THE HOUSE ON THE HILL

I finally remembered that someone had sent me a CDR of this album years ago, but I never listened to it. So I dug it out after reading the favorable reviews here. My reaction is.......underwhelmed. It is not bad at all, just not the lost gem I thought it might be. Some very nice folky playing with an edge, nice flute as well. The singer really doesn't sound anything to me like Peter Hammill. In fact the person he reminds me of most is Alvin Lee of 10 Year After. But this is definetly not blues rock. Proto-prog describes this well I think. The Van der Graaf Generator comparisons are not too far off musically I suppose, at least during the louder parts. But it lacks their wackyness and musical inventiveness. It sounds more like something from the 60's than something from 1971. But I suppose if you like VDGG, and you like prog folk, this is something worth getting. I will put up 3 stars, but I think it really does deserve a solid 3.5.