Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Galahad
Label: Avalon Records
Release: 2017
Running time: 74:15
Rating: 3.5/5
»Quiet Storms« is a collection of some long-standing Galahad standards plus a few previously unreleased pieces, which the English neo-prog rock greats have played as ballads with acoustic and orchestral arrangements. This was right around the time the band lost longtime guitarist Roy Keyworth in a rather controversial way. After 2015 he cut off all communication with the rest of the band, who only found out two years later that their former comrade had retired from music. So producer Karl Groom (Threshold) temporarily stepped in on guitar, and he had no problem jumping in on acoustic guitar to help out his old friends. For the next ‘proper’ studio album, »Seas of Change« (2018), the members of Galahad had managed to find a new guitarist.
The seasoned old cats of Galahad decided to catch their breath after the Keyworth ordeal and unwind before the release of their next studio project. To that end, they reworked some past standards with classical, pastoral-tinged arrangements built mostly on acoustic guitar and piano, which create a largely gorgeous atmosphere, and added a few previously unreleased ballads. Thankfully, there’s nothing overly syrupy about these new Galahad ballads, but there’s nothing here that’ll make longtime fans jump out of their seats with excitement either.
The run of ballads also includes two covers: »Mein Herz Brennt«, originally by Rammstein, while »Marz (And Beyond)« was originally written by John Grant. On »Termination«, Galahad’s charismatic singer Stuart Nicholson is joined by Christina Booth of Magenta. Their vocal teamwork makes for a pretty interesting result and will probably please most fans of both bands. »Easier Said Than Done« is reminiscent of the Bee Gees in the early seventies, which means that, partly because it strays from the usual Galahad material in style, it counts among the most interesting, if not downright exotic, moments of the album.
»Quiet Storms« is a release ‘reserved’ for Galahad’s most loyal fans, who’ll mostly be buying it for a handful of new tracks, none of which can seriously compete with their best work. That said, this release can’t be written off as a pure ‘rip-off’ or a recipe for squeezing as much money as possible out of fans, and besides, a new studio album, »Seas of Change«, came out just a year later, once again at an outstanding level and much more to the taste of most Galahad fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VniI0U6YUPk
Line-up
Stuart Nicholson – vocals
Roy Keyworth – guitar
Dean Baker – keyboards
Tim Ashton – bass guitar
Spencer Luckman – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Christina Booth (Magenta) – vocals
Karl Groom – acoustic guitar, keyboards
Louise Curtis – violin
Sarah Bolter – flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, backing vocals
Production
Karl Groom
Track list
1. Guardian Angel (3:54)
2. Iceberg (4:10)
3. Beyond the Barbed Wire (4:28)
4. Mein Herz Brennt (My Heart Burns) (5:03)
5. Termination (5:17)
6. This Life Could Be My Last (5:50)
7. Pictures of Bliss (2:11)
8. Willow Way (4:13)
9. Easier Said than Done (4:18)
10. Melt (4:28)
11. Weightless (5:30)
12. Shine (9:15)
13. Don’t Lose Control (5:40)
14. Marz (and Beyond) (6:14)
15. Guardian Angel (Hybrid) (4:43)
