CRIMINAL RECORD

I liked this record back in the day. I like the clear, clean recording of Rick's pianos and I love his organ play--especially that majestic monster from Vevey. The accompaniment of Alan WHITE and Chris SQUIRE doesn't hurt, either. My favorite song--a song that rode with me for many miles of driving on several of my cassette collages--is "Birdman of Alcatraz" (4:17) (8/10)--though now it sounds a bit New Age. "Statue of Justice" (7/10) was a nice opener, displaying Rick's scaled down, clear sound choice for this album. "Chamber of Horrors" (6:41) (8/10) is very nice--tender and melodic when soft and not overly bombastic when loud. The television-like main theme of the "Crime of Passion" (8/10) is nice, engaging and the song gets going quite nicely, but the campy mid-section always turned me off. I know Rick is famous for his sense of humour, but "The Breathalyzer" (3:53) (7/10) was too much silliness for me. My current favorite would be "Judas Iscariot" (12:13) (9/10) because I have come to love the organ so much. (Back in the 70s I was not very open or sympathetic to it.) The Phantom of the Opera-like chord progressions in third minute over which Rick's synth and piano solo are wonderful. Then the use of choir voices in the mid-section is brilliant! The quiet sections before the wonderful climactic end are a bit long and meandering. But, overall, this is such a wonderful piece! An "epic" for the ages!

An album of solid playing and wonderful sound engineering, this is, IMHO, a collection of some of Rick's best compositions. So why is it so overlooked? I think it's because it came out at a time in which the whole progressive rock scene was being eclipsed. So, my recommendation is for you to go back and check this album out--if only to hear the wonderful "Judas Iscariot."