ANTHONY PHILLIPS

Someone who clearly wasn't cut out to be a pop star, was Anthony Phillips. Not that he is a bad songwriter, in fact, he is a very good songwriter, albeit one that doesn't deal in hooks, and therefore, as a pop musician, unfit for the 80s. This - and probably also musical taste - led Phillips to embark on an alternative route for his solo career of free music, one that eventually became his main course: the Private Parts & Pieces series, in which he explored, for all intents and purposes, a kind of modern chamber music with the twelve string guitar as a basis (most of the times).

This is the fourth installment, and sees the introduction of the drum machine in the series. Which in itself is an interesting event, as this is also something that all the Genesis members eventually start to do. Phillips had already used it on '1984', but on that album it served much more as a cheap replacement for real drums, as opposed to him using the drum machine like it was used on Genesis' 'Duchess', or Phil Collins' 'In The Air Tonight': as an instrument providing a kind of relentlessness and a kind of sound that would be impossible from a live drummer, essentially using the drum machine as an instrument unique onto itself.

The machine rears its head in the fourth installment of the 'Arboretum Suite', a beautiful piece, mainly played on 6 string and 12 string guitar (and some keyboard), that Phillips composed for the wedding of two friends in 1980, based on Winkworth Arboretum in Surrey. Here, it is just playing along in the background. Yet, on another piece, 'Dawn Over The Lake', the machine is an integral part of the composition. This is just Phillips improvising on his 12 string guitar, while the drum machine is playing. The piece lasts for more than 10 minutes and is one of the most exquisite things Phillips, or any Genesis member, ever set to record. He not only follows the drum machine with his playing, he also plays into its echoing, using the echo effect on his 12 string too, creating all kinds of overtones to great atmospheric and emotional effect.

That the entirety of the album is not as good as that piece, can hardly be surprising or disappointing. Most pieces on the album are beautiful displays of what could be called avant-chamber, a bit in the vein of Penguin Cafe Orchestra, but with a lot more British romanticism weaved into it. There's a good song, 'Sistine', which is a lovely sailor love song, with a typically British funny side to it. Some of the keyboard pieces are maybe not as good, a bit too New Agey, and overall the sound of the recording is very tinny, thin and bright without much body to it.

Having said that, while the lows are not that low, the highs here are very very high, so overall this is a very good Anthony Phillips album.

It must be remembered that this was music written for an event which was actually taking place after everything had been recorded, which meant that Ant had to provide different styles of music at different lengths, not knowing how it would all fit together and whether it would all work. Also, originally there was not supposed to be an album, and it was only due to Rob Ayling's persuasion that it could all be done in time that everything was pulled together. Apart from percussion by Joji Hirota on two tracks, everything is played by Anthony, with electric guitar being the main melodic lead. The album is instrumental, as one might expect, and one can tell it was written to accompany a visual element as there is often the feeling there is something missing, as this was designed to provide finesse and additional elements to what people were watching as opposed to a piece of music which was to be played in isolation. The result is something which is fun and interesting, but this is probably more for diehard Anthony Phillips fans who want to hear everything he has produced as opposed to an album which will be played time again for pure listening pleasure.

That is not to say there are not some fine moments on here, there are, but there are other albums of his which I will probably turn to first. However, this is yet another extremely fine reissue by Esoteric and long may they continue doing this style of work.

Apparently the original session over-ran by three minutes, so to get it into the 55-minute slot which it was destined for, varispeed was applied which resulted in the pitch of Ant's performance being raised by just over a semitone. This was something I did not previously know, but the essay by Jonathan Dann in the booklet is incredibly informative. The original master tapes were not maintained, but in 1999 a copy of a cassette was found in Ant's archives which led to the release of the original album in 2003, but it has long been out of print, and now it has been sound corrected and two additional tracks added from a Pennine Radio interview Ant undertook at the same time. There is no doubt that Ant is highly regarded as one of our finest 12-string guitarists, but his vocals are also perfectly suited to his songs, and it is a shame he is not more widely recognised in that area. He may never have really enjoyed baring his soul in a live environment, but there is no sign at all of nerves as this is a confident performance throughout. We also get to hear some of his Monty Python influenced style of humour in some of his introductions which certainly made me smile.

It is a very long time since I last played this, and now I find myself questioning just why that is as this album is an absolute delight, and any fans of 12-string acoustic guitars, great songs, Anthony Phillips or indeed Genesis as this features a version of the famous 'lost' Genesis single 'Silver Song', which was initially written by Phillips in 1969, with help from Genesis bandmate Mike Rutherford, to say goodbye drummer John Silver.

It was interesting to read the Mike Oldfield comparisons as I too felt there was some similar ideas. Two side long tracks although apparently conceived as one long 50 minute piece. This is fancy music with oboe, flute, clarinet, harp and trumpet being involved plus a string quartet. Like the two collaborators who reviewed before me this just isn't my kind of music and also feel it's a 3 star record. Part one is 24 minutes long with plenty of tempo shifts while Part two is more about repeating themes and it's over 26 minutes long.

The highlights for me are those rich, lush moments that I just wish would linger longer but no. It opens that way as it ebbs and flows for around 4 minutes before changing. And on part two we get that same lush atmosphere after 12 minutes but not as long this time. The tempo really speeds up just after this rich section which will return after 19 minutes briefly. I do like those oboe led sections early on Part two but I'm not big on the electronics before 10 minutes. I felt that Oldfield connection on Part one after 12 minutes. A yikes moment with that dancing flute after 8 minutes. A lot of sparse moments during Part one.

I'm in the minority here but I "get" the love for this one believe me.

As we all know, Phillips left Genesis in 1970 and released his debut album The Geese and the Ghost in 1977. Much of the material dates from the years in between and thus helps the listener to form a picture of his initial years and the development as a solo musician. Those Genesis afficionados who have a sweet tooth for the pastoral nature of the band's music (up to, say, 1977) will be delighted by a great deal of what's heard here. It's evident that Anthony Phillips was a crucial original member in shaping the sound and style of Genesis. [In his career he's often questioned about sounding so much like Genesis, and that must have been extremely frustrating for him!] Ant's music is most often instrumental solo pieces for either guitar or piano or other keyboards. These pieces often have the same pastoral feel as one can hear embedded in Genesis' more complex prog compositions. By the way, 'F Sharp' demo from 1969 that Ant recorded on 12-string with Mike Rutherford on bass and Richard Macphail on tambourine contains elements later used in 'The Musical Box'.

Volume One originally had just one full-length disc and only four tracks on the second disc. Here the second disc is expanded to 70 minutes. There are both completely unheard pieces and alternative mixes or demos of album tracks (from The Geese and the Ghost, Wise After the Event, Sides). For example: guitars only mix of 'Henry Goes to War', initial orchestral run-through of 'Regrets' and an instrumental mix of 'Greenhouse'. These moments of familiar stuff are happily in minority after all. The disc ends with a real surprise: a rock'n'roll song 'Pennsylvania Flickhouse' demoed by Ant's pre-Genesis Charterhouse group The Anon in 1966. Five pages of the booklet deal with The Anon. A rare history lesson!

Volume Two was a full 127-minute 2-disc set originally. The fifth disc on this box set is devoted to a previously unreleased project, titled "The Masquerade Tapes", and textwise this is by far the lengthiest part in the booklet. In 1979 Kit Williams released Masquerade, using the picture book format in a new innovative way. In the wake of the book's success there was an idea of a musical adaptation. Rupert Hine started working on it, helped by Ant, but soon Hine was too busy as a producer and Ant continued making music on his own. The 15-part suite recorded mainly in 1980-81 is all composed and played by Ant. Musically it's a very nice addition to the box set. Instrumental, apart from a beautiful song sung by Lindsey Moore.

In short, this finely edited box set is a cornucopia that really deepens the picture of this fascinating musician. I personally would have enjoyed a chronological order too, but that's not a big deal.

There has always been a debate about what the word "progressive" means in "progressive rock". Some have said it was about breaking boundaries between music, to be experimental, to usher on the development of rock as an artform, and in all this "progressive rock" is in juxtaposition to an imaginary "regressive rock". Genesis - the hive from which Anthony Phillips as a solo artist emerges - have mostly used another kind of definition, one less grand, and more descriptive of the thing that actually occurs within the music, that made it different, at least from Genesis' point of view. It's this: progressive rock is music that progresses, that goes from one thing to the next, and doesn't - or at least tries not to - go back and forth between repeating verses and choruses. Genesis has always sought to maximize contrast in going from one sequence to the next. Tony Banks always gives the famous example of the 'A Flower?' moment in 'Supper's Ready', in between the softly romantic 'How Dare I Be So Beautiful?' and the ugly vaudeville 'Willow Farm'. Peter Gabriel described the form Genesis found on Trespass as 'journey songs'.

'Slow Waves, Soft Stars' doesn't leave it's listener in one place, no, it takes the listener on a journey. The playing is sparse. It is not just 'beautiful', as the synth sounds Phillips do have a kind of - for lack of a better word - cheap quality about them. Anthony Phillips clearly is no Klaus Schulze, no Vangelis, no Florian Fricke, no Tony Banks even (although Tony has lost his way soundwise - not compositionally - with the advent of digital synths) and the synths he uses probably sound cheap because they are: as his former bandmates were raking in millions, Phillips was merely trying to survive in the 80s. But as happens on that other Phillips synth-album '1984', his utter quality as a composer shines through in what he DOES with these cheap synths. With them, and by composing great music, Phillips is able to weave a web in which the listener can go on a journey, going from one bit to the next. Contrasts are not stark as in Genesis music, but smooth, small, sometimes hardly noticable, but they are there. It's like Peter Gabriel sings in 'it': 'it never stays in one place, but it's not a passing phase'. You're there, and you remain there - yes, that's the new age thing - but then at the same time you're taken to all kinds of other places.

Is there no contrast? Yes, there is! Because right in the middle, just when you've gotten used to the mechanical coldness of the synth sounds (this is also a contrast: the beautiful warm chords played with the cold synths), Phillips puts them aside completely and plays some utterly beautiful acoustic guitar pieces. This is the warm core of this album, right in the middle, as he leaves this section again at the end to return to where he started to round the album off, making this one one of Phillips' most consistent compositions from his career.

So yeah, safe to say this is one of my favourite Anthony Phillips albums, and I love a lot of his output. It's an acquired taste, as it won't necessarily please Genesis fans, nor will it please the electronic music-aficionado's, nor New Age lovers, nor acoustic guitar-lovers. But whomever is able to dive into it, accept it for what it is, and give oneself over to it, will count it among the great masterpieces from the fringes of the progressive movement.

There's a bit of influence from his recent collaboraton with CAMEL, as he featured on their worst album, "The Single Factor". At least this album hasMorris Pert, a Scottish composer and multi-instrumentist who worked for almost the whole British prog scene, from Caravan to the Oldfields, Brand X, Arthur Brown and so on.

Back to the album, it has some goods. In the same years we have seen vary failed attempts to commercial, disco, new wave from the monsters of the previous decade: The first part of the 80s has seen the worst efforts from EL&P, Renaissance, Caravan, Genesis to say some. Phillips, instead, is partially successful and there's at least one good track: "The Women Were Watching" that's catchy and not trivially commercial.

So, it's not a total waste. Forget The Geese and the Ghost or the Private Part and Pieces serie. If you have time for something light to listen to as background music in an office or inside an elevator, it's fine enough.

Fully Genesis inspired, instead, is the 3rd track: "Suite in D Minor" on which Quique plays a nice clean electric guitar with some bluesy vibes. Unfortunately, Anthony can't avoid inserting tapes played reverted which I honestly find annoying. There's not even a Satanic message inside... Back to the pastoral version of Genesis and we are already in the B side (excuse me, but I have the vynil). Esperansa first, and Elegy have the pastoral mood that Genesis have quite lost after Trespass. In particular, Elegy features Ant at the 12-strings and again Quique at the electric. I think Ennio Morricone would have liked it.

The album proceeds with the happier "Otto's Face" and "Sand Dunes", another mini-suite very typical of Ant's sound of these times but a bit boring. The closer "Old Wives Tales" arrives too late. It's a good track, but after Sand Dunes I'm usually too tired to fully appreciate it.

So, not a bad album and very interesting for who likes classical and acoustic guitars. You have to, as it's almost everything you can find here. Good inside its genre.

The B side song 'Souvenir' wasn't on the album but it's been included on the reissues of Sides as a bonus track. This is a tender and romantic ballad, slightly comparable to some AP Project ballads, although the production is not quite as sophisticated. The vocals are by Dan Owen who also sang some album tracks. I like his clean voice, which is not very far from Noel McCalla (the vocalist on Smallcreep's Day by Mike Rutherford), or a not-as-high version of Colin Blunstone. In fact this is a surprisingly good B side song.

2 stars for 'Um & Aargh' and 3+ stars for 'Souvenir'.