ASHES ARE BURNING

It is really only with this album that Annie Haslam's wonderful singing can start to shine. Leaning more on their folky side, this album contains a number of very enjoyable and delicate tunes. However, it begins with a good shot of complex progressive rock, forming the intro to the excellent "Can You Understand", which would become one of their key live staples, as would the title track (one of their most iconic pieces) and "Carpet of the Sun", a wonderful short song. Along with "At the Harbour", these are the best tracks on the album. The only two that are just OK (although still listenable) are the shorter tracks that make up the second half of side A, "Let it Grow" and "On the Frontier". While the album is generally quite wonderful, it is not my favourite, and with each subsequent release through to 'Novella' you can see the songwriting of the main composer, Micheal Dunford, further develop and mature. I actually rate this album 7.9 out of 10, which is the minimum necessary to garner 4 PA stars on my 10-point scale.

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