Webb, Robert: Liquorish Allsorts

The year was 1977 and the English symphonic progressive rock band England had just released their debut album Garden Shed. Perhaps if the album had seen the light of day a few years earlier and not in the middle of the punk rock movement it would have received more attention. I must confess I have yet to hear it. At this time progressive rock was on the downswing and record labels had little interest in promoting the genre. The band broke up and their keyboardist, Robert Webb delved into a variety of musical projects in the succeeding years, including the resurrection of England. He has also been involved with the Samurai Of Prog, a band that has been getting much praise as of late. Liquorish Allsorts is Webb's first solo album and covers over forty years of music. Each song can be taken as a snapshot in time, a kind of historical documentation of Webb's musical career. To my ears this sounds like a pretty good career retrospective from a very talented musician.

The first track "The Ladies' Valley Prelude" is a very short orchestral piece leading to "Why Oh Why" recorded in 1974. It is a very melodic mid tempo track with an equal amount of pop, folk and prog elements. It is really quite poignant, love the vocals of Jamie Moses, and the Moog solo is very nice. The baroque sounding "Moog Fugue" is another short tune with only Moog and drums. It is a decent track but nothing I would consider essential. "Grand Canyon Of My Dreams" is a nice slice of '70s orchestral pop with Jenny Darren's fine lead vocals while the excellent "Limoncello" features members of the Samarai Of Prog. It is a keyboard drenched piece with some fine guitar work as well. "The Cuckoo" mixes baroque and dare I say it, disco elements which believe it or not actually work. The keyboards have an Alan Parsons' feel at times.

Another excellent track is the recently recorded England tune "Destiny". It has a quirky pop vibe with a great vocal arrangement.

While some tracks do not have as much of an impact as others there are really no bad songs here and overall Liquorish Allsorts is quite an enjoyable listen. If you are a fan of England and keyboard dominated progressive rock and pop you should give this one a listen.

Track Listing:
1. The Ladies' Valley Prelude (0:37)
2. Why Oh Why (3:10)
3. Moog Flute (4:11)
4. Grand Canyon Of My Dreams (3:43)
5. The Journey By Camel (2:30)
6. Limoncello (8:00)
7. Bach Flute Sonata Allegro (3:05)
8. The Cuckoo (3:51)
9. Destiny (6:27)
10. Carmina Burana (O Fortuna) (3:59)
11. Takin' Part (4:32)
12. Quaterfoil (1:18)
13. Liquorish Torpedo (3:32)
14. Oceans Away (2:42)
15. Runnin' In, Runnin' Out (3:42)
16. The Ladies' Valley (7:43)

Added: October 11th 2014
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Label's Official Site
Hits: 1866
Language: english

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