THE DREAM HARBOUR

It seems to me that multi instrumentalist Andrew Marchall decided to expand a little his Willowglass project; now besides a new drummer (german Hans Jörg Schmitz), he also decided to flash up the sound with American violinist/flute player Steve Unruh. That should have given him more versatility and broader the limited palette of a one man band (plus drummer). Specially in an all instrumental type of music. And in a certain way it does. Unruh does provide fine flute and violin solos: the former reminding me of Ian Anderson, the latter ringing like a mix of Kansas and Jean Luc Ponty. Marshall even threw in some more experimental sounds a la King Crimson here and there for good measure. As usual, his love for 70´s classic prog is showed by the use of vintage keyboards sounds (specially mellotron) and fine Hackett-like guitar lines.

The trouble is that his compositions are not as strong as his second CD Book Of Hours. Besides, I still think he should consider having lyrics and a good singer on some tracks. As charming as some of his melodies are, there are moments of repetition and a need for something extra that simply does not arrive. Sometimes you get the feeling of hearing a fantastic introduction to a great song, but that´s it. Of course those moments do not appear very often, but it does annoy me. As usual, the production is very good and the right influences are all around (I just love those Gabriel-era Genesis sounding keyboards!). The cover art is also beautiful!

It seems that Wilowglass is a band that could go very far if only Andrew Marchall would be a little bolder and realize the full potential of a more "conventional" prog band format (yes, I mean having a good vocalist!). The Dream Harbour is still a very fine record and should be heard by anyone who likes good melodic and pastoral symphonic prog music. But, even if they haven´t disappointed me, they also haven´t fulfilled their initial promise yet. Maybe next time.

Rating: between 3 and 3.5 stars.