DAWN

Every symphonic prog band in the 70s has released at least one album with a Symphonic Orchestra. This is a case in which the effort of the orchestra is barely perceivable here and there. Probably it could have been used better.

This is more evident in the second track: a six minutes long divided in four parts below two minutes on which there's no room for the instrumental effort of an orchestra. On my vinyl version they are effectively 4 separate tracks.

The music inside is no longer inspired to Uriah Heep. The harder parts remind more to Deep Purple, specially on "The Dance Of Doubt and Fear" that has something of Child in Time (and seems to have inspired later the soundtrack of Tomb Raider) but in general the album is a mix of Floydian and rock moments with a guitar that sounds a bit Krautrock when is not making a solo and the inconfondible German accent of Bornemann. Even if his accent can be sometimes disturbing, it's a sort of trademark of the band.

The highlight of this album is "Lost" (both the two parts). The instrumental part in the frist two minutes is very good even if the breaks made by the "oooh" choir are still too related to the first albums of Uriah Heep. It's on this track that the orchestra can give his effort with a very symphonic moment. Unfortunately just a moment as it lasts for no more than two minutes.

In the second part (The Decision) the organ reminds to Bach's fugue in D minor, then the bass in foreground and the orchestra behind sound similar to the Renaissance who were making a similar thing (Live at Carnegie Hall) in the same year. I'd like to imagine Annie Haslam singing here instead of Bornemann.

The closing track starts with winds and Bass like Pink Floyd's "One of these days" but when Bornemann sings his voioce takes a Jethro Tull flavour. The instrumental part which follows driven by bass and keyboards is excellent and property of Eloy only. This band has never been too "original", but in the end they had a very recognizable sound.

Not a masterpiece also this, but even if I have underlined the bads more than the goods, I'm not ashamed of rating it with four stars. A bit more instrumental parts with more room for the orchestra and more original things like in the last 3 tracks is everything it would have needed to be a masterpiece.