RED & GOLD

I was very lucky to give some latter-day Fairport Convention albums a chance. I have never been a very big fan of this band and I find the early, Sandy Denny-led albums overrated and somewhat boring. However, some of the band's 70's albums I find very good, especially Full House, Babbacombe Lee and Tipplers Tales. But this classic period is now rivalled by the underrated late 80's and 90's period with albums like this one, Five Seasons, Jewel In The Crown and Who Knows Where Time Goes?

Red And Gold, released in the late 80's, is not fantastic by any means but it is mostly quite good. The opening and closing tracks are the least good ones. Set Me Up is a too catchy, straightforward rock song without much Folk in it apart from a violin break. Open The Door Richard is a Bob Dylan cover and is a typical Pub rock, sing-a-long- type song. Certainly nothing progressive about these numbers.

The Noise Club, The Battle and The Rose Hip are instrumentals and these are the only numbers written entirely by band members. The inclusion of instrumentals like these is a major factor in making this album exciting and varied throughout. It makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Whether it also legitimates this band's position in the Prog related category is another matter, and one I leave for others to decide for themselves. Just don't expect this to be an out an out Prog album, it certainly isn't. But I like it! (Interestingly, Ian Anderson and Martin Barre are thanked on the sleve.)

The instrumental attack is more full here compared to on most older Fairport albums with keyboards on most of the tracks, most notably electric piano, and occasional unexpected stringed instruments.

This album in not as good as Jewel In The Crown, but well worth investigating if you like that one. I will continue to investigate this band's 80's and 90's albums.