ASHES ARE BURNING

This album is good. Really good. But seriously getting into it, Ashes Are Burning is light on the symphonic nature, but nails the pastoral sound so well it's absolutely essential for any fan of prog folk. The album kicks off with John Tout's excellent piano work on Can You Understand, with Jon Camp's bass guitar kicking in soon after making this piece rock a bit. Soon we get a bit lighter here and Annie Haslam comes in with perfect vocals that put the listener at ease. The song turns to a instrumental passage that is quite good and has some orchestration in it too. The song ends with a reprise of the intro and leaves you satisfied.

Let It Grow is a beautiful song that, while being a pretty straightforward pop song, is so good and fits right at home on this record. On the Frontier brings the folk back, with great backing vocals from Jon Camp. Some nice instrumental work here, particular on bass. Carpet of the Sun is one of the bands most well known pieces and for good reason, it's fantastic. A perfect symphonic sounding pop song with great piano and bass work as well as being arguably the most symphonic song on the album. At the Harbour is a sad song about women watching as there husbands die from a storm as they drown. A beautiful intro taken from Debussy's Sunken Cathedral, it fits the song incredibly well so I think most can excuse the quote.

And finally, the epic, Ashes Are Burning. The one everyone loves, and for good reason. Annie and Jon's vocals together work very well in this song and the piano work is just splendid. After the short first section we get the whole band going on an instrumental torrent, showcasing the abilities of all the members while still being very tasteful. The song ends with a slow vocal section with very intelligent lyrics. And then, the only electric guitar on the album comes in and a sweet solo by Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash ends the song with a bang, slowly fading out and leaving you satisfied. Overall, absolutely essential for anybody who likes prog folk or pastoral prog. The symphonic elements are a bit lacking on this one but it doesn't matter, it makes up for it with it's amazing pastoral feel. Best album they did. 5 out of 5.