SPRING

4+ for this very enjoyable album! Why they didn't do anything else, apart from an obscure, apparently delayed second album? Indeed, whatever happened to them (except the drummer went years later to Dire Straits)?? Mellotron-lovers, get this at once. The sound is simply lovely: not the dark nightmare world of Crimso's starless court or whatever Mellotron brings to your mind at first. SPRING is poppy in a very good sense. Slightly light and song-oriented but still vintage prog. It gives me a pleasurable warm feeling to listen to these songs. And Pat Moran's vocals are a perfect pair to the Mellotron-driven sound: emotional and a bit wailing, like 'crooners' of 50's and 60's but not overblown or too sentimental. I tried to think of a similar voice but didn't come closer than Cat Stevens or James Blunt.

Almost each song is a highlight of its own - except perhaps one or two (and bonus tracks didn't impress me either). But maybe this album is a bit too sweet and cheesy to give five stars as I originally did...