GARDEN SHED

I have spent my youth longing for this album, never really getting my hands on a copy. And then I did manage to do so. Then I spent my older youth trying to understand it's greatness, though always stumbling on something else and seemingly (or hearingly) more interesting. However, now the knot has been loosened by the mighty sword of time and I am looking at something very beautiful. A relic from the past, made way out of it's time. Like the famous and ancient batteries found in modern day Iraq (was it?). They were made there in a far away time, though they shouldn' have been. I am rambling, of course.

"Garden shed" by England. The anglophile soul of mine is shivering with delight. The visual piece of the puzzle could not have spoker more in my favor than that. I am sold. Now to the audio-side of it all. Is it any good, really? Yes, is the short answer. It is very good. The opener "Midnight madness" is quite brilliant in all it's quirky british symphonic glory. Actually, this piece is as good as the rest on the album, bar two tracks that are even greater pieces of music.

"Three-piece suite" is my favorite of the album. It encompasses everything great about prog, as far as I am concerned. The instrumentation is gloriuous, all the way through the instrumenta used to the rattling of the keys on the organ. (I love the organ, by the way.) The track paints a picture very british and pleases me immensely. I fear that this track has become an all time favorite of mine. This is prog in it's glory. Tender, symphonic stuff weaved in stabs of slightly more harder grooves. Though it need to be said, if you are looking for eruptions of cacophony you need to go else where. This is, as the rest of the album, gentle music though by no means withput edge and complexity. The last track, "Poisoned youth", is the other, truly brilliant composition. Ranging over 16 minutes it is a delight. Just as with "Three-piece suite" you get textures and levels that really makes it prog masterpieces.

The introduction to this review spoke of the album as been made at the wrong time. Yes, somewhat. In 1977 the sound could be seen as somewhat dated, belonging more to the early 70's. Echoes of Genesis are abound and though being very present it is only part of England's glory and unique talents. I'd say that this album in many ways represent the timelessness of prog. It is a piece of magic that has lost none of it's beauty. It did take me long time to crack the album. Why I cannot tell you, as it is quite easy to digest and get into. The complexity and musical insanity is there, balancing on the melodic borders making it a charming, quite brilliant album. I'd advise anyone, really, to give it a go. Please do.

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