MOTIVATION RADIO

Hillage's third solo outing has a bit of something for everyone. The first two songs on the recording have a somewhat more commercial feel to them in terms of their intros and vocals, but the instrumental play and riffage are superb spacey prog. You could argue that elements of Motivation does beckon slightly toward the (then) embryonic New Wave scene, but it didn't really quite go there. The opening guitar line on Light in the Sky is classic rock and roll. Giraudy's high pitched spoken lyrics on this are reminiscent of some Gong-ish moments earlier in Hillage's career. Radio is a spacey atmospheric piece, but also hints at some new wave like elements in its ascending middle section and vocals, that is, until Hillages guitar takes off. Wait One Moment is a pretty little ballad with shining guitar at the end. Searching for the Spark starts out rhythmically interesting but really doesn't strike me as being a fully developed musical idea. Not Fade Away is a cover of the old rockabilly classic. A lot of superbly played music on this recording and a lot of positive energy and messages (which is a relative rarity in much progressive rock), but not quite the equal of Fish Rising or Green in the depth and execution of the music, it is a true 4 star recording and is very highly recommended.