Review:
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ABefore you ask, this has nothing to do with that South
African chap, so don’t worry, you haven’t got Nelson shaking
his maracas. No, this is the third album by this collective,
coming a mere 30 years after their last. In the interim
leader David Rohl has become Britain’s leading Egyptologist,
and by sheer coincidence, this album is based on the legends
of the ancient civilisations of the Middle East. Joining
him on his expedition are an intrepid band of explorers,
including many that will be familiar to you, Troy Donockley,
pipes and whistles, (Karnataka, Mostly Autumn, Nightwish),
Woolly Wolstenholme, keys and vocals, (Barclay James Harvest),
Marc Atkinson, vocals, (Riversea), Geoffrey Richardson,
violin, (Caravan), and Briony and Barbara Macanas on vocals.
If you like The Allan Parsons Project, Moody Blues, Barclay
James Harvest, Mike Oldfield, Caamora, Karnataka, and Pendraggon,
then you will adore this collection of symphonic rock songs
and instrumentals. Highlights are so many I would be here
all day describing them, songs like ‘Eden’, ‘Nimrod’, ‘Beautiful
Babylon’, the gorgeous anthemic hymn, ‘Aten’, and the moving
‘Elissa’. On ’Sons of Anak’ they sound almost like New Order,
but with a lead guitarist, and the Stranglers style ‘Ozymandias’
is about the king who, as Davis Rohl so succinctly puts
it, ‘kicked them in the ass’. Superbly produced by David,
excellent 32 page booklet, high quality music, top notch
musicianship, this is the complete package and a must in
your collection, so don your back pack, grab your trowel,
and venture off to the land of http://www.mandalaband.co.uk/home/
and enter their bazaar.
9.5 out of 10
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