MISSING LINKS, VOLUME 4 - PATHWAYS & PROMENADES

Missing Links Volume Four: Pathways & Promenades is "a collection of tracks by Ant previously only released on compilations, along with a selection of some previously unreleased Library Music tracks." Perhaps "library music" might be an accurate description. Largely what is contained in this collection of pithy instrumentals are elegant tracks one might hear as part of a film, in an elevator, on hold on the telephone, or over the speakers at a buffet. Many of these pieces seem like nice ideas Anthony Phillips had for introductions or foundations, but instead of developing them into something truly breathtaking, chose to record and release them as they were. Nothing here is appalling, but nothing is particularly enjoyable save a few acoustic guitar pieces. In short, this could very well be the next installment of Pure Moods.

"The Golden Road to Samarkand" Airy synthesizers create soft, meditative music- something the listener should get used to hearing if set on listening to this album completely.

"Promenade" Gorgeous acoustic guitars are woven into a rich tapestry of bright music.

"Sceptred Isle" Symphonic synthesizer provides a graceful bit of music that would be at home in dramatic cinema.

"Danza Cuccaracha" This is a delicate classical guitar piece- one that is incredibly dynamic and worthy of all five-and-a-half minutes.

"Fallen Idol" One may expect sleepy washes of a synthesizer pad.

"Cascades" There's more delicate synthesizer here, this time in new age fashion.

"Sky Dawn" Placid twelve-string guitar and harmonics sooth the listener with an all-too-familiar chord progression and some succulent layers of notes.

"Misty Mountains" Yet another synthesizer pad piece, this one partly has the sound of a distant feminine choir.

"It's All Greek to Me" Evoking a Mediterranean feel with faux-Greek instrumentation, this piece uses both synthesizer and guitars.

"Haven From The Sea" Genesis wants a home by the sea, but Phillips wants a haven from it! Expect more keyboard suffusions.

"Heavenly Gene" How many of these "interludes" are necessary or even desired? Yes, this track consists of more delicate keyboard business.

"Ironclad" Rising synthesizer pad makes up this superfluous track.

"Water Gardens" Using synthetic sounds and chimes, this creates a pleasant atmosphere like everything else here, but nothing remarkable.

"Night Train" More soft atmospheric bits adorn this track.

"Sleeping Giant" This is a dark bit of thick synthesizer pad.

"Sombrero" Having the feel of a cinematic war epic, this piece uses more thick keyboard, this time accompanied by a thundering kettle drum.

"Irish Lament" Very simple piano offers a pleasing and ephemeral melody.

"Aurora" Watery keyboards with piercing notes and sputtering tones makes for another ambient bit of music.

"Without You" This is similar to "Irish Lament," in that it is a piano piece, only this time there's a very somber melody involved.

"Sad Exodus" Using deep synthesizer pad, this piece made me nod off.

"Summer of Love" Much like the previous track, this longer work uses a breathier pad.

"Light Rain" While it does not rescue the album from absolute tedium, the percussion does add a bit of variety, and the electric piano is a welcome respite from the amateurish synthesizer excursions this album is drenched with.

"Halycon Days" If the listener was not sound asleep by this point in the album, there is no question that REM is well on its way (and I mean that quite literally, so don't expect any alternative rock to pop up in the music). Inundated with serene keyboards and the occasional distant clean electric guitar note, this final piece marks the end of a long and peacefully painful sojourn.

23 crystal clear tracks (which could easily be called "a disperse recollection of 23 music composition essays from different years", to be precise and understanding its context better), running for over 66 minutes and each one of these unique in their almost brief/ephemeral/airy personality. Freed from any kind of frivolous and unecessary decorations, over the top artificial climaxes nor artificial sound engineering tricks, What you see is what you get.

Anthony Phillips' Missing Links Vol. 4 (2009) if taken as an album in the Prog universe is up front, emotional and yes totally personal. The kind of work which could have been easily forgotten in a highly prolific composer's archives as unfinished works or probable future ones, that is evident even in its album title.

The music as such is all Anthony Phillips, he has established his idiom since The Geese And The Ghost (1977) and even though he kind of fitted in from day one in the, then in diapers, New Age labelling, these exctracts, essays or missing links have a closer to that tag intention and those same sonic results which will eventually permeate most of his later works.

As for rating it, well..., it travels smoothly from 1 to 3 (literal way of rating in this site's guidelines, not your guts!) stars. As for it going upwards or actually urging you as reviewer to get it right now, hardly. As for it to maybe become essential one day or better than other of his 4 stars works or someone else's ? No & no.

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