MASTERPIECES: THE VERY BEST OF SKY

This album is probably more worthwhile than most best of albums. For me, Sky have always been a bit too much easy listening, and a bit too little exciting music. Their albums, while melodic, pleasant, competent and well recorded, are in the main dull. The members of the band, who are all experts in their craft, appear to be on cruise control, seldom extending themselves. You're just as likely to hear their music while on the phone to a call centre, or in a supermarket.

This "Very best of" album would have been pretty easy to compile. In general, Sky's best tracks stand out a mile from the rest. The album opens with the distinctive classical tones of "Toccata", which breaks into a gentle toe tapping version of the familiar piece. Sky's version of Curved Air's "Vivaldi" lacks the frantic violin playing of Daryl way, but is still a vibrant interpretation.

"Hotta" is for me Sky's best work. It's still quite "easy", but builds well throughout with a dance like rhythm, and a strong melody.

For those who have not discovered Sky, I would recommend this collection as essentially representing all you need to have by them.

Sky are not the most popular prog band for many reasons, one of which is the band fairly much sticks to a standard form of indstrumental music rather than tripping outside the box. Occasionally they produce some exciting music that resonates with exceptional clarity and musical virtuosity.

This collection encapsulates all that is great about Sky. The ability to trasform classics into an incredible sound experience that appeases the masses. One such track is 'Toccata', the first massive single for the band that put their name on the world map. 'Toccata' features brilliant drummiing and guitar and a keyboard sound that drives the track relentlessly. The film clip was my first introduction to the band and I owned the vinyl single as a result. I was taken aback by this amazing sound but wondered if their other material could measure up to this outstanding track.

Sadly, rarely does any of Sky's works even come close. They are capable of some great material such as 'Gymnopédie No. 1' and 'Hotta', represented on this album but overall there is little to recommend them. They do perform an excellent version of Curved Air's 'Vivaldi' and 'Skylark' is pleasant enough. However apart from these tracks the music becomes tiresome and I longed for them to step into uncharted territory. It is all too safe and confined. The band need to experiment more and produce progressive stylised music, but they rarely do. This is perhaps the only Sky album you will need.