HARD ROPE AND SILKEN TWINE

An album of varying contrasts from the sublime finisher of Ithkos with it's endearing progressive style and conceptual feel to unfortunately the well under par ' Dumb Kate'. If you are an ISB afficianado then this will rank as not one of their greater albums but the intention to make good is all there but I somehow feel the creative spark was beginning to wane by the time they released this 1974 album. Mike Heron's for me the key influencer on ' Hard Rope And Silken Twine'. Two and a half stars would be a fair assessment for this album but I would recommend listeners look out for earlier works like ' The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' for a more solid investment in the ISB sound. Other song highlights would be ' Cold February' and ' Glancing Love'