RARE BIRDS

Hoelderlin had well and truly moved on from their earlier progressive folk direction by the time they produced Rare Birds, which is in an accessible symphonic prog style not miles away from the sort of material Happy the Man or Camel were producing at around this time, though with a much greater focus on vocals (courtesy mainly of Christoph Noppeney). The result is an album which is pleasant enough, with occasional pastoral moments reminiscent of the best of Genesis, but it's not particularly distinctive or exceptional - if you didn't know it were Hoelderlin playing this, you might guess dozens of other European prog bands before hitting on them. It's an interesting album, but rather soulless and anonymous.