HAND MADE

3.5 stars.This is PASSPORT's third album and the first one that Doldinger would use mellotron on.There are three songs on here that are pretty incredible ("Abracadabra", "Yellow Dream" & "The Quiet Man") but the rest aren't quite good enough for me to offer up 4 stars.

"Abracadabra" opens with some excellent drumming before a sax led, full sound takes over. The drumming and sax work are fantastic. Bass and keys come in around 3 minutes as they really start to cook. Here comes the sax again before 6 1/2 minutes. "The Connexion" opens with some atmosphere as a lone sax can be heard. Other sounds come in as it builds. Not a lot going on really until after 4 minutes when we get a full sounding melody.

"Yellow Dream" features a spacey intro of mellotron and other sparse sounds. Some very smooth sax arrives 1 1/2 minutes in. I like this one a lot, it's quite dreamy. An outbreak of guitar occurs but it's brief as the sax and mellotron return. This contrast continues. Beautiful track. "Proclamation" is kind of funky, it's not bad, but i'm not a big fan of this one. "Hand Made" is dominated early by drums as sax comes in. Light drums and keys are joined by sax. This one gets kind of funky as well. It's ok. "The Puzzle" is without a doubt funked up Jazz. Haha. Some nice guitar after 3 minutes. "The Quiet Man" is such a peaceful sounding song. The sax is as smooth as glass and light drums, keys and bass are all so subtle. Keys take the lead from the sax until before 4 minutes when sax takes over that role once again.

This record isn't nearly as good as their earlier "Passport-Doldinger" album, but it's still an enjoyable listen.