FUNFAIR FANTASY

Oh, well, it took a long, long time to write this review. I really had mixed feelings about Funfair Fantasy. I guess they are all related to this band´s past. Their debut album was a pleasant enough surprise. After all, who could guess that members of Flamborough Head an Odyssice would put out an entire work dedicated to instrumental prog based on the sounds of the ol´ mellotron? And make it much more than a curious experiment? And who could have guessed their second effort would be so powerful and remarkable as Pilgrim was? So the stakes were high. Too high, maybe.

For Funfair Fantasy is an excellent symphonic instrumental prog album. Still, it took some time for me to fully appreciate it. It has no real stand out track like The New Moon or Walk On Land, not to mention the massive and wonderful 24 minute epic of Frank (something one can expect to achieve once in a lifetime, if he´s lucky). But that does not mean that the CD´s tracklist is inferior: in fact the selection is very good and the overall quality of their work remains more or less the same. As usual we have the brilliant keyboards sounds os mastermind Edo Spaninga (yes, lots of mellotrons sounds!), the melodic and moving guitar lines of Eddie Mulder (who is still in the band although no longer a member of Flamborough Head) and the precise drumming of Memmo Boomsma.

Also as usual the production is crystal clear and the music is varies from the bombastic to the pastoral, with great flow and harmony. There´s no low moment in the entire album, although, as mentioned before, no real surprises either for those who know their previous output like me. The longest track, clocking at 11 minutes, In The Distance, is surely the most adventurous and interesting of the lot, with its several different sections and swinging moods, all very well done and performed. And I never get tired of listening to Spaninga´s tasteful keys neither Mulder´s beautiful guitar solos (oh, echoes of Latimer and Akkerman!)

So in the end, another winner CD from Holland. if Funfair Fanttasy maybe deserved a 3 star rating compared to their earlier works, it is nevetheless at least a four star piece of music when you listen to it on its own merits.

Are you a fan of great instrumental symphonic prog in the vein of Focus and Camel at their peak? Then you have to check this out. Highly recommended.