ADONIS

Coming as it did at the very end of the 70s, that is to say a half decade after the peak of prog, this album is a joy for the symphonic rock enthusiast, particular those who like a Teutonic flavour. While Anyone's Daughter is influenced by fellow Germans Grobschnitt and Eloy, they owe equal parts gratitude to Camel, Genesis and even King Crimson. None of this is to suggest that they are nothing but influences, but rather to help you visualize with your ears, if you will, what they brought to the table in 1979.

This debut album is highlighted by a 24+ minute suite that is one of the best of its kind! It is made up of 4 parts:

Part I: Come Away is the most purely symhonic and also one of the more mellow segments, but nonethless powerful, featuring elegant vocals by Harald Bareth in the John Wetton era KC style, ethereal keyboards, and versatile guitars ranging from near acoustic sounding to clear soloing. This is my favourite part.

Part II: The Disguise introduces the fusion side of Anyone's Daughter, one that reappears in various forms in their future, starting menacingly slow on moogs before heating up for a rousing but brief vocal section, and then settling down.

Part III: Adonis: In terms of prog development and potency, this portion is the most impressive. A gorgeous melody first delivered vocally and then nurtured by a very Latimer like solo, is followed by a brilliant, fiery, and lengthy keyboard/guitar interchange that is an absolute joy. Not a note is wasted even as it appears that chaos rules. The transition to the original theme is handled masterfully, and again we rest.

Part IV: The Epitaph : This is the most vocal oriented section with a very epiloguish feel, not unlike part 3 without the insanity. It's not quite as hard hitting as the other 3 pieces, but does tie up the themes in a more than satisfactory manner.

The remaining songs cannot match the suite, but all have great moments. Blue House is a spacey keyboard oriented instrumetal, Sally a countryish rock number, and the song "Anyone's Daughter" is of considerable interest for its powerful organ and monumental lead guitar work as well as the oddly catchy brief vocal parts, but I must add that this track was reprised with much greater success on the album called "Live" from 1984, which also includes a superior version of the first part of Adonis.

Later, Anyone's Daughter would modify their generally symphonic styles to varying degrees with considerable artistic success, and even produce perhaps some of the first "neo prog", but Adonis or perhaps "Live" are the places to start.

Appendum April 20, 2015: A 2010 release features 2 bonus live cuts that have never before appeared in any form, and a rare example of bonus tracks that actually mean something. They are both epic length and herald the group's abilities with the long form. It's a shame that they only began recording when such experiments were well out of vogue; otherwise "Adonis" might have been a 3 track opus that I would have seriously considered for 5 stars. While both pieces do not quite rise to the level of the title track, one could argue that they might have with a studio endeavour, as perhaps even the sprawling Adonis required numerous interventions en route to "completeness". It remains that both "The Taker" and "The Warship" showcase all of the group's strengths and are likely to please any fan of this album and many others. Yet another reason to give "Adonis" a chance.