GALLEONS OF PASSION

The conventional wisdom is that the first two Finch albums are the ones to get but I'll also go to bat for their 3rd, "Galleons of Passion." I am easily able to slide into the less frantic atmosphere and just enjoy the feast at hand. And there is some tasty stuff here.

This is 70s instrumental spacy rock with the expressive lead guitar of Joop Van Nimwegen as the centerpiece. I really love the sound he gets, really greasy and saturated. There's a photo in the booklet of him playing a Les and I wouldn't be surprised by that as the sound is great.

All of the tracks are decent although I think the last one "Reconciling" is probably the most realized with it's soaring leads and upbeat tempos pushing things along. But mostly the pace here is a bit slower and more reflective though to my ears still fresh and interesting. If I can impart anything on the listener I would only say to approach Galleons completely open and without comparing to the classic earlier releases. After a few spins you may well find this is still Finch and still pretty darn good if a bit more refined. With a bit more 3 star material than 4 star material within, I'll go 3.5 overall but round down. But a keeper for me and should be enjoyable for anyone who loves long 70s prog jams.