LADY LAKE

My first exposure to Gnidrolog was "In Spite of Harry's Toenail" and the crazy title gives you some indication of the off-beat nature of that work. So when I first listened to "Lady Lake", I was expecting more of the same eccentricities and rough edges found in "Toenail" (and shall we say not accessible to the average listener). Boy, was I pleasantly surprised!

That first listen of "Lady Lake" was about 6 months ago. Since then I have probably listened a total of about 5 times, most recently last night. My appreciation of this album has grown immensely. This has all the elements of great prog. First of all the musicianship is impressive, not only for the fact that all members play their instruments well, but that they each play so many different instruments. Peter Cowling's bass playing is the engine that supports and drives the band(he also plays cello). There is a bluesy feel to it that reminds me of Stand Up / Benefit era Tull. The breathy rapid-fire flute played by Nigel Pegrum (oh yeah, he also happens to be the drummer and plays oboe too!) also adds greatly to the Tull-like sound. Stewart Goldring's lead guitar generally takes a back seat to the wind instruments, but when featured is a hard driving blues-rock force. Which brings us to the defining sound of Gnidrolog, the distinct voice of Colin Goldring. His voice is high-pitched and takes some getting used to (now I love it). But it gives the band such a unique sound that most open-minded prog lovers would embrace. Colin also plays recorder, harmonica, sax and horn. To my ear, there is some similarity to Vandergraph Generator...lead by an eccentric voice that can howl or be very sensitive and touching, with the music supported by sax (and a variety of other instruments). The wind instruments (and lack of synthesizer) give the band a different sound than your average prog band. The arrangements are very interesting (i.e. progressive).

All in all, this album has just the right mix of hard and soft, all done in a style that is uniquely Gnidrolog. Very entertaining and an undiscovered gem as far as I am concerned.