Label: Cyclops

Tracks:

1. One For The Crow (12:00)
2. Old Shoes (13:13)
3. Separate (1:40)
4. Daydreams (6:18)
5. Nightlife (10:06)
6. Old Forest (2:46)
7. Limestone Rock (9:59)
8. New Shoes: a) Old Shoes - Reprise, b) Pure - 16th of June (2:15)

Line-up:

• Eddie Mulder - Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Marcel Derix - Bass
• Koen Roozen - Drums
• Margriet Boomsma - Lead-Vocals, Flute, Tin Whistle, Recorders
• Edo Spanninga - Keyboards

I have never liked the radical style changes from one album to the next. They seem to ms to be slightly credible, the logical evolution for a band is to do it disc to disc, up to turning it into something very different, as it happened with King Crimson or Rush. The Dutch Flamborough Head, change radically their style in this album with regard to the previous ones, something that can be due to the changes in the band's line-up: there is a substitution for guitarist and vocalist, being this time a girl the one that puts the voice, who besides incorporates the flute into the sound of the band. Nevertheless, in spite of the radical changes, if we value the album by itself, we have to admit that it's a very good one.

Of the previous albums, till now I only knew "Defining the Legacy". A good album that mixes the taste of current bands kind Everon or Enchant with neo-prog sounds. In this new album they have opted by the symphonic rock, very melodic and precious, pastoral in occasions, songs influenced by the most delicate and melodic moments of Camel, Genesis, Renaissance, Flower Kings, etc, erasing respect of "Defining the Legacy", any note that could sound aggressive. Let's say that now they in a vein near Quidam or Mostly Autumn. Curiously, I cannot avoid that many of the melodies of guitar and the use of mellotrons remind me to Barclay James Harvest, although Flamborough Head have a different style.

Some tracks seem to me to be excellent as "Old Shoes", the instrumental "Daydreams", "Nightlife" and "Limestone Rock", all done with good taste, with sweet melodies of flute, guitar and vocals, heavenly pianos and precise mellotron atmospheres. Also to mention the short instrumental "Separate", "Old Forest", and "New Shoes" of great sensitivity. A pity that, personally, in the track "One for the Crow" the vocal melodies tire me a bit after several listenings.

In short, I think fans of Quidam, Mostly Autumn or the current Camel, will enjoy undoubtedly this album. Personally, I like "One for the Crow" more than "Defining the Legacy".

Rating: 7/10

Ferran Lizana