GULLIBLES TRAVELS

As with many Neo Prog bands around the time,Scottish Abel Ganz suffered from line-up changes after the great debut ''Gratuitous Flash''.Malcolm McNiven left the guitar position and Glascow as well and singer Alan Reed moved to Pallas.Thus,Hugh Carter dropped off his instrumental duties to manage the band,hiring bassist Gordon Mackie,while Paul Kelly took off the guitars and vocals.Still the band remained a gigging beast around Scotland and North England and in 1985 they released the cassette ''Gullibles Travels'',re-released in 1991 by Ugum Production in CD format.

The new album finds the band extremely and surprisingly tight with some superb songwriting.The opening ''The Unholy War'' is a Neo Prog milestone with its pounding rhythm section,the flashy synths,the melodic guitars and Kelly's great vocals.The eponymous follower will find Abel Ganz with the gears down,but still producing some atmospheric and melodic Neo Prog with balanced work on keys and guitars.The longer cut of the album,the 8-min. ''The hustle'' is a return to the opening energy with this raw 80's UK Neo Prog power.Nice,theatrical and clean vocals,shifting moods throughout,some fine guitar soloing and a bombastic as well as dramatic middle section will present what good Neo Prog is all about.''The pretender'' is propably the most lyrical song of the album,synth-driven with plenty of vocals until the grand finale with the back-up synths and the sensitive guitar solos,another highlight.''Whose World'' presents the most accesible side of the band,pretty much in the vein of MARILLION'S ''Three boats down from the candy'',a simple groove with a steady rhythm section but also with flashy synth solos and lots of positive energy.''Dream away'' will close the album in a unorthodox way,a pretty New Wave/Neo Prog ballad with a light atmosphere,still quite decent in its own style.

''Gullibles Travels'' sees Abel Ganz easily overcoming the earhquake of the line-up change and producing some of the very best Neo Prog of the 80's.For fans of the style this is a masterpiece,though prog rock followers in general should give the album a chance and think of how a band struggled to survive in the 80's just to keep the progressive spirit alive.Highly recommended.