They also do a cover of Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" (a million versions of this songĮxists, don't ask me why, the most famous being the hit version from actor Richard Would be the opening song, "Hobo", with lyrics referring to an aging homeless man. Least have some catchy and solid melodies, and this album delivers. There are just times you don't want your prog to go through a million meter changes inįive minutes with as little melody as possible, there's time you want your prog to at This for GENTLE GIANT, to say the least, so this is quite an accessible album. The music here is pretty much early '70s song-based prog typical of theīritish scene of the time, dominated by the Hammond organ. Ray Wilson (absolutely nothing to do with the Ray Wilson who replaced Phil Collins in The late '70s to early '80s who was often wrongly named Martin Griffiths), and drummer
To be confused with Martin Griffin, the on and off again drummer for HAWKWIND from Of guitarist/vocalist Ricky Gardner, bassist Gordon Sellar, vocalist Martin Griffiths (not The rest of the band at this time consisted So all keyboard duties were by Alan Parker. Virginia Scott (justĪbout the only female keyboardist I know who played Mellotron) had sat this one out, The Mellotron, as found on "Waters of Change" had all but vanished. The astronaut riding the horse is on a planet that hardly looks like Earth. LP to "Pathfinder" comes with a gimmick cover that folds in to a giant poster, revealing This was the third album by this Scottish act that was recording for Vertigo. Posted Monday, Febru| Review this album | Report (Review #21690) The rest of the songs might be more simple but still very good ones for an Art Rock album.įor me as an admittedly strong lover of this band (at least of their first 3 albums) "Pathfinder" is still a good recommendation for lovers of classical and folk influenced art rock. Another one is "From Shark to Haggis", starting in a very slow, almost mesmerizing mood and developing into a Scottish Jig. Nevertheless it has its highlights like "MacArthur Park" which is in fact a cover version of a very simple pop song but in Beggars Opera's classical arrangement with harpsichord, piano and organ it grows to a small epic suite. Overall the album sounds less "dated" than the two predecessors and therefore it might miss somehow the "nostalgic charming" of those ones. Once again due to Alan Park's awesome organ even rather simple songs like "The witch" or "Madame Doubtfire" are sounding quite well done. Posted Monday, Ma| Review this album | Report (Review #21684)Īlthough being somewhat not on par anymore with the first two albums their third release is still a very enjoyable one. The LP had an original fold out sleeve, which became a cardboard poster 6 times the size of an LP sleeve. If you enjoyed "Waters of change", you'll enjoy this. "From shark to haggis" is a fun instrumental which seamlessly moves from a "Jaws" type theme, to a Scottish jig!Ī further slice of quality 70's prog from this talented band. The remaining tracks are generally of a high standard, with dominant keyboards, and quality vocals. The band's version of Jim Webb's "Macarthur park" has been derided in the past, but for me it's a worthy interpretation, which gives the song a completely different feel to the version made famous by actor Richard Harris in the 1960's (a single which was many years ahead of its time). It is quite upbeat for Beggar's Opera, but retains the distinctive vocals and melodic content. "Hobo" would have fitted in well on "Waters of change", being a keyboards driven piece. The best offerings are probably the first three tracks, which constitute side one of the LP. Generally not quite up to the standard of it's predecessor, this is nonetheless a highly creditable piece of work, with many fine tracks. "Pathfinder" followed on nicely from the superb "Waters of change" album.
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