THE STORY OF MOSES

I love when things get pompous and the theme of an album stretches into the really heavy conceptual ideas. The very thought of putting things out of the Bible to music is progressive thinking and boldness if ever there was. There have been several attempts at doing just that. The more famous concept album is surely "Jesus Christ Superstar" or "666" by Aphrodites Child but there are others as well, such as Vox Deis "La biblia". Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. In any case the concept is not to blame. The musical ideas are either good or it isn't.

The Netherlands gave birth and still does to a lot of great progressive music. Light was one of them but not one of the greats. Usually I harbor a wish that "one album bands" released a sophomore effort but in the case of Light I don't. Why? Let me tell you:

I have owned a copy of their sole album "The story of Moses" for two decades now and I have really made an effort to understand its semi-masterpiece branding but have failed. It is not a bad album. It is rather nice, actually, but it never really reaches the heights of musical heaven I had expected. There are bits and pieces that are quite good but there's also large amounts of pedestrian stuff too. The organ sounds great and the musicians really do perform well. I think it's more down to the material. It has some features resembling both Brainbox and Tee Set, making it a band with serious progressive elements but rooted in a jazzy pop vein. It's not very complex, which is alright in itself, but the overall feel is an album of sombre jazz-stricken pop-prog with a sprinkle of classical themes (sounds quite nice, eh?) that's unfortunately a bit too bland for it's own good. Cressida (although from the UK) had the same (from my position) problem. One could have hoped for something a little more explosive at times that could break the monotony or anything else that might have made me raise my head in wonder. Sorry to say, that does not happen.

So, to sum up things I think that Light is an alright band that is interesting only because of them being a part of the development of progressive rock in the Netherlands but also as a world wide movement. Having said that I must conclude that Light made no real impact on the progression or development of the genre. They are one of those bands that just fizzed away leaving almost everyone oblivious to their existence. On the plus side I must mention the concept, which I adore, and the organ sounds terrific at times. This is mainly an album for the archaeologists exploring the ancient past of the genre we all love and adore.