The first track, Outer Limits, starts mysteriously with an intriguing bass line rapidly ushering in majestic brooding synth notes. This carries on a bit together with the bass building tension and then pow! the main track cuts in. All the hallmarks of classic prog are here with the high, spare vocal style, thick layers of instrumentation and a complex time signature. By this point I already knew I liked the album! The track has a powerful drumbeat and there are complex adaptations of the first theme woven into the melody. A couple of verses establish the main ensemble theme and simply burst with energy. A sudden dreamy synth sound and hushed vocals lull us into a false sense of security when suddenly the guitar part cuts in spectacularly again adapting the first theme, taking us ever further whilst maintaining continuity.
Suddenly we suffer extreme vertigo as we trip over a mad little "electric harpsichord" style keyboard break, and then we hit light speed with the full keyboard attack. Even here the main theme is still somehow present although wildly mutated. Finally we return to the initial theme as a reprise, this time with vocals and then we drift out blissfully on more synth chords allied with a somehow more final-sounding bass line. Just as we think it's all over some even more eerie chords end the track with a note of uncertainty - perhaps a sequel is required!
After this magnificent start one might expect some slackening off, but no, the title track is next, and is itself a powerful attention grabber. I felt that Outer Limits was such a complete mini-epic that it serves as a prelude and introduction to the band, thus in my mind The Wake is the first track of the main sequence. It is powerful and catchy, but a little less convoluted than the first track. With its powerful chorus I'm sure this track would work well live. The track ends with massed ranks of pulsating synths which take us smoothly into track 3, The Magic Roundabout.
My CD is the reissue and there seems to be some confusion as The Wake is listed as 3.12 but the CD track is clearly over four minutes. Anyway The Magic Roundabout is another mini-epic, with at least three distinct sections, an uptempo intro, the rather meditative main song which is slightly let down by its chorus, and then a lilting coda which starts on synth, then bass, before building into a tremendous grand finale where the guitar elaborates the melody endlessly over more ghostly keyboards as the track fades out.
[N.B. I would guess this was originally the end of side 1 of the original vinyl, but the digital age, of course, has taken away the pleasure of two obvious parts in favour of one giant slew of music. I digress.]
On to Part 2, and Track 4, Corners, makes a complete change. A more relaxed rhythm on drums and tablas takes us into a gentle groove with exotic sounding sitars. The lyrics strike a typically oscure pose but come down on the side of cautious optimism for the future and before you know it, the track is waltzing off into the distance long before you've had enough of the melody, the sitars and string instruments seemingly improvising yet with total awareness of the theme.
Track 5, Widow's Peak takes us back to the darker mood which characterises the bulk of the album. Here a strong positive-sounding main theme is at war with some mysterious sounding interludes and the ever-present ghostly synth sounds. This is a pleasingly heavy track with pounding complex drums, but mid-way through we sink into limbo with a sad mournful guitar melody slowly picking its way across a chordal landscape before some rapid picked guitar notes break in with excellent use echo. The drums kick back in for a brief aggressive half-spoken section, and then we take yet another turn into a "holding" section of repetitive guitar/bass lines which is resolved with another short guitar passage, finally leading into the brief rapture of the ending.
Track 6 is the closest to a filler track (IMHO). If I had to guess I would say this is the single from the album (if there was one). A simpler structure and even a sort of hummable chorus means this track is (dare I say it) a little poppy. You can hear the bassist enjoying himself here and there with little flourishes and the odd bit of vibrato. The guitar solo as usual takes us on a brief flight of fancy, but we soon get back to the song, this time repeated unaltered rather than constantly evolving and developing.
Almost as a separate track, the last minute or so is a beautiful, mournful sequence of wafting chords. All the deeply sad and moving atmosphere of the album can be felt through these few chords.
Finally, we reach the seventh and final track. As it starts we realise that the dramatic ending of The Thousand Days was just preparing for what is to come. A high vocal line and bright shimmering chords lead into a hauntingly melodic opening section with the vocals and keyboards perfectly complementing each other in service of the lamenting melody. We hear a second verse, and the music starts picking up. We are on the verge of something big...
A brief bridge section now sets the scene for the grand finale. A "morse code" type rhythm is introduced on the guitar (I think?) the drums kick in with a powerful solid beat, and then Martin Orford simply pulls out all the stops and stuns us with a blinding keyboard solo which is one of the high points of the whole album. Really one feels he can just pour out music of the highest calibre without even trying! As usual for this album, the guitar is sympathetic to the tune and possibly takes it to its absolute peak. We reprise the intro, but there is now a sense of healing, of relief, of optimism. We leave dark forebodance and gloom and the story reaches its conclusion, to leave us with a cheerful figure which repeats to fade... pure bliss (what an adventure) and my finger reaches for the start button.
This review was first released to the IQ mailing list "It all posts here" (IAPH). For more information on IAPH and to receive future mailings contact the proprietor Neil Durant nmd@newton.npl.co.uk
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