RAINCHILD

This second LIKE WENDY album is very similar to the first: it is made up of simple, often short but rich melodious prog with original and highly memorable musical themes - as if the band (or rather BERT HEINEN) hadn't said it all on "The Storm Inside".

Starting off with the sound of waves, the album caresses the listener through out. "Drowned" is a slow melancholic track that picks up a bit with some psychedelic guitar flavour and nice keyboard arpeggios. "Colours of the Summer" is another slow number with a memorable tune, almost folk-like in its simplicity (think of the BEATLES' song "Let It Be") yet the arrangements and the heartfelt vocals by BERT HEINEN are most moving. "Spaces of the Deep" resembles "Drowned" but also features many themes and time changes as well as some really nice keyboard grooves. With "Underwater Voyager", you'll hear some poignant, albeit much too few, musical phrases. "Four Years" (my personal favourite) is perhaps the tune that best exemplifies what LIKE WENDY is about: this one is a short (6:37 min.) vocal track that is at once a blend of melancholia and high octane rock; again, very BEATLES like. And since we're into comparisons, I'll say that HEINEN's music reminds me very much of that of JOHN LENNON. Imagine (no pun intended here...) a blend of LENNON for the melodies and PENDRAGON for the arrangements. Finally, "The River" closes the album with yet another fine display of most melodious prog and rich wall-to-wall sounds.

I admit albums like these do have a shorter shelf life than the heavier prog material. But you always come back to them for some reason or other, and the magic works every time - like an old flame you keep falling in love with.