FRIEND'S FRIEND'S FRIEND

I must admit to being a little disappointed with this second effort from Audience. I loved their debut for the short but intelligent songs. Rock tunes with a progressive twist. Friend´s Friend´s Friend has some of the same lovely things that made their debut so good, but it´s a bit too streamlined in comparison.

The music is as on the debut driven by Howard Werth´s beautiful voice and Keith Gemmel´s winds and sax. This time there is even a banjo part in the song Belladonna Moonshine. A bluegrass part if you like. My biggest problem though is that there are more soloing and I don´t feel the melodies stuck as well as with their debut. The worst part though is the instrumental song Ebony Variations, which brings to mind german tyrolen music. Even though it is very well played by especially Gemmell, this is a horror to my ear. I have to note that the song Raid is about the viking attacks on the british shores. This is of course a treat for a dane like me.

I have to say that even though there are many good songs on this album ( especially Belladonna Moonshine, which has a hilariously funny story), it´s just not as good as their debut, and therefore I will only give this one 3 stars. Well 3.5 but in the Prog Archives that´s a 3.