HANDS

This cd far surpassed my expectations, both in musical inventiveness and sound quality. Recorded in the late 70's but not compiled until 1996, this eponymous album from the Texas prog group Hands satisfies in many ways. While the band's six core members are highly-trained multi-instrumentalists, they blend the diverse mix of woodwinds and strings into the classic band setting in a seamless manner, and it all comes together nicely and energetically. For 71 minutes, one gets a good dose of progressive rock played well, with hints of groups like Finch, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Happy the Man, and Gentle Giant, as well as a bit of fusion and even some medieval madrigal music sprinkled in. It's mostly instrumental, but the vocals that do appear are well done. Some of the standout tracks for me are Zombieroch, Triangle of New Flight, and the 10-minute mini-epic Antarctica, but there's no track that I did not enjoy. The cd also comes with a great booklet packed with band photos and history. This is honestly one of my very favorite prog cd's from U.S. soil that was recorded back in the heyday of the 1970's. Very impressive - highly recommended. 4-1/2 stars