IN TIME

I venture in here with some trepidation, given the esteem in which I hold some previous reviewers of this album. And I am always wanting to be supportive of prog bands, wherever possible. But I have to be true to my own sense impressions; and these tell me that this is nowhere near the five-star classic that others are trumpeting: in my view, it merits three stars at best. Indeed, taken in the context of the band's overall output to date, I might be inclined, on another day, to deduct yet a further star, for the simple reason that all their tracks from and including Searching for the Lost Key tend to be cut from more or less the same cloth. It may be, of course, that the band doesn't want to develop its sound, in which case, that's just fine. But an endless succession of songs wherein the band, to quote from Out of Time, "take a moment in time and make it last for ever", is just too much for these ears.

The technical skill and musicality of the band members are undoubted, but what I sorely miss is any lightness of touch, subtlety and variety - something along the lines of, say, Monarch Trail's quite excellent Witherdown. I feel it's all a bit plodding and grandiose - a dated mixture of Warm Dust, Syracuse the Elephant (Stackridge) and T2 (in their post-Boomland incarnation). In particular, more frequent changes of gear would be exceedingly welcome. (Additionally, in passing, Tree Stewart should perhaps be advised to steer clear of low notes - she sounds much more comfortable in the higher range.)

Looking at my collection, I note that it currently includes just a limited number of The Emerald Dawn's songs - Beyond the Wall (from the first album); Stranger in a Strange Land (from Visions); and The Ascent (from To Touch the Sky), the last-named of which is, for the most part, a simply magnificent example of symphonic prog, but which is let down by an extended dead zone towards the end as the band again over-eggs and over-prolongs its dramatic pudding. I find that these three tracks continue to be suitably and sufficiently representative of the band's music to date, and my collection will not be augmented by any of the tracks on the current album.

Malvern is a small and elegant Victorian spa town in Worcestershire, England. It is very popular with travellers and trippers from around the world. Of its permanent residents it is famously remarked that most of them move there to die...but then neglect to do so. Listening to The Emerald Dawn is a bit like that. You start off with good intentions, but, after a while, you quite forget what the original intention was. Maybe, metaphorically speaking, the band would be advised to escape the glowering shadow of the Malvern Hills and move on to new and more colourful pastures - Eastnor Castle, for example, is only about four miles further down the road, and there should be plenty of room for fresh stimulation and imagination there.