FROM SOURCE TO SEA

After the vocal The Shining and the electronic The Universal Play, Gandalf took a step back towards home with From Source To Sea. It is by no means a full return to the sound that he developed on his first four albums, but at least what we get here is something a bit more interesting then the previous album and the electric guitar reasserts itself again (though only occasionally). This is a mostly relaxing and atmospheric album, but it wouldn't be entirely fair to call it New-Age. Mike Oldfield is once again a reasonable comparison, but also Vangelis' China in that it has a somewhat "oriental" feel at times. From Source To Sea is a lot more symphonic and sweeping than previous Gandalf albums, but it never ventures anywhere near Symphonic Prog. Ultimately it is too subdued and uneventful to be anything to write home about, even though it works well enough as background music.

The title track was previously familiar to me from the excellent live album Gallery Of Dreams Live (part 1) (featuring Steve Hackett), though the live version is rather different from this studio version, and (like virtually all the tracks on that live album and its companion second part) the live version is vastly superiour.

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