DAUGHTER OF TIME

Mistakenly considered the "black sheep" of their early studio albums, Daughter of Time is, in my opinion, underrated. From the dazzling opener "Three Score And Ten, Amen" to the lengthy close-up "Time Machine", the band's energy is displayed in their full potential, at their most mature creative points (Time Lament bears no comparisson with anything on "Valentyne..."). "Take Me Back To Doomsday" puts you in the middle of a musical caroussel via sax/flute/piano simultaneous solos, while "Downhill And Shadows" is one of the highlights of this album (first, the saxophone that opens the piece is not "playing", but "speaking almost like a human voice", and then there's Clempson's sense of complementarity with the whole of the band, framing his solo coherently). "Bring Out Your Dead" and "Time Machine" could be the "turn-offs", but any serious prog listener would laugh at that : turn-off ? no shit ! Better open your ears and, most importantly, your minds ! (I've always associated "Bring Out Your Dead" with "Hocus Pocus" by Focus, but I don't know why ... maybe it is the playfully melodic line ! Could be !)