BILBO

After listening such releases as "The Middle Earth Album" by GLASS HAMMER, "The Lord of the Rings" by BO HANSSON and "Songs from the Middle Earth" by Rick Wakeman, the albums inspired in the famous trilogy have really reached the level of saturation, don't misunderstand please, I like Tolkien's works as anybody else, but enough is enough.

So with strong prejudice, got this album by LINDH & JOHANSSON mainly due to my respect for Par Lindh, and I must say that I enjoyed the album, the approach is in the borderline between Neo Classical and Symphonic Prog, not the tedious Medieval simulation that most bands play in this kind of releases, the performance of Par Lindh is as always impeccable and are a highlight of the album.

Usually Par captures the listener with his skills in the Organ (his favourite instrument), but in this case the addition of the Mellotron is simply delightful, of course his skills with Church Organ and Hammond are out beyond any doubt, but in this record he sounds fresh and lighter compared with his sober albums with PAR LINDH PROJECT.

But the greatest surprise is Bjorn Johansson, his performance with the Classical guitar is in the order of perfection, even when I listened him playing with Par Lindh before, never really noticed how good he is.

If this wasn't enough, the beautiful voice of the late Magdalena Hagsberg adds the touch of sentiment required for this work and Anna Schmidtz pays some heartbreaking flute sections.

Won't fry to review all the tracks, because this is the kind of albums that must be listened as a whole work, but I would not feel comfortable without mentioning the fantastic "The Dark Cave", a track in which Par Lindh plays an outstanding organ solo and Johansson does a sensitive work with the classical guitar, giving a certain Flamenco touch, the highest point in the album.

My impression about "Bilbo", is that we are not before a masterpiece, but still an interesting work, and in my opinion, the best Tolkien related album I ever heard.

"Bilbo" is not for everybody, but for those of us who love Par Lindh's work and delicate melodic music, this is an excellent addition that I will rate with 4 stars.