OMMADAWN

Another prog favorite whose allure mystifies me. To my mind this album feels as if Mike is trying to prove something: 'Look how many instruments I can play/can jam into one song!' A little too much ego and show, a little light in the composition department. The lack of variety in melody, lack of development in song structure, and nauseous repetition of the main theme loses me every time! Hergest Ridge, Incantations, and even Tubular Bells are so much better (IMO). I have trouble even giving this a 4 star rating because the above three are the ones truly deserving the four plus ratings. But, alas! He was blazing his own trail--kind of making it up as he went along. The four-and-a-half minute "Ommadawn excerpt" I've downloaded from somewhere is great--five stars! But 36:21 of it! I'm sorry. Too much other great music out there.