FREE HAND

After a very varied and hugely interesting series of albums so far 'Free Hand' sums it all up; the adventurousness of their first four combined with the rock solid complexety of 'In a Glass House' and 'Power and the Glory'. Oddly, this was one of the last GG albums I acquired from their golden period but also one of my most listened. It's arguably their most melodic album to date and the brilliant opening track "Just the Same" really gets you going the whole day and could be a potential prog single. "On Reflection" is the most memorable track here and in my opinion overshadowes "Knots" from 'Octopus' in the vocal arrangmements, lacking the avant-garde but is extremely effective in it's beautiness. The album somewhat looses focus on the second side but ends on a high note with the bouncy and medevial hard rocker "Mobile" that is reminiscent of Jethro Tull during their folk-rock phase at the end of the 70's. Comparing these two bands, it's no doubt that Ian Anderson and the Shulman brothers listened and learned alot from eachother.

If you are unsure of where to start with this band, I think this one should do it. A full package of complexity, great hooks and lot's of listening pleasure. It looses it slightly at the end but those songs also are of a very high standard. 4.5/5