Guy
Manning has this healthy habit
of treating us listeners with
quality albums on a yearly basis.
And we are getting accustomed to
that (a dangerous custom, isn’t it
Mr Manning? ;-))
After the more acoustic set
One Small Step, Manning
is back to the use of more electric
standards, though this time he
combines the different lines that
One Small Step and its
predecessor A Matter of Life and
Death. In fact, Anser’s Tree
seems to perfectly balance
those two musical linings, and offer
the best of the two worlds.
In his song writing and
composition, this album maintains
the richness, complexity, harmony
and diversity that we have become
accustom to through Manningls
previous releases. Anser's Tree
delivers folk mixed with
candy-jazzier moments; containing
progressive lines and symphonic
textures, while the Flutes, Saxes,
Violins, Mandolins (along with some
vintage keyboards) make their
appearance thereby transporting the
music into fully enjoyable
instrumental parts. The result is
melodies that are so tasty that a
candid smile is imposed on your face
without asking for your conscious
release.
While the idea of concept stories
in progressive based albums is being
overused, there are still great
ideas to explore. Anser's Tree
proves this very point. As usual,
the lyrical side of the album is as
rich and focused as the music is.
The slightly Ian Andersonish
tone of Mannings voice creates a
perfect balance between the lyrical
and the musical side of each
previous album and this one is no
exception.
With Anser's Tree we have
another great example of the
excellent song writing ability of
Guy Manning and with it, yet
another great album to have in your
collection of modern progressive
rock. I firmly believe, without any
reservations, that we will be
hearing some more great music from
this "Guy" in the coming
months/years.
A winner, Anser's Tree is
also an album that can be played to
your non-proghead friends as a great
example on how music can be art and
still be accessible for the
“non-pretentious” listeners…
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