JUSTINE

Imagine Steve Hackett playing a 12-strings guitar while members of Renaissance and Caravan sing and play the other instruments.

This is somewhere between "If I could do it all over again.." released the same year and Renaissance 's debut album, only a bit more hippy specially in the more bluesy parts which are accompanied by saxes.

It contains more or less all the kinds of music that one could have expected to listen to at Woodstock: some ragtime/bluegrass, hippy ballads, blues other than the mentioned Canterbury sound.

I think this album can make the pair with Chimera (not the Dutch prog folk band, the omonimous band produced by Mason/Wright): two forgotten bands who didn't have enough time to become great before the flower power era ended.

Technically speaking, the production is quite good, also considering the release year. The instruments are well played and the choirs are excellent. The flute on "Traveller" could have been played by Jimmy Hastings.

For my old heart this could have 5 stars, but the fact that it brings me back in time doesn't mean that it's an absolute masterpiece. Somebody may find it boring. However it's on the same level of the albums mentioned above, so I think it can have 4 stars.

A must for Caravan and early Renaissance fans.