A STORY OF MYSTERIOUS FOREST

Ain Soph was an instrumental band known for their jazz rock/fusion leanings, but "A Story of Mysterious Forest" also included so some traditional progressive rock passages that didn't recur on their subsequent albums.

References to other bands spring to mind frequently while listening to this album. It charges out of the gate with a short scorcher in the Mahavishnu Orchestra style, then settles into more of a Happy The Man-meets-Al DiMeola groove for a few songs, before mixing Camel, Pink Floyd (circa "Wish You Were Here") and Brand X together in the 18-minute suite that bears the name of the album.

That suite is an unusual one - it starts with 3 minutes of space prog that borders on "Christmas interlude" music before settling into a neat Camel-like main theme with some excellent Andy Latimer/David Gilmour guitar lines. The mood is mostly dark on this suite, and you will get your fill of mellotron. With about 4 minutes left, though, the tempo suddenly changes to a Caribbean dance party (!) for a minute, before revisiting a few of the prior themes of the suite and closing out. The transitions between themes in this part of the suite seemed clumsy and forced to me, but I liked the idea of tying in all the previous sections.

Forget about all the band similitudes and just enjoy this album. It's kind of short (41:50) by today's standards, but it sure filled a nice void in the 1980-era prog/fusion arena. Worthy addition to your Japanese prog collection.