FOUNTAINS OF LIGHT

According to most prog fans, Starcastle's sophomore album is their best, and I totally agree. This is the album in which their style is properly conveyed via the delivery of powerful performances and the realization of effective musical ideas. The influences are obvious: Yes (the lead singer's timber, vocal harmonies, bass lines, organ and Moog soloing), Styx (the dual guitar interplaying, catchy melodies energetically managed through attractive arrangements) and Kansas (orchestral combinations of guitar and keyboards during the most symphonic passages). But still, you can notice that Herb Schildt's use of synth layers all along is more related to the cosmic voyages of Vangelis than Wakeman: this element provides Starcastle with a distinct touch of eeriness that serves as a peculiar factor in Starcastle's music. He and Gary Strater are the most notable performers in the band: Starter's exquisite, vehement travels across the strings and frets of his bass are both immaculate and powerful, managing to provide a solid input for the melodic aspect of the themes, and not merely sticking to its rhythmic functions. The 10+ minute opener 'Fountains' is very impressive, indeed, although it slightly tends to become a bit repetitive at times; the next two tracks have a more commercial feel to them, but the use of odd rhythm patterns and those ever-present cosmic synth layers keep them from becoming mere AOR songs. IMHO, tracks 4-6 fill the best half of the album: they also comprise the most Yessian stuff you can find here. 'True to the Light' sort of retakes the mood that had been previously portrayed by the opening track, albeit a bit more focused and with an incorporated touch of 'Starship Trooper'-meets-'Siberian Khatru'. Then comes 'Portraits', a delightful bucolic based number, in which the two acoustic guitars create a candid mood while the Moog and other synths go floating by: the vocal harmonies are delivered with enough finesse not to break the mood. This could be described as a Crosby/Stills/Nash-oriented reconstruction of 'And You and I', with the mystic stuff being replaced by folkish flavours: I only wish this song would have been developed further, with an extended treatment of the acoustic guitar chord progressions, and perhaps, some soloing, too - it just feels somewhat short. Finally, 'Diamond Song (Deep is the Light)' serves as an effective closure: it comprises nice melodies, beautifully crafted vocal harmonies, an excellent organ solo, and what is perhaps the best Strater bass playing ever. My overall rating for "Fountains of Light" - somewhere between very good and excellent, which means somewhere between 3 ½ to 4 stars.

[I respectfully dedicate this review to the memory of Gary Strater.]