The English of 'Galahad' are back with a new studio recording 'The Last Great Adventurer' which was released in September 2022, but which has just made its late appearance on streaming platforms. After the acoustic covers 'Quiet Storm' in 2017 and 'Seas Of Changes' in 2018 (which is still not available on spotify) which was a long development of 42 minutes, the two friends 'Stuart Nicholson' and 'Dean Baker' got down to their project 'Galahad Electric Company', with two albums, 'When the Battle Is Over' in 2020 and 'Soul Therapy' in 2021.
The album consists of seven tracks, the last two of which are presented as bonus tracks, 'Another Life Not Lived' being a new recording of a song written by 'Neil Pepper' (who died in 2012 of cancer) and 'Stuart Nicholson'. And it all starts with an energetic 'Alive' which, as its name suggests, shows that 'Galahad' has never been in better shape by offering us a first catchy melody without forgetting the progressive side with a very beautiful instrumental break in middle of the title embellished by 'Lee Abraham' who delights us with his acoustic guitar playing, the title gradually regaining vigour for a very beautiful keyboard solo by 'Dean Baker' and 'Lee Abraham' adding afterwards, this time, a masterful electric guitar solo. With 'Omega Light', the subject is much more soothing with an atmospheric first instrumental part which takes us on a beautiful relaxing journey with layers of aerial keyboards and which rises slowly by highlighting the rhythm section of new bassist 'Mark Spencer' and drummer 'Spenczer Luckman' for a sung part reminding me of the atmospheres of 'Barclay James Harvest' with the sweet singing of 'Stuart Nicholson', then the last third accelerates the rhythm to highlight the keyboards of 'Dean Baker', the finale returning to the rhythmic tempo of the opening theme. Make way for 'Blood Skin and Bone' which is in fact a composition written by the trio 'Dean Baker', 'Stu Nicholson' and the symphonic metal singer 'Koburg' and which was originally intended for the latter. The title shows a modern face with an introduction with electro effects, and which continues in an energetic atmosphere with oriental sounds, the second part offering a remarkable guitar solo by 'Lee Abraham' and a sound break in which 'Stuart Nicholson' offers a very beautiful vocal performance. We change register with 'Enclosure 1764' which unrolls a slow tempo on a magnificent epic melody with very beautiful choirs, the title being based on the 18th century poem 'The Goose and the Common', then, place for the long development of the title track which is a tribute to 'Stuart Nicholson''s father who was a mountaineer who successfully scaled the two highest peaks in the Austrian Alps, the Gross Glockner and the Wildspitz. We embark on an inventive progressive rock title with a catchy melody that comes up several times and whose second part deploys an instrumental section embroidering around a repetitive musical theme led by bassist 'Mark Spencer', the finale offering us an atmosphere subdued piano bar with a melancholic saxophone and a song filled with a beautiful emotion of 'Stuart Nicholson'. The last two titles, presented as bonuses, end this album in a very beautiful way with, first of all, 'Normality of Distance' which is a very beautiful melancholic title highlighting again the touching vocals of 'Stuart Nicholson', then, 'Another Life Not Lived' is equally moving and tells the story of a family who lost their son to premature death from leukaemia; the slow tempo unfurls a poignant melody with a spine-chilling finale, first with gripping choruses, then with clean and moving vocals of 'Stuart Nicholson'.
In summary, the English of 'Galahad' offer us a magnificent varied album which merges beautiful melodies with beautiful moments of emotion and 'The Last Great Adventurer' should join the ideal discotheque of a public loving a rock progressive with long developments that we tame little by little, listen after listen... | |
