SONG OF THE MARCHING CHILDREN

Earth and Fire were a stunning band, which really knew how to combine catchy pop with powerful and original prog rock. Some of the attraction is no doubt due to the soaring vocals of the female lead singer, sounding like a better version of Annie Haslam of Renaissance. However, they succeeded where Renaissance, who could not break out of the pop/folk straightjacket, failed - making memorable pop hits and at the same time leaving a rich legacy of sophisticated symphonic progressive rock. Their songs are usually well-structured - loaded with original melodic ideas yet seamlessly transitioning from one theme to another, then returning to the original themes. The arrangements are equally brilliant, combining mellotron with heavy organ which provides a darkly rich backdrop to their melodic explorations. The real surprise for me was the guitarist, whose style is as unique as his chops are solid - he is a rare breed among guitarists - a melodic player, who does not solo to show off his skills, but to express a melodic idea. But the most amazing thing is that Earth and Fire is a rare band that manages a convincing prog sound without ever losing that pop feel, which makes listening to them so refreshing. This album manages this beautifully, with the gorgeously breezy prog-pop of "Memories", and the more "serious" 19-minute, mellotron-dominated, epic symphonic titletrack. The same also applies to the follow-up album "Atlantis", which follows the same formula with great success. Simply beautiful stuff, whatever you want to call it.