GREEN

Initially slated to be one half of the double release "The Red Album / The Green Album" which was nixed in favor of reworking the material into two separate albums, "The Red Album" ended up being released as "Motivation Radio" in 1977 whereas GREEN which was recorded simultaneously followed the year later. STEVE HILLAGE became fairly famous in the UK after the success of his second album "L" which actually peaked at number 10 on the albums charts. The ambitious drive to release a double album was due to a surge of creativity that took place with his songwriting partner Miquette Giraudy who also had been contributing his synthesizer duties since "Fish Rising."

HILLAGE's fourth album GREEN pretty much followed in the footsteps of "Motivation Radio" however this time around was graced with the production and engineering skills of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason who had found time between the massive "Animals" tour and the recording sessions that would lead up to "The Wall." Experimenting with guitar synthesizers for the first time, GREEN offered a unique mix of the funk-based more mainstream rock sounds as heard on "Motivation Radio" only this time around the excessive space rock and glissando glory first experienced on "Fish Rising" were resurrected in full force to craft a unique mix of the various stylistic approaches that HILLAGE had been streamlining since he went solo.

GREEN delivered that perfect mix of riff-based guitar rock that HILLAGE had initiated on the "L" album along with the ethereal atmospheres generated through an arsenal of guitar synths and keyboard techniques. The "Fish Rising" psychedelic grooves made a full reprise culminating on the closing "The Glorious Om Riff" which would've sat comfortably on HILLAGE's vintage space rock debut. The album begins with the pacifying "Sea Nature" which focuses on HILLAGE's propensity of crafting abstract esoteric subject matter of spirituality, science fiction and fantasy realms along with a sense of giddy optimism reminiscent of the hippie era. The tracks alternate between accessible funk-fueled space rock with pure ethereal excursions into instrumental otherworldly segues.

"Ethereal Ships" for example employs HILLAGE's love for glissando guitar extravaganzas with jittery clusters of sound that slowly ooze on into the cosmos before the track breaks into a guitar funk finale. The use of clean guitar effects and more standard space rock procedures allowed the Floydian influences of Nick Mason to shine through on various tracks such as "Musick Of The Trees" and "Palm Trees (Love Guitar)." The wild card of the album is the pure funk based "Unidentified (Flying Being)" which commingles with HILLAGE's most tripped out guitar techniques which makes for an oddball playground of styles that somehow works fairly well.

While too much of the "Motivation Radio" funk based grooves may have derailed the album's momentum, HILLAGE follows with the synthesizer-laden twofold cosmic excursion set of "U.F.O. Over Paris" and the celestial sublimity of "Leylines To Glassdom." The album really just gets better and better til the end with the metaphysical musings of "Crystal City" before launching off into the furtherest reaches of the cosmos with the closing combo pack psychedelic jaunt of "Activation Meditation" and the "Fish Rising" inspired "The Glorious Om Riff" which perfectly summarizes the album's overall effectiveness.

GREEN is one of HILLAGE's best moments with a well-crafted roster of diverse tracks that span his arsenal of tricks and trinkets that he had been crafting since his days with Arzachel, Khan and Gong as well as the affluence of sound effects and experiments that were crafted for the making of this album. A dynamic range of musical styles amalgamated into an alchemy of excellence were the glorious results. The production and mixing of Nick Mason also elevates GREEN to the next level of magnificence and the perfect mix of mystical themed lyrics in cahoots with psychedelic excursions that find just enough grounding funk rock to keep the project from escaping the complete gravitational pull of our planet ensures that this album flows amazingly well from beginning to end. GREEN is my favorite HILLAGE release after the superior masterwork debut "Fish Rising" which he would never top.