DIRECT TO DISC [AKA: HEAD ROOM]

This was FM's second album released in 1978. Nash The Slash the violinist has left to go solo so enter Ben Mink. The band decided for this album to do a live in-studio recording. So they composed the music and practised the two long pieces which combine for about 31 minutes. They recorded many takes and kept the one they felt was best and there were no overdubs. This recording is highly valued for a couple of reasons. For one apparently the master tapes were lost so this has just been released on vinyl only, so it's rare. Also the way they recorded it, and the fact we get two long suites certainly will appeal to Prog fans out there.

"Headroom" kicks in right away with drums, bass and violin. A calm 1 1/2 minutes in with mournful violin. It then picks up with violin. Percussion, vocals and synths(moog) lead after 4 minutes then drums and violin join in. A calm 7 minutes in with synths. It starts to build 8 1/2 minutes in then we get another calm 12 minutes in, this time it's spacey. It kicks in again with drums, bass and violin. Vocal melodies join in late to end it.

"Border Crossing" is upbeat early with synths and drums standing out. I think that mandolin or maybe synths that sound like guitar. A spacey calm after 3 minutes. Moog before 6 minutes as the synths twitter. Violin before 6 1/2 minutes then percussion as it stays laid back. Vocals 7 minutes in as it picks up. Drum solo before 10 minutes. A calm with violin 11 1/2 minutes and this continues to the end.

Well i'm not as impressed as others seem to be. It isn't nearly as good as the debut "Black Noise" in my opinion. I'm giving it a low 4 stars, not for my enjoyment factor but because of the Prog spirit they showed here and certainly a lot of talent went into this recording as well.