OUT OF THE BARNYARD

Out of the Barnyard is technically impressive, energetically produced and tongue-in-cheek (Barque at the Lune - that's pretty funny), but hardly a masterpiece of form and substance. It feels like a musical lesson, a rather random demonstration of all the popular techniques of prog (mainly from the 70s) plus assorted classical and traditional bits and pieces (a classical piano, a spanish guitar, a fiddle, a Celtic melody), in what only nominally could be called songs. It's pretty rocking, but I would disagree with some reviewers who complained of it being too metal. Vocals also would perfectly pass for bombastic hard rock. I think this a record purely for prog fanatics, who would get a kick out of all the references here.