THE SPIRIT OF AUTUMN PAST

After a great debut, the second album is always a test of a band. Some (eg Marillion) succeed brilliantly. Others (eg Dire Straits) bomb. So after the excellent For all we Shared, Mostly Autumn had to come up with the goods. And they did.

From the moody opener Winter Mountain to the epic closer The Gap is too Wide, this album is an absolute feast of melody and musicianship. The first 4 tracks are all fine pieces, featuring some excellent vocal harmonies between Bryan Josh and Heather Findlay (his vocals only work when she sings with him) and great keyboard, violin and guitar work. Then the album explodes with the lovely, 8 minute Evergreen, probably the finest song ever recorded, starting with a haunting Findlay vocal and building to an epic climax with a glorious Josh solo. It them moves into a series of mostly instrumental folky tracks replete with violin, synths and flute and whistles, all of which convey stunning images and are quite breathtaking. Through the Window is another track where Bryan Josh laments the loss of his father and is touching and pleasant, but then the album takes off to new heights with the title track, featuring a stunning solo from Josh.

The closing epic, The Gap is too Wide is written by keyboards maestro Iain Jennings in memory of his mother and is gentle, beautifully sung by Heather Findlay and features some stunning keyboard and guitar work, culminating in a glorious uillean pipe solo from Troy Donockley.

In short, this is a quite brilliant album. I know the band (well Josh really) idolises Pink Floyd (as do I), but I really don't see a great deal of similarity between them and get very p****d off by those who criticise them for being clones, something they most definitely are not. Influence by Floyd, yes - but equally influenced by many other bands; there's hints of Renaissance, Camel, Fairport Convention and Genesis in there as well, all leading to a quite exceptional result. I recommend this to anyone with a soul, perhaps to be avoided only by those who like metal and more experimental prog.

Definitely one of my top 10 and well worthy of the highest grade.