SPEGLUN

One of the few progressive rock bands from Iceland,though the country had a decent rock movement back in the 70's.They were formed in 1972 and had quite a rich instrumentation,including moog synths,flutes and percussion among the usual rock instruments.They released a single in 1975 and a year later their debut ''Speglun'' was released on Steinar Records,while they even won the prize of band of the year.

A very uneven work,''Speglun'' opens Side A with the ridiculuous ''Stormy Monday'',a rather well played mix of Funk and Disco,but only suited for a Tom Jones album.''Memories'' is more decent,a smooth folk yet mainstream piece with loads of flutes.''Funky Beat'' is absolutely unlistenable,even worse Funk music than the first track,like if GENTLE GIANT played commercial music.''Lullaby'' starts as a folk ballad before getting into ''Keep on going'',typical Blues Rock with mediocre vocals,but the long instrumental section with organ,flutes and the bluesy guitar is quite good.

Side B consists of two long cuts and it seems like a different band performing. ''Hugssin'' starts as a lighter version of SUPERSISTER with nice interplays between flutes,moog synths and the rhythm section,before getting into folsky Symphonic Prog ala German band EDEN and ends up as a NATIONAL HEALTH/CAMEL tribute with fiery electric piano and driving flutes.The last eponymous track is not actually a complete composition but sounds as a long jam of Blues and Canterbury Jazz with great flutes,synths and decent bluesy/psych guitar work.

This album is exactly on the thin line between the good and the bad.Half of its content is Pop/Disco/Funk-oriented material of no interest,just a waste of time,the other half being good Progressive Rock with strong Blues,Folk and Canterbury overtones.If only 20 minutes of satisfying musicianship out of the 35 are enough for you,then you should go for it.My exact rate is 2.5 stars,unfortunately rounded down due to the limited time of interesting prog content.