SYMPHINITY

Basically Sebastian Hardie with a new and improved rhythm section (Duncan McGuire formerly of In Focus/King Harvest/Friends/Ayers Rock, and Doug Bligh formerly of Galadriel). Other than that line-up change, the crucial difference with the original band is that Toivo Pilt is now writing as much music as Mario Millo - and I find his music much more interesting. He's not as ambitious as Millo, keeping all his compositions much simpler, but he also steers clear of Millo's cheesy pop side. Mostly his pieces display a stronger jazz fusion influence, which well suits the new rhythm section - "Horsemen to Symphinity" and "Lamb's Fry" are great examples, while "No Scruples" sounds kind of like a simplified version of Sound Chaser. I also like his brief piano solo "Forward We Ride". Millo, by contrast, gives us more pop cheese ("Flight Call") and more pretty but slight melodic guitar instrumental ("Gypsy"). I actually like his "Glad To Be Alive", despite it's generous quotient of pop cheese, the tune isn't bad and it's one of the more ambitious arrangements on the album. Quite an underrated album - shows what Sebastian Hardie could have been if Millo hadn't exercised such a stranglehold on the compositional direction.