FAIRYPORT

Wigwam's Fairyport is the band's magnum opus, a double album of eccentric fusion with strong influences from Zappa and the Canterbury scene, with just enough mainstream rock left in the mix to keep things accessible without compromising on innovation and complexity. At the same time, it isn't quite consistent enough to convince me that it was really worth making this a double album; a few songs or parts of songs could have been trimmed or tightened up to yield an absolutely five star single album, but as with so many other double albums Fairyport sprawls and doesn't quite manage to hold the listener's attention. (In particular, I could have done without the live improvisation Rave-Up For the Roadies, whose recording quality is a bit too rough to do the material in question justice - why they thought it was worth dedicating an entire side of the album to is beyond me.)