TURN OF THE TIDE

Continuing on the course hatched years before but honed to a fine art on "Eyes of the Universe", "Turn of the Tide" is a work of two artists working separately, pooled together to produce nary a semblance of teamwork.

In this particular incarnation, the songs of Holroyd are the more interesting, displaying an early 80s pop sensibility with a hint of the mellower aspects of post-Hackett Genesis. Try as I might, I simply cannot dislike tunes like "Waiting on the Borderline", "Back to the Wall" (even if both lead and accompanying vocals are one and the same Holroyd fellow), and "Echoes and Shadows". Even "Love is for Living" was a fairly good pop hit taken as such. Sure, he seems to have reduced the need for electric guitar in order to avoid having to thank his "partner" for anything. His "I'm Like a Train" tries to revive the CSN inspired BJH but with limited success. In general I approve of the mellow vibe of these tunes as I think it suits the band alot better, even if it is very much of its time.

But Mr Lees' contributions are largely a detriment to the disk. Both "How do you feel Now" and "In Memory of the Martyrs" are decent but ultimately without the excitement that could have made them so much better, and in fact contain the blueprints of earlier successes without the follow through. "Highway for Fools" and "Death of a City" are both ham handed hard rock efforts, although Doctor Doctor is actually a pretty respectable blend of the old and new (think "Loving is Easy" meets "Streets of San Francisco") and his best effort of the album.

A slight improvement on its predecessor, "Turn of the Tide" is more like a parting of the tide for BJH, into the Holroyd and Lees factions, never to regroup. 2.5 stars rounded up.