NOTHING IS WRITTEN

UK prog dinosaurs GALAHAD were found in 1985 in Dorset as a typical product of the new wave of British prog rock in early/mid 80's.With hundreds of gigs around the area,they release the 500-copies single ''Dreaming From The Inside/The Opiate'' in 1987,shortly followed by the live cassette ''One Knight at Mr C's''.A year later lead singer Stuart Nicholson auditioned for the singer's place for MARILLION,while the band continues to perform live,supporting IQ, PENDRAGON and HAZE.In 1989 they release the cassette ''In a moment of madness'' and next year sees them entering the ''Room for a view'' studios to record their debut ''Nothing is written''.In January 1991 GALAHAD perform for the first time at the famous Marquee Club in London and in summer their debut is released on Avalon Records.

STYLE: Typical British neo sound of the mid-80's with light-hearted guitars,flashy synths,a rather mediocre production and a great singer trying to follow the steps of FISH,PETER GABRIEL or PETER NICHOLS.Unlike the excellent raw style of their early years,which featured plenty of symphonic passages,GALAHAD prefer some more refined and straight- forward compositions for their debut with plenty of vocal lines,digital synths, rockin' guitars and an accesible atmosphere in general.Longer cuts are more atmospheric with the band choosing a slow tempo with grandiose keys and intense lyrical content,while the shorter ones are more guitar-oriented bordering often with a straight rock air.

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: From mid-70's GENESIS in their simplistic mood to early- MARILLION and TWELFTH NIGHT.

PLUS: A very expressive singer with a powerful voice,who can be easily recognizable and not a cheap FISH imitator.Some interesting catchy grooves with inner strength and plenty of atmospheric keyboard parts.Also some guitar solos are more than decent.

MINUS: An interesting voice is burried in many straight-forward/bordering AOR compositions with almost no positive moments.Synths and the few organ passages sound very amateur,propably due to the mediocre production.Most of the tracks have the typical song structure and thus,they sound similar to each other,not to mention the average songwriting.Bass and drums sound also very cheap.

WILL APPEAL TO:...only fans of melodic Neo Rrogressive Rock of the MARILLION/PENDRAGON/JADIS style.

CONCLUSION/RATING: Anyone in touch with the band's first years or early rare releases will recognize the band's bad selection of songs for their debut.Much of their heavy symphonic nature is lost in the way,changed by mediocre compositions,which do not help the singer show what he is capable for.''Nothing is written'' remains a cult release until today,but this seems to be its only advantage.Average music for collectors only.2 stars.