Search - Amazing Blondel :: Restoration

Blondel reunites - they shouldn't have bothered

glenn | New York, NY | 07/24/1999

(1 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, the review above from Dirty Linen doesn't refer to this album. This is a new studio album recorded in 1997 - the band's first album with John Gladwin in about 22 years. Anyway, it's absolutely awful. The songs are meandering and unfocused, nothing like the marvelous stuff they were doing 25 years ago. If you're a fan of their vintage music, stay away from this one!"

Would call it gothic if it wasn't so baroque

nightfeather | 12/30/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This seems to be one of thease recordings you either love or hate. All I knew of Amazing Blondels early works before I bought this one was their old album »Evensong«, which contains some songs I absolutely like, and when I saw they had reunited and got »Restoration«, I thought they had develloped in a nice way. I don't like all of the new songs, but two of them - »Highwayman« and »Road to Sedgemoor« are so great that they are worth bying the whole CD. The music may seem to be a little bit to heavy, meaning pompous, inflated, and there are some wonderful weird note in »Sedgemoor« that surely will not please everyone - in a way, it's like gothic music (=music for people who consider themselves goths), only it's baroque. I like it. And in any case, it's worth a try."

Amazing Blondel never cease to amaze.

HLS | Seattle, WA | 10/09/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The earliest reviewer is far too harsh. Amazing Blondel's 70's work (Evensong, Fantasia Lindum, and England) is so beautiful it makes one want to sing along and celebrate life and nature. This reunion work is equally beautiful but in a quieter, more contemplative way. The musicianship and songwriting are excellent. It just misses 5 stars for lack of a standout track, although "Benedictus Es Domine" and "Cawdor and Widdershins" come close. I very much wish they would record again. 4.5 stars."