WALLY

I have never heard about or any music which deserve to be called symphonic country...... before I heard this album.

Maybe that is a bit unfair to brand it symphonic country & western. But it is tempting when the vocalist proclaim he want to be a cowboy. The music is more related to west coast rock. The Eagles very much springs to mind. Other American bands like Kansas too springs to mind, although in lesser scale. The likes of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash are also very much alive on this album. Think big, think America........... Although Wally is a band from the cold Leeds, Yorkshire, England, Europe. This makes it a bit of a strange album. Which is an understatement, btw.

The music is not particular good either. The material here is pretty anonyme. The pieces of music I notice in this blandfest is the ones where Wally sounds like a country & western band with the violin and steel guitar. Yes, this band use a steel guitar and that is probably a first for a socalled symphonic prog band. I wonder what the producer Rick Wakeman remember from this. Did it drive him to drink ?

Why am I so giving it some stars after all my sniggering ? First of all; neither this album or the band is anywhere near being symphonic prog. Eclectic Prog or Folk Prog is probably the right category. I am in doubt if this is prog at all. But I have now reviewed it and I do not this review to be erased from PA. But when all my sniggering is over and I have stopped laughing (after an hour or twelve), what is left is a pretty good west coast country album. I happens to like both The Eagles and in particular CS&N. Not to mention Neil Young. This is why I give it three stars. I would actually recommend it too because it is such an unusual album. Wally is one of the spices of life................ And the music is actually quite good !

3 stars and an appointment at the nearest mental hospital