GANDALF

Austrian multi-instrumentalist Heinz Strobl goes by the alias of Gandalf for his musical journeys, and his conceptual LP from 1983, `Magic Theatre', is comprised of richly detailed instrumental passages that are frequently acoustic based alongside ethereal keyboards, sometimes even with soft ethnic touches, the artist crafting a fusion of ambient, New Age and the lightest of symphonic prog flair. His music can remind of everything from Mike Oldfield, Steve Hackett, Kitaro, Anthony Phillips and perhaps even Deuter's discs once he moved away from the more Krautrock-flavoured experimentation of his earliest works, but on `Magic Theatre' you can add in a pinch of the big symph-prog names like Genesis, Yes and Renaissance as well.

There's a touch of Genesis to the sleek guitar runs, upfront coursing bass, bubbly Moog spirals and announcing synth themes of opener `Entrance: The Corridor Of The Seven Doors'. `1st Door: Reflections From Childhood' bristles with strident acoustic strums and whirring Moog ruminations, but it's `2nd Door: Castles Of Sand' that will greatly appeal to prog-rock fans, being a thirteen-minute suite of multiple musical passages that move through everything from stark drama to intimate contemplations. There's Renaissance-like symphonic orchestral pomp, heartfelt solo piano reflections, sprightly jazzy bursts and an expertly revealing extended guitar run in the middle that is a masterclass in restraint and gradually building power, and many will identify it and the brief chanted choir-like climax with Mike Oldfield. `3rd Door: Loss Of Identity In The Labyrinth of Delusions' then closes the first side with a brief touch of danger to its heavy keyboard chords backed by distorted jagged sax and pounding drums.

The flip's `4th Door: The Magic Mirror' dazzles with victorious and crisp guitar runs dancing over fizzing keyboard washes with a touch of Mellotron creeping in, and the subtle `5th Door: Beyond The Wall Of Ignorance' channels Deuter's unfurling meditative atmospheres with careful reprising guitar themes flitting in and out, breezy flute, creaking sitar and controlled drum patterings. `6th Door: Peace Of Mind's mix of sighing Mellotron, sparkling electric piano and placid flute trills wrapped in the softest of eastern flavours hold several embracing reprising themes. Between drowsy and romantic sax wafting, `7th Door: The Fountain Of Real Joy's frantic guitar runs over buoyant thick driving bass and trilling synth noodling remind of the holy trinity of Howe, Squire and Wakeman of Yes at their most hopeful, and `Exit' is an uplifting and live-affirming farewell with lulling organ and sparkling acoustic/electric guitar ringing soloing that perhaps calls to mind Camel.

Such a crossover of styles means the LP has so much to offer. New Age listeners will get a weightier album than what would usually be expected to be found with something with that tag, ambient followers will find more colour and vibrancy than usual, and prog fans will discover something more tasteful and restrained than mere flashy show-off soloing. Full of wonder, instrumental flair and deep emotion, `Magic Theatre' is one of Gandalf's defining and most enduring works, and it even makes for a superb introduction to his musical world for newcomers.

Four stars.

Gandalf is the alias for Austrian multi-instrumentalist Heinz Stobel, and on his much admired 1980 debut `Journey to an Imaginary Land', the composer blends a mix of predominantly acoustic and electronic instrumental passages, with elements of folk, world and ambient music, as well as just a pinch of lightly symphonic prog-rock. In some ways comparable to the early works of Deuter and Kitaro, the crossover fusion of styles of Mike Oldfield and even Tangerine Dream and Manuel `Ashra' Göttsching's more calming moments, it's a charming and sweetly spiritual soundtrack of great heart and embracing warmth.

`Departure' welcomes to listener with joyful trilling Moog melodies and confident prominent bass over sparkling Jean-Michel Jarre-like smooth fizzing synth washes, making for a spirited opener that offers inviting comfort. Acoustic guitars throughout the near-nine minute `Foreign Landscape' jangle with finesse, while the electric guitars are reaching and reflective in the manner of Manuel Göttsching, and the electronics move between lighter ambient pools, purposeful rises and stirring upfront reprising themes. `The Peaceful Village' holds a definite Deuter-like joyful contentedness, its rambunctious acoustic guitars and peppy hand percussion weaving around whimsical whirling synth soloing that together work up into a frantic jig-like dance to close out the first side.

Unsurprisingly with its title, `March Across Endless Plain' finally offers some carefully more dramatic and carefully darker textures based around strident acoustic guitars and exotic percussion, and some of the grander guitar theatrics and gentle Eastern-flecked moments over spacey synths call to mind the Far East Family Band. The runaway Moog dashes of `The Fruitful Gardens' remind of `A Trick of the Tail/Wind and Wuthering'-era Genesis, and some of the symphonic fanfares and spectral organ crescendos could easily have appeared on their ex-guitarist Steve Hackett's first couple of solo albums. Slow to unfold and unhurried ambient closer `Sunset At The Crystal Lake' crosses the shimmering synth expanses of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze with placid twinkling Moog ripples and tender Kitaro-like Eastern flavours.

Some will likely find `Journey to an Imaginary Land' both a little bit too pretty and/or a touch repetitive in spots, but it's made with truly good intentions and genuine love that it's hard not to be won over by its placid atmospheres and fragile honesty. Easily accessible without being commercial and delivered with impeccable instrumental skill, more forgiving ambient/electronic/New Age fans should find plenty of tasteful music here to appreciate, and the album proves to be a sublime undemanding background escape from the stresses of our busy lives.

Three and a half stars (and the CD booklet in the 2017 Esoteric Recordings remaster is a lovely bonus).

I bought my first Gandalf albums to use them as background music in my massage studio. So I was very surprised to find this artist on this site. Of course, those albums that have lyrics and vocals somehow qualify as prog. But I was surprised.

Tale From A Long Forgotten Kingdom is purely instrumental, and it is somewhere between not heaven and hell, but Prog and New Age. It is difficult to use in the studio because of the drums, but not something I would listen to in my free time or in the car. Well, the bathtub might be a good place to have it for background music.

It is difficult to single out one or the other track. None of it is bad, but unfortunately there is also none of it really standing out. Everything is pretty average, but luckily not boring. So I'll have to go for 3 stars for an album that doesn't leave a distinct impression.

The fruitful collaboration between Gandalf and the WEA label during the first half of the 80's continues with the Austrian's second album ''Visions'' in 1981.Gandalf plays almost all kind of string instruments and keyboards plus percussion, yet he receives for the first time some outside help, it came from Jatinder Thakur on tablas and Sinus' leader Robert Julian Horky on flute.The album was recorded at the Beginning Soundstudio.

''Visions'' is a beautiful mix of Tolkien-inspired fairytales and MIKE OLDFIELD-like instrumental Art Rock, drawing influences from a variety of musical sources, but always ending up in ethereal and atmospheric soundscapes with a proto-New Age touch.Eight mid-length instrumentals connected with seven short musical themes was the album's structure proposed by Gandalf.As these themes are basically working as short bridges between the longer tracks with folky, Electronic and Classical echoes, the bulk of the album's interest falls on the extended instrumental cuts.These are characterised by plenty of acoustic strings and lots of symphonic and orchestral keyboards, but manage to draw different colors every time.With the use of mandolin, percussion and sitar Gandalf introduces Mediterrenean and Eastern landscapes into the mix, which had always a strong Ethnic vibe.Other tracks are more symphonic, based on dominant layered synths or organ-washed intros with a bit of Classical influence in the background.And there is still this cosmic, TANGERINE DREAM-like numbers with the electronic samplers and the questionable sound of drum machines, which offer the more atmospheric moments of the release.The electric guitars are used sporadically, but even so the overall mood remains gentle and relaxing, always performed with a nice, instrumental depth.

The Austrian answer to MIKE OLDFIELD's attempts.Cinematic, dreamy and mellow instrumental music with strong doses of Ethnic orientations.Cool and recommended stuff, despite the absence of obvious dynamics.

The Magician's Return

While the title might perhaps lead you to think that this is a re-recorded version of Gandalf's 1981 album Visions, the present album is actually a brand new 2001 studio album. It could be considered a belated follow-up album (a bit like Rick Wakeman's Return To The Centre Of The Earth), but it is hard to find any direct connections between Visions and Visions 2001. There are however plenty of indirect connections such as a general return to the sound and feel of the original Visions. Also the two albums are similarly structured with ambient pieces functioning as interludes between more uptempo and melodic pieces. The quality of the two albums is also similar, though overall I prefer the original Visions.

In keeping with his chosen artist name, Gandalf here made an album explicitly inspired by Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. And he manages to capture the moods of that story and its magnificent fantasy worlds perfectly. As usual Gandalf plays a plethora of instruments including acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, and the wonderful sitar (that also was featured on the original Visions to great effect). On some passages Gandalf's electric guitar playing sounds very much like that of Steve Hackett (with whom Gandalf worked on Gallery Of Dreams, and obviously picked up more than a few tricks from Hackett). Other musicians involved here add bass and drums which ensures a strong Rock base of the sound, and yet others add flutes, whistles, and violin, which gives this a distinct Folk music nature.

Overall, Visions 2001 is a very high quality offering that deserves to be heard. There are however two main problems with it that prevent me from giving it the same high rating as the original Visions. One problem is that it is just a bit too long for its own good. With a running time of well over an hour it tends to wear the listener down despite the high quality of the music. The album would definitely have benefited from being shortened somewhat. The other problem is that there is one misplaced vocal number on this otherwise completely instrumental album. When this song started I first thought that Spotify had gone mad and started playing an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical soundtrack. It does not fit in at all among the rest of the tracks here and is a complete embarrassment in its own right. With these flaws taken into account, Visions 2001 is inferior to the original Visions album which was more coherent and effective. Still, if you liked that album, and Gandalf in general, you should get this album as well as it is clearly (despite its flaws) one of Gandalf's better albums.

Before ending I should mention that the album comes with a bonus CD called Rare & Precious Pieces featuring alternate versions of familiar pieces from throughout Gandalf's recording career (including his collaborations with Steve Hackett and Tracy Hitchings). It provides a decent overview, but it is better to start with the regular albums.

Recommended in addition to the original Visions

Powerful yet relaxing

Invisible Power: A Symphonic Prayer may well be Gandalf's most "symphonic" creation, though it would be a mistake to expect Symphonic Prog here. 'Symphonic' in this case means sweeping symphonic soundscapes, Classical piano, bombastic percussions, some lovely Steve Howe-like acoustic guitar segments, and occasional electric guitar parts. This album follows in a somewhat similar style to that of the previous From Source To Sea, and once again I am strongly reminded of Mike Oldfield (this time particularly of Incantations). Even though this is not as playful as many of Oldfield's works, it does share several similarities with Oldfield's music.

On his previous three albums - the vocal The Shining, the electronic The Universal Play, and the relaxing From Source To Sea - Gandalf was trying out new things, and seemed unsure of where he was going. He has (re)found himself on Invisible Power. As such, this was a return to form. Whatever you think about the style he has adopted here - and I must confess that it is not normally my cup of tea - it is hard to deny that he is very good at what he is doing here (which is something rather different from his first four albums). At first I planned to give it the same rating as From Source To Sea (two stars), but unlike that album Invisible Power grew on me with further listens.

Like on many of Gandalf's works there is also here a New-Age feel created by sampling of "nature sounds" (birds, waterfalls, winds, etc.) and a vague appeal to "spirituality" in the song and album titles. This time he has created a musical "prayer", presumably directed towards some "invisible power". Please note however, that these are only tendencies and it would be out of place to call this music New-Age overall. Symphonic-New-Age-Rock would maybe be a better term. If it is not an oxymoron, then "powerful relaxation" could perhaps describe this music.

One of the most memorable tracks here is the two part title track with which I was previously familiar from the very good live album Gallery Of Dreams Live (part 2). The live version is rockier and the jazzier aspects have been emphasised in the live version compared to this album version, but both are good in their own ways.

Dreamscapes

After the vocal The Shining and the electronic The Universal Play, Gandalf took a step back towards home with From Source To Sea. It is by no means a full return to the sound that he developed on his first four albums, but at least what we get here is something a bit more interesting then the previous album and the electric guitar reasserts itself again (though only occasionally). This is a mostly relaxing and atmospheric album, but it wouldn't be entirely fair to call it New-Age. Mike Oldfield is once again a reasonable comparison, but also Vangelis' China in that it has a somewhat "oriental" feel at times. From Source To Sea is a lot more symphonic and sweeping than previous Gandalf albums, but it never ventures anywhere near Symphonic Prog. Ultimately it is too subdued and uneventful to be anything to write home about, even though it works well enough as background music.

The title track was previously familiar to me from the excellent live album Gallery Of Dreams Live (part 1) (featuring Steve Hackett), though the live version is rather different from this studio version, and (like virtually all the tracks on that live album and its companion second part) the live version is vastly superiour.

A giant leap for Gandalf - an insignificant step for mankind

With The Universal Play, Gandalf left (Middle-)Earth and ventured into deep space. This is an almost completely electronic affair in a style not dissimilar to those of Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre. The sound is dominated by electronic sounds throughout, and though there is lots of grand piano, guitars can barely be heard at all. As such, this was a radical departure from Gandalf's earlier efforts. Together with Anthony Phillips, Gandalf is a rare example of an artist who can create both (nearly completely) acoustic works and (nearly completely) electronic works.

For me, the main problem here though is not the radical change of style, or indeed primarily the particular style chosen - even though I have to admit that electronic music is far from my favourite type of music. The problem lies elsewhere: it is the almost complete lack of melody. (I have a similar problem with much of Jarre's and Vangelis's works, though I do like some of it).

So, even though I can hear this music (in the background) without taking offence, I fail to find any listening value in it. It is not unpleasant on the ear, indeed it is sonically of high quality, but it is just unexciting and dull. This album will most probably appeal to fans of the likes of Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, and (Larry Fast's) Synergy, but it fails to leave any lasting impressions on me.

Just the seagull, please!

More Than Just A Seagull is a soundtrack recording (I don't know what it is a soundtrack for) that was released the same year as the strong Magic Theatre album. The first track is called Self-Realization and runs for over 19 minutes even though it is based on only a single, simple acoustic riff that is repeated ad nauseam over (yes, you've guessed it) sounds of the sea, including seagulls. It reminds me a bit of Mike Oldfield's Hergest Ridge which is similarly uneventful (to my ears at least). I was actually familiar with a version of Self-Realization from the live album Gallery Of Dreams Live featuring Steve Hackett (part 2). That live version is only half as long and at least twice as interesting. Hence, I much prefer the live version.

The other tracks here are similarly one-dimensional and all are performed by Gandalf alone on a multitude of (mostly acoustic) instruments. Overall, this album sounds unfinished and sketchy in comparison with his regular album output from the time.

This album can be safely passed by unless you are a Gandalf completist

It's a new life

The Shining was Gandalf's first vocal album and as such it is quite different from most of his other albums. The female lead vocals are sung by Pippa Armstrong who adopted the name of Galadriel (also from Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings) for the proceedings. The core duo are backed by a little band featuring drums, bass, flute and sax, while Gandalf himself play keyboards and guitars.

The style of the music found here might perhaps be compared to that of Renaissance (from circa A Song For All Seasons to The Other Woman) or maybe Sally Oldfield. This is Rock music of the softer variety with a light folky feel. The result is pleasant enough, but not particularly memorable or exciting. It is at best only mildly progressive. If you want a more Prog album with vocals from Gandalf, you would do much better to check out his later collaboration with Tracy Hitchings: To Our Children's Children. The latter is a much better and much more interesting album.

Even though not without merit, The Shining will probably not impress the general Prog fan. It is recommended only for fans of lightly folky, mildly progressive, soft Rock.