HALLOWEEN

Again I ramble on about the cover art. In this case I have to, so that everyone unaware of the content on this album are able to make the right decision and buy this sperctacular piece of progressive music. It's true, the cover is quite awful. Some sort of romantic get together or is it a scene from some late 70's soft porn movie? What I think happened back in 1977, when this album was released, was that someone misunderstood his or hers instructions regarding the artwork. Someone misread or misinterpreted the grand scheme behind the cover. Well, the damage may have been done and now we must not dwell upon it any longer. Therefore I will journey on, to the music itself.

Pulsar was a sypmhonic prog band from France that had already released a couple of beautiful and excellent albums prior to this one. "Halloween" is, however, their crowning achievement. A spectacular and magnificent album. The two tracks spanning over 40 glorious minutes are maybe the shortest 40 minutes I have ever experienced. The musical experience is so immense and profound that time simply passes by, like the blink of an eye. Great mellotron, amazing keyboards of allsorts and excellent execution throughout makes this a somewhat out of this world experience.

It all begins with the high pitched vocals of a child, which is quite eerie, as quite a few sections are on this album, before the mellotron hits you. And then we're off. The romantic cover art (here I go again) says nothing about the journey you're about to take. This isn't soft prog or some pop infused semi-complex album. This is 100% symphonic prog that sweeps from gentle parts to harsher ones and into really elaborate and complex bits. I will not dissect the parts of the two epics. I will make do by saying that they are so well composed and form a whole that is unbelievable.

I tend to, as one should, shy away from giving albums the five star rating. That is unless it really, really deserves it. A five star rating in my book is an album with absolutely no flaw, no fillers, no boring parts and no annoying anything. This album is everything I hope for and dream of when it comes to progressive music. I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Thus I will award it five stars. This is impeccable and divine music. If you find this album, buy it. Just buy the bloody thing. It's prog heaven.