ALBATROSS

Yet another one-shot sympho-prog band from the Midwest who heard CLOSE TO THE EDGE, thought, "We could do that!" and made one privately produced album before disappearing off the face of the Earth for good. Like most of them, originality is not a very high priority. "Devil's Strumpet" (ooh, they should be garotted for that title!) notably cops the pipe-organ part from the "I Get Up, I Get Down" section of "Close To The Edge". Nothing else here is that blatant, but really, the band are hardly trailblazing innovators.

Still, for what it is, the album is fairly enjoyable. "Mr. Natural" is a bit of a throwaway, but the 14 minute "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" suite, obviously the piece the band lavished the most attention on and put the most effort into, is resonably strong. File under: pleasant, but rather inessential.