NIGHTINGALES & BOMBERS

This is one of my most favourite Earth Band recordings. The last album to feature the original line-up, guitarist Mick Rogers left soon after, but he goes out in a blaze of glory. Some truly inventive guitar playing lifts many of the songs into the stratosphere. Spirits in the Night (which was a big hit), Time is Right, Crossfade and Visionary Mountains all benefit from his fiery guitar work. The rest of the band are no slouches in the performance stakes either.

It's in the last quarter of the album that things go astray, Martha's Madman is ok but not that special. As Above So Below is decidedly weak however. It starts off well enough with a Moog solo from Mann but this doesn't last long enough, and the track just fades out leaving the recording of World War 2 bombers flying overhead with birdsong in the background. Considering this recording inspired the album name, the ornithologist meant to record Nightingales instead, they could have done something a bit more inventive.

Ultimately I guess this is a minor niggle. Make no mistake this is the Earth Band at their very best and 4.5 stars really.