FOR ALL WE SHARED

MOSTLY AUTUMN's debut album immediately establishes the group's 2 main interests: PINK FLOYD and Celtic music. They do both quite well, and, although I normally prefer the former, I must admit they do better with the latter, sometimes considerably besting their idols, while other times they plumb the primordial profundities in a way that makes Floyd seem light as a feather. Ugh.

I am somewhat flummoxed by this unlikely combination, and I think one of the weaknesses of the group at this stage is that the two personalities compete rather than co-exist. Sure, the two best cuts, the anthemic "Nowhere to Hide" and the soaring "Heroes Never Die" portend the future direction of the group to be fully realized on "Clear White Light" with their melodic melange of folk, pop and progressive, and channeling STEVE HACKETT is rarely a bad idea. But elsewhere you have the drudgery of "Porcupine Rain" and the rather pedestrian faux traditional sounds of "Folklore" baring the half baked visage of the band's vision. "Boundless Ocean" probably comes closest to an uplifting mix of the downbeat and the spirited, while "Out of the Inn" is a worthwhile stab at fiddling with purpose and integrating the trad sounds with lead guitar that still sounds Celtic. Unfortunately, the album closes, and closes, and closes, with the moribund "Night Sky".

A noble effort, and dedicated to Bryan Josh's late father, "For All We Shared" is worth sharing with people with a penchant for British Isles folk or prog, but while some may end up feeling that they have been served an incomplete morsel of each, the effort mostly falls in the "good" zone.