Search - Quicksand :: Home Is Where I Belong (Mlps)

Great album - POOR production

Cervello | 09/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album is excellent, melodic with lots of vocal harmonies, organ and great guitar playing. The songs are leaning towards progressive rock with songs that are both complex and still very memorable and lighthearted. It's full of joy and high spirit, manifested in great, driving rhytms, powerful melodies and memorable choruses. I tried to get the Si-Wan edition but it never was available at my local record store. So I was very pleased to see the re-release of this nice album in a digipac, on the Breathless/Abraxas label. Oh how disappointed I was when I heard the first seconds though - a very bad sound. Obviously this is a job of a poor transfer from a vinyl that is very scratchy in places. Especially noticeable in quiet passages but actually the constant hiss and scrathes are really disturbing throughout the album! I really must send out a warning here - get the Si-Wan edition if you can! Ok so this digipac is looking really good and comes with a booklet but believe me - its the MUSIC that matters, right? It is really boring that these kind of bad cd releases constantly come out all the time still. One would think that by now in 2005, people would manage to do a tolerable mastering or transfer to CD. But not in this case. And the lyricspages inside the booklet are mixed up also. A really bad job.

So, the rest is up to you... I for sure, will sell my copy and go for the Si-Wan edition or some other expensive import edition that has good sound."

Little Known Welsh Gem

E. Dollinger | Tokyo, Japan | 01/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Somewhat capricious in nature, commercial success never graced Quicksand, a Welsh outfit whose sole LP plays better than many discs that were well received.



Home Is Where I Belong consists of 8 quality plays with each track steeped in rich melody and harmonies. Although progressive, the album is not dominated by keyboards. In fact, the balanced inter-play between guitar and keyboards is one the LP's strongest points... discreet use of mellotron adds to the appeal. Sunlight Brings Shadows is representative.



Though hardly a siker, the two most potent tracks, Seasons ~ Alpha Omega and Overcome the Patterns ~ Flying, are not without some welcome flashes of lysergia. Home Is Where I Belong may not be 5 star but it's certainly spinworthy.

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