FOXTROT

'Watcher of the Skies' is an excellent track, and the perfect choice for an album opener. I don't think i really need to say much about it; I'm going to take it as red that you've heard this song many many times (as I have) and enjoyed it immensly (as I have).

'Suppers' Ready', the bands only track over 15 minutes, is an excellent epic, no doubt because of the song medley method of constructing an epic, which works a hell of a lot better than trying to write a 20 minuter all at once (eg. Close To the Edge, 2112 & Hemispheres as opposed to Tales of Topographic Oceans). It works magnificently, and leaves you with such a good feeling afterward.

Now, I had heard these tracks before i owned the album as a whole; spurred on by all the positive reviews here, I thought the other songs would be just as good. Well, 'Watcher..' and 'Suppers..' overshadow the rest so much that I couldn't help but be dissapointed. It seemed to me as though the othes were just to fill the gap between them. Now, I realise that this is probably quite an unfair way to judge an album, but I am just being honest.

'Time Table' is a nice song, its piano intro a precursor, I think, to 'Firth of Fifth', found on the following album. It strongly reminds me of 'Seven Stones', from 'Nursury Cryme'. 'Get 'em Out by Friday', another nice song, is kind of a parallel to 'Harold the Barrel' on 'Nursury Cryme'; the song serves as a kind of comic releif, at least lyrically, by not being as serious as the other songs. 'Can-Utility and the Coastliners', kind of repeats the mood in 'Time Table', with a slightly faster tempo, but makes much more impact that the other two, and behind 'Suppers' Ready' and 'Watcher' is the third best song. 'Horizons', I thought, is a bit pointless, and should really be on one of Hacketts later solo albums rather than here, where it smacks strongly of filler.

Normally i don't do TbT reviews, but I felt it important that people knew what they were really getting, because 'Watcher' and 'Suppers' are so popular. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a good album, It's just that the 'sag' after 'Watcher' lets it down as a whole. But a very well deserved four stars, and I would reccomend it to others without hesitation.

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