JUST A TRY

Once again, the praiseworthy Garden of Delights label has unearthed a release lost in and buried by time, benefiting somewhat from the cachet of the very obscurity that exiled it for decades. While this mellow blend of acoustic and electric guitars and mostly synthesized keyboards might have been somewhat dated in 1980, contemporary reference points are not hard to find. In addition to the already noted similarity to MIKE OLDFIELD and ANTHONY PHILLIPS, "Just a Try" owes something to FUHRS & FROHLING, 2/3 of the seminal German mellotron rockers SCHICKE FUHRS & FROHLING, particularly their "Ammerland" album; early NOVALIS, the more pastoral expressions of TANGERINE DREAM, as well as to the FOGELBERG AND WEISBERG 1978 success, sans the flute. It also presages the solo guitar Windham Hill works of WILL ACKERMAN and others of his ilk who would become quite popular in the mid 1980s.

As I've hinted, this release simultaneously merits both "nothing special" and "something special" qualifiers. It works best as an escape from daily drudgery, as its arrangements weave a pastoral collage, occasionally firing up an energetic arrangement such as "Wreck on the Wire", By and large, "Just a Try" is more hypnotic and seductive than assertive, and is recommended to prog folk fans and others who might have forgotten to specify "decaf" with their order.