IN THE FOLLOWING HALF-LIGHT (NETHERWORLD)

American symphonic prog tends to combine lessons from the British with a sort of posturing that befits the world superpower, witness groups like Styx and Kansas, and this one-off band from the San Francisco Bay area weaves those established patterns with a certain west coast amiability. The results are noteworthy if not earth shattering.

The band can clearly play, the vocals are pretty decent in drawn out sort of way, and they even succeed in integrating real and imagined orchestrations, such as oboe on the brilliantly constructed "Straight into Infinity" and what sounds like cello on "Isle of Man", which also features a stellar Frippian type lead solo. Plenty of mellotrons and jangling acoustic guitars help soothe the savage breast and take some of the edge off.

Three bonus instrumentals added to the CD release actually augment the disk to a firm three star rating. Netherworld's "In the Following Half Light" deserves the full light of exposure to the prog community. A worthwhile album by any standards, let alone coming from the progressively challenged west coast of the US in the late 1970s.