3 ORIGINALS

On their first two albums, Alquin made some excellent progressive rock. Sadly they decided to change their musical direction and then made two more albums with more pop, rock and even funk on it. They also included female backing vocals, which made the sound even more mainstream. New vocalist Michel van Dijk caused the band also to evolve towards a more vocal oriented direction, as opposed to the instrumental oriented band they were. When the band parted, in the mid-seventies, they released however a good live album on which they played some of their most beloved progressive tracks. On this compilation set these last three albums are combined.

On the better tracks of this compilation Alquin sounds like a rockier version of Caravan or Roxy Music. Singer Michel van Dijk has a pleasant voice and guitarist Ferdinand Bakker is an excellent guitarist. Also very prominent in the music of Alquin are the flute and the sax played by Ronald Ottenhof. Highlights on the studio albums are New Guinea Sunrise, Darling Superstar, Revolution's Eve, Fool in the Mirror and One More Night on which the musical parts have their moments. It sounds melodic and canterburish. It is no wonder these are the longer tracks. For the rest of the studio tracks the sound of Alquin is more towards bands like Foreigner or even Dire Straits (Alchemy). There is one reason that makes this release worthwhile and that is the inclusion of the live cd. It starts with a good rendition of New Guinea Sunrise, which captures the music of Alquin in a good way. But the best parts of the album are their two best tracks, The Dance and I Wish I Could. The first is by no doubt their best track. It is made of different parts. Some quiet some hard, with great soloing on flute and guitar. The next competes with the first to be their best track. It has a very long intro that stops and then the second part of the song begins. It ends with a heavy guitar solo. This live version is much better than the studio version and every proglover should have heard this one.

So if your interested in the more mainstream Alquin, this set is preferred over the "2 on 1" cd, because here the track Amy is included. It is also the only way to get "On Tour" on cd. For those who want to experience the progressive Alquin, they better purchase the first two albums.