SKY

Sky

Eclectic Prog

3.41 | 103 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

The alum opens with Westaway, a catchy instrumental with tremendous musicianship, as you'd expect with a band like this.

Carillion is a gentle, classically-inspired piece that builds up to a rousing prog climax a la Floyd before winding down.

La Danza is a bouncy folk piece that builds and ebbs. It reminded me of an instrumental Steeleye Span.

Their version of Gymnopedie is especially sweet. I found it's great for calming down highly-strung dogs and children.

Cannonball reminds me a little of a rockier version of Passport on their Ataraxia album. Passport meets ELP? Very European. Classical, folk and Krautrock influences.

The five-part side-long suite, When Opposites Meet is worth the money alone. Wow! What an extraordinary composition by Francis Monkman of 801 Live fame! The piece is full of excellent riffs, melodies and motifs. There's rock, classical and Krautrock influences, and odd time signatures aplenty, and more than one earworm. If Sky was more flamboyant and not wrongly thought to be "commercial" this 19-minute epic would be considered a prog classic along with Supper's Ready, Starless, Close to the Edge, Hamburger Concerto and 2112.

These are outstanding players. Tristan Fry on drums plays with tremendous authority and accuracy. Herbie Flowers has some outstanding passages, especially on When Opposites Meet. The same can be said for keyboardist Francis Monkman. Kevin Peek on electric guitar shows great versatility and acts as an excellent foil for the renowned John Williams.

Maybe not an essential album for proggers because a fair cohort of us demand instrumental flamboyance, so 4 stars (more 4.5, really).

Greta007 | 4/5 | 2023-12-31

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