MELOS

It seems to me that the word "masterpiece" is being thrown around far too broadly on this site. While albums can be "great," even "exceptional," that does not necessarily make them "masterpieces." And, no, not all masterpieces of prog are by the "seminal" groups; there are - occasionally - masterpieces by neo-prog groups. This is not one of them. That said, this is an extremely good album (it deserves another half star), one that is probably also "important" in as much as it is a relatively "early" entry: it is contemporaneous with such masterpieces as Dark Side, Selling England, Close to the Edge, and Larks Tongues, among others. The influences are hard to discern, though the cheerful dissonance of King Crimson (esp. the "quieter" version on Wake, Islands and Lizard) and the playful insanity of Gentle Giant (Glass House and Octopus came out the same year) make appearances. It is also worth noting that this album is simultaneous with Henry Cow's debut album, and given some noticeable similarities, it may be that each influenced the other. In any event, some of this is pretty "heady" for its time, compositionally. The main quibble I have is the same one I had with Carpe Diem's "En Regardent Passer le Temps" - that the creativity does not always show clear direction or inner logic; some sections sound as though they were strung together because they "could" be, rather than because they made any particular sense. That aside, there is no question that this is a very creative album, with fine musicianship, and deserves a place in any serious collection of prog-rock.