THE PEACOCK PARTY

One becomes known by the company one keeps, and one GORDON GILTRAP might be considered on the periphery of prog rock if only because of his musical friends on this 1979 effort, Bimbo Acock, Ian Mosley,Morris Pert, Ric Sanders are just a few of the household names breaking bread here with the august ace of the axe.

I am not super familiar with Giltrap's exploding inventory but I am intrigued by his shot in the dark commercial success of the late 1970s, his eclectic resume, and his indisputable status as survivor, playing as he is now with a couple of generations of the WAKEMANs, and appearing on tour with the likes of BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST. I know that he issued at least a few albums with vocals, and that my general impression was not favourable. On this instrumental disk, some of the same weaknesses are exposed, mainly that he just is not a composer. Moreover, many of the tracks here sport an uncomfortable tackiness or lack of character. The keyboards and flutes on tracks like "Hocus Pocus" recall mediocre new age music,

Still, can this guy play guitar, especially the acoustic variety. At his best, I can only compare him to another even more obscure Brit, PAUL BRETT, whose album "Eclipse" is as good a reference point for the more imposing numbers here. Those would be the progressive uptempo opener "Headwind-The Eagle", the lively yet dignified romp "Tailor Bird", the more serious "Black Rose-The Raven", the aptly named "Dodo's Dream" which subtly reprises the Eagle theme during one of his more succinct lead guitar solos, and the bonus cut "Octavius". All of these exemplify sparkling English folk and all participants shine. A special shout out to Ric Sanders' work.

While the influence of prog is everywhere here, it's rarely predominant. Nonetheless, this is an album that's at its best when it combines the folk with the prog and steers clear of new wave banalities. 2.5 stars, rounded up because, well, when you have GORDON GILTRAP fanning out his fretted feathers, you at least have the makings of a party in your ear.