (folk) feathers and, above all, the most satisfying record from the band, in my opinion, although there is no high points as in "Fantasia Lindum" self titled suite.

The music follows the same patterns of the previous records and is even sweeter and charming, expanded by strings in a sort of symphonic folk pastiche.

On par with "Fantasia Lindum", Gladwin delights us with another beautiful side-long suite, entitled "The Paintings". Differently from the former, the latter is more predictable and does not feature any improvisation, so I cannot say it is at the same level.

Curiously, in spite of the sweetness of the whole record, it ends with a noisy blurp. I've almost jumped off my chair the first time I heard it.

The band embarks on a more adventurous and free number (good effort in improvisation) that embraces the whole first side of the record, opening with a memorable baroque clavier.

As I read somewhere in the internet, the "Fantasia Lindum" suite is the band's tribute to the city of Lincoln, the Lincolnshire countryside and the mediaeval Lincoln Cathedral. A variety of instruments are played, but the central sound is made of (in addition to the occasional clavier sequences) the two lutes of Gladwin and Baird and the wind instruments played by Wincott.

The other side of the album is less interesting and includes madrigal songs and two instrumental tunes. There is the hymn song "Safety in God Alone" and the pipe-organ-and-drums' duet of "Siege of Yaddlethorpe" with guest appearance of TRAFFIC's Jim Capaldi.

Well, to be honest this band is not your typical progressive folk group. They play acoustic (gentle) folk with many references to the renaissance times (e.g. cither, lute, theorbe, crumhorn, tabor, harpsichord et alia) and absolutely no aggressiveness (very light percussion).

This album is, in particular, very luminous and happy sounding with no complexity in the songs' structure. Very different from the following (fantastic) work "FANTASIA LINDUM" with its memorable long acoustic elizabethan suite.

As many of their contemporaries (Steeleye Span, Strawbs, Gryphon) their production lost gradually the medieval feel and turned into a more "modern" sound. However, differently from their contemporaries, for the Amazing Blondel this process was very slow and they never opted for a full electrified folk.

Evensong: nomen omen; a name, a destiny.

Finally I have been able to put my hands on this album, which has for a long time been the missing piece in my Amazing Blondel collection. I now own it as part of a 2010 two-on-one CD release together with the group's previous album, England (just as their Evensong and Fantasia Lindum albums were released together some years ago). While England, for me, was something of a disappointment, this gorgeous little album entitled simply 'Blondel' has very quickly become my favourite in the Amazing Blondel discography. With this album the acoustic Folk group took a step closer towards the Pop and Rock world. Though the trio was reduced to a duo for this album, they invited a handful of guests to provide various instruments. For the first time we hear bass guitar (played by Steve Winwood) and drums. But this tendency should not be exaggerated as this is by no means a full-fledged Rock album. This is still strongly acoustic and it is still very much a product in the distinctive Amazing Blondel style. The progressive aspects are definitely present, but subtle.

In some ways Blondel might be seen as a transitional album between the group's Folk phase and their later Pop phase. As such it is an interesting mix between the two styles and the tunes are very charming indeed. Prog Rock fans might perhaps question the relevance of Amazing Blondel here, but anyone with a taste for acoustic Folk Pop should not miss this lovely album.

This album is a very good place to start if you want to investigate Amazing Blondel. A solid three stars and a worthy addition. Recommended!

What I have discovered is actually a quite pleasant folk album. After the deception of the opening track, the whole album flows nicely from one nice little folk song to another.

There is nothing great nor revolutionary featured on this work, but the whole is nice to listen to: some fine fluting overall and the acoustic guitar parts are rather enjoyable as well. Some tracks are instrumental and highlights the skills of man in charge of the classic guitar.

I have never been a deep fan of this band since none of their previous albums scored higher than two stars in my books. For this time, I will rate this one with three stars because it left a sweet mark on my mind.

This album smells soft rock, syrupy songs, and basically there is nothing folk or prog in here (as in their previous release). But their prog angle (?) was never obvious to me. There are even some attempts to sound as a Motown band ("Big Boy"). Press next immediately for your sake when you reach this track (if ever you have the patience to do so).

"One Bad Dream" is quite dreadful as well (same feel as "Big Boy" actually). Same action: press next (you can also consider "The Man That I Am" as equal and poor stuff). The romantic ballad "Until I See You Again" is probably one of the bearable songs from this album. Even if it is quite mellowish, at least it breaks with the overall mood and offers some gentle acoustic moments.

There is even a trial to rock! But IMO it fails abruptly ("I'll Go the Way I Came"). Several songs aren't too bad but they can hardly cope with the prog umbrella ("Wait for the Day"). Bands as "CSN" or simply "Simon & Garfunkel" have released much better albums in this style.

The jazzy "Liberty Belle" features some good sax but overall, it ain't a big deal as most of this album. The whole sounds rather poor and IMHHO it doesn't belong to this site. But earlier efforts from the band didn't match the progressive angle I am waiting from a band referenced on PA. Even under the prog folk umbrella.

One star.