Dietrich Gastrock

Hi,

I have now had enough time to listen to SO to form an opinion about it, which I would like to share with you. This is a very ELEGANT album. From the title - Origami indeed is very elegant - to the booklet, over to the cover, form there to the music and the way it is produced - all very elegant and with style. I didn't know that this guy Pip Williams also produced MOODY BLUES and STATUS QUO, but when I first listened to it it actually reminded me of QUO's 'IN THE ARMY', not by way of music, but in the way it was produced and the facets of QUO music it brought to light.

Being elegant, this is not a real rock album as in ROCK, as all the sharp edges that make such a rock album were softened. Its quality is more in the music, which actually comes across as something very warm and soothing (which is somewhat mirrored in the lyrics).

And it is very much Bernie Shaw's album, whose vocal contributions really add a lot to the music. Mick's guitar playing is also very much 'composed' in that there is a certain logic in all his solo's - just like in SALISBURY - not the wild explosions of lead guitar playing as on, say, ABOMINOG.

In some parts I thought I was listening to WISHBONE ASH. Some of the harmony vocals reminded me of YES' '90125', so it's all there.

I do prefer the mid-tempo tracks over the ballads, which tend to be too much of singalong pop to me, because of - yes, see above. But THE GOLDEN PALACE is one great piece of music, somehow SALISBURY condensed into 08.29 minutes. I HEAR VOICES and PERFECT LITTLE HEART more or less feature the same guitar riff (just as The Temps PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE and MASTERPIECE have one bassline with different emphasis). CHANGE has very tightly locked vocal harmony/organ/guitar interplay, but ACROSS THE MILES ... why was this put on there? Sounds like some one took some spare parts form other HEEP songs, and simply put them together to create a new song.

To me this is FIREFLY (which I do not like) taken into the 90's. It's more than Rock'n'Roll, and I like it. rgds

Dietrich

PS: This is much longer than actually intended, but it goes to show - I like the music.