A STORY OF MYSTERIOUS FOREST

Fascinating album, but not the masterpiece some make it out to be. The wonderful "A-side" (tracks 1 - 4) is high-octane symphonic jazz-rock, strongly reminiscent of early Brand X at their best, with frenetic lead guitar and drums that bring to mind the interplay of Phil Collins and John Goodsall. However, there are some weird and dopey synth intermezzos as well, and at least one grand piano cadenza straight out of ELP's TRILOGY. If the original B-side (tracks 5 and 6) were just as good, I'd award the album at least four stars (there are few enough first-rate Brand X albums to listen to as things stand!) but unfortunately the 18+ minute title track is shapeless, sleep-inducing and all over the place: the kind of slow, stately and ballad-like sympho-pap which (by 1980) had been milked to death by Pink Floyd and Camel. There's loads of disappointing tempo changes, one fiery but all too brief guitar solo, some totally superfluous harpsichord (I adore the harpsichord, but you've got to DO something with it) and no climax worth speaking of. Some bonus points for the album's title (which a native speaker of English would never have come up with) and for the excellent cover art by the obscure Art Nouveau painter Karel Masek Viteslav.