Reviewed by Paul Keeble

If you like your rock with a touch of folk and prog, this first album from a Somerset-based aggregation is well worth investigating. From reading the insert notes it's clear this has been a labour of love for Tim Finch, who has been "to Mordor and back" during the forming of this music over eight and a half years, but testifies to the power of Jesus keeping him in one piece. This informs the theme behind 'The Plight Of The Passionate', which is, yes (prog fans rejoice), a concept album, "dealing with the realities of this world, juxtaposed with the indescribable glories of the Kingdom in us." The album opens with "Standing There": a vocal intro takes us into a nicely building instrumental passage and a lyric I'll come back to. Then a piano and flute instrumental, "Prelude Of The Passionate", leads into "All Hallow Eve", and the first hearing of the beautiful voice of Megan Melamphy on lead vocal. "Looking Out To Sea" takes the tempo back, starting with voice and sea and gull effects and building with atmospheric piano and keyboard to a tasteful sax solo from Bob Foster. This is a beautiful reflection on the passing of a loved one from this life to the next. "Fire Calling" takes the tempo up again, with a great guitar riff, and together with "But Not Me" and "See You", explores some of the darker aspects of faith - doubt, fear, longing, pain, hope against the odds. These things are part of the Christian life and present in the Psalms but do not get enough honest airings like this. "Pain like this, which runs so deep, takes cultivating. What earthly hope there was, I'm only left faking, what we've got so good at trying, God just keeps on taking." Tracks eight and nine are for me the heart of the album. "Your Finest Hour (Terpsichorean)" (it means "pertaining to dancing" - I had to look it up) is over 11 minutes long and, in good prog fashion, in three parts, with a cello and flute instrumental between the two lyrics. This is followed by the seven and a half minute title track which features one of strongest melodies of the album and a great building arrangement. "... the sight of the Passionate is to see, the ever-flowing mystery, against the coloured tapestry, of the life here below, and the Kingdom scene." Both of these tracks hold the attention and fill their longer time-spans. Musically this album is full of ideas and creativity and lots of nice arrangement and production touches. I was catching hints of Iona, Yes, Wishbone Ash (final track "All You've Got For Me"), and more - even early Moody Blues. The drums and bass are programmed, really well programmed, especially the drums, but the dynamics and grunt of real instruments and playing would have been nice. The guitars, flute, sax and lead and back voices are consistently of a high standard and well recorded. There are some great moments on the keyboards - swirls, whooshes, beeps, pads, sequences - and I personally would have made more of the keys in the mix. Lyrically I have to confess that the first four lines I heard with the endings "tree", "me", "free" and "be" set my teeth on edge a bit (just needing "Calvaree" for the ultimate cliché). Things do improve - a lot - but with such creative music, and some very deep and honest themes I'd like to have seen a bit more imagery and vividness in the words in places. That minor gripe aside, this is a fine piece of work, musically of a form and addressing themes sadly not so much heard these days, particularly in the Christian sphere. It gladdened this ageing prog-rocker's heart.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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