FLOWER IN ASPHALT

This is a fantastic record. Not a classic, of course, but take a look at the year it was released: 1980! Was there anything in the world of prog worth listening to at that time? Well,to be honest not much. We had to stick to our 70s records. "Flowers in Asphalt" recovers the 70s spirit of prog rock. The songs (no vocals on them) remind me to Camel (the "Mirage" to "Moonmadness" period), especially because of the highly melodic solos played by Schwarz but that's something positive, of course: anything connected to Camel has to be praised. The camelesque flavour can be noticed from the very beginning (the guitar sound in the first song "Skylight" (7/10)). The second song ("Glockenrock") is quite different from the rest of the album, it sounds a bit like a Santana's song because of the percussion and the guitar, a very Latin influenced piece of music, but nice (6.5/10). "Flower in Asphalt" (7.5/10), the third song, returns to the typical Rousseau sound: sweet keyboard atmospheres, Camel-like guitar solos and flute (Huster's playing in this song and in the next one is superb.) "Le Grand Revier" is, in my opinion, one of the best tracks in this album: the song is a fantastic dialogue between the flute and the guitar; it's very dreamy, a fantastic song to listen when you need to relax (9/10). Next song ("Entree") sounds very much like the previous song but has some silly keyboard sounds in the middle which spoil the final result, it reminds me of New Age music (which is something I don't like) (6/10). "Fools' Fantasy" has an extravagant keyboard moto all through. As usual, things get better when the flute and the guitar are introduced but I'm afraid that in this case it's too late (6.5/10) The last song of the album is "Dancing Leaves" (7/10) and it's also the longest one (8:42). There are some sounds there very similar to Genesis (the middle section could be "Watcher of the Skies" revisited) but when you could start getting bored the guitar appears and makes a nice ending. To sum up, the album is not essential but it's an excellent addition to any prog fan collection. Highly recommended to Camel fans! I rated it with three stars but it's definately 3.5 stars.