GRYPHON

I would recommend this album - and any other by Gryphon, for that matter - very highly to anyone intrerested in English progressive rock, not necessarily because it is so progressive, but for the same reason I would recommend Anthony Phillips' music, which is also mainly acoustic. The key is ENGLISH, which means pastoral, anachronistic, romantic and humorous. Ok, so Anthony is associated with Genesis, but then Gryphon is associated with Yes, having toured with them. It is the renaissance atmosphere that Gryphon captures so perfectly, and executes with such skill and mastery that puts them in the prog camp. Make no mistake - they are NOT just a folk band. These are trained musicians, well versed in the Renaissance musical vocabulary. No wonder it was so easy for them to switch to ultra-complex prog later on. I like to think of them as a Renaissance musical consort, that traveled in time to the 70's and picked up some electric instruments. This album is mostly acoustic, but very rewarding to anyone who is willing to give it a try, just like Geese and the Ghost or Private parts and Pieces or Bay of Kings.