THE HOUSE ON THE HILL

A very good album from this group of the famous Charisma Records (the label of Van Der Graaf Generator, Genesis and Lindisfarne). The music is a sort of contamination, done with great elegance, of different styles (blues, jazz, classical, american folk and country music). No keyboards here, so nothing is bombastic or pompous: acoustic guitar is the lead instrument and saxes and vocal parts are very important too.

The amazing voice of Howard Werth, that reminds an american bluesman, is perfect for pieces like Jackdaw (the best song of the album and in my opinion a masterpiece of progressive rock), Nancy and the fantastic cover of the classic of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, I Put A Spell On You.

In every song there is a great use of wind instruments by Gemmell, and Van Der Graaf comes immediately to mind. But notice that we are miles far away from the experimental music of Peter Hammill and his band, because most of the songs are very catchy and melodic (You Are Not Smiling, Nancy, I Had A Dream).

Maybe not a masterpiece but I really can not find weak moments in this album. Maybe you'll like it at first listen and, I know, for prog lovers this is not ever a good thing, but I also think you'll never find it boring and you'll play it for a long time.

Rating: 8/10.

Best song: Jackdaw

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