WIND & WUTHERING

Wind and Wuthering is one of those albums that I put on for the first time and heard many things that were both interesting and creative. But over time, Wuthering called to me less and less, until I got to the point where I would think it's about time to listen to it again, but there just didn't seem to be enough to interest me.

Of course, there are some highlights, such as the rocking opener, the quite well-done Vine, Blood on the Rooftops, and parts of the final 3-song closer (though I don't think I would consider any of this material as excellent). However, even though I know there is good music here, I almost always lose interest and want to put something else on. The keyboards are generally excellent, the guitar solid (though sometimes a bit tough to pick out), and Rutherford is again the do-it-all utility man, but it feels that there is something missing. Perhaps it's just lacking a dynamic frontman (as an instrumental fan, I can't believe I'm actually suggesting this!), but I think it's more a result of mechanical playing and not playing off each other. All this makes for a tough review for me.

It appears there are two camps of reviewers: those who see Wuthering as very solid prog, and a good offering from the band, and those who are mostly ho-hum to the album. Count me in the second group, as Wuthering provides a sanitized and concise piece of prog, but one which also ultimately fails to connect with me.