ROB COTTINGHAM – Captain Blue

www.robcottingham.co.uk (Released 4th February)

The second solo outing from Rob Cottingham, a founder member of Touchstone, whose guitarist Adam Hodgson also appears on the album. Other guests include Heather Findlay (ex-Mostly Autumn), Steve Hackett and the narration on parts of the album is provided by Shame Rimmer, the voice of Scott Tracy from the ‘Thunderbirds’.

The album’s theme covers time, death and self-realisation plus there are a few moments of fun – listen out for the snippet of the children’s TV programme ‘The Magic Roundabout’. Being a solo album he can explore more musical avenues and one the dance meets pop/prog of ‘The Drowning Man’, a lovely mix of keys/dance beats and Heather Findlay’s gorgeous vocals. The radio edit is one that could easily cross over onto stations that wouldn’t normally touch prog rock. The only downside is it may put off a few prog fans who like their prog ‘just so’ – more fool them.

Steve Hackett and the prog-tastic keyboard solos steal the thunder on ‘Soaring To the Sun’, whilst ‘In The End’ is a lovely piece of music and a very moving lyric. I like the way the album runs as one piece with little interludes and the majestic voice of Shane Rimmer, I think only Brian Blessed could have matched the dramatic delivery.

‘Before Your Walls Came Down’ and the title track recall Mostly Autumn and big production features on both, wonderful stuff.

A highly enjoyable album with lots of musical twists and turns, that will appeal to Touchstone fans, prog rock fans and a more general musical audience.

****

Jason Ritchie

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THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
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DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

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