As huge and pompous as you might expect for prog, but made accessible by the paradoxical combination of impossibly perfect melodies and humanizing half-missed notes. This is men striving for perfection, and the touches of struggle that show through the veneer make it all the more impressive. Even as it strives for the-new-classical bigness, it gets there with straining Byrdsy harmonies.
Fragile would come next, and would be brilliant, but the tone was severely fractured by the democratic (but uncooperative) approach to songwriting that lead to each member getting his turn taking the reigns. This is more overtly the Jon Anderson show, and I think its better for it, more consistent, outside of that maddening outlier, Clap, which is a real misstep.
An album of paradoxes and exceptions: its gloriously pretty just often enough, just restrained enough, just ambitious enough, just humble enough, to actually be a slightly great 4/5
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment