OCEANWORLD

Sometimes you´ll stumble upon a rare prog gem and you´ll be filled with the joys of a rare discover. Well, that´s the feelingn I got when I heard Oceanworld. The album was only relased in 1998, although it was recorded twenty years earlier. In hindsight It is easy to understand why this magnificent work was not available before: it´s pure instrumental synmphonic rock, something totally unfashionable (and therefore unmarketable in the recording companies eyes) for 1978. Alas, a mere two years before and it probably would be a different story. Sad, but true.

Anyway, I´m glad that at least this wonderful piece of music is available at last. Formed by early Enid memer (and later to play with Steve Hackett) keyboardsman Nick Magnus and drummer Robbie Dobson (another former Enid and future Hawkind player), plus guitarrist Mark Easton and bassist Steve Hoff, Autum delivered an astonishing powerful symphonic sound that shows enormous classical influences, plus hints of great 70´s classic bands like Yes, Genesis and Focus. The music is highly melodic, elaborated, complex and yet accessible, with great musicanship of all involved. They are so good you won´t miss a singer in any moment. The only flaw Oceanworld has is its very short time (36 minutes of music in all). However, ther are no fillers and all the songs are of high caliber. It´s the kind of CD you put to play again and again.

If you like 70´s symphonic rock, this is a must have. Think of Wakeman-like keyboards, Chris Squire-ish bass lines, a guitarrist that reeks of Howe/Hackett/Akkermann styles combined in one and a inventive drummer. Voilá! You have an idea of Autum was. Outstanding instrumental bliss. Ok, they weren´t all that original, but they had their own personality already and their songwriting skills were very high. Certainly this band would evolve into something very big had they stayed together and the times were not so bad for prog acts in general when they appeared. Sad story, but great record. 4.5 stars. Highly recommended to all the symphonic prog freaks like me.