THE LONG GOODBYE

Little reminder: I was very disappointed by "The Last Great Adventurer", the previous album in 2022 from the British quintet... It is with this in mind that I wanted to review this thirteenth album "The Long Goodbye", having in mind part reconciled with the last great adventurer, showing that anything can happen! (It does not appear and will never appear in my favorite GALAHAD albums).

For this "Long Goodbye" the overall framework is halfway between the historic Galahadian progressive and the electro given by the growing influence of Dean BAKER within the group, all the pieces are composed by the latter and Stuart NICHOLSON except one, the eponym signed by the five musicians together. "Behind the Veil of a Smile" which opens the hostilities is frankly electro, we will have to get used to it, in your opinion "is electro progressive or can it become an additional branch of progressive music"? I will not risk answering this somewhat incongruous question when we know the long career of the British, a small (8/10) is sufficient for this introduction, Mark SPENCER's bass guitar is a model of its kind on this piece.

The big gap with the second piece "Everything's Changed", a pure gem of symphonic progressive like GALAHAD delivered to us in the past (The antediluvians "Richelieu's Prayer or "Ghost of Durtal" to name only these two), a pearl in short (10/10). "Shadow in the Corner" is a mix of the first two pieces, half electro, half symphonic, for those who remember "Myopia" on "Following Ghosts" it is strongly reminiscent , a bit danceable (8/10), a very rock piece in its entirety with Mister ABRAHAM's six-string which scrapes heavily.

"The Righteous and the Damned" begins with a spoken and disillusioned monologue from Stuart who engages in a fairground rhythm (without drums), the recitative can be disturbing, after 2:37 the flamboyant guitar of Lee ABRAHAM enters the scene before the return of the fairgrounds on a gypsy or even Cossack rhythm, "special" as they say, original but far from being obvious (7/10), a truly unique title in the musical history of GALAHAD.

The Big One now the eponymous epic "The Long Goodbye" which displays 13:08 and not 12:58.....(someone must have fallen asleep on the hourglass right?) is a return to progressive sources , a symphonic marvel, as much as the second piece (see above) and even better, Lee on acoustic guitar around the seventh minute it is very rare in memory, an enchanting melody, not afraid of words, one of the most beautiful beaches ever composed by the DORSET quintet (10/10), musical art at its peak, in a good place on my desert island!

We still have the two tracks indicated as bonus cd, "Darker Days" a neo-progressive piece in the purest Galahadian tradition, not fundamentally original but pleasant and easy to listen to, what more could you ask for? (8/10) and "Open Water" a delicate piano/sensitive voice as a piece of this type can be (7/10).

Conclusion, a record which will feature very well in my 2023 ranking, probably in the top 5. Original published on profilprog.com