ANTHONY PHILLIPS & GUILLERMO CAZENAVE: THE MEADOWS OF ENGLEWOOD

I found this album hard to get into at first. Two guys in a studio with guitars and keyboards and (at times) a multi-track mixer! I thought the title track was just a meandering free-for- all jam session. So I put this album down for a couple of years. Then I listened to it again! The catepillar became a butterfly!!! The title track is BEAUTIFUL - all 36:55 of it. This is PROG music. The only other track I really care about is "She'll be waiting". Another meloncholic love song from the man with the perpetually broken heart. But, oh what a pretty song. If this album just had these two songs, it'd be a 5/5 opus! Thank you Ant.

You've heard it all before haven't you..."Pet Sounds is a masterpiece-Blood on The Tracks is sublime- Sgt Pepper was the apex-Dark Side of the Moon is the crème de la crème.. lets cut right to the chase,this work is demonstrably far superior to all of the above.

If it does have a true competitor in intellect,wisdom and shear joi de vivre it could only be 1985's epic 'Sussudio' but then you will already know that. What detracts from 'Sussudio' is its twenty million sales-so on an artistic level I think Englewood swings it...just..

It is very hard to find an album these days prog or otherwise that is not dominated even subliminally by an over-riding Oedipus complex. This album got my attention right away by cleverly sidestepping that little Ma Mere's nest.

Given the subtle tongue in cheek reference (albeit alliteratively) to the title tune it is not even altogether necessary to imbibe lysergic acid diethylamide to enjoy or aurally partake of this album.

In parts you can clearly hear what Mike Oldfield and Pink Floyd have been trying for decades to achieve in the effortless style,flow and sheer insouciance of these cheeky,friendly and oh so deceptively catchy ditties.

Just cast your eyes over the track list and scan the titles in a relaxed fashion....

My stand out track is 'Lucy an Illusion' as it takes me back to a fleeting glimpse of the love of my life as a young girl of thirteen or fourteen,seen and admired from a distance,only to realise that I was glimpsing my Asil,my Lucy.my Lisa... She was tall willowy,blond,graceful,pretty,beautiful,sexy and is now a mature woman of forty three....

Oh how Ant's poignant lyrics capture that magic spell of young love moving around the years of our lives for me..

I Saw You Today (Written in 1970)

I saw you today And, through the distant years, It all came back. Two people, young and sheltered, So unwary of the snares We now know well. You're now a woman But still brown and very beautiful, You haven't changed. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you.

I will have to leave it there and go and reach for the Kleenex (to dry my tears only,I assure you!)

10/10 for the whole album. A masterpiece of piquant harmony and expert graceful knowing melody and rhyme.

Gary Preston

Not sure why this album has such high ratings at Progarchives because it does not stand out over other albums of this era.

The first track is a conventional AP guitar track. Then comes the focus of the whole album - a 36 minute suite that goes into every direction without any rhythm music.

I find this suite incoherent and overly long.

The vocal track is quite forgettable, too. The following dramatic keyboard based instrumental track does not offer much under the substance.

"Sortilege" is an improvement with a combination of guitar and synth leads. "She'll be waiting" has a vocal that reminds me of Spandau Ballet vocal.

"The Circle" is a forgettable ambient track before the peak track of the album - "Picaresca". Here, Phillips shows the virtuosity and focus on the acoustic guitar. Even though it is one instrument only, the composition has a rich sound.

3 stars are fair.