SEVEN TEARS

Along with Wall Of Dolls, Seven Tears is probably their proggiest, even if 8MH and Moontan have much to dispute them. The classic quartet is at the top of its form and Barry Hay's songwriting (along with guitarist Kooymans) is also enhanced by his increasingly excellent voice and flute playing. He also dabbles into acoustic guitars and sax playing. But Barry is not alone on this ship. Coming with a non-committal gatefold artwork (but the title cites seven tears for seven tracks), this is their third "modern-era" album and one of their stronger, due to the fact that GE has that essential touch of dramatics and urgency lacking many of their Dutch compatriots, starting with Alquin and E&F.

Along the album, some of the most dramatic tracks are the superb Silver Ships, the spine-chilling Hope (where Hay shows that even the sax is in his reach), the ultra-classic (and long-time crowd favourite) She Flies On Strange Wings and the wild You're Better Off Free with a killer guitar solo. Overall the brilliant songwriting and dramatic effects and plenty of instrumental interplay make the full success of the album. Even the shorter tracks like Don't Worry holds plenty of energy (Rinus' bass is overplaying, but man is that unusual sound with his Danelectro guitar), but overall the longer track are the essence of this album

Clearly GE was a force to reckon with, but aside from their previous hit Big Tree, Blue Sea (a little too Tull- ish), all that is lacking the group is international recognition, which will come with Radar Love, but that's still two albums away. In the meantime start with this one and work backwards if you're not familiar with them.