| Track by Track Review
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CD One:
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Jade Warrior
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The Traveller
This comes in mellow and builds outward in a very melodic and measured way. Electric guitar rises up for a time later. Then it all drops back to just some percussion that serves as the backdrop for the first vocals. The track builds up gradually with folk prog stylings as it continues. This never really builds far, though. Instead it ends with the folk concepts. |
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A Prenormal Day at Brighton
A more driving and rocking tune, this is no less artsy and proggy. |
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Masai Morning
There is a lot of world music at the heart of this mellow and organic piece. This is mostly percussive with some flute-like sounds early. The drumming intensifies around the half-way mark. Then it gets into more rocking zones that at times make me think of Jethro Tull just a little. That African drumming really drives a lot of this. This is very much an experimental mix of that traditional sound with rocking vibes. It alternates which is in control at different times. |
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Windweaver
I love the almost dreamy modes on this and how they are contrasted with some loud guitar. There is a jazzy, sort of mellow space groove to this thing. This is one of my favorite pieces on this first CD. There is a healthy helping of organic folk prog in the mix, too. |
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Dragonfly Day
The folk sounds are definitely in the mix here. There is a prominent drum presence. This has a trippy sort of vibe at play. A gong comes later and heralds a shift to something that's even spacier. That part does have some electric guitar and definite psychedelic leanings, though. |
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Petunia
This is an unusual track. There is a bit of a hippy groove to it. Yet it also has some driving guitar. Some of this makes me think of Mungo Jerry or even Country Joe and the Fish, but the electric guitar lends more of a psychedelic angle. |
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Telephone Girl
The mix of sounds on this is similar to the last one. That said, I'm reminded a little of T-Rex in some ways here. This is another solid tune that works well. |
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Psychiatric Sergeant
Funky, jazzy jamming gets us going here. This is another highlight tune. It has world music, art rock and more in the mix. |
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Slow Ride
Coming in mellow and trippy, This instrumental piece definitely qualifies as art music. |
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Sundial Song
Delicate world music elements along with folk sounds are on the menu here. This gets more rocking mid-track, but then drops back to a jazzy kind of groove later. |
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CD Two:
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Released
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Three Horned Dragon King
Hard-rocking guitar starts this number. The drumming that joins has a cool vibe to it. The vocals come in, along with other elements and we're off into a cool psychedelia turned proto-prog journey. There is some killer jamming at work on this number. |
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Eyes On You
I love the rhythm section groove at the beginning of this. The cut comes in from there feeling a bit like something Canned Heat might do. There is a little more of a jazz rock edge to it, though. This gets into some intriguing zones before it's over. |
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Bride Of Summer
A mellower tune, psychedelia and proto-prog merge on this. It's sort of a trippy ballad with an organic vibe to it. The melodic guitar soloing on this really makes me think of Robert Fripp. |
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Water Curtain Cave
This instrumental piece comes in with a great jazz arrangement. It really makes me think of something from the 1960s era of some of the jazz greats. It has a cool driving energy and a lot of style and charm. It gets into some pretty crazed territory as it continues driving forward. A couple minutes into the song it drops way down to some trippy mellow zones. It eventually works back up to more powered up jazz jamming around the five-minute mark. |
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Minnamoto’s Dream
There is some backwards tracking at play early on this number. The cut is very classy and unusual. This is decidedly proggy. It has a real hard-edged sound that works like crazy. An almost power-trio sound takes over after a time. There is some pretty cool jamming that ensues after that. This makes me think of a proggier Cream as the vocals return. There is a fairly frantic and jazzy closing movement that really does a great job of capping the whole thing off. |
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We Have Reason To Believe
I love the cool riff driven almost King Crimson-like sound that brings this into being. The vocals again make me think of Cream, and there is some real old-school rock and roll sound at play. The jazzy groove that ensues later is so cool. |
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Barazinbar
The tasty jam that brings this in calls to mind War for me. The piece continues to build out from those origins with a lot of style and charm. This is another classy instrumental track. There is some smoking hot psychedelia meets jam band stuff going on here at as this works forward. |
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Yellow Eyes
There is a lot of magic and charm to this tune. It's organic and potent. It has a real folk meets psychedelia and proto-prog texture. I think it's one of the better tunes on this particular disc and has more folk based vocals than some of the other songs do. |
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CD Three:
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Last Autumn's Dream
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A Winter's Tale
A delicate balladic vibe gets us underway on this final disc of the set. This grows gradually into more of a mainstream prog ballad type song. This gets more rocking as it evolves, but it still remains decidedly on the melodic prog end of the spectrum. |
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Snake
Electric guitar sounds that sound like a continuation of the last track bring this in. Then it shifts to a different driving jam for the entrance of the vocals. |
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Dark River
Folk, classical and world music merge in this mellow instrumental exploration. Late in the piece it shifts to more of a percussive workout. |
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Joanne
This is more of a straight rocking number. That said, it has some noisy chaos built into it. |
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Obedience
Percussion starts things here. This instrumental gets more exploratory and noisier as it builds out later.
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Morning Hymn
This mellow cut feels a bit like some of the sedate stuff from early King Crimson. There are hints of world music in the mix, too. |
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May Queen
In some ways this feels like it comes out of the previous tune. Percussion and electric guitar make up the instrumental construct here, though. It's much more rocking than the previous piece was. There is some killer guitar soloing going on here. |
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The Demon Trucker
This song makes me think of a proggier version of War with different vocals. It has a cool groove to it. |
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Lady of the Lake
Mellower and dreamy, this has a lot of trippy sound in the mix. |
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Borne on the Solar Wind
This seems to continue the musical themes from the last track as it gets underway. It's more electrified, though. Then it really intensifies and gets more electric as it continues. This instrumental is a great way to end things in style. |
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