RING OF ROSES

Tha'ts my favourite from Clive.I'd give all other works of him for this one!!!This is an ultimate Nolan:a vintage Neo-prog withwonderful melodies,strong musicianship(Karl Groom shows much more talent here than in Threshold,IMHO;and the rhythm-section does its work very well) and touching lyrics.

I like Nolan's vocals very much,he has a very pleasant and good voice...and he sings in a very emotional way.I wonder why he doesn't sing lead parties somewhere else.Also "Ring of Roses" is quintessence of his composer's talent:such epics as "Jigsaw" and "Hall of Mirrors" show Nolan's ability to make a song from an epic and an epic from a song("The Whistle blower" and "Ring of Roses" are also worth to be mentioned,along with dark "Dorian Gray"(voice+piano only),a bonus on extended edition,and complex instrumental track"The Kruhulick Syndrome"). Some bits(on 5.38 in "Jigsaw" and on 11.02 in "Hall of Mirrors")just drive me insane!!!Great!!!

I ain't a big fan of PENDRAGON/ARENA/CASINO/etc - maybe,because,this marvellous record was the first to be heard by me from him , and nothing from Clive could be better than this CD(IMHO).Highly recommended (for Nolan-newbies especially)!!!