WILLOWGLASS

When talent meets inspiration and 1970's-style English prog, you get the self-titled debut from Willowglass, who is actually one Andrew Marshall from Yorkshire, England. With the assistance of Dave Brightman on drums, this solo artist/multi-instrumentalist plays all electric and acoustic guitars, 12-string guitar, classical guitar, bass, keyboards, flute and some drums as well. Marshall also composed and arranged all of the music.

I always feel a little trepidation about buying an album by a newcomer that does all of his own playing on his own compositions. But rest assured, Marshall is a talented performer, the compositions are very well written, and the recording quality is professional and excellent. This is a very good album.

Lasting 46 minutes in total, the ten tracks are all instrumental with early Genesis and Camel similitudes. In fact, if you took some of the best early Camel instrumentals like Lunar Sea or the Snow Goose material, and accompanied it with a LOT of mellotron (of which Camel didn't make much use), you'd have a pretty good feel for most of this album's longer cuts (Remembering, Garden, Tower of the King's Daughter, Into the Chase, and A Blinding Light). The gently propulsive bass lines, the Latimer/Hackett guitar leads, and the sophisticated but elegant melodies remind me most of Camel. Marshall also does some admirable keyboard soloing reminiscent of Tony Banks during the Gabriel era of Genesis.

Mind you, this is not exactly ground-breaking music; it is clearly derivative, albeit with some inspired and original interpretations of some early prog cliches. It is mostly mid-tempo, but actually much more full-band sounding than the impression I got from other reviews of this cd. It's not nearly as "pastoral" or wimpy as the beautiful cd artwork by Lee Gaskins might lead you to believe, though there are a few passages (the intro and the other shorter tracks in particular) that sound very similar to some of the acoustic work on Anthony Phillips' solo stuff.

I really enjoy this cd, despite its inclination to sound a bit derivative. As I've said in past reviews, when something new uses as a reference point something old that I love (in this case, early Genesis and Camel), I forgive all transgressions. The melodies here are enjoyable and varied, painting aural pictures that are filled with emotion. I will indulge in listening to this well-done classic progressive album from Willowglass with frequency. Recommended.