GREEN

Ever since his debut album, Steve Hillage have been slowly moving towards the shorter song format and Green was where this cycle was finally complete. This shift could be attributed to the changes in the music scene towards the end of the '70s but with this change Hillage also lost the spark that made his debut album such a pleasant surprise.

What we get here is a slick and well-recorded album that lacks the punch all the way up until the final track. Sea Nature is a groovy album opener that tries to substitute the poor songwriting with many layers of thick sound. Ether Ships features some atmospheric soundscapes that build the composition towards the ending section where the drums finally kick in, but that's where the music suddenly begins to fade out and the performance doesn't result in anything that spectacular. The next part of the album, starting with Musick Of The Trees is where Steve Hillage manages to loose me completely with three rather uninspired tracks that might as well have not been there. Unidentified (Flying Being) might feature a funky bass line but the chorus totally ruins the experience for me.

The next four tracks, starting with U.F.O. Over Paris return the music to an almost ambient state that foreshadow the music that on Rainbow Dome Music. This part of the album has a few interesting moments but its still far from the material featured on Steve's great debut album. Finally, when all hope for any worth a while material had faded, comes a moment of clarity in the shape of The Glorious Om Riff. This is a very dark and almost sinister sounding piece of music that has nothing in common with anything preceding it. The main question that come to my mind, after the final seconds The Glorious Om Riff, is why was this magnificent track hidden at the end of this otherwise rather uninspired album? It's almost as if Steve Hillage created a monster in the shape of this composition and he wasn't certain whether his fans would approve of it, so he hid the track right at the end of Green.

This is a well produced album that unfortunately has little new to offer to anyone who has already heard Steve's excellent debut album Fish Rising. All the compositions leading up to the final track are pretty average while the final track is what pushes the album to a good, but non-essential release for me.

***** star songs: The Glorious Om Riff (7:53)

**** star songs: Sea Nature (6:42) Ether Ships (5:07) U.F.O. Over Paris (3.10) Leylines To Glassdom (4:07) Crystal City (3:36) Activation Meditation (1:03)

*** star songs: Musick Of The Trees (4:54) Palm Trees (Love Guitar) (5:21) Unidentified (Flying Being) (4:31)