PRIVATE PARTS & PIECES II - BACK TO THE PAVILLION

It starts with an epic in 5 parts, what more prog than this? Scottish suite sounds very Genesis, even if the piano parts remind sometimes to the Wakeman of Six Wives. What I find bad is the excessive use of tapes, often played reverse as in part 5. Playing at the countrary to obtain what you want when the tape is played reversed, is a good mathematical excersize, but one minute is enough, or at least, let me joke, add a hidden satanic message.

On the good side, the piano parts are very good. Not that Anthony Phillips is a Wakeman or a Keith Emerson, but he plays good enough and is a good composer, so a track as "Lindsay" can be interesting. I think the inspiration comes from Chopin or similar, but even with the classical mood tgere are clues of The Geese and the Ghost.

"K2" is quite a newage track, slow and repetitive with the echoed guitar adding an oriental touch. It's an excellent ambient track.

What is a 35'' track for? The guitar harping is quite good but...

"Heavens" is another instrumental track with a neo-classical mood very close to Genesis. Relax and enjoy.

Back to classical guitar with "Spring Meeting". If you have present some Steve Hackett's tracks like "A Cradle Of Swans" , this is the genre. In terms of passages in some moments it strongly reminds to The Geese and the Ghost.

Unfortunately Ant restarts playing with tapes for 48 useless seconds, then other 41 seconds of acoustic guitars before a real track starts again.

I have previously mentioned Chopin, so why don't insert a "Nocturne"? A very nice one, but made of classical guitar instead of piano. Technically is nothing more than a studio, but the composition is good.

Back to piano again for less than two minutes. I think this album is made of a lot of non- developed ideas. This could have been the intro for a long track like "Henry" but remains just a short piano track. Same for the 45 seconds of the following track which feature the Oboe of Rob Phillips.

"Will Of The Wisp" is a bit longer but also it seems to be no more than an "idea". "Tremulous" features the former King Crimson and Camel Mel Collins at the flute and it's just a flute solo with a bit of acoustic guitars in the background for a couple of minutes.

"I Saw You Today" is the first song with lyrics. Anthony sings and this is a pity. The song is not too different from "God If I Saw Her Now", but Ant's voice is everything but nice.

"Back To The Pavilion" is the (sub)title track. It's a piano solo, again very melodic and with a classical flavor.

As usual when reviewong old stuff, I can't comment on the bonus track because it's not present on my vinyl copy

It's a good album, light years better than Sides, but it doesn't reach the level of the first PP&P. Considering the weaker parts I think that 3 stars is a honest rating, just a little generous.

Share this ANTHONY PHILLIPS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to octopus-4
• Report this review (#501533)
• Buy ANTHONY PHILLIPS music online with PA partners
• Show all ANTHONY PHILLIPS MP3/Stream
• Go to ANTHONY PHILLIPS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Private Parts & Pieces II - Back To The Pavillion page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for ANTHONY PHILLIPS related discussions