TIDINGS

"Tidings" includes the most epic length tracks of any KERRS PINK album, while it is somewhat paradoxically their most vocal oriented opus up to that point. This theoretically allows the band to communicate its generally mystical themes in more detail and enhances opportunities for instrumental development.

Melody and arrangement remain central priorities, and breaks in the CAMEL vein abound, but the band has attempted to modernize. This is chiefly apparent in the frequent deployment of 3 female vocalists, to rather different effect than the innocent clarity of "Magic Mary" from the 1980s. The style deployed is more R&B like. While the contrast was probably intended to jolt the band out of its comfort zone, it is completely at odds with the general laid back ambiance, with phrasings repeated ad nauseum, This utterly grounds the potential of "Shooting Star" and "Moments in Life", and severely hampers the propitious "Mystic Dream", which really should have been bisected for the betterment of all.

On the plus side, In "Tidings from a Distant Shore", the band stamps a shanty sing along on a plodding prog epic, brilliantly so. "Yumi Yeda" might be even better, its lyrical imagery gliding atop a series of contrasting, dignified arrangements, with just a little hyperextension. If I may transgress by looking ahead a dozen or so years, the themes conveyed on this disk runneth over to the subsequent release "Mystic Spirit", but more on that later, elsewhere.

With "Tidings" KERRS PINK takes an emphatic step in the wrong direction; it's awesome when a band finds a groove and rides it out, but this is a metaphysical journey with an overabundance of bum steers at the least favorable juncture. 2.5 stars, rounded down.