FOUNTAINS OF LIGHT

Starcastle's second album veers slightly from Yes to a more Kansas-ey sound but this is very relative. Like so many US prog band after Leftoverture was released and became a major seller, these guys couldn't help but adapting their soundscapes slightly, but they didn't reneg their Yes influences in doing so. Even with that minute change (I think the second guitazrist required a "tougher" sound), I can't help but wonder what the point is to releasing more of the same. I must say I only discovered the music of this band around the mid-80's. This album's artwork nears not only the ridiculous, but it is downright flimsy as well. As can be evidence by the would-be 10-mins+ title track, the formula is still a slightly steroidal Yes formula, that doesn't bear much more comments from me at this point.

I had seen their records in the stores in the late 70's but had found the artwork laughable so I tossed them aside without listening closely at the time. I might have appreciated them better if I had given them a chance a decade before. Mea culpa maybe, but I just cannot appreciate this to its true valour - if there is one because outside of those enormous influences, I do not see any originality or personality in this kind of highly derivative prog. But never mind my opinion, though; I have plenty of friends who love their first three albums, so I suppose most progheads can at least try out the debut.