PETER AND THE WOLF

You just gotta love the wild 1970s for all the musical experiments, most of which went absolutely nowhere at the time but are now available for all to sample. Not only did we get some of the best music from multiple genres that more than stands the test of time but the decade also produced a large number of crazy releases such as this various artists album that featured prog rock adaptations of Sergei Prokofiev's classical score PETER AND THE WOLF!

Prokofiev's orchestral children's story was once very popular with schoolchildren and recounts a young boy named Peter and his animal friends who spent a day by his grandfather's pond when a wolf attacks him however Peter outsmarts the wolf with the help of his cunning bird friend and captures the wolf which ultimately ended up in a zoo. The music is roughly based on the original score but mostly is interpreted in a funky jazz-fusion style of progressive rock.

This 1975 release featured a prog rock interpretation of this tale with an amazing all start cast that included Jack Lancaster, Bill Bruford, Gary Brooker, Julie Tippett, Keith Tippett, Stephane Grappelli, Brian Eno, Alvin Lee, Gary Moore, Cozy Powell and Manfred Man amongst others. The album is probably most famous for featuring all the members of what would become the first lineup of Brand X which included Phil Collins, John Goodsall, Percy Jones, Jack Lancaster and Robert Lumley.

Due to the narration parts of Viv Stanshall which loosely recounts the tale in spoken words and then interpreted by the musicians, the album was released in several languages therefore in Germany the album was released as "Peter und der Wolf," in France "Pierre et le Loup," etc. The album very much comes off as some sort of rock opera with most tracks sounding like the early formations of Brand X only in an easier to digest funk fueled style of jazz-fusion in the vein of Herbie Hancock's "Headhunter" however a few tracks are more of their original classical styled presentation. "Rock and Roll Celebration" is very much the standout and sounds more like an Electric Light Orchestra tune in the vein of the early years such as "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle."

While an interesting quirk of the gift that never stops giving 1970s, in the end this version of PETER AND THE WOLF is a pleasant little album that features some top notch musicians delivering the goods but also doesn't feel like it reaches it potential. In other words this is an idea that is loftier than its final results. While not bad in any way, it just feels like the album should've been crafted better.

To my ears the whole thing sounds a bit monotonous and i'm not sure why funky jazz-rock was deemed the appropriate musical style to convey the story since it is not nearly as all-encompassing on the emotional spectrum as the traditional classical score. While hardly something to shell out large amounts of money which may be tempting since the original vinyl featured a 12-page illustrated booklet with the story text, from a musical point of view this comes off as competent and engaging but rather incomplete at the same time.

The Cast: - Narrator / Vivian Stnshall - Peter / Manfred Mann - Bird / Gary Brooker - Duck / Chris Spedding - Duck / Gary Moore - Cat / Stephane Grappelli - Wolf / Brian Eno - Pond / Keith Tippett - Grandfather / Jack Lancaster - Hunters / Jon Hiseman, Bill Bruford, Cozy Powell, Phil Collins Additional Musicians: - John Goodsall, Pete Haywood, Alvin Lee / guitars - Percy Jones, Andy Pyle, Dave Marquee / bass - Robin Lumley / keyboards - Cozy Powell & Phil Collins / drums - Bernie Frost, Julie Tippetts, The English Chorale / vocals

3.5 rounded down