THE SNOW GOOSE

There are some old albums in my vinyl collection that I, frankly, didn't give a damn about when my lovely old stereo system broke down after years of faithful service. I couldn't afford to replace them all with CD's, and I resigned myself to losing out on many pleasures for ever.

However, with a present of vinyl to digital hardware, and software, I can now revisit those pleasures, and this is most certainly one of them.

There is not much to say about this album that has not already been said, and I will keep this review shorter than most of my other efforts.

Suffice to say, I am genuinely of the opinion that great instrumentals are capable of speaking to you as well as, and in some exceptionally rare cases, more so than any concept album with lots of verbosity.

This is one such album, a glorious symphonic album which epitomises all that is great about that sub genre.

The piece has to be listened to as a whole, because it tells a story. The musicianship is absolutely incredible, and this is, in essence, a modern piece of classical music.

At times this is beautifully moving, and it remains to this day one of the most important works in the progressive canon.

Five stars - a true masterpiece in every sense of the word.