Here's this great "track by track" review by Music Street Journal in completo. This is actually how I prefer a review, very good and detailed. Hope you like it as well.

Review by Gary Hill


Overall Review


Happy the Man was a US based prog band in the 1970's. The sound of the band was similar to many of the greats of prog, while forging out its own uniqueness. Given the nature of this sound, it is really odd that this band never made it to the level of Yes, ELP, King Crimson and Genesis. They have reformed, though, so perhaps they still will have the chance.

This disc, originally recorded in the 1970's, was not released until 1999. The disc consists of an extended concept piece and two shorter numbers. The concept piece has a rather unusual lyrically theme. Very early on, the main protagonist of the story is hung and dies. The remainder of the piece shows him learning more about life and existence in the afterlife than he ever did in the first one. It is a strangely moving and lifting piece. The musicians on this disc are Dan Owen, Frank Wyatt, Kit Watkins, Rick Kennell and Mick Beck.



Track by Track Review


Death's Crown


Part One:Haunting tones, building slowly and feeling a bit like very early King Crimson make up the mode of this first movement. It is quite powerful and evocative. It sets the scene quite well. "here it is…My life here is ending, Marching to the gallows to meet the masked man, death, Filled with sudden terror, Wondering what will be beyond."

Part Two:A very brief effects laden segment, this signifies the transition from life to afterlife.

Part Three:Coming straight out of the previous movement, this starts with guitar tones that seem to combine the sounds of early Genesis with Steve Howe. This intro also includes spoken chanting and sound effects low in the mix, adding a bit of a Marillionish texture. The piece jumps into a faster mode that seems to feel quite a bit like early Yes and Starcastle. This one gets very quirky at times and drops into a much more sedate type of verse segment. It ends in fast paced prog style, then drops to silence.

Part Four:Coming out of the abyss, church bells bring this one up, and the cut begins to build in a moody sort of prog style. It becomes a wonderful, rather triumphant sounding prog ballad. Lyrically this one finds the hanged man trying to come to grips with his place in the afterlife. He finds himself drawn to his own funeral as an observer. The song keeps building in power and passion becoming a very triumphant sounding number. However, overall it still stays firmly planted in a balladic sort of style and reverts to the more sedate format later. At moments this one feels just a little bit like early Hawkwind. A great jazzy progression takes the cut into new territory late and serves as the outro.

Part Five:Another segment that runs straight out of the previous movement, sedate tones begin this one. It starts building in almost neo-classical textures, becoming more and more intricate and complex with some wonderful musical themes emerging, then moving away. It gets a bit Starcastleish and a bit Yesish at times. This movement is very dynamic. The ending moments of this instrumental segment are a bit odd.

Part Six:In an almost Flower Kings like arrangement, this cut starts in slow prog fashion. After a time, a very Genesisish build takes the cut for a short period. Then it drops back to its previous style. When that Genesisish mode returns, it is more intense and lasts a bit longer. The cut drops back to its earlier state for a couple moments to end.

Part Seven:Fast paced prog jamming takes the piece into this movement. This one comes across as a pretty solid combination of many of prog rock's heavy hitters including ELP, Yes, Genesis and Starcastle. After a couple minutes, it drops to a mellower segment to herald the verse. The faster jamming segment that began this one returns after a time, but then the cut drops to the sedate tones to end.
Part Eight:Percussion heralds this piece in, and a dramatic off-kilter, odd jamming takes it in its next direction. It is a brief, somewhat dissonant, instrumental passage.

Part Nine:Keyboard dominated triumphant tones begin this one, another very brief instrumental piece. The tone at the beginning is slow, almost plodding, but as it ends, the tempo speeds up dramatically making a dramatic exit.
Part Ten:This instrumental segment emerges from the last one in fairly sedate tones and slowly builds. It just keeps jamming in this format for a time.

Part Eleven:Triumphant, harder edged prog tones begin this one. This is a very dramatic conclusion to the piece; our hero having found the truth and truly understanding is home at last and happy. Of course, the central answer that he is given loses me just a bit. It is this: "To think it is to create it." There you have it, the meaning of life.

New York Dreams Suite:Sedate mid-tempoed prog, just a tiny bit Yesish, starts this cut and begins a building process. After a time, a quirky sort of off kilter riff changes the piece and an instrumental break ensues. This break starts in an odd weirdly textured mode, but quickly explodes into a great prog jam. The cut then drops to a sparse arrangement for the verse, and as the intensity of the vocals increase, so does the music. It moves into another of those strange jams. The resolution out of this jam is a keyboard-dominated break in atmospheric tones, and the number begins a slow build from there to lead to the next verse in slow balladic fashion. More intense moments serve to punctuate the spaces of the song. The cut resolves in a mellower, almost atmospheric direction.

Merlin of the High Places:Pretty sedate tones begin this composition. It builds slowly on this for a time before dropping back to near silence as a new verdant on the theme emerges. It is reborn in an even more inspiring direction. The next change to this instrumental piece is a more experimental sort of jam that lasts only for a brief time before becoming a rather fusion based fast paced prog riff based rocker. It drops back from there to an almost space rock mellow interlude, then back up to the harder, faster jam. The composition then drops to a dramatic, rather dreamy, balladic mode. The next jam is built on this groundwork and is very powerful and emotional.

Well, in fact I don't. Some reasons:
- it gets too long (I often stop reading after 200 words, especially on a board);
- reviewers tend to repeat themselves, since the music will have repeating elements;
- it leaves no interpretation-space for the listeners.

For me it's better to give some general information on the band, then something about the music in general with highlight and special items and then a more or less personal view. Not that I think it's a bad review, it's just not my style.

Well, it's always good when a review (of any HTM album!) is positive. Thanks befrost!
However I too think that such kind of reviews are boring in general. I mean... describing what part comes after what other part (i.e. "and then comes a frantic keyboard solo which in turn gives its way to a crazy guitar solo that ends abruptly with series of fast drum breaks that lead us to a middle section where triumphant brassy organ chords start banging between the ears of poor listeners blah-blah-blah..." etc. ) is unnecessary, to say the least.

Check out my free guidelines on how to write a good and informative review without making it too long and tiresome: ;D

1. Briefly tell your readers about the project (if it's an unknown or obscure one).
2. Try to describe what feelings/associations the music invokes in YOU.
3. Give them some reference points, some comparisons to other existing artists/musics.
4. And don't forget to mention how's the quality of performances, production, etc.

Interesting views guys! Agree that this review should be a bit shorter and it spoils to much.

Thank's for the superb and free review guidelines ;D

Glad you liked them! ;D
Once upon a time I did writing a lot of (LPs and some concert) reviews in local newspapers, however they all were in Russian... These days I rarely write them anymore, though recently I wrote two concert reviews in Estonian... But writing a GOOD review in English is almost impossible for me. You know, one thing is to write just a positive review, the other thing is to write a GOOD and CONVINCING review. You have to know a foreign language like your native one to do this successfully.

I know what you mean. I write a lot of reviews for iO Pages and often artists or labels ask me to make a translation in English. Then I find out how strange my reviews AND the Dutch language are and in fact, the translations are much lesser convincing in my view. But mostly they are satisfied with them and use them for their website etc. I also find it very satisfying when readers react on what I've written, be it possitive OR negative. I gives me the stimulation to go one and become better. On the other hand, sometimes I think I can better stop writing, because only then I can listen to music without trying to put in into words.