THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

It's rare Hugues Chantraine and I agree on anything, but I echo everything he says on this. It was overblown, overambitious and its only redeeming feature is that it's marginally better than its predecessor. The vocals are painful and the lyrics banal, some of the backing band's playing is uninspired (the drummer honorably excepted) and the compositions are often crude. For example, Merlin is just beginning to develop into something interesting with some nice bass, mellotron and synth work when, smack in the middle, we get a section more appropriate for a Benny Hill chase scene, complete with banjos and God knows what. The only redeeming feature is the synth solo in the second part of the track which is a good test for the deep bass on my hi fi. And that's all I get this album out for. God only knows what the highly talented orchestra and choirs must have thought when they heard the finished product. Definitely one to miss unless you can't bear not to have everything by Wakeman.