At the
same time I got Guy Manning's latest album
Number 10 (2009), I also received his previous
from two years back : Songs From The Bilston
House.
I enjoyed Number 10 (see my other review)
but I consider Songs From The Bilston House
to be even better. Great Prog/Pop compositions with
a hint of Canterbury and Jazz. Of all his solo
albums I think that this is perhaps his best or near
to it. Even Guy's singing sounds better to me. On
some tracks at least, he manages to find a voice
that fits pretty well with the music, even though at
his best he can only be an average singer.
Hopefully someday, like Steve Hackett,
Chris Squire or Andy Latimer (to name a
few), Guy Manning will realise that he is a
brilliant composer and performer... but not a lead
singer. If he does, I would even suggest he put out
a "best of" album with invited guest vocalist. I
would run to my local CD to buy that one.
Still, Songs From The Bilston House is an
album that should be interesting to any Prog lover.
If you are not familiar with him, I would recommend
that you visit Guy Manning's Myspace page and
check him out.
