THE GOOD EARTH

Not the definitive album for them, but certainly one of their best. The first track, "Give Me the Good Earth" is a clever mix of environmentalism, or perhaps just simple living, prog, and that kind of loud, raucous, heavy 70's guitar rock you might expect from Joe Walsh's James Gang. I love the quiet interlude with the guitar playing a soft tone on a 1-5-8 riff with lovely lead work over top that bursts suddenly into the same riff on full blast with Manfred Mann's synths spacing things up. The extremely noisy solos that follow are just what rock'n'roll are all about. "Launching Place" is a great example of a prog track, with slowly building, triumphant guitar and synth interaction, with very cryptic lyrics, all set to a truly relaxed pace. The cover of "I'll Be Gone" is another example of the bands ability to take a regular pop song and make it their own. The instrumentals, or mostly intstumental two-part "Earth Hymn" and "Sky High" are very strong, especially "Sky High", reminding somewhat of something that might have been on King Crimson's Red, with some great interaction of a band that is obviously very talented. "Be Not Too Hard" is also excellently covered, with a superb arrangement, with some nice chimes to compliment Mann's awesome piano and moog work. Overall, a heavier, more guitar oriented sound, with a slightly more in-your-face mix and production than is typical for the band, but a very strong album that is throughouly enjoyable from first note to last.