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Trollheart · 07-05-2013, 05:50 PM

I'm one of those people who buys certain magazines (no, not those type!) which come with a free disc, and I almost never bother listening to it. This could very well be a mistake, as these discs can have some really good music on it that I will miss by not at least spinning the damn thing. So this section is going to look at such discs, the ones I've collected and any new ones I get, and see what's on them. I'll be picking one track off a disc, probably at random, and talking about it and the artiste associated with it, finding out all I can about him her or them, and letting you know why I rate or don't rate it. Given my tastes you'll not be surprised to hear that these will mostly be progressive rock or metal songs, with some AOR thrown in and perhaps the odd classic rock tune too. Sure we'll see how it goes. If nothing else, at least I'll manage to listen to the damn things!

So this is the first track I'm going to pick, from a CD that came free with "Classic Rock presents Prog" (don't anyone say the acronym should be CRAP!) and it's from a band who call themselves The Windmill.

This, then, is the CD. They call their prog selections "Prognosis" (clever, eh?) and this is Prognosis 10

which came free with the April 2010 issue of CRpP (yeah, that far back!)

Don't be afraid
The Windmill
From the album "To be continued" (2010) on Helping Hand Records
Well, so much for the source, but what of the music? Well seems the Windmill are from Holland --- nah, just kidding! They're from that other country well-known for such structures, er, Norway. They've been together since 2001, but have taken nine years to release their first album. Well, strictly speaking only five: they began recording it in 2005, having spent the intervening four years gigging and writing material, as well as going through lineup changes. As of 2010, their personell consisted of:
Jean Robert Vilta (Founder) --- Vocals and keyboards
Morten Clason (Founding Member) --- Vocals, keyboards, sax, flute, guitars
Arnfinn Isakssen (Founding Member) --- Bass
Stig Andre Clason --- Guitar
Erik Borgen --- Guitars
Sam Arne Noland --- Drums

Under this lineup the band released "To be continued", from which this track is taken. The album only has six tracks, but in true prog rock style one (this one) is ten minutes long while another clocks in at a hefty twenty-four minutes, or a few seconds shy of that. Because of the ups and downs with personell while the album was being recorded there are two drummers credited here, one of whom has left, plus a guitarist who has also departed.

The Windmill's music is best described as neo-progressive rock pulling from the influences of the greats like Genesis, Yes and Floyd, yet with a curiously up to date sound. Their second album was only recently released, so this is not a band who are given to churning out substandard albums it would seem, although to be fair I've only heard this one track. Try as I might I can't track down a decently-priced copy of either album, but Spotify has them both so I'm shortly to indulge. As it happens, the second album, which is called, rather appropriately given the title of the debut, "The Continuation", has even less tracks on it than "To be continued..." with only five, although this time there's a twelve minuter and a twenty-five minute track!

But to the track in hand. As I say, it's from their debut album "To be continued" and runs for just a few seconds over ten minutes, so it's a good introduction to the band. It opens with soft rolling synth quickly punctutated by sharp percussion and then gentle flutework from Morten Clason, before the song settles down into a nice little piano-driven tune with measured drumming, and the vocals of Jean Vilta are clear and warm with I believe a touch of the singer from Also Eden, not that you'd know him unless you read my review of their "Differences as light" album a good while back. Guitars are quite restrained but definitely audible. I would say personally the contribution from Clason's flutes is something I could do without: it's almost like they're just there for the sake of being there, and certainly don't add anything to the song, in fact to my mind they take from the general feel of it except as the piece moves into its second movement with hard guitars breaking through and stirring organ work.

A nice instrumental break which showcases the varied talents of this band, the flutes this time firing off in concert with the guitar riffs while the organ booms behind them. There's almost a flute solo then around the fifth minute before guitar takes over, then hands back over to flute again. This time the guitar follows the flute, and it's a nice progression. Clason's flutework is definitely more palatable when it's soft and pastoral than when he tries to make it a little more aggressive a la Jethro Tull perhaps. Nice guitar solo at the seventh minute, then Clason does just what I have been talking about and don't like, making the flute too punchy and upfront. As we hit the eighth minute Vilta comes back in accompanied by gentle piano, soon joined by rising guitar as the song heads towards its final part, with a nice guitar and vocal ending, though Clason's flute trails away as the final instrument you hear.

It's perhaps a little overlong. Ten minutes for a song that could easily have been compressed into five without losing too much of its shape or meaning, and I do have to wonder what I'm in for when I sample the longer tracks on both albums. It's a nice song though and I certainly remember it as being the highlight of this disc, along with Also Eden, Touchstone and Syzygy. I never quite realised before though how annoying the flute is. It's not that the song doesn't need flute --- well, it doesn't really --- but it's just used in the wrong way, as far as I can see. Soft, luxuriant flute yes, hard, abrasive, look-at-me flute no. That aside though it's a great track that has led me to check out the album and once I have had a chance to do that it will probably end up being reviewed here or in "Bitesize".

Does it show the craft of five years' writing? I'd say it shows that it definitely wasn't thrown together over a wet weekend in Margate. The problem, if there is one, may lie in the fact that maybe it was worked on for too long, and has been a little overproduced. But a very good effort for a first example from a relatively new band.

07-05-2013, 05:50 PM	#1836 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	I'm one of those people who buys certain magazines (no, not those type!) which come with a free disc, and I almost never bother listening to it. This could very well be a mistake, as these discs can have some really good music on it that I will miss by not at least spinning the damn thing. So this section is going to look at such discs, the ones I've collected and any new ones I get, and see what's on them. I'll be picking one track off a disc, probably at random, and talking about it and the artiste associated with it, finding out all I can about him her or them, and letting you know why I rate or don't rate it. Given my tastes you'll not be surprised to hear that these will mostly be progressive rock or metal songs, with some AOR thrown in and perhaps the odd classic rock tune too. Sure we'll see how it goes. If nothing else, at least I'll manage to listen to the damn things! So this is the first track I'm going to pick, from a CD that came free with "Classic Rock presents Prog" (don't anyone say the acronym should be CRAP!) and it's from a band who call themselves The Windmill. This, then, is the CD. They call their prog selections "Prognosis" (clever, eh?) and this is Prognosis 10 which came free with the April 2010 issue of CRpP (yeah, that far back!) Don't be afraid The Windmill From the album "To be continued" (2010) on Helping Hand Records Well, so much for the source, but what of the music? Well seems the Windmill are from Holland --- nah, just kidding! They're from that other country well-known for such structures, er, Norway. They've been together since 2001, but have taken nine years to release their first album. Well, strictly speaking only five: they began recording it in 2005, having spent the intervening four years gigging and writing material, as well as going through lineup changes. As of 2010, their personell consisted of: Jean Robert Vilta (Founder) --- Vocals and keyboards Morten Clason (Founding Member) --- Vocals, keyboards, sax, flute, guitars Arnfinn Isakssen (Founding Member) --- Bass Stig Andre Clason --- Guitar Erik Borgen --- Guitars Sam Arne Noland --- Drums Under this lineup the band released "To be continued", from which this track is taken. The album only has six tracks, but in true prog rock style one (this one) is ten minutes long while another clocks in at a hefty twenty-four minutes, or a few seconds shy of that. Because of the ups and downs with personell while the album was being recorded there are two drummers credited here, one of whom has left, plus a guitarist who has also departed. The Windmill's music is best described as neo-progressive rock pulling from the influences of the greats like Genesis, Yes and Floyd, yet with a curiously up to date sound. Their second album was only recently released, so this is not a band who are given to churning out substandard albums it would seem, although to be fair I've only heard this one track. Try as I might I can't track down a decently-priced copy of either album, but Spotify has them both so I'm shortly to indulge. As it happens, the second album, which is called, rather appropriately given the title of the debut, "The Continuation", has even less tracks on it than "To be continued..." with only five, although this time there's a twelve minuter and a twenty-five minute track! But to the track in hand. As I say, it's from their debut album "To be continued" and runs for just a few seconds over ten minutes, so it's a good introduction to the band. It opens with soft rolling synth quickly punctutated by sharp percussion and then gentle flutework from Morten Clason, before the song settles down into a nice little piano-driven tune with measured drumming, and the vocals of Jean Vilta are clear and warm with I believe a touch of the singer from Also Eden, not that you'd know him unless you read my review of their "Differences as light" album a good while back. Guitars are quite restrained but definitely audible. I would say personally the contribution from Clason's flutes is something I could do without: it's almost like they're just there for the sake of being there, and certainly don't add anything to the song, in fact to my mind they take from the general feel of it except as the piece moves into its second movement with hard guitars breaking through and stirring organ work. A nice instrumental break which showcases the varied talents of this band, the flutes this time firing off in concert with the guitar riffs while the organ booms behind them. There's almost a flute solo then around the fifth minute before guitar takes over, then hands back over to flute again. This time the guitar follows the flute, and it's a nice progression. Clason's flutework is definitely more palatable when it's soft and pastoral than when he tries to make it a little more aggressive a la Jethro Tull perhaps. Nice guitar solo at the seventh minute, then Clason does just what I have been talking about and don't like, making the flute too punchy and upfront. As we hit the eighth minute Vilta comes back in accompanied by gentle piano, soon joined by rising guitar as the song heads towards its final part, with a nice guitar and vocal ending, though Clason's flute trails away as the final instrument you hear. It's perhaps a little overlong. Ten minutes for a song that could easily have been compressed into five without losing too much of its shape or meaning, and I do have to wonder what I'm in for when I sample the longer tracks on both albums. It's a nice song though and I certainly remember it as being the highlight of this disc, along with Also Eden, Touchstone and Syzygy. I never quite realised before though how annoying the flute is. It's not that the song doesn't need flute --- well, it doesn't really --- but it's just used in the wrong way, as far as I can see. Soft, luxuriant flute yes, hard, abrasive, look-at-me flute no. That aside though it's a great track that has led me to check out the album and once I have had a chance to do that it will probably end up being reviewed here or in "Bitesize". Does it show the craft of five years' writing? I'd say it shows that it definitely wasn't thrown together over a wet weekend in Margate. The problem, if there is one, may lie in the fact that maybe it was worked on for too long, and has been a little overproduced. But a very good effort for a first example from a relatively new band. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-19-2013 at 12:40 PM.