ONCE AND FUTURE KING - PART I

The King Arthur legend must surely be one of the most common themes for conceptual albums in all of Rock. Rick Wakeman's The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table from 1975 and Kayak's Merlin from 1981 (which is much better than the re-recorded version from 2003) are two well-known and successful examples from the progressive Rock world. Here is yet another one by Gary Hughes.

I'm normally not a fan of Rock Operas, but this is actually a rather good one. Hughes enlists a wide range of instrumentalists and vocalists including Damian Wilson, Lana Lane, Bob Catley, and (Mr. Rock Opera himself) Arjen Lucassen. Wilson, Lane, and Catley hand in first-rate vocal performances and so does Hughes himself. The material they are given to sing was written by Hughes and is generally of a high quality. My #1 favourite song here is the opener Excalibur (sung by Wilson). This one will appeal to Threshold fans. At The End Of The Day and King For A Day are two other good songs, but there is really only one embarrassment here in Sinner which is uncomfortably similar to Queen's I Want It All.

Nothing here will take the progressive Rock or Metal fan by storm, but it is certainly a well made album of its kind. It will not challenge anyone's conceptions, but it will live up to the expectations.

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