THE RAGGED CURTAIN (E)

For a number of years Guy Manning is one of those multi-instrumentalists in progressive rock, who is able to make very interesting music. Together with Rick Ashton (bass), Jonathan McDonald (drums), Laura Fowles (saxophone, vocals), Neil Harris (keyboards) and Gareth Harwood (guitar), he provides us on The Ragged Curtain (2002) with eight new compositions, the last of them being an epic of nearly 26 minutes! The lyrics are about nature, lives, loves and understanding each other. After a short piece, the instrumental opening A Ripple (From Ragged Curtains) with plucking on acoustic guitars and a e-bow playing, The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell: Tightrope starts with an instrumental part played by drums, bass, guitars and strings accompanied by the organ followed by a more rock part including vocals by Manning. Next is an old-fashioned symphonic interlude in which saxophone, organ en synth as solo-instruments can be heard, then again the same melody as in the beginning of the track and after the returning of the vocal part Tightrope is finished by alternating solos by the instruments mentioned above, but also including the electric guitar. Although Manning's voice is just an ordinary, but pleasant mid-range voice, it fits well into his music. Just like singers as Peter Gabriel and Michael Sadler (Saga) he sings many parts with an overdub one octave lower which gives a nice touch to these vocal parts. A Place To Hide begins quietly with a soft electric guitar, drums, bass and organ until Manning starts singing his ballad; the saxophone duels with the guitars in the solos. Where Do All The Madmen Go? opens with a reggae rhythm supported by organ, guitar and synth. The accompanying xylophone sound plays a role and subsequently the rhythm changes into an slow rock rhythm in which Manning and Harwood are duelling on guitar. Near the end you can hear a fragment from All The Young Dudes. Some spoken words fill the pause to Stronger, a slow track with a nice folky atmosphere. With accompanying strings and acoustic instruments the track features Fowles' saxophone. It fades away while some lines about ordinary life are spoken and the music goes on with acoustic guitars, organ, synth and sax in a relaxed tune What Is It Worth with a tasteful guitar solo. Weaver Of Dreams is in the vein of Mike Oldfield, but Manning's voice makes the difference here. As a guest musician Angela Goldthorpe (Mostly Autumn) features with her flute alternating the guitar as solo instrument. This also is a very melodic and mellow track, but it's no symphonic rock. The last track Ragged Curtain is divided into eight different parts. In Flow a quiet opening is leading on to the introduction of drums, then heavy guitar riffs, organ and a little later also saxophones in rock style in Sea. The third part Waves is an instrumental piece featuring organs - also played by Andy Tillison (Parallel Or 90 Degrees) - and flute together with acoustic guitars and you'll recognize some old Genesis here. In Stone there's again a major role for saxophone, organ and electric guitar in up-tempo melodies alternating the more quiet vocal pieces, abruptly transcending in the folktune Tides with acoustic guitars, strings and the warm voice of Manning. There are more rock influences in Sand, Undertow and Ebb, but with the introduction of Mellotron-samples and delightful guitar solos the music now has become fully symphonic, building up to a climax and then gently fading away.

All and all The Ragged Curtain cannot be considered to be an entirely 'symphonic' album, but there's more than enough to enjoy. Although the melodies are not too complicated the interesting mixture between folk, pop, rock and symphonic music will in my opinion be able to reach a diverse audience.