GUITAR MUSIC/GREAT GUITARISTS:
MAHOGANY RUSH: IV CD
It doesn't say that it's been remastered, but it sure as hell sounds like it, with a strength and clarity of sound that it never before possessed. The first of the classic seventies "CBS-era" albums, this dates from 1976 and sounds just great. The spirit, sound and style of Jimi Hendrix just oozes out of every pore of this album with a set of songs that last between three and six minutes where the vocals and guitar work carry all the passion, style and quality of such an influential guitarist as Hendrix. The four minute 'The Answer' is almost unwittingly a tribute to early Robin Trower in its sound, arrangement, riffs and delivery and you could just imagine this track taken from any one of the first few Trower albums.
The six minute 'It's Begun To Rain' is more of a classic seventies rock ballad, somewhere near Hendrix's 'Angel' only with extensive use of mellotrons taking centre stage alongside the delicately chiming guitars and strong rhythm section, plus the ubiquitous, heart-felt Hendrixian vocal. After this the Trower-like 'Dragonfly' just surges ahead on waves of choppy rhythms, lots of churning rhythm guitar work and sparkling leads as yt another gem of a track unfolds.
The three minute rampage through 'Little Sexie Annie' owes more to Johnny Winter than anything while the near six minute 'Moonwalk', is, arguably, the most original track on here, an instrumental that races ahead with a spiralling, extended guitar break, on top of the strong and strident rhythm section, that sounds uncannily like a keyboard, book-ended by lurching rhythmic passages. The album ends with the seven minute 'IV…(The Emperor)', opening with mellotrons and acoustic guitar, before the rhythm section steams in and the militaristic pace rolls on, guitars and mellotrons flying in harmony as the song portion ensues. By now the lead guitar has moved up in the mix and riffing away merrily alongside the mellotron and solid rhythms. This whole, huge-sounding arrangement takes you to just short of the seven minute mark, as it dies away to leave the mellotron and acoustic guitar to finish the album. For a close on thirty year old album, there's nothing stale or dated about it - sounding every bit as great now, as it did back then.
MIRZA: Last Clouds CD
If you like your instrumental music to have the quality of sounding like it's a huge, flowing mass of melodic, full-sounding, sonic soup with crashing drums, pounding bass, soaring miles of guitars and keyboard textures, all creating this hurricane of blissful power as the track simply takes off and never looks back in the most awesome display of shoegazing contemporary post-rock that you're like to encounter, then the six and a half minutes of 'Charity' on this album, will be the stuff of your dreams - the Holy Grail of instrumental indie-shoegazing. But it's not just the one track that captures this feeling and sounds like an eruption - the track that follows, 'East' is every bit as on fire with a million guitars swirling around the mix, as this immense whirlpool of solid drums, fuzzed bass and searing guitars makes their mark, the whole thing a dynamic maelstrom of sound but with melodies in there somewhere taking the piece to structured and breathtaking heights, another six minutes of jaw-dropping magic.
The seven minute 'West' opens with some thunderous electric bass over clattering solid drums as the feedback-laden guitar squall begins and the whole thing starts to flow in gigantic masses of sound, the keyboard textures crossing into the guitars - may even be all guitars for all I know - while the Faust/Can-like rhythm section marches on.
Then, over this, an early seventies Hawkwind-esque wah-wah guitar riff briefly appears as the becomes ever more intense, the rhythms just awesome and then it all starts to erupt once more in a blazing sun on guitars, keys bass and drums, as a red-hot lead guitar sounding downright dirty, just pours from the speakers as the deceleration process begins, the bass thunders and sampled voices are briefly heard. But then, to take you by surprise, the whole cataclysmic maelstrom erupts once more and takes you to the burning end of the track.
The five and a half minute 'Acts/Volcano Of Birds' is even more intense, even more of a squall, but no less enjoyable as this raging torrent odf sound from the guitars and rhythm section, takes you over. As a respite, the initial calm of 'Caspian Sea' comes as a welcome relief, only even here, the rhythms are solid as the drums and bass deliver a classic "Krautrock" style foundation while the guitars soar, ring, riff, chime and swirl above, slowly piling on the intensity and rising up to erupt once more as this incendiary wall of sound that has become just so addictive, and, at just short of seven minutes, is simply yet another awesome piece of music. Across a further 5 tracks, this flavour continues and the result is one of THE great contemporary guitar instrumental CD's of the last few years.
PELICAN: The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw CD
It's instrumental - it's absolutely dominated by electric guitars - it's got a solid rhythm section - but it's not rock - or metal - or fusion - or shoegazing - or psychedelic - or Krautrock. In fact I'm not sure if a category has been invented for it yet. It's loud and melodic, heavy in an intense way, possesses a crystal clear sound on a first rate production, atmospheric yet dense, huge-sounding yet you hear all the subtleties, but, above all, a listening experience that simply takes you over and lifts you off., so much so that, when the massed ranks of a million fuzz guitars and bass and drums and more guitars, all take off at the 5.35 point in track 1, 'Last Day Of Winter', your jaw will be on the ground as the rest of your body goes into orbit around a nuclear-heat blazing sun.
This incredible driving sea of riffing and wall-to-wall guitar laden sound has you transfixed, absolutely wallowing in the mix. Around the seven and a half minute mark, it all begins to die down, leaving just shimmering guitars in the distance and crashing, crunching upfront drums to take the track to eight and a half amazing minutes. But then, as if it were a necessary musical prescription, the final minute of the track features just soothing, tranquil acoustic guitars. Wonderful!! Already you're amazed and you're only on leaving the first track.
The ten minute 'Autumn Into Summer' starts slowly with chiming guitars, throbbing bass and crashing drums that all proceed to build and build for four minutes until all of a sudden, this massive blast of booming bass, fuzz guitars, riffing, chiming, searing lead and soaring red-hot guitars, catches fire over a crunching, driving drum rhythm as the whole piece goes supernova but still retaining the melodic heart of what makes the music so addictive. Rarely has something so loud and atmospheric sounded so skull-crushingly heavy and glorious a listening experience. It's just sensational - there's no other word for it. After this, two more eleven minute and one five minute tracks capture a similar level of sound and firepower, if anything even more red-hot than before, while in between there lies a four minute track that is altogether more sedate with electric and acoustic guitars strumming hard over a distant bass backdrop and even their acoustic work sounds intense, but just so immaculately played and sounding as to have the hairs on the hairs on the back of your neck standing to attention, while the other track, again just five minutes or so, is also sedate but this time in a more flowing, electric guitar-led shoegazing type of sound, with solid, slowly driving rhythm section and some seriously sharp but beautiful chiming guitar leads. All in all, this is one of the finest instrumental indie guitar albums I've heard in aeons. It will get overlooked by most, be assigned to the dusty shelf of history, when in actual fact, it's an electrifying instrumental gem that should go down as a bona-fide smoking, on-fire classic of contemporary indie guitar rock - stunning and then some.
INDUSTRIAL:
FLESH RESONANCE: Alchemy Rewritten - The Remixes Vol 1 CD
Yikes!! If I reviewed this in detail, I'd bore you to death. There's more variation here than in the local ice cream parlour. You see what the guiding lights of Tony Longworth & Keith Hill have done is take a load of Flesh Resonance tracks and remixed them. While most have that industrial element running through them, the variation in styles is tremendous - EBM, solid technoid-trance, drum 'n' bass, atmospheric eerie ambient, droning with beats and samples, industrial dub - the works!! Powerful to the extreme - even the cosmic parts are powerful - this is a predominantly instrumental album infused with samples and the occasional song that has rhythm at its heart and core, rhythms that are addictive throughout, and it's both a testament to the creativity of the two mixers that they have come up with such a varied and yet so cohesive set of tracks that not only hang together tightly but keep your attention from track to track, as you know that you're going to get something different round the corner. With a series of tracks that can do everything from take you to the outer reaches of the universe or the searing heat of the dancefloor, this is one immense sounding, structured and arranged album which is so inventive yet so accessible, so powerful and at the same time passionate, an album you simply can't - and shouldn't - resist.
FUNKER VOGT: Survivor CD
A seventy minute, 12 track album from 2002 that sounds as right up to date as any class slice of rampaging, hardcore EBM (electronic body music!!). It opens with the six minute 'Date Of Expiration' where mighty beefy rock-hard electro-percussive rhythms and rampant sequencers drive the track forward like an unstoppable juggernaut. All around synths dive and swoop, providing the incendiary rhythmic backbone with full-sounding melodies and spacey textures. Above all this, the snarled vocals deliver the song in classic EBM style, as the whole piece goes supernova and tears along with an intensity that will have you breaking out in a sweat just listening to it. Thereafter, track after mighty track, provides an addictive ride of muscular industrial EBM to which you simply can't fail to move and be moved by the titanic sound that hurtles out at you. The pace occasionally slows, the intensity a little less, but generally it's one seriously wild ride into an industrial EBM sunset.
But it doesn't end like that. The last track is a twelve minute composition called 'Red Queen' which starts slowly with yearning vocals, piano and deep bass, then, around one and a half minutes in, the bass slowly chugs, slow electronic drums come in and the lowly uplifting, eerie vocals that you might have expected to intensify, remain as an almost multi-tracked choral effect lead vocal on a track that becomes this huge-sounding industrial electronic ballad for the first half of the track. But then, around the six minute mark, instead of erupting as you might expect, instead this massive electronic drum beat comes along complete with all manner of synth and electronic machine-like swoops and swooshes as this whole instrumental canvas just cruises solidly, unstoppably along its path, distant choirs and searing synths adding to the soundscape. The track remains in this instrumental march for the rest of its existence, transfixing you in its spotlight and jut an amazing way to end the album.
INTERLOCK: Skinless Remixes CD-EP
It may be a CD-EP but it features 10 tracks, lasts over fifty one minute and is only £6.99. Add to that the fact that it will blow out your windows, walls and half the goddamned street if turned up loud enough, and you have one of the most powerful blasts of industrial-goth-hardcore-metal, guaranteed to have you held in its sights as the sonic overload engulfs you. The first two tracks are the band on their own, raging, entrancing, firing on all cylinders, scorching along on a napalm-drenched trail of rampaging drums, monster bass, massed ranks of guitars, growled vocals and soaring female voice as the awesome sound lays waste to everything in its path, a seething, on-fire mass of twisting, turning hardcore industrial metal howl with an EBM twist - monstrous and then some. But then the remixers kick in and the rest of the EP follows all manner of electronic, electric, industrial and body-shaking trails.
The 'Devoted Mix' courtesy of Shanecough mixes crushing EBM beats with howling metal guitars, angst-ridden, raging female vocal, growled and hollering Slipknot-esque male vocal and gigantic armies of electronics and guitars to create this awesome sounding hell that is the amazing track before you - as solid a stunner as they come. Elsewhere, on a massively powerful blast of industrial metal EBM muscle, we move through gigantic blasts of industrial metal drum 'n' bass, industrial electro-metal drum 'n' bass, blasts of shredded sound and rifle-fire electronic rhythms with more firepower than the American armed forces, slow, scary, dirty, grungy blasts of industrial evil, dripping like thick molasses over a ritual sacrifice, Moroccan-styled industrial rhythmic blaze with on-fire electronics, titanic beats and tungsten strength rhythms - all this an lots, lots more - on one of THE most powerful, most raging, most uncompromising yet absolutely addictive listening CD's that I've heard on the industrial side of the fence, in a long, long while.
MELLONTA TAUTA: Sunfell CD
This really is hot stuff - a 100% certified gem! Similar to Curve only with a more ethereal and haunting female vocal yet which is no less engaging, over a mind-blowing backing of cascading, soaring and swirling electric guitars, awash with thick chords and feedback intensity, plus dynamic and solid drum work, pounding bass and a thunder that perfectly complements the magnificent voice. Absolutely incredible music.
PROG-ROCK:
BELIEVE: Hope To See Another Day CD
Brand new band featuring three ex-members of the legendary East European prog band Collage. The album opens with the seven and a half minute 'What Is Love' and one of those solid chunky guitar chords that immediately endears the music to most prog-rock fans as the song begins and this wonderful wall-to-wall guitar leads paves the way for the band to drive over the mid-range male vocal. Around the two and a half minute point, a violin enters out of nowhere to provide this gorgeous solo that disappears almost as soon as it's there and the song marches onwards, eventually the now less intense guitars meeting up with the violin as the two entwine over a rich sea of multi-tracked vocals and it's real prog-rock unfolding. The only synth in sight is the most distant of swirls at the bottom of the mix, but by and large, it's the guitar that's the star on a strong track that's truly prog-rock but on a completely different framework from what you're used to, and a superb, near eight minute opener. 'Needles In My Brain' starts in ballad mode but then the drums and bass rise up, the vocal lifts a notch and the guitar soars in with this amazingly expansive sea of chords and truly lights up the track as the vocals return, fly and then disappear to leave a searing guitar solo over a sea of guitars, bass, drums and distant violin - just awesome. Then the song takes a twist and this shuddering rhythm begins as the guitars riff and the violin emerges from the depths, stays about half way up the mix and solos in the middle of it all - just superb! The song flies high, the vocals well delivered and the track draws to a tranquil close. So, who's it like? Not a clue, actually. This is in a league of its own. Further tracks, averaging around the 6-7 minute mark, are mostly of an equally anthemic nature, with the guitar work definitely being the main focal point and yet the arrangements possessing all the hallmarks of real prog with the textural role taken by the keys and guest violin that become so much part of the mix, that you rarely are aware of them. Along the way, the songs are strong, the vocals well sung, the harmonies exquisite and the guitar work, some of the best, most fluid and most expressive you'll find on such a prog album. Overall, it's different, it's not heavy but it is powerful, it's strong, it's enjoyable, repeat playable and just a solid tasty album to get your teeth into for a long time to come.
BLUE DRIFT: Cobalt Coast CD
The first album from 2003 for the Lodder brothers, Dave & John, on guitars, synths and basses, plus their cohort Arch on drums. Musically, we're in an instrumental territory that's got the words "100% Certified Progressive Rock" running right through the middle of it. No jazz-rock frills here, no overblown fusion there - just straight down the line, full-sounding, epic quality, synths-guitars dominated, solid prog. A world where melody is king, where dynamics count for a lot, where bass depths and string synth textures provide two ends of a most wondrous scale, with plenty of flowing, fluid and heart-warming lead guitar and synths work in between, all driven by tight and solid drumming throughout. With 8 tracks here from two to over thirteen minutes long, this is the sound of tasty instrumental prog-rock for those that don't like it too heavy or intense, but worship a good melody, well arranged and full of feeling, with more layers going on to enhance every listening experience you have of this album. As instrumental prog albums go, this one's up there with the finest - you owe it to yourself to check this out.
BLUE DRIFT: Mariner CD
Two years on from the 'Cobalt Coast' album and - my! - how things have changed. Right from the start of the four minute 'Flight Of Doom' you hear this roaring, rampaging, supercharged mix of furious electric guitar riffs, solid, thunderous bass and driving drum work as this instrumental metal blares out at you in no uncertain terms. Around two minutes, it dies down slightly to provide a beautifully melodic guitar solo before suddenly erupting once more to provide a blistering sea of riffing, soaring, chiming and red hot guitars above the monster bass and thunder drums as a synth backdrop is briefly added before the band goes headlong into a hurricane finale. If you'd feared that this extraordinarily brilliant opener might have been a flash in the pan, just a few seconds of the seven minute 'Nuclear Train' will put your mind at rest as another storm-force mix of riffs, rhythms, lightning guitar solos, chiming rhythm guitars and a huge production giving it all extra space and dynamics, all gels to provide this rampaging mix of searing leads, red hot rhythms and magnificent melodies, the decidedly tastier variety of the instrumental prog-metal market, and holding you in wrapt attention for the whole seven minutes. 'Deep Space' opens with three and a half minutes of textural soundscaping before this huge string synth expanse comes in accompanied by deep bas rumbles and crashing, slowly driving drums as what sounds like a synth solo, soars over the top, the most overtly "progressive" sounding bit on here so far. The track itself is immense sounding and positively flies along a slow, purposeful path. Then, at around the 5.45 mark, this superb sounding electric guitar solo comes out of nowhere and just takes your breath away as it flies upwards above the enormous sonic horizon down below - absolutely exquisite.
The seven minute 'Digging For Chance' is equally as strong as what's gone before, but here the melodic quotient is increased as the track drives along at a studied pace with synths and guitars weaving spells and making magic all around the muscular rhythm section. At around three minutes, it all settle back into this gorgeous sounding, almost bluesy mid-section, before gradually piling on the intensity and pace as the track fires up and dives headlong into this roaring finale that will have you jaw-dropped in amazement at what you're hearing. The three minute 'Half Light' is a flurry of fast guitar chords, the briefest of drum solos and a solid little number to prepare you for the massive twenty one minute title track. With plenty of room to breathe, the band make this into a prog-metal epic that is both prog and metal as the mighty track is given room to grow, to develop and change, provide rich and solid warmth one minute, followed by sheer blistering heat, the next. Founded on an horizon-bending stretch of melodies, riffs and rhythms, this has got to be one of the best prog-rock instrumentals I've heard in years - it's got the lot and never falters throughout its running time. From passages of synths-laden delights that slowly unfold above the throbbing bass and sparse cymbal splashes through enormous, symphonic bursts of steam-heat guitars, soaring synths and muscular bass and drums, to all-out firepower as the guitar blaze a trail amid a sea of synths and rhythms, this moves from a whisper to a scream with ease and fluidity. As a track goes, it's monumental - as the album goes, it's even better than that.
BRAINSTORM: Desert World CD
In many ways, Pink Floyd embodied the meeting of prog-rock and space-rock without actually being either, a band where the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. No disrespect to them, but on listening to this album, you do get the feeling that this band could really do with being Pink Floyd (with a touch of Steve Hackett in the later stages of the album). They play songs lasting from four to nearly twelve minutes long, play at a similar pace to Floyd, generally sing in that same brooding quality and even have the same sense of space within a track that Floyd were capable of showing, the sort of Porcupine Tree-like need to fill every available inch of the sonic spectrum, notably absent. But, before you get the wrong idea, I'm not saying that this band occupy the same lofty heights as either of the aforementioned bands, but they're getting there.
Oddly enough, for what purports to be a meeting of the two styles, there's a remarkable lack of power and dynamics on here as most tracks seem more akin to a pace as befits a song like Floyd's 'Fearless' than anything, with odd times when they do put the intensity meter on "increase" but even here it's all far too sedate - purring when you could do with a full-throated roar. But if, unlike me, you don't want your prog rock to blow your head off, then this album will more than satisfy you if what I've alluded to so far, sounds up your street. The songs are solid enough, the vocals more mid-register than anything but in tune throughout, but where this album scores is the instrumental work, as that whole building process so beloved of a band like Pink Floyd is, here, present in all its glory, and while the production is superb, the sound excellent, the playing is top notch, you do wish that this quartet of musicians would let rip a lot more than they do. Still, if its sedate, well delivered and well arranged, relatively full-sounding, vari-paced compositions with plenty of room for instrumental passages but nothing overblown or epic, that you want, then this is their best to date.
FLOWER KINGS: Paradox Hotel DBLCD
After a one minute introductory throwaway, the album proper, begins with a twenty one minute epic called 'Monsters And Men' that starts with a whisper as just piano introduces the piece then, for the next three minutes, you get a build-up that sounds like a mix of the beginnings of Wishbone Ash's 'Throw Down The Sword', Genesis' 'Battle Of Epping Forest' and Yes' 'To Be Over', all in one melting pot - and just delicious. Around three and a half minutes in and the song begins. I don't know who's on vocal, but it sounds way better than any Flower Kings vocal I've heard to dat - full of harmony, no "dryness" and in tune, quite languid and perfect for the track.
There follows an instrumental section that's just so heartfelt, like the more yearning parts of '72-era Yes or Genesis and simply gorgeous. It doesn't erupt or explode or rock - it's class with a capital "C" - as it moves into another song portion with effortless grace and that languid flow which is, so far, what this track is all about.
This only lasts a few seconds before we move into another instrumental passage, this time more powerful as the band fires up amid a torrent of electric guitar leads and synth surrounds before it all drops down and a choppy organ lead begins with lurching rhythms and rhythm guitars as the piece becomes more Mainhorse styled than anything then we're into a brief 'Close To The Edge' touch before a wicked guitar solo rings out followed hotly by a brief synth solo before it all dies down and a vocal section that's right out of the slower parts of 'Close To The Edge' style unfurls amid glorious vocal harmonies as the track touches your soul once more. A lead vocal rises out of all this and just soars into this amazing multi-part harmony section that is breathtaking in its beauty. Piano and synth then flow into place as the guitar rings out in crystalline fashion, the piano floats languidly forward into view and you sit there thinking that the track can't get any better. But then a slide guitar right out of Steve Howe territory, flies into view as the piano is joined by grand Church Organ, marching rhythms begin, the piece gathers strength, rises up majestically, a guitar is added and the whole thing has the hairs standing up on the back of your neck as this awesome display of Quality prog-rock doesn't explode but just spread its light all around to impressive effect, force without power and just sensational. The guitar lead flies high over the expansive prog backing and the piece then rises up even higher on this magnificent sea of band-driven prog heaven.
As icing on the cake, mellotron choirs come in, a gorgeously powerful guitar lead cruises in on top and the whole thing has you jaw-dropped in amazement, as it all comes to a this massively uplifting, early Genesis-styled finale, with mellotrons, synths, drums, bass, guitars all combining to create this awesome final act as it all dies away and piano, synths, tinkling percussion and lone guitar see the track to its final resting place. The Flower Kings as they've never before been heard - not only is it the finest piece they've EVER recorded, it throws down the gauntlet to all other prog-rock bands and says "OK - follow THAT!!!!"
OH!!!! - You want more? Surely that track alone is enough reason to buy this album? Ok then…….
There are another 9 track on CD 1 that range from three minute shots of prog-song simplicity with heartfelt lyrics and delicate arrangements, to seven minute numbers where that influence of Yes and Genesis is unmistakable as the excellent vocals (throughout) and sumptuous arrangemeents mean that this is a CD featuring seventy three minutes of songs and instrumental passages that doesn't put a foot wrong and will be a CD you'll be playing all year long and beyond - trust me on that!
But there's more - there's a whole other CD - 9 tracks that range between five and twelve minutes, of which the twelve minute 'Minor Giant Steps' begins the disc - the first few seconds making you think of Yes' 'Gates Of Delerium' intro as the harmony and lead vocals soar into life to spine-tingling effect and another absolutely class epic track, follows on from the epic I've described on disc 1 and has the same joyous effect, only this time with a much more muscular approach as synth solos wail, the guitar leads glow red hot, mellotron choirs ring out and the whole track becomes a mighty seventies-oriented piece of almighty epic proportions, but, as with the whole of this album, sheer class running all the way through it. 'Touch My Heaven' is a slower, moody track with almost decelerated rhythms, a gorgeous duet from slide guitar and piano as distant mellotron is added and the track moves effortlessly forward. Then drums power in, the guitar rings out, the pace still languid but strong, and a gorgeous example of prog-rock at its seventies purest, unfolds to stunning effect on a six minute track that can do no wrong. The five minute instrumental 'The Unorthodox Dancinglesson' features intricate time signatures as it moves right into the song that is 'Man Of The World', track that's full of passion with wondrous lyrics sung to perfection, great harmonies, soaring slide guitar and a strong, driving arrangement, another six minute gem of a track. 'Life Will Kill You' is their nod to rock as the only Froberg-written track on the album sounds like a cross between Yes and King's X - no word of a lie - and it's just one awesome seven minute track that can't fail to blow you away. Another three minute slice of vocal and simple arrangement that is 'The Way The Waters Are Moving" leads into the mellotron and guitar intro, with slowly rumbling bass, rippling piano and the promise of a slowly building prog masterpiece, that becomes 'What If God Is Alone' as, instead of erupting, the vocal section begins with lyrics that really make you think as the song rises up majestically on an ocean of harmonies and prog-rock excellence, the chorus vocals and heartfelt lead vocal, above a sea of fragile guitar leads and deceptively mighty rhythmic strength, as glorious a prog anthem as there is, over just under seven fantastic minutes. The six and a half minute title track explodes into life with the band on stun as this downright dirty guitar lead takes the band into a solid, strident track that roars ahead amid an impassioned vocal, huge swathes of guitar riffs, titanium strength rhythm section, squalling lead guitars and massive backdrops from organ and synths - a track that is just so powerful, more great lyrics superbly delivered and a real rocker that will have you leaping about the place with the broadest of grins on your face - incendiary stuff.
The final track, 'Blue Planet', starts slowly bur gradually builds into a wondrous slice of prog that has become the pivot around which this album revolves, as a guitar solo flies into the night sky amid upfront bas, rippling piano, more Howe-esque slide guitar, languid rhythms and a sense of pure emotion right there at its heart. It moves through an uplifting majestic instrumental section with the whole band rising up before falling away as the final song portion is delivered and the track slowly dissolves in a sea of lilting bass, rippling piano, faint guitars and hushed breathing, the final NASA samples taking you out on the way the album began.
Overall, then, the finest album this band have EVER recorded and a landmark in the field of prog-rock - quite simply, no prog fan should be without this album.
