Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I know I'm hard to please, January 30, 2002
I am a long-standing and avid fan of classic progressive rock, but if there is one thing that I will generally have problems with, it would be the vocalists and their lyrics. Although it would seem like the solution to this problem would be to turn to the many instrumental progressive rock groups around, I think that there is a dangerousness to instrumental rock.On the one hand, the composer can write in a "song without words" style, but without words there are no concepts to help break up the natually repetitive nature of standard verse-chorus-verse format. Joe Satriani and some of Djam Karet's work falls in this category. On the other hand, a piece can be more compositional in its approach, like King Crimson's mid-'70's work. Although this is the bolder path, it takes much more talent and training to pull off convincingly. Happy the Man rides this fence quite effectively. Overall, they give the illusion of rock song form, but they add enough compositional twists and turns that they generally (but not always) avoid the redundancy that is so dangerous in this medium. However, there are still times that I wish that there was someone like Fish, Peter Gabriel, or even Roger Waters to come in with some words that would lend cognitive meaning to the emotional explosiveness that "Crafty Hands" easily conveys with music alone. Happy the Man's performance on "Crafty Hands" is presice, moody, atmospheric, and intense. When it was recorded in 1978, King Crimson was on hiatus (1974-1981). However, I don't think that "Crafty Hands" would sound out-of-place in Robert Fripp's 80's work. King Crimson's main innovation in the '80s was odd-timed interlocking guitar patterns, and this texture pervades "Crafty Hands". Happy the Man ripples and shimmers in similar interlocked arpeggiated patterns, but instead uses dual keyboards, guitar, and the occasional saxophone. Often Happy the Man are also compared to Genesis or Gentle Giant, and although these comparisons are fair musically, there is one major component that makes them different than these bands - Happy the Man is instrumental. Because of this and the similar period keyboard sounds, I am often reminded of Bill Bruford's fusion work from the '70's ("One of a Kind", etc..). The lowdown: I am a hard sell with most instrumental rock albums, but "Crafy Hands" made a believer out of me. It can be done, and done well. I just can't help but play "what if" games with the possiblilites that a vocalist would have opened for them, but then it wouldn't be Happy the Man, right?
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Standing The Test Of Time, January 17, 2001
By A Customer
I've decided to review this album not because I'm the most educated critic, but because I have derived enjoyment from it during my entire adult life and hence feel that I owe this fine band a debt of gratitude. I was first acquainted with Crafty Hands back in 1991 when a visiting friend left it with me and insisted that I listen to it at my leisure. I had all ready been a fan of progressive rock and had always been one to favor compositionally driven music, so the stage was set for me to take to this album immediately. I was under this album's spell the moment I pressed play on my CD player. The first piece, Service With A Smile, is short but is perhaps the most blissful three or so minutes of music I have ever encountered; it makes me feel like I could walk through a brick wall. It is in fact an onslaught of sheer perfection. The other seven songs are also musical horseplay; the untrained ear will appreciate this album's raw aesthetic appeal, but the trained ear must concede the work's compositional significance and complexity. Tension is built and released throughout with proficiency, and the band makes effective use of odd meter. There are traces of the influences of jazz, rock, renaissance music and minimalism. The album is in keeping with the progressive rock trends of its day (it was first released in the late 1970s), but it has a rare enduring quality which allows for it to be as powerful now as it was then, unlike many progressive releases from that era which have lost their luster over time.I have been looking to own this album for the longest time. I eventually returned the album to my friend but made a tape of it, which I subsequently lost, possibly to theft; since then till recently, I ardently sought the whereabouts of a Crafty Hands CD which I could buy, but never to any avail. For years I would invariably check to see if there was a "Happy The Man" slot in the rock section of any music store I frequented. Then, just a few months ago, on a lark, I did a search for Happy The Man... and couldn't believe my luck when the search revealed a picture of the album cover which I hadn't seen for eight years. I ordered the album immediately and was so eager to get a hold of it that I actually asked to have it shipped next day air. Upon receiving it, I had a few beers, put the headphones on, pressed play and it was like I was again hearing it anew. I've learned a lot about music over the past ten years but not enough to keep me from liking this album as much as I did upon first hearing it, if not more. If I had to pay five times what I paid, I would do so in a heartbeat and still offer my blubbering thanks for the opportunity to own it. The remastering was clearly performed with great care and has preserved the feel of the original release. I highly recommend this album to anyone who is at all capable of being moved by music. To quote Edith Wharton, exquisite moments on the planet Earth are rare. Buy this album while you have the chance!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Unknown Prog, October 26, 2000
Happy The Man is one of those bands that many people have never heard of, or laugh at their name when they do. Very much influenced by Gentle Giant and Genesis (Genesis even has a song entitled "Happy The Man"), these guys are truly real deal musicians. The amazing thing about this album is that the writing is just so good. It boggles my mind that as good as this band is, no one has seen to have caught on. If you are a fan of Gabriel-era Genesis, Gentle Giant, Yes, Jethro Tull, or other groups in this vein, you will totally eat up this album. The last tune on this disc called "The Moon, I Sing (Nossuri)" is so indescribably beautiful, I usually hit repeat after it finishes. Not to sound corny, but this tune really transports me to another dimension. Enthusiastically recommended.P.S. - Make sure you order the 1999 remaster on One Way records.
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