THE BOAT OF THOUGHTS

OCTOPUS is one of gems from the seventies with their far-reaching music composition and style. The sound is probably no stranger at all as the sound represents the seventies era. You can imagine the sound: quite dominant mid range, truncated treble and dry bass. Can you imagine? Hope you get what I mean. Honestly, I love this kind of sound and it influences me on my rating of the album (my big apology on this issue). Simply put, if the music quality is at par excellent between two bands of different eras, I would prefer those created in the seventies than the one created in 2000s. It's not fair actually. But that's what I call with "There is no true value of nearly everything!" so is the case with music review, especially prog. Why prog is so special? I can view it from two angles. One: from the musicians' perspective, prog music is wide and free in terms of chords selection or structure or composition to be chosen by particular band. There are bands who create compositions with nice melody and simple arrangement (eg. neo prog or symphonic prog). There are bands who create compositions with no particular or rigid structures (eg. PHISH in some songs, Gentle Giant). It boils down to "choices" made by prog musician. Two: from listener (like me) point of view, there are many differing opinions / perceptions in interpreting any segment of the music. Having this in mind, how can you expect same rating of particular album? It's hard, my friend. Let's accept different opinions in reviewing prog albums.

The above novel-long write-up brings me to my views with respect to this album by OCTOPUS. The first time I listened to this album, it "clicked" me right away and there was signal submitted by my ears to my brain saying something like: "Mr. Brain, this is the kind of music you have been longing for. Enjoy it!". Oh man .. the stream of music offered by this album is truly mind boggling. "The First Flight Of The Owl" is packed with guitar fills and inventive bass guitar work in blues-rock style, upbeat tempo. Powerful and transparent voice of Jennifer Hensel enters the music brilliantly and her voice reminds me to Babe Ruth's singer. Her voice is not basically my main attention - but the music that accompanies really blew me away! I feel like I'm living in the seventies now. (Hello! This was 76 indeed!).

On top of stunning guitar work and dynamic bass lines, the music is mellotron-drenched as well. "Kill Your Murderer" starts off dynamically with excellent combination of keyboard and guitar. The tempo suddenly changes faster with pulsating keyboards and it is slows down to give vocal' entrance. Guitar solo is stunning, augmented with keyboard / organ. Excellent organ work can also be heard on "The Delayable Rise Of Glib". "We Are Loosing Touch" is a symphonic prog rock with classic rock elements. IT's an excellent track!

This vintage band has in a way influenced MUSE directly or probably indirectly. "The Boat Of Thoughts" proves it well. At approximately minute 3:28 I can hear clearly the pulsating keyboard sound at the back which fits exactly with one of MUSE songs. They are not exactly the same but they are alike. This concluding is probably the most complex arrangements and changing tempo. It's so enjoyable listening to the combination of acoustic guitar and keyboard work.

You may want to discount my overall rating about this underrated album. But for me, this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Highly recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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