STACKRIDGE

The cover art work really says a lot about what's awaiting on the inside. Either on the LP or the CD. Or the cassette for that matter. The seagulls and the colours describe this album pretty well.

Released in 1971 and in a very strong folk rock scene which counted a lot of the best bands this genre has ever seen. Fairport Convention for example. But the music on this album also has a lot of the new pop sound in it. Some songs here reminds me a lot about what Sir Paul McCartney did back in those days. His first solo album, in particular. But the symphonic prog scene was also strong back then and a band like Renaissance was really moving the goalposts a lot. On the other side of the scene, Led Zeppelin was making a huge racket.

In the middle of all this, Stackridge soaked it up and released this album. For some reason and as my reference point, a lot of this album reminds me about their fellow mates Magna Carta. That's probably because I have all their albums though. Stackridge is more noisy and more energetic than Magna Carta.

The songs on this album is good without knocking me over in joy. The fourteen minutes long Slark tells about a lot of ambitions from this band without really pulling it off. The best two songs here are Dora the Female Explorer and Essence of Porphyry. But this is by no means a bad album from a band which anno 2011 is still touring and having fun.

This is a good debut album and recommended.

3 stars