BEGINNINGS

This is a collection of tracks recorded by Happy The Man on their own, mostly in their rehearsal facilities, dating back to before their record contract in the seventies. The sound is mostly light prog, somewhat jazzy, with occasional spurts of energy (much like their studio albums).

While I would not rate this as good as their studio albums, there are some worthwhile pieces to be found. Leave That Kitten Alone, Armone, one of their best titled pieces, after a slow beggining, becomes quite listenable. Passion's Passing has a spacey feel, reminiscent of the verse sections of Pink Floyd's Us & Them. Sadly, Partly The State, the best song on the album, has a fairly poor sound quality. Thedistortion on the vocals (unintended, I would assume), make the song difficult to listen to.

I'd say this is a must for HTM fans, just an okay addition for others.