PICTURES

"Pictures" is the debut full-length studio album by Swiss progressive rock act Island. The album was released through Round Records in the autumn of 1977. It was recorded and mixed at "Dischi - Ricordi" Studios, Milano, Italy, 24th July to 3rd August 1977. Island are sometimes called the Swiss Van der Graaf Generator, because they don´t feature guitarist in their lineup, and the instrumental part of the music is created using organ/piano/keyboards, bass pedals, saxophone, flute, clarinet, and drums/percussion. Gentle Giant and King Crimson are arguably two other influences.

So this is progressive rock in the more complex and technically well played end of the scale, and the darkly atmospheric H. R. Giger cover artwork sums up the predominantly gloomy mood of the music. When that is said there is also the occasional more uplifting/sweetly melancholic jazzy Canterbury scene influence heard. The vocals are sparse and "Pictures" is predominantly an instrumental release. When the male vocals do appear, they are decent enough, but nothing out of the ordinary for the time. One of the strongest assets of the music is how percussive it is with the drums and a variation of percussion working together and complimenting each other, driving the music forward with great power and sophistication. The saxophone themes are quite brilliant too.

The tracks are quite varied and dynamic. So the listener is exposed to both nice jazz/rocking grooves, but also some pretty avantgarde musical ideas like you hear on "Herold and King / Dloreh". I could almost see a modern ballet being created around a track like that. Twists and turns and quiet and dark brooding sections relieved by loud high energy percussive parts.

"Pictures" is a well produced release featuring a powerful, detailed, and organic sounding production job, which perfectly suits the material. So upon conclusion "Pictures" is actually one of those forgotten gems that people always talk about, but which rarely turns out to be the gems everybody say they are when you listen to them yourself. There´s some quality here that you rarely hear on progressive rock albums which didn´t make it big back then. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.