ASYLUM

I am revising my earlier review of Asylum, which was rather unkind, as I realized after a couple of spins. While I still maintain that this album is way inferior to other progressive albums of the time, and can in no way be considered a masterpiece, is not a bad recording when taken on it's own without comparisons. There are several nice songs, like the title track and the atmosferic 9-minute "Munich", a really gorgeous song, which to me is the saving grace of the album, as well as others like "Survivor", featuring good arrangements, and intricate interplay between organ and guitar. Some tasty orchestral arrangements add color and texture throughout the album, since the keyboards are limited to organ, which occasionally can sound rather thin. Drums are in excellent form throughout the album and provide a solid backbone, as well as rhythmic counterpoint in a very progressive manner. Guitar is somewhat weak, but finally comes through in the last piece, the 11-minute "Let Them Come When They Will", during the jazzy jam featuring some nice octave work, not usually heard in rock. The track also feature some agressive organ soloing, showing off some pretty impressive chops. Overall, the album suffers from the lack of direction - sometimes delving into symphonic prog, at times into jazzy Canterbury-style jamming, sometimes art-rock, sometime folky balladeering, sometimes pop-rock a la Moody Blues. However one must give credit when due, the musical sophistication does save the album, particularly in the organ department. and if one must stick a genre label on it, art-rock would probably fit it better than progressive rock. While this album is not likely to please a hardened prog-head like myself, a prog-rock collector would be more than happy to add it to his collection, as an interesting specimen of early British prog.