THE SPIRIT OF AUTUMN PAST

A distinct step down in energy and potency from "For All We Shared", "Spirit of Autumn Past" tends to the more reflective side of the band. To be honest, this can be translated as "boring" at times, especially in the early going, as "Winter Mountain", "Pieces of Love" and, to a lesser extent, "Please", all suffer from lack of dynamics not to mention less than captivating melodies.

Mostly Autumn seem to be playing excess homage to Pink Floyd and their plodding nature, and even "Evergreen", a major improvement on its predecessors, suffers from this comparison. It does, however, feature some excellent harmonies and a dramatic solo by Bryan Josh. It must be said that he does not cut loose as often as I would like here. "Skyhead Tarn", "Blakely Ridge" and "underneath the Ice" all seems isolating and depressive, but "Shindig" serves as an instrumental blueprint for what would become one of their best songs, "Dark Before the Dawn" from "The Last Bright Light". "Through the Window" is an excellent ballad which features Josh at his best both compositionally and vocally, a truly lovely piece that sounds oddly like British folk rock group Hank Dogs.

The last two tracks are really the highlights - "Spirit of Autumn Past Part 2" and "The Gap is Wide" are more creatively structured and have much greater impact. They develop well and build up to climaxes that remain on the introspective side. The finale includes some fine piping.

All in all, the album is a bit too uneven to warrant 4 stars, but possesses a beauty that mostly recalls that most evocative of seasons, and hence is still a good album if not the best place to start your exploration of this very English band.