DAY FOR NIGHT

I haven't listened to this album in awhile, so I pulled it out, threw it into my car CD player and listened to it about three times. At first, it didn't thrill me at all. I remebered when I bought it originally, it was somewhta of a disapointment. Not as progressive as the first two, and not as fully rounded as "V" or "Snow". It pretty much ended up being my least favorite disc by the Beards. And I can pretty much narrow it down to the few songs that tend to be more AOR, ('Skin', 'Can't Get It Wrong' and 'Lay It Down') just not proggy enough. And to top it off, Bon Jovi-type voice manipulation pops up it's ugly head in a few places. UGH! But after the third listen, the stronger tracks eclipsed the weak ones. The opener, "Day For Night" rocks hard and proggy, "Gibberish" is their standard Gentle Giant take and a good one, "Crack The Big Sky" and "The Gypsy" are the best of the bunch with tracks 8 thru 13 being a long multi- part epic that's fine in spots, but as a whole is underwhelming. Overall, a fine disc with plenty of Gentle Giantish noodling, Chris Squire-like chunky bass, excellent vocals by Mr Morse and an overall playfulness, but those Bon Jovi guitar/vocal squeels....YUK! 3.5 stars rounds it up.