Reviews
REVIEW OF - "ONE SMALL STEP..."
Kev Rowland - Feedback Magazine
There aren’t any overtly long songs on the sixth album, not something that could be said of Guy’s seventh album ‘One Small Step..’, which contains a suite as the title song, which is over thirty minutes long. But before we get to that there are four other numbers, and again he has fleshed out the sound with the band and particular mention must be made of Laura Fowles who on “In Swingtime” really excels herself, with her sax tying the whole thing together. As on all of his other works Guy has brought together his influences and has created an album that is full of thought and passion, whether it is in the strong lyrics or in the carefully constructed music. “Night Voices” could almost be considered as a single, with the arrangement complimenting the vocals perfectly, and with Laura joining him on singing the chorus it gives the whole song a lift. Even young (ish) Mr Orford helps out with some flute on the album but of course what progheads really want to know, is what is the long track like? I am not sure why progheads like their music long, probably because it gives the opportunity for complex ideas to be fully expressed – this isn’t punk after all! What is unusual about modern long prog numbers is that Guy has based this around an acoustic guitar, and although other instruments are used these are sparing. There is a passion and urgency in what he is doing so that at times he comes across like Harry Chapin, but a Harry that grew up on prog instead of singer-songwriters. Hopefully the interview earlier and these two reviews will encourage you to find out more about Guy and his music. I have never heard a poor album from Guy, they are all worth investing in – there are so few prog bands making music of this class and quality these days. He really is quite different to what else is out there. For more details then visit his website where you can also hear some of his music.
