Search - Greenslade :: Spyglass Guest

Best one

znodog | nyc, usa | 02/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is absolutely the best Greenslade, its got all the great elements of the previous 2, but its a lot more adventurous with its very special guest list and additional instrumentation. Lawson's playing and singing never sounded better, and the crispy drumming and burning keyboard work of the opening tune sets the mood for a great listen. I waited for a long time to find this on cd, People have been trying to sell this between 44.00 and 123.00, I couldnt believe it when I found a seller that sold it to me for 15.00, I still have a grin on my face..If you have Greenslade, Bedside Manners Are Extra, then you need Spyglass Guest. Also try and find Time And Tide.Beautiful, fun and timeless...and get it while its available!"

What happened to Roger Dean?

Michael Redmond | Spokane, WA USA | 05/29/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Firstly, I think you can ignore the previous reviewer's comments about Lawson's vocals. They are an acquired taste and a part of the Greenslade sound (see my other review on "Bedside Manners...." for a more in-depth discussion on this). Secondly, some people may think it irrelevant but for us visual people, the cover is missing a Roger Dean masterpiece. I think they should have forced Roger to do all Prog covers. Anyway, a Roger Dean cover for this album is sorely missed after the first two fine covers. Is it a little thing? Well, it seems to set the tone for the whole album. Greenslade started as an unusual band with 2 keyboard players, no guitarists and beautiful Roger Dean covers which seemed to capsulize their unique sound. Now, suddenly we find guitar solos on some of the tracks. The electric guitar is an instrument that is very upfront, and it immediately comes to the forefront instead of blending with the other instruments. I love the guitar sound but here I find it annoying. It is an unnecessary extra over the top of nice keyboard work. This album is so mixed, that it seems they didn't quite know which direction they wanted to go in. It truly sounds like some of the songs were left-over songs that didn't fit into earlier albums. But this album also contains some very good Greenslade tracks. The album isn't bad as such, it just isn't very cohesive, and as Prog lovers, if an album isn't a concept album, it can at least sound like the tracks belong together. If this doesn't bother you very much, then it's no risk to purchase this album, the songs are good but not great, yet many reviewers think Greenslade isn't great in the first place. They have always been a second tier band. Some say, they could have done some dueling virtuoso keyboard work having two players, but they don't. I think Dave is an excellent musician and can play like a virtuoso but chooses not to (most of the time), and likes to create smoother sounds. I prefer that myself.

There is violin on "Joie de Vivre", the most progressive track, and it meshes in much more nicely with the keyboards. We find, I think, attempted humor on "Little red fry up", and yet another, "turn on the red light" song, with "Red Light". Even though this song was written before The Police song "Roxanne", I can't help to recall the Police song every time I hear it. So, in the end, to me this album seems all over the place. Also, we see an attempt to make shorter songs, which makes me wonder, were they trying to be more popular with all these changes? Trying to shed the Prog image? Probably, but if that is the case, then the " Time & Tide" album did it much better. That album does in fact sound cohesive and more main-stream. Getting back to the cover art. I remember as a teenager purposely skipping this album because of the ugly cover, and went straight to Time & Tide because it was more Roger Dean like. I didn't hear this album until recently because I wanted to complete the Greenslade collection. I don't think my criticisms are major, so I still give Spyglass Guest 4 stars. Being popular was never what Prog was about, so even though Greenslade are relatively unknown, they are still a fine addition to any symphonic Prog collection. It is getting hard to find in 2007, try GEMM or eBay. Greenslade fans should also try Fruupp.

"

The transition album

Timothy L. Hawley | 08/19/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"spirit of the dance is worth it alone. It has kind of has a

hoedown vibe to it. It is a transition between the dence prog

feel of the first two, and the more pop-prog feel of time and

tide. all-in-all, it's worth the time"