ANCIENT AFTERNOONS

Ancient Afternoons may have a place in my "top ten desert island..." in prog, and within the nineties, no doubt it figures very high. Yes, the pastoral side of early Genesis is preeminent, as the romanticism and folk influence of the 70's italian school. But all is so well integrated, the construction surprisingly reminds me of another great band of that period, Anglagard,even if the sound greatly differs as each one reveals his national origin. Vocals are not great but still unobtrusive. Others have mentioned the appreciated inclusion of flutes and horns to vary the sound, and i do agree much to this point. At the end the greatest quality of Ezra Winston is that all the musicians are suborned to the music, no long solos or free virtuosity even if all are top notch à la Anglagard (still), even if keyboards really shine.

I remember the first time i put Ancient Afternoons in the CD player. In those times i had turned to other genres than prog music as the 80's generation didn't do much for me. It truly caught me back with expectations that there could still be something good in prog for the coming new century. And there it is!