RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE

One of the earlier reviewers of this album stated that if you gave this album a chance your appreciation could increase as a result. And I have to admit that's exactly what happened with me here. Not too long ago I was not yet familiar with this band let alone album but somehow I had the feeling this piece of prog art could be pretty essential if you want to call yourself a progger.

And so I had to go for it, right ? After first few listening sessions I wasn't really blown away or even impressed I must admit but this is indeed an album that has to grow on you although in my case I will hardly ever go from being underwhelmed to overwhelmed because one or two spins usually gives me a fairly good idea of what my connection to any album is. And also in the case of Gryphon's magnum opus my appreciation hasn't increased from low to very high but at least it went up so that's positive.

Another challenge for me was to find out which of the four pieces I liked best but that proved a bit too hard honestly. At first I thought second spasm was my favorite part, later on I favoured Lament but my next thought was: why is it actually better than the opening move or Checkmate ? Actually I haven't got a clue and in the end I feel all four parts are pretty equal. All four are a combination of ancient (medieval if you wish) and modern music and to be honest I don't think prog folk is the most accurate subgenre for this album. For the Gentle Giant similarity rather tends to eclectic prog, let's say 65 % eclectic prog and 35% prog folk.

My already mentioned increasing appreciation has led from a 3,25 score to a 3,75 after many more listenings. So I will round up after all because this is above all true prog that should be checked out by serious followers of our genre. Not a downright masterpiece though (imho).