THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

This is the follow-up by Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman to their 1999 release 'Jabberwocky', but in truth this should be seen as the sequel to Jeff Wayne's 'War Of The Worlds'. Instead of Richard Burton we have Robert Powell as narrator, and he has an awesome presence and majesty that this album deserves. I have been playing this a lot in the car and Sara (who normally turns all of my CDs off as a matter of course) has been listening to it and confessed in a moment of weakness that it is a good album. If they can get through to Sara then this obviously has appeal for a much larger market than many of the Verglas releases.

With different singers taking on roles (the usual suspects include Bob Catley, Tracy Hitchings and Ian 'Moon' Gould as well as others such as Ashley Holt from the Rick Wakeman Band), the idea behind the album is to turn the story into a concept album and to my ears they succeed brilliantly. While there is plenty of help on the musical front (Karl Groom, Peter Banks, John Jowitt, Peter Gee to name just a few), there are a lot of keyboards on the album which give it an orchestral feel, particularly in the long linking passages.

However, the songs themselves are often full of passion and dynamics, such as the exciting "The Curse Of The Baskervilles". I have known Clive for many years and I think I have heard just about all that he has released in all of his guises, and can say honestly that this is the finest work with which he has been associated. The biggest problem he now has is getting this album out to those who need to hear it, because properly marketed this could be a huge commercial success. Get in before the rest and buy this superb concept album. Visit the web site at www.verglas.com

Originally appeared in Feedback #66, Feb 02