Windchase – Symphinity

I had this ordered back in March. Never got it. Problem is the seller's e-mail got deleted by mistake! Can't contact him!

This is basically Sebastian Hardie in all but name only. The Plavsic brothers left, apparently along with the Sebastian Hardie name (as neither Mario Millo nor Toivo Pilt were original SH members when the band formed). Both Mario and Toivo found themselves with new drummer Doug Bligh, and bassist Duncan McGuire, and decided to name the band Windcase, after Sebastian Hardie's second (and final) album. The group decided to go a more proggy Santana route here, most demonstrated on "Horsemen to Symphinity". Here Mario Millo's guitar playing isn't too different from Carlos Santana, while Toivo Pilt's keyboard playing isn't too different from Gregg Rolie. "Glad to Be Alive" is a ballad, at times reminding one of ELO (similar vocal harmonies, not to mention strings). "No Scruples" is a great piece, especially the use of Moog, Mellotron, and string synths. "Lamb's Fry" is an instrumental, fusion-influenced piece. Mario Millo, showing us his Italian heritage gives us "Non Siamo Perfetti", where he does Italian-influenced acoustic renditions of themes from "Rosanna" (from Four Moments) and "Windchase" (the Sebastian Hardie album). "Flight Call" is another ballad. Many people tend to look down on this album in comparison to Four Moments, because the inclusion of two soft rock songs, "Glad to Be Alive" and "Flight Call", but I don't find them any worse than the Alan Parsons Project's venture into soft rock (ie, "Eye in the Sky", "Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)", for example). The rest is rather excellent progressive rock. Personally I find this album underrated and actually has worthwhile material making this album worth having. Plus, just like Sebastian Hardie before them, a rare example of prog from Australia.