"I had not known there had been a second album from this band until I bought the CD. I have treasured the first album since I was fifteen (in LP, 8 track, and CD). I still play it, and I still think it's amazing. And I'm still very grateful to the band for having made this music. It is like nothing else. The second album, though, CD 2, was a terrible disappointment. Gone is the rich texture of interweaving melodies and the rich vocal harmonies that made the first one so special. The band members perform as individuals with accompanyment; there really is no group to speak of. The songs seem to be trying too hard to be Incredible String Band knockoffs. The producer is different, so maybe that accounts for it. But I suspect the record company just didn't give the band enough studio time for the many layers of overdubbing the first one recieved. All that notwithstanding, though, the first CD is SO good that I would forgive Forest any sin for having produced that one. Thank you, guys, from the bottom of my heart and forever."
Lost Pastoral Serendity...
fu wai | Hong Kong, not applicable Hong Kong | 06/20/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Forest is a low-key folk group that is in line with Incredible string band, but in my opinion, they are even better. This 2 CD package is a very wise buy as it's full of wonderful and amazing music. 3 guys are all talented multi-instrumentalists and their compositions sounds like the Renaisance folk songs! Very beautiful, fantasy, dreams, love themes incorporated seamlessly in this package. Best Cuts: Graveyard (CD 2), Bad Penny (Opening Track of CD 1)...etc. In general CD 1 is even better, of course, both CD is fresh and never boring."
Lost in its own blissfull Reverie
Gray | LA | 02/15/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"So what can I tell you about these two albums that hasn't already been said? They are so beautiful, and deeply moving, that at points they are almost hard to listen to. These songs are filled with so much imagination, color, charm, and melancholy solitude, that they just transport you to a place between worlds! Deep into a forest between consciousness and vivid dreamscape... that's where this will take you.
I stumbled across Forest about two years ago when I was 17. At the time I knew nothing about acid folk, weird folk, whatever you want to call it... but something just intrigued me about the album. The band name, the artwork, the song titles, it all just had this vibe to it that I had been desperatly looking for. This music found me.. I didn't find it. The first time I heard Bad Penny I was brought to tears! It was so pure, and so true and so different! The way they use the instruments like paint brushes to just.. bring these landscapes and ideas to life is remarkable! The atmosphere in songs like A Glade Somewhere, Bluebell Dance, and Graveyard is so vivid and so strange but yet so familiar... it's crazy. Listening to songs like Gypsy Girl and Autumn Childhood.. you can almost see it playing out in front of you in a spectral ballet that you never want to end, and when it does you're left haunted.
I own multiple copys of these albums now, both on cd and vinyl. Forest has just become part of my being. People seem to compare them to Incredible String Band a lot, but I think Forest is another force altogether. You can certainly hear some ISB infuence here and there, but Forest hits me in ways ISB never could. You're going to think I'm crazy, but if you like the songs Solitude & Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath, I think you would really like Forest! Current bands/artists like Espers and Nick Castro (among others) are mining obscure hippy-folk for inspiration, and are creating some really amazing music. Derek Allenby (ex Forest) is still recording with a band called Southernwood, that is according to a blurb a read on a folk web page. I've found an mp3 of a song called Harvest Were You There?.. it's amazing! How bout' it amazon? Think you can find it for us? Anyway.. in case my opinion on Forest isn't clear... I love them, and chances are you didn't find this page by accident, so I highly recommend you pick this up. You won't be disappointed, I promise!"
Charming Forest
J. R. P. Wigman | Netherlands | 05/25/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Forest was recommended to me on the grounds that I am an ISB (Incredible String Band) fan - and rightly so. There are some apparent similarities between both groups like the use of guitars (some may say "messy", others "charming"), recorders & voices. I must strongly disagree though with those who feel that Forest is the better group. There are several reasons for this: in comparison ISB lyrics are generally much more evocative, surreal & original, and while the ISB is musically quite adventurous (incorporating lots of foreign influences), Forest seems to base its songs upon more conventional folk song structures.
Having said that, Forest/Full Circle is a well-appreciated addition to my cd collection, and I recommend this cd to all ISB fans and open minded folk enthusiasts.
"
Unrecognised Brilliance
David Groves | England | 03/28/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Forest were a late 1960's folk three-piece made up of brothers Martin and Adrian Welham and Dez Allenby. By the time their 1970 debut album was released their sound was not able to be pidgeon-holed as they took influences from both the rock and folk world. The beautiful harmonies are what stand out on their self-titled debut with consistant songs and hauntingly beautiful lyrics. Their second and final album manages to better their accomplished debut. The production is better and the songs more diverse. Stand out tracks include the Bluesy 'Do not walk in the rain', the beautiful 'Graveyard', an exquisite rendition of the traditional folk song 'famine song' and a song that still ranks up along side the greatest songs to come out of the underground hippie-folk era 'Autumn Childhood'. With all three band members accomplished singers, songwriters and musicians, the band compare favourably with most other bands of this ilk in the late 1960's. Well worth a place even in the most sparse of record collections."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1