1 Prelude 2 Into the Valley of the Ancients ~ A Glimpse of Isis 3 Full Moon Lightning ~ the Field Test 4 Ritual Eternal ~ Initiation of the Searcher 5 The Legend ~ From the Castle the Winds Arose... ~
Through the Corridors of Time, Including the March of the Undead -
Temptation to Turn Back ~ Carnival of the People - a Brief Respite ~ Nightmare - Isis Unveiled ~ Dance of the Astral Shadows - Beyond the Point of No Return ~ Flight From the Unknown ~ Ashes to Ashes
These
days Chris Neal seems to be mainly a composer of film scores, but three
decades ago, he produced one of Australia's first symphonic progressive
albums. Winds of Isis is instrumental, with more than a hint of
psych-throwback to it, and an unusual melodic approach, quite possibly
influenced by his interest in film music and probably Hollywood
musicals, too. He's more of a keyboard player than anything else,
although he plays most of the instruments on the album, proving himself
a capable guitarist and drummer. He lists all equipment on the back
cover, which reads like a wish-list of mid-'70s keys and effects, using
various Mu-Tron devices from the States, through which he sticks just
about everything in sight.
Neal's Mellotron work is well over
the top, with every track heavy with very raw-sounding 'Tron; don't
expect a two million buck production here... He lists
choir/cellos/strings, and uses all but the cellos extensively, usually
in great chordal slabs stomping all over whatever else is going on at
the time; almost the first sound you hear on the album is choir chords,
and he only ever lets up for a couple of minutes or so before slapping
some more on.
All in all, a good, if unusual prog release, with
very healthy doses of Mellotron, so if you don't object to something a
little different, I can heartily recommend a purchase. I've no idea if
Neal produced anything else in the progressive field; there seem to be
several Chris Neals who've made their mark somewhere down the line,
including an Abbey Road engineer, a modern country artist and a Mike
and the Mechanics collaborator (collaborators usually get shot, don't
they?), so Web research is extremely difficult. Anyway; worth the
effort.
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