HATFIELD AND THE NORTH

Canterbury is a strange bird indeed, and this album is typical of the style of prog I enjoy second to symphonic. Starting off rather softly, most of the songs melt into each other and if you weren't watching you wouldn't notice. It's not until you reach the middle section starting with 'Son of There's No Place Like Homerton' that things start to kick some butt with horns blazing and the Northettes harmonizing. It just kills. Then 'Aigrette' leads into 'Rifferama' and again you get some killer grooves, just plain awesome. But the best track to these ears is 'Shaving Is Boring' starting off very softly, it builds a krautrock-like groove very subtly then melds into a space rock/psych monster! One of the, if not the best Canterbury song ever written! The album proper ends with more of the same harkening back to earlier songs on the album. The CD boasts two additonal bonus tracks which was a single A & B sides. Both are extraordinary with Stewart's sweet voice, like a warm cup of chocolate on a blustery winter day. If you are thinking about trying out a Canterbury style prog album you couldn't go wrong with this one. A solid 4.5 album hampered only by the slow start.