Five days later, it was time to close the golden era of seventies prog giants Yes. Their rivals Genesis had already closed theirs in April, which I forgot to emphasize at the time. On 20 September, the follow-up to last year's masterpiece Going for the One came out. Obviously, Tormato couldn't possibly match its predecessor, but it was a damn fine effort anyway. The prog group formerly known for their long, vinyl side filling 20-minute opuses was now mainly working in short form and the results were very, very good.
In fact, it is a genuinely challenging task to pick only one sample track from Tormato as the entire album seems to contain only good to brilliant songs. The last track of the vinyl A side called Release, Release is evidently the weakest link on the album, and the B side opener Arriving UFO doesn't fully convince either. But other than that, everything works extremely well. Tormato is much like an updated version of Fragile. The most amazing song on the album is its closing track On the Silent Wings of Freedom; perhaps the most impressive one among its unmissable tracks.
Two more days, and the new album by Camel was released. And no, unlike Yes and Genesis, this date did not mark the closing of their golden era which would continue until the early eighties. Breathless, out on 22 September, was a very good natured, even downright optimistic sounding album that is worth mentioning because of its opening and closing tracks, both of which come higly recommended. And the rest of the album isn't half bad, either.
Breathless opens with one of the essential feelgood love songs of the decade: the title track. However, it is the closing track called Rainbow's End that really packs a punch. Also a love song of a kind, it tells a story of human companionship that has come to an end. The singer of the song admits that he must give up hoping that an important person will stay in his life because he or she just cannot be content but must instead keep on looking for that rainbow's end. And after finding it, start again. I'm sure many of us know people like that, which gives this beautiful song a powerful connection to real life.
In October, it was time for Brian Eno to release yet another album; his third within eleven months. Music for Films was a collection of short soundtrack compositions that had most likely been collected over a lengthy period of time. This wasn't strictly speaking an ambient music album, yet it was reminiscent of them because of its slow moving and peaceful instrumentals.
The second track From the Same Hill is already a masterpiece and an unmissable track, but easily the most stunning creation on the album is the three part Sparrowfall. If one had doubted Eno's genius prior to hearing it, following it there was no chance to do so. Looks like there is no single YouTube video to contain all three parts, so now I must embed them below separately. Please bear with me. You will understand why this needs to be done when you listen to them. No one part alone will tell the whole tale.
At the end of the very same month, on the 29th, the Canadian prog metal trio Rush released their sixth studio album Hemispheres. I had already been paying attention to the group for some time, in particular because of their previous effort A Farewell to Kings (1977). This new album again showed some unquestionable promise, and although there was still nothing unmissable here, the overall quality of the album gave early promise that there would be on their future albums.
Some time around November, the German group Popol Vuh released one of their very best efforts called Brüder des Schattens, Söhne des Lichts. I don't have an exact release date or even a month, but since recording was completed in August it would make sense that the album would have come out some time in the late autumn. The vinyl's A side filling title track is truly amazing. Below, the entire album has been embedded; the title track comprises the first 18 minutes and 50 seconds.
It might be worthwhile to also note that the Dutch symphonic prog group Kayak released a new album called Phantom of the Night some time late in the year. It can hardly be called album of the year, or any of its tracks unmissable, but I would like to point out that the title track is really quite good. Check it out if you can find it. If the group ever had a golden era, this release certainly closes it. Perhaps the golden era was only their first album See See the Sun that we discussed earlier.
13 November saw a stunning continuation to a recording career that had begun earlier this same year. The sophomore album of Kate Bush was called Lionheart and if anything, it was an improvement over the already impressive debut The Kick Inside. It begins well with Symphony in Blue and is then followed by not only one but two masterpieces, the first one of which I would also call an unmissable track of the year. In Search of Peter Pan could be the best song Kate Bush has ever recorded. Wow is an almost equally successful single release.
On 24 November, it was time for Mike Oldfield to release his long awaited follow-up to Ommadawn (1975). Incantations was a double album and presented the new, clean and shaven Mike that seemed to have lost something in the process of becoming that. Not only were we presented with two 20-minute compositions but four. These were of course named Incantations parts 1 through 4. While there were some parts that worked, the album was nonetheless a considerable disappointment.
Yet there was something that was worth embedding. Parts 2 and 4 were mostly sketches of compositions that weren't fully there. Part 1 had a great opening, some additional good sequences here and there, and lots of air in between them. But Part 3 was actually quite good. Perhaps because Mike didn't try to fit too many ideas into it. Just a few of them, and they were combined together with skill. This is hardly worthy of Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn or even Tubular Bells, but is still kind of neat. Below, it has been divided into two parts, for some obscure reason.
Finally, in December, Jean-Michel Jarre released his second studio album Équinoxe. It managed to strike a chord in me in a much more powerful way than Jarre's more famous debut. In particular, I was impressed by the grief conveyed by parts 2, 3 and 4 of the composition. Perhaps this was something I could already relate to, being at this point old enough to understand some truths about life; and therefore in the knowledge that pessimism is much closer to realism than optimism.
ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Genesis: And Then There Were Three
Jean-Michel Jarre: Équinoxe
Yes: Tormato
UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Brian Eno: From the Same Hill
Brian Eno: Sparrowfall (1 - 3)
Camel: Breathless
Camel: Rainbow's End
Genesis: Burning Rope
Genesis: Down and Out
Genesis: The Lady Lies
Genesis: Snowbound
Genesis: Undertow
Happy the Man: Ibby it is
Jean-Michel Jarre: Équinoxe (Parts 2 - 4)
John Miles: Overture
Kate Bush: In Search of Peter Pan
Kate Bush: The Man With the Child in His Eyes
Peter Gabriel: White Shadow
Popol Vuh: Brüder des Schattens, Söhne des Lichts
Rainbow: Gates of Babylon
Richard Wright: Pink's Song
Yes: Future Times
Yes: On the Silent Wings of Freedom
Yes: Rejoice
Best albums of the year, 1967 to 1978:
1967: Pink Floyd: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
1968: -
1969: Procol Harum: A Salty Dog
1970: Genesis: Trespass
1971: Genesis: Nursery Cryme
1972: Yes: Close to the Edge
1973: Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
1974: Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge
1975: Electric Light Orchestra: Face the Music
1976: Genesis: A Trick of the Tail
1977: Yes: Going for the One
1978: Genesis: And Then There Were Three
Best short tracks (under 12 minutes):
1967: Pink Floyd: Bike
1968: Pink Floyd: Julia Dream
1969: Pink Floyd: Cirrus Minor
1970: The Beatles: The Long and Winding Road
1971: Genesis: The Fountain of Salmacis
1972: Gentle Giant: Schooldays
1973: John Cale: Paris 1919
1974: Mike Oldfield: Mike Oldfield's Single
1975: The Tubes: Up from the Deep
1976: Gong: Chandra
1977: Yes: Going for the One
1978: Genesis: Down and Out
Best long tracks (12 minutes or over):
1970: King Crimson: Lizard
1971: Van der Graaf Generator: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers
1972: Yes: Close to the Edge
1973: King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part 1
1974: King Crimson: Starless
1975: Mike Oldfield: Ommadawn, Part 1
1976: -
1977: Yes: Awaken
1978: Popol Vuh: Brüder des Schattens, Söhne des Lichts
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