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Albatross - Albatross CD (album) cover

ALBATROSS

Albatross

 

Symphonic Prog

3.17 | 52 ratings

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Tarcisio Moura
Prog Reviewer
2 stars Obscure american band from the mid 70īs. I only found this LP (yes, I found a vinyl copy with a friend, donīt ask me how he got it!) recently. And although the music here is quite pleasant, this is no masterpiece. How would I describe their music? Well, promising might be the right word. Albatross was one of the many groups that seem to worship Yes above all things (and ELP to a less extent) and tried to emulate their sound. The results are ok, I guess, but the only average production and lack of real strong material made this self titled work a curio more than anything else.

Please donīt get me wrong: as I said before, the band has its merits, specially at the keyboards department with very fine vintage keys put into good use (but again, they sound too much like Wakeman and Emerson, if you know what I mean). Mellotrons, Hammond organs and pianos abound on this LP.Surprisingly there are few guitar parts. Singer Mike Novak is surely one of the weak links of the chain. He tries hard to match his fellow bandmates, but he is no Jon Anderson (thank god he didnīt try to sing in falsetto). The rhythm section is quite good.

Songwriting wise, the band had a long way to go, and it is a pity they didnīt have the opportunity to prove themselves in that field. The 13 minute suite The Four Horseman Of Apocalypse is their best, but although quite pleasing it fails to generate much excitement. The weird Mr. Natural sounds like Yes trying to rock hard, and it is probably their weakest in the whole package. The Devilīs Strumpet is - terrible title aside - fairly good instrumentally, if you donīt mind the lack of originality (it is again a kind of Yes and ELP mix). Humpback Whales finishes the album with another Time And A Word era Yes-sounding tune.

Conclusion: the band had the chops and it would be interesting to see how they would develop if they had to chance to come up with better and more original material. Unfortunatly they didnīt. And this CD is definitly well done within all the limitations I mentioned before, but there were far too many other much more interesting stuff available at the time to give it more than a two star rating. For collectors and fans only.

Tarcisio Moura | 2/5 |

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