FACE OF THE WIND

Michael Mayer and Dean Rouch propably shared the same taste for progressive music and decided to collaborate for an album in early-80's.They were based in Indiana, USA and shared each side of the their lone vinyl ''Face of the wind'' considering the compositions, otherwise both played in all tracks as multi-instrumentalists on percussion, keyboards and flute, while Rouch also played the violin, guitar, mandolin and provided lead vocals.Two drummers offer the played parts on the first two tracks, Judy Hanna plays double bass on the last one and there are also two female singers providing backing voices in another pair.The album came out in 1983 as a private press.

The first side was composed by Dean Rouch, apparently he had a more folky background than his colleague, thus this part of the album contains lots of rural passages next to the standard lines of a dreamy, symphonic style.The music is heavily based on keyboards with a typical US taste, maybe a less intricate HANDS should do the trick, containing elaborate arrangements and expressive vocals, there was no mood for nonsense instrumental fanfares, but there was true love for lush Progressive Rock and the material is actually very strong, entering the gates of symphonic grandieur quite often and delivering some instrumental depth due to the use of mandolin and violin over the keyboard and piano lines.Second side, composed by Mayer, was a bit more more GENESIS-influenced, reminding of HOLDING PATTERN or NORTH STAR, there are still some folky touches, coming mostly from the Rouch'es violin, among the keyboard and guitar moves, but the sound is closer to the British style of 80's Prog, with emphatic vocals, more flashy keyboard parts and a tendency towards atmospheric textures, highlighted by the 8-min. Symphonic Rocke-er ''Fly''.Even the acoustic closer ''Pentagon prayer'' reminds me a lot of Anthony Phillips-era GENESIS with a touch of KANSAS.

It seems that the guys took their own ways after the album was released and, while unable to detect Mayer's traces, Rouch is still involved with music nowadays, having played in various small bands and mostly focusing on his background as a Folk musician.

Very interesting 80's US Prog and excellent job on mixing the instruments, despite the limited technical equipment.Dreamy Neo/Symphonic Prog with Folk overtones and definitely a good candidate for a proper reissue...3.5 stars.

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