Which Spock’s beard?

sigod wrote: chorus of one wrote: I recommend you buy something from a better band.  Oooh, dems fightin words chorus

Sid Smith in a Krimson diary entry about  3 weeks ago, drew a metaphor which I'm attracted to, with respect to 2nd, 3rd and xth generation progressive rock bands - and note in his piece he was drawing the metaphor wrt  Gentle Giant!

Smith stated that when listening to recent prog bands, there was always a risk of hearing their antecedents. However, given time, with further exposure to some of these bands and he could hear the changes, the evolution, what they were bringing new to that particular style of prog. He liken these bands to seedlings, and a gardener having taken the parent plant (of earlier sounds  as the roots, trunk, trunk, branches, leaves and twigs),  shredded (pun?) them into a mulch. I took from this the idea: you could bearly recognise the original source but having spread the mulch over the ground it would initially protect the saplings, and then fertilise them - some eventually growing into strong healthy trees (well, shrubs anyway)!

Taking Smith's analogy, I've  been tempted to apply it to Spocks Beard and would suggest the mulching machine has not been working as effectively as it could, regularly spewing out unshredded pieces of roots, branches and trunks, amongst the heap of tiny pieces. Further, large branches have been grafted on the Spocks Beard sapling trunk from elsewhere, becoming set and growing vigorously! As an old fart, walking through this forest of prog trees, I find as I approach Beard, I keep  tripping up over the unshredded roots (e.g. from Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, nay even Deep Purple - for instance along the Snowy path), which younger and mor einnocent listeners with more agile legs would leap over and not even notice. Kindness of Strangers, is the only path I found  to Spock which is free of large lumps, and instead consists of the best fine mulch.

And all the best rhubarb grows in horse dung.......................................

 Thanks guys,

 Maani's reveiw has convinced me, though V and Snow seem equaly promising, i cant wait to hear an impressive debut by the beard.