DIAMOND HEAD

Phil Manzanera's debut solo album is blessed by an excellently-chosen range of guests reflecting all the different dimensions of his solo career. Robert Wyatt is the first to make his presence felt on Frontera, but the Canterbury influence doesn't stop there because you have contributions from Quiet Sun. On the Roxy Music side of the equation, former member Brian Eno gives a vocal performance and provides some some writing contributions reminiscent of his early solo work (particularly Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy) and current Roxy members Andy MacKay and Eddie Jobson guest as well.

Add some more guests - such as John Wetton, who'd only just crawled out of the wreckage of King Crimson - and you have a fearsome amount of talent gathered on one album, and what's particularly pleasing is how incredibly consistent it all is, Manzanera showing a real knack for drawing these disparate performances together into a coherent whole. Oh, and he plays a really mean guitar too.