OLIAS OF SUNHILLOW

I purchased this album in the 1970s as I had become a Yes-head and was trying to collect everything the boys who touched Yes albums had ever touched (e.g. Wakeman with The Strawbs, Howe's Tomorrow, as well as all of their solo albums). Of the five "solo" albums released at the same time in (1975-6) (Steve Howe's "Beginnings," Chris Squire's "Fish Out of Water, Patrick Moraz's "The Story of I," Alan White's "Ramshackled," and this one--Wakeman was long gone--doing his own things with, at this time, no thought about returning to the band), I would rate this one as a step below Chris Squire's, on the same level as White and Moraz's, but above Howe's. There are some absolutely gorgeous sound textures with the use of multiple layers of acoustic string instruments with lush synthesizers and multiple vocal tracks, but ultimately the songs and themes begin to either feel underdeveloped, overdeveloped, or the begin to wear out their welcome. As much as Jon Anderson may have wanted to assert his presence in the world of harp bards or modern "electric" Celtic folk artists, let's be clear, this is no Alan Stivell or Chieftains. And Jon is basically . . . weird--with a voice to match.