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'BARD' LYRICS
REVIEWS OF 'BARD'
"A well-delivered and graceful work." (Classic Rock)
"Rendered with complete and utter tenderness...this is the sound of walking heartache and never has emotional turmoil seemed so achingly appealing." (Ytsejam)
"A great record. Strong songs with great arrangements and melodies that will rattle around in your head for days." (Ghostland)
"A wonderful album."
Progressive World)
"One of the UK's finest prog bands." (Glory Daze)
"Imagine, if you will, the feel that exudes from works such as Genesis Trespass/Trick of The Tail and Anthony Philips output up to at least Wise After The Event... can be summed up in one word Ð beautiful." (Hairless Hear Herald)
"One of the best prog songs I have listened to over the past 10 years." (Proggnosis - about 'Broken English')
"Underneath the mellow facade is power and energy built from the emotionality of the songs... I suspect that Bard will turn out to be good enough to end the year somewhere on my short list for best of the year 2002." (Proggnosis)
"What's it like? Well for starters, it's very good! Flashes of Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett, Pink Floyd, Rick Wakeman, Tony Banks etc. all come to mind. The musicianship is superb, and the arrangements are expertly honed." (Progressive Ears)
"This is a splendid album, full of style and finesse and it comes very highly recommended." (New Horizons)
ABOUT 'BARD'
As with our previous recording, 'English Boy Wonders', Bard had a difficult path to completion, with band members leaving at inconvenient times and the writing/recording process becoming very protracted.
In many respects, English Boy Wonders and Bard are very similar albums, exploring similar themes and subject areas, and I'm glad we used cover artwork from the same artist for both albums which makes the connections explicit.
Work began on Bard in 1997, towards the end of the English Boy Wonders recording sessions, with the composition of 'A Short Visit To Earth' which, unlike almost all of the other tracks has survived in its original version right the way through to the release of the album. The idea behind this track was to write a song where no earlier section or passage in the song was ever revisited - there is a complete absence of a verse/chorus structure.
With Short Visit completed and a couple of other songs underway, work began on a long piece of music which we intended to be at the centre of a short album ('English Boy Wonders' had grown and grown and may have been a better album if edited.)
The long piece (with a staggeringly original working title of 'Long One') didn't work as planned and it was eventually dismantled. Large sections of it make up most of the two lengthy pieces on the album - Broken English and For Winter. The latter track also incorporates a piece of music from our archives which had been written just after we finished Age of Steam, but which we couldn't get right for 'English Boy Wonders'.
The closing parts of For Winter subsequently became a separate track, 'To Guard the Sea and Shore' which revisits many of the themes which have been established over the course of the album. We've tried this idea before on 'Age Of Steam', but on Bard we go much further. Motifs crop up all over the album, sometimes repeated in familiar fashion, sometimes completely re-arranged. Aside from the cohesiveness, we also wanted to add complexity and interest so that the album pays revisiting and re-discovery.
As well as the longer songs on Bard, there are many shorter and more accessible tracks and some ambient pieces. Not everyone likes the mix of styles, but we get a lot of feedback from listeners who like Bard the best of all of our albums.
Gregory Spawton
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