ANTHONY PHILLIPS - SIDES - 1978

A rare album of full-band accompaniment for Genesis' original guitarist. Ant's rhythm section here is comprised of Caravan bassist John G. Perry and Crimson drummer Mike Giles. Nevertheless, Sides is quite an uneven, schizoid release. The first side is comprised of mostly crummy pop songs. The only tune I like here is "Lucy Will"; a simple, effective tune about love and diverging life-paths. As for the others, "Side Door" and "Holy Deadlock" are dreadful forays into disco-pop and mock-reggae, respectively. "I Want Your Love" is even worse, being a particularly horrid entry in the sappy love-ballad sweepstakes. On the second side, though, Ant lets loose the progressive rock lion. Specifically, I'm thinking of "Sisters of Remindum" and "Nightmare," two excellent Canterbury-styled prog instrumentals that blow the roof off everything else on the album. Also picking up the slack left from the first side are the very British "Bleak House" and "Magdalen," each dispatched in fine, Geese and the Ghost form. Definitely not a perfect album, but Sides does have its share of enjoyable (and occasionally spectacular) moments. The CD re-issue features 2 extra cuts: an instrumental version of "Magdalen" and "Souvenir."
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