THE FIVE SEASONS

My version of this has a much better covert art than the one shown here. But not all the beauty is on the outside as one of the songs has it.

The Wounded Whale is an absolutely excellent and very progressive song. It has a very strong melody and powerful Rock drums and electric and acoustic guitars as well as symphonic keyboards in the background. The lyrics bring you straight to the wild ocean and images of the "leviathan" (the great whale) are brought to mind instantly. The song begins in a mellow and slow mood and builds from there. Piano enters and the drums changes into marching rhythms. The song continues to build both lyrically and musically to a strong climax with a good electric guitar solo that imitates whale noises to great effect. A perfect combination of musical and lyrical storytelling!

The rest of the album does not quite hold up compared to this excellent closing song, however. The ballads are among the best songs here. The piano ballad Gold and the slow Rhythm Of The Time are very nice. The two up tempo medleys are good, but less good than many similar ones found on this great band's other albums. Mock Morris too is not among the band's better fiddle-based instrumentals, but it is a good one still. Unfortunately, it is a little bit too long and slightly repetitive. Sock In It is downright awful and is best avoided altogether. Ginnie, on the other hand, is a decent song apart from the cheesy lyrics. Somehow this song reminds me of Asia's The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. I can almost imagine John Wetton singing this song!

Five Seasons is clearly worth it for The Wounded Whale alone, and the rest is not too bad either. It is hardly progressive, though. Overall, this is probably the least good album of the otherwise quite strong late 80's and 90's period of Fairport Convention. Both Red & Gold and particularly Jewel In The Crown are much better albums for the Prog fan to start with.

Good, but not essential

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