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Mostly Autumn - The Spirit of Autumn Past (1999)
1. Winter Mountain
2. This Great Blue Pearl
3. Pieces of Love
4. Please
5. Evergreen
6. Styhead Tarn
7. Shindig
8. Blakey Ridge/ When Waters Meet
9. Underneath the Ice
10. Through the Window
11. The Spirit of Autumn Past (Part I)
12. The Spirit of Autumn Past (Part II)
13. The Gap is Too Wide
Mostly Autumn hails from York, England. Fans of Ayreon may recognize the name "Heather Findlay," as she appears on the latest album, "The Human Equation," as the character "Love." I actually found out about the band through Ayreon...I absolutely loved her voice with Ayreon, and wanted to hear what she sounded like outside of that context, and was delighted to discover a wonderful new band. If I were to describe their music, I'd probably say "Pink Floyd meets Fleetwood Mac with Celtic folk influences thrown in." Taken from their official website, the band is described as:
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Originally Posted by official bio
Mostly Autumn's music can be described as powerful atmospheric rock with a Celtic edge, influenced by Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Genesis, and reminiscent of 70's Fleetwood Mac and Fairport Convention - difficult to pigeon hole, and although Mostly Autumn wears its influences on its sleeve, the originality far outways this.
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I find this to be a pretty accurate description. "The Spirit of Autumn Past" is a pretty typical album by the group, encompassing a wide range of ideas and influences as is the band's approach. Although the band often has an almost vintage classic rock band, they DON'T feel recycled; in fact, much of their music feels incredibly fresh. All in all, they write some really cool tunes, and are often surprising in terms of the scope that they allow their music to take and what they'll try. As suggested by their name, the band calls to mind a good deal of images and colors portraying the season of Autumn. There's alot of oranges and reds and touches of green and white tend to dominate their sound.
The Band:
Bryan Josh - Vocals, lead guitars, 6 & 12 String Acoustics, E-Bow
Heather Findlay - Vocals, 6 & 12 String Acoustics, Bodhran, Tambourine
Iain Jennings: Vocals, Keyboards, Hammond
Bob Faulds: Violins, 5 String Zeta Violin
Liam Davison: Vocals, 6 & 12 String Acoustic, Electric & Slide Guitars
Stuart Carver: Bass Guitar
Angela Goldthorpe: Flute & Whistles
Rob McNeil: Drums
Additional musicians:
Troy Donockley: Uilleann Pipes (Track 13)
Marissa Claughan: Cello (Track 10 & Track 13)
1. Winter Mountain This fantastic opener is a great introduction to the multiple facets of the Mostly Autumn sound. It's a rocking prog tune with subtle folk flavorings, thanks in large part to flutist Angela Goldthorpe and violinist Bob Faulds. Heather and Bryan sing this one together. The main riff/hook on the song is fantastic, gets you going and doesn't let you stop until the end. Especially notable in the song is the small, soft interlude, in which the following lyrics are sung:
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Dawn cracks the vault of night
Dimming the stars so cold, so bright
Head throbbing from the 'Clachaig' ale last night.
No sound, no wind
Just light purple sky.
Shadows shorten before my eyes
As I gaze at the mountain near at hand.
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I find the imagery here and throughout the song very beautiful.
2. This Great Blue Pearl. This is a tender, light-hearted folk rock song, very reminisecent of the 60's/70's. I especially like the vocal harmonizing between Heather and Josh on the verses. A very happy, celebratory song, it manages to be positive without being cheesy or annoying, which is a wonderful relief. The song fades into an eerie, odd reverie for a moment in the middle, which I always thought kind of odd, in a good way.
3. Pieces of Love This is an acoustic song with just Heather singing, written by Josh. It's very sad, mellow, almost haunting. The acoustic guitar playing is wonderful, especially on the intro. For some reason, it makes me think of dark shadows under green leaves...there's a good deal of natural imagery here in the music. The sad violin bit later in the song is a nice touch as well.
4. Please
This song is very reminiscent of later (Division Bell, etc) era Pink Floyd for me for some reason. Josh takes on the lead vocals for this song, with a bit of backing from Heather and the band. Musically, it's very atmospheric (again, Floyd!), and definetly takes you to a place other than where you were at the beginning of the song. Although pretty laid back, the album's choruses are also very uplifting, and the song has a kind of gentle lull that draws you in.
5. Evergreen This is *the* song. If someone were to ask me why I love Mostly Autumn, I would play them this song first. It is just a fantastic, timeless tune...I guess you could call it their "Stairway." Curiously, the song clocks in just at 8:00, which was about the length of Zeppelin's masterpiece. One can only presume...;)
Anyways, it begins softly with the moving, emotional melodic theme that dominates the song, which Heather soon follows with her beautiful, angelic, soulful voice as she really pours her heart out into the song.
The song builds slowly into a progressive masterpiece. One of my favorite parts is the guitar solo that occurs about halfway through the song (there's several). It starts off as a very emotion-driven David-Gilmour style solo, but then just at the end, right at the emotional apex, it suddenly dips into a few exotic notes that are so...beautifully out of place yet somehow belonging right where they are. Definetly the emotional peak of the album.
Heather wrote the lyrics to this song, and I really like them, so I'm going to put them here:
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Originally Posted by Heather Findlay
She knows what it means to be evergreen.
She's seen more that some eyes would ever see.
Clad with green gracefully she reaches
For winter sun... the lucky one?
Spring leaves, learning look to the evergreen.
Carried on the breeze her tales of snowstorms and icicles.
With proud yarn she will spin.
Her golden memories into stories.
- Chorus -
She looks to the sky.
She's holding on to yesterday's goodbyes.
Goodbye.
She knows what it means to be evergreen.
She knows how it feels to have loved and lost.
She's seen faces change all around her, then moved on.
She'll miss hearing wind through now fallen leaves.
She'll stand scraping snow filled skies alone.
Her questions if could be asked,
Would be left unanswered.
- Chorus -
Look to the sky, holding on to yesterday's goodbyes.
Embrace the past with a forward motion,
No fear of looking back.
- Chorus counterpoint -
The river keeps on flowing, but the banks are ever changing.
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6. Styhead Tarn
This is the first of a 3 part instrumental sequence that HAS to be heard. :lol: Awesome stuff. This would be the "progressive" part, I suppose, with a booming tom rhythm and a number of atmospheric effects, which transitions into...
7. Shindig This is a violin-dominated folk tune. The flutes then join in, accompanying note for note, until the song builds to the point where the drums chime in along with guitars and bass. In two words: kick ***. :cool:
8. Blakey Ridge / When Waters Meet The final part of the instrumental medley, this is even MORE celtic and folky than the last, with Heather on the Bodhran(a traditional Irish drum) and some great acoustic guitar and flutework. Gotta hear it. :cool:
9. Underneath the Ice
Having finally vented their celtic steam, the band descends underneath the ice for an eerie progressive tune that just screams "blue." Alot of cold colors on this one, which fits perfectly with the song's lyrics and title. It's a very unique, exotic, and cool song.
10. Through the Window This is a soft, warm acoustic tune, dominated by Josh. This song actually sounds alot more modern and contemporary than the rest of the album, ironically.
11. The Spirit of Autumn Past (Part I)
This is an instrumental prelude to the next track (Part II), written by Iain Jennings (keyboards). It's a short piano piece, so I can't say much about it, although it's pretty. The guitars come in lightly halfway through, kinda reminding me of the tune "Marooned" off of the Division Bell (Floyd).
12. The Spirit of Autumn Past (Part II)
This song has a kind of epic feel to it, although it's somewhat overshadowed by the lengthy tune that follows it, concluding the album. Still, along with its intro, the Spirit...piece makes for a rather grandieuse, epic prog song. I could see this making a good closer for the album, but....it's not!
13. The Gap is Too Wide
This song is huge. Not only is it lengthy, but it also includes a good deal of extra instrumentation that provide for a suitable degree of emotional support to the regular musicians. Again written by Iain Jennings, it is dedicated to Susan Jennings:
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Originally Posted by Jennings
This song is dedicated to the life of Susan Jennings who is a complete inspiration. She was a very special person who brought out the best in everyone she meet.
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I'm not sure of the story behind this, but evidently Iain lost a very close family member. Although not quite reaching the emotional level of "Evergreen," it is still a fantastically written track, and is a suitable closer for the album.
Ok, that's the review. I don't do ratings, I find them insulting to the musicians, so I'm just going to leave you with: THESE GUYS ROCK! BUY THEIR ALBUMS! ENJOY THEIR MUSIC! ATTEND THEIR SHOWS! You will not be dissapointed.
