SEEN ONE EARTH

Far more ambient than his work with Camel, Bardens' career from the 1980s on tended to the new age genre, blended with light poppy prog in the Alan Parsons/Keats vein. On "Seen One Earth", he parlays the utopic vision of a space explorer gazing down onto this blue orb into barely a half hour sampling of his newfound musical interests.

Apart from "Seascape" and "Home Thoughts", which could be lighter tracks on some of the early Camel albums, and are both well crafted melodies, most of this album is atmospheric new age. "Man Alive" does adapt a catchy rhythm and bubbling synthesizers effectively, and the vocal tune "In Dreams" could easily pass for full on Alan Parsons project, which means it is instantly likeable even if its staying power is somewhat attenuated.

Worth noting is that the artwork and production are excellent on my LP version on Cinema, which was intending to become the progressive rock label of choice during the lean late 80s. A decent album within the restrictions of its style and worth picking up if its orbit coincides with yours.