BLOOD ON THE SNOW

Coven's third album (like the second) is one I suspect would make fans of the first album cringe. Despite the album's artwork (which I have vividly remembered since the first time I spied it among my parents' record collection), it is conventional pop-rock with little experimentation. It's decent to listen or dance to, but bears little, if any, relation to progressive rock.

"Don't Call Me" A straight-ahead rock and roll number kicks this album off. The rockier sections are bridged by a piano part with vocals that are mixed very poorly.

"This Song's for All You Children" This is typical straightforward 1970s rock fare- it honestly sounds a good bit like Carly Simon.

"Lady O" Coven gives a song replete with pop-country music sensibilities. This music sounds like something that would be right at home on The Lawrence Welk Show.

"Blue Blue Ships" Lovely piano and violin introduce this unassuming song. The overall instrumentation is pleasant. There is a rocking part in the middle with some distorted vocals and a pretty good guitar solo through a wah peda; that whole part is muddy, like the band pulled a teenager off the street to mix it. The song ends interestingly enough, with a delayed vocal and a nice build.

"I Need a Hundred of You" Strings and piano begin this one, and soon the band gets back into the straightforward pop-rock delivery. The guitar solo is gritty but satisfying.

"Hide Your Daughters" Dawson briefly steps in the background, with a male taking lead vocals on the some of the verses for this one. This time, the band possesses a popular Fleetwood Mac sound. The lengthier number is dominated with piano and crunchy electric guitar.

"Lost Without a Trace" For little over a minute, "Lost Without a Trace" provides the listener with a hauntingly pleasant bit of music before becoming slightly heavier. There's a lengthy guitar solo during the second half over the main chords, with Dawson vocalizing over it some.

"Easy Evil" Yet another bouncy song with terrible mixing, this one features somewhat Latin percussion and a loud saxophone.

"Blood on the Snow" The title track is the shortest one, just a second over two minutes. There are lyrics, but it's main function is to give the lead guitarist the opportunity to jam, since apparently there was no such place elsewhere on the album.