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CIRCLES
This is the surprise comeback album from Solstice following their their 'New Life' CD in 1992. Original members Andy Glass (guitars) and Marc Elton (violin) are joined, on this project, by Emma Brown on vocals,
Craig Sunderland on bass and ex Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker. Continuing in the same vein as their first two albums, Solstice have produced another excellent album of folky prog with a Yes and Camel
flavour.
The first highlight of the cd is the opening instrumental 'Salu'. Beginning with provocative female voices, fretless bass and tranquil keyboard sounds, the bass soon gets into a wonderful groove underpinning
the main theme led by Andy Glass' superb guitar sound that is somewhere between Andy Latimer, Steve Hillage and Jeff Beck - total prog/jazz rock heaven.
The title track is next and perhaps a little overlong - at over seven minutes it has lovely vocal melodies but lacks any instrumental fireworks that would otherwise add some welcome diversion. 'Soul To Soul' is my favourite track on the album; superbly laid back and relaxing with soulful vocals augmented once again by spine tingling fretless bass and tasteful guitar from Andy Glass.
"Thank You" and "Sacred Run" are more upbeat folky rockers featuring some great violin from Marc Elton which puts me in mind of Kansas. 'Medicine' is another serene meditative song, ethereal
violin and gentle acoustic guitars combine with heavenly vocals and a scorching solo section. Finally 'Coming Home' is a beautiful instrumental with Andy Glass combining a simple acoustic
melody with some
incredible lead guitar playing in the style of Jeff Beck's 'The Final Peace' - fantastic.
Sadly since the making of 'Circles', Solstice have split up again and therefore this is likely to be the last album from this great band.
Steve 10/6/00
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PATHWAYS
Solstice were formed in the early 1980's and came to my attention in late '82 supporting Marillion in London. Soon after that they played their debut headline gig at the Marquee club, and went on to tour
extensively around the country, finally releasing their debut album 'Silent Dance' in late 1984. After various line up changes, and with no prospect of a major record deal, Solstice called it a day in mid 1985
with a couple of farewell gigs at the Marquee.
It was not until 1992, when 'Silent Dance' was re-released on CD, that the band reformed to record 'New Life'; a marvellous collection of songs from the 1983 to 1985 period that had been played at many memorable concerts but had never been previously recorded or released.
This double CD includes both the 'Silent Dance' and 'New Life' albums in full remastered format, with the addition of some previously unreleased demos and live recordings from both the early eighties and the more
recent sessions for the 1996 'Circles' album. As the first two albums are currently deleted, this good value package will appeal to die hard fans and potential newcomers alike.
The CD booklet includes some rare photos of the band as well as a more detailed history of their endeavours.
The nucleus of Solstice is/was Andy Glass (guitars & backing vocals) and Marc Elton (violin & keyboards) who between them wrote most of the band's material. For the 'Silent Dance' album they were joined
by Sandy Leigh on lead vocals, Martin Wright on drums & percussion, and Mark Hawkins on bass. The Solstice blend of powerful prog rock, with a sometimes folky feel, made for a brilliant live act and in my
view the best band that didn't make it of the early 80's.
The highlights of the 'Silent Dance' album, for me, are firstly the beautiful 'Earthsong' with Sandy Leigh's haunting voice sounding rather like Jon Anderson with great acoustic guitar and fretless bass harmonics.
Then there's the instrumental 'The Return of Spring', a very pastoral uplifting piece of folky rock. Again, more heavenly vocals on 'Cheyenne' - the second half of which turns into an Indian chant type thing. In 'Brave New World' the band really rock out with Andy Glass putting in an outstanding guitar solo, along with superb keyboards from Marc Elton that really hit the spot. The closing song 'Find Yourself' is a very soulful vocal-led piece with a heavenly instrumental outro.
Although that first album was good it didn't really capture, in full, the stunning grandeur of Solstice's music, but 'New Life' certainly did. This time, Glass & Elton were joined by Heidi Kemp on lead
vocals, Craig Sunderland on bass and Pete Hensley on drums.
The magnificent, soaring and majestic grandeur of 'Guardian' is a wonder to hear and one of my favourite tracks of all time with the wonderful female vocals, atmospheric bass and Andy Glass' superbly sustained guitar solo. The album is worth buying for this eleven minute piece alone. There's also the rest of their classics like 'Morning Light', 'Journey', and the title track, plus two instrumentals 'The Sea' (great violin and guitar) and 'Pathways', an incredible piece that reminds me of Rush's 'La Villa Strangiato' for it's inventive and breathtaking complexity. As well as all that, there's alternate demo versions of 'Salu' and 'Coming Home' plus 'Freedom' - another instrumental which didn't make it onto the 'Circles' CD.
Solstice are a sadly underrated and even unknown band; and this album is a limited edition too - so beg, steal or borrow - get it while you can because this scores ten out of ten.
Steve Smith 19 December 1999
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