Music Banter - View Single Post - Bitesize: Trollheart's Daily Album Mini-Reviews

Trollheart · 10-19-2013, 03:16 PM

One-man-band sounds like a whole prog orchestra!

Artiste: Willowglass
Album: The dream harbour
Nationality: British (English)
Year: 2013
Label: Self-released
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
A house of cards pt 1
A short intermission
A house of cards pt 2
Interlude no 2
The dream harbour
Helleborine
The face of Eurydice
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Mostly a solo act
Initial impression: Is it 1973 again?
Best track(s): I like pretty much everything here.
Worst track(s): See above
Comments: The first word that will come instantly to your brain when you hear the opening track is Genesis: there's just no getting away from the comparisons with that wibbly, uptempo, bouncy keyboard, which takes you right back to 1973 and the very best of Tony Banks. But Willowglass has only been around since 2005, though its driving force, composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Marshall, has been playing in bands since the early eighties. And when I say multi I mean multi: here he plays guitars (electric, acoustic, Classical and twelve-string), keyboards and bass! He's ably assisted by Hans Schmitz on drums and Steve Unruh helps out by adding flute, violin and more guitar.

It's all instrumental, so might be a little hard for anyone to get into who isn't a prog rock fan (we love this sort of thing) and the likes of mellotron, flute and woodwinds are prevalent all through the album. The opener is almost twenty-one minutes long too, so that will certainly do away with anyone who's not into prog. But if you take the time to sit back and listen you will hear a wealth of musical talent and gorgeous soundscapes here. Unruh's beautiful violin passages in A house of cards part 1 alone are worth the price of the album, and there's so much more than that on offer. Marshall's skill on the various guitars is virtually unparalleled in the sphere of current prog rock.

There's some nice Supertramp-style piano work going on in A short intermission then arabic influences on A house of cards pt 2 with some really great guitar and violin and a very classical influenced approach, the tone getting a little darker. The album's over before you realise it, and it's been a hell of a journey.
Overall impression: One of the best progressive rock instrumental albums I've heard this year.
Intention: Going to check out his other two offerings.

10-19-2013, 03:16 PM	#180 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,971	One-man-band sounds like a whole prog orchestra! Artiste: Willowglass Album: The dream harbour Nationality: British (English) Year: 2013 Label: Self-released Genre: Progressive Rock Tracks: A house of cards pt 1 A short intermission A house of cards pt 2 Interlude no 2 The dream harbour Helleborine The face of Eurydice Chronological position: Third album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Mostly a solo act Initial impression: Is it 1973 again? Best track(s): I like pretty much everything here. Worst track(s): See above Comments: The first word that will come instantly to your brain when you hear the opening track is Genesis: there's just no getting away from the comparisons with that wibbly, uptempo, bouncy keyboard, which takes you right back to 1973 and the very best of Tony Banks. But Willowglass has only been around since 2005, though its driving force, composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Marshall, has been playing in bands since the early eighties. And when I say multi I mean multi: here he plays guitars (electric, acoustic, Classical and twelve-string), keyboards and bass! He's ably assisted by Hans Schmitz on drums and Steve Unruh helps out by adding flute, violin and more guitar. It's all instrumental, so might be a little hard for anyone to get into who isn't a prog rock fan (we love this sort of thing) and the likes of mellotron, flute and woodwinds are prevalent all through the album. The opener is almost twenty-one minutes long too, so that will certainly do away with anyone who's not into prog. But if you take the time to sit back and listen you will hear a wealth of musical talent and gorgeous soundscapes here. Unruh's beautiful violin passages in A house of cards part 1 alone are worth the price of the album, and there's so much more than that on offer. Marshall's skill on the various guitars is virtually unparalleled in the sphere of current prog rock. There's some nice Supertramp-style piano work going on in A short intermission then arabic influences on A house of cards pt 2 with some really great guitar and violin and a very classical influenced approach, the tone getting a little darker. The album's over before you realise it, and it's been a hell of a journey. Overall impression: One of the best progressive rock instrumental albums I've heard this year. Intention: Going to check out his other two offerings. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 01:46 PM.