FIELDS

It IS rubbish to slam this most wonderful album! I am glad some people can appreciate what IS a forgotten masterpiece by this threesome. Graham Field was of course a founding member of Rare Bird, but if you expect the same kind of abrasive proto metal only with organ doing all of it that Rare Bird did (and did pretty well) you may be shocked. Field is augmented by great ex King Crimson drummer Andy McCullough and the brilliant Alan Barry on vocals/guitars/bass for what is a lost masterpiece of melodic, thoughtful, and engaging progressive rock. You may expect this album to be an ELP type no guitar and organ bashing affair- it most certainly is not. The heavy organ passages are tasteful and really imaginative while every song on the album is soaring and melodic. Alan Barry's high pitched strong and melodic voice begs comparison with Jon Anderson or a higher pitched Gary Brooker and the Procol Harum influence is quite strong on nearly every track. The sparingly used guitar passages are very nicely executed and not one track on this album is a weak link. For pop influenced melodic progrock this is one of the top 3 or 4 and still less expensive than some other great ones. Favourite tracks here include the majestic opener 'A Friend Of Mine," the folk-tinged "Three Minstrels", and the very catchy "While The Sun Still Shines." This is a very adventurous and also very friendly album with a warm, soothing atmosphere to most of it and exciting musicianship and great vocals to the fore. If you like keyboard oriented progressive rock with emphasis on melody this is an essential album and may surprise you! I've always really loved this album and think it's a shame that people's descriptions of it so often take the easy way out by saying they sound like a cross between King Crimson and Rare Bird. This really is a very unique album, but the closest reference point may be somewhere between King Crimson and Thunderclap Newman mainly because of similar late 60s/early 70s pop influences. A truly wonderful and great album, this is an essential record for your collection. Original copies came with a large poster and these are particularly rare. Find this album and treasure it!