UK

The debut album from the shortlived UK flows effortlessly from start to finish, Excellent musicianship from all who take part, Great sound (Though maybe a bit too electronic) and strong songs all shaped with a commercial edge. Immediately hailed as a 'supergroup' It's easy to see why most of these musicians were so acclaimed in the years beforehand. The album is bursting with great musical ideas and packed with energy. For a debut album, The band sound extremely tight, There is no scrambling or fumbling around, The songs are impeccably delivered.

The opening suite of the three linking songs 'In the Dead of Night', 'By the Light of Day' and 'Presto, Vivace and Reprise' are the perfect testament to this perfection. The first section is very energetic with excellent keyboard hooks from Jobson, and some excellent rhythmic drumming from Bruford. Wetton sounds slightly edgey, He almost shouts throughout the track. Things cool down with the short and sweet 'By the Light of Day' with very haunting Crimson-esque vocals before returning to the might of the opening section in 'Presto, Vivace and Reprise'. 'Thirty Years' closes the first side, A well crafted track with great vocal melodies again from Wetton.

'Alaska' is one of the best on the album, Jobson really delivers on this track and it is really just a showcase for his talents, A very eerie mood is created from his keyboards, It almost sounds a little isolated at the beginning, So the title 'Alaska' is very suitable, Holdsworth also adds great guitar lines near the end before things suddenly burst through with the sound of Wetton's soaring vocals and we have 'Time to Kill'. By this time you can't help but feel energy from the group. Excellent vocal harmonies in the chorus and an extraordinary, Dizzyingly fast electronic viola solo from Eddie Jobson before a recap on the first minute or so. 'Nevermore' contains a beautiful acoustic guitar intro from Holdsworth, And sounds like the work of an extremely gifted guitarist, And also, Who can't help but love when Wetton sings 'Oh to go, Down to Soho', Jobson adds fantastic piano too and just like a lot of the tracks on the album, Seems to go through a variety of moods that at the sametime showcase the skills of the musicians. 'Mental Medication' closes the album in good fashion, Some great funky rhythms breakthrough, All created by Wettons superb bass playing.

There is very few faults with UK's debut but one would have to be the electronic feel to the instruments that sometimes make it difficult to tell whether a guitar or keyboard is playing! But as an object of the late 70s, This can be forgiven without much deliberation, But you may feel quite glad to hear Jobson switching to piano at times. Sadly, UK would go on to record just one other album.