SIDES

Anthony Phillips' 1979 effort, 'Sides', is an attempt at creating a more commercially oriented product but the idea gets ditched after side 1, not that the tracks on side 1 are particularly bad anyway. 'Um And Aargh' is just as good an opener as any shorter song he's composed before, 'I Want Your Love' is a delicate ballad, 'Holy Deadlock' is a weak, reggae pastiche done Phillips style, 'Lucy Will' is again a pretty ballad and 'Side Door' - well, we all make mistakes.... The album's line-up features the superb rhythmic duo of Mike Giles and John G. Perry, Ant Phillips as himself and as 'The Vicar', tackling vocals, guitars and keyboards, 3 percussionists (Frank Ricotti, Morris Pert and Ray Cooper) and guest vocalists among others.

Side 2 of the album is every bit as engaging as his previous works, starting with the insanely complex 'Sisters of Remindum', an instrumental track featuring some incredible keyboard work, 'Bleak House' is very good indeed but 'Magdalen' is a superb, longer track with an intense instrumental passage, and the last track, the lengthy 'Nightmare', is a fantastic instrumental, showcasing the musician's (mainly Phillips, Perry and Giles) talents to the fullest. Superb album, and more enjoyable than a post-And Then There Were Three Genesis album. I was originally vouching for 3 stars, but when I heard this album just before, I insist that 4 stars is an honest rating.