Fountains of Light

I got this album when it first came out in 1977, and have been enjoying it ever since. Though often compared to, and obviously influenced by Yes (of whom I was also a big fan), I felt that Starcastle's music was less rhythmically complex, and richer in texture, both instrumentally and vocally, especially on this album, which I consider their best. Their 3rd album, "Citadel," is also excellent. After that, they sold out to pop influences and justly faded away. The music on this album, especially when played at sufficient volume, is a fine, sensual experience, with an ethereal quality unlike any to be found in contemporary rock. Highly recommended for discriminating progressive rock lovers.

This album is, undoubtedly, Starcastle's masterpiece. Three long songs per side that flow one into the other. They have my vote as the best American progressive rock group of the 70's. The comparisons to YES are inevitable: a high tenor vocalist, mystical lyrics, trebly bass to the forefront and tons of complex keyboard pomp. The production of Roy Thomas Baker is superb. The album flows seamlessly with not a weak link to be found. This is melodic, symphonic rock at its most precious and refined. The vocal harmonies are ethereal. The overall energy is bright and positive. Highlights (on an album of tremendous consistency) for me are the epic "Fountains" and the absolutely beautiful "Portraits" which (along with "Lady of the Lake" from their 1st album) stand alongside the best of Yes or Kansas. Their main distinction from Yes is that the music is more accessible and less self-indulgent. The band plays and harmonizes as a whole, without long, pompous, instrumental duelling between the members. This is an album that uplifts the spirit. It truly is a Fountain of Light in an era where progressive music was largely in decay. HUGELY recommended!

Even in their own time, Starcastle was slagged as a Yes-clone but these days with a whole genre of neo-prog and entire labels such as Magna Carta devoted to clone-bands, it seems acceptable to finally give this band some credit as a great prog band. Of course they were Yes clones, but they were so darned GOOD at it that it's hard to think of that as a minus.

On this, their second album, Starcastle shrugged off the last vestige of originality from the debut, the atmospheric instrumentals, and aimed for nothing less than 100% Yes. They nearly succeeded too. Still, neither guitarist could touch Steve Howe, and while Jon Anderson could hardly be called a belter, Terry Lutrell makes him sound like Louie Armstrong! In other words, the vocals are more than a bit wimpy. As on the other Starcastle albums, the real star is keyboardist Herb Schildt who was one of the most underrated prog keyboardists and turns in terrific performances all over the band's catalogue.

Fountains of Light is a rather short recording even by vinyl standards, but the length is just perfect as each song blends nicely into the next so that while this isn't a concept album, it still has that conceptual "togetherness" that the best of 70's art-rock featured. Nobody makes this type of record anymore, mainly because it's almost impossible to sustain through the hour-or-more length of CD's these days. Classic prog fans should definitely check out this band's first three albums, with this one recommended as the first to get.

Consumer note: this is a CD-R and like many CD-R's I find that the volume needs to be turned up even on good systems. The cover scan is poorly done and an affront to the original artwork, done by the same guy who did several Kansas covers. The trimming almost cuts off the lyrics at the far right of the inside cover as well, and I could have made a better back cover than this on my home computer. Still, this is about the only way you're going to find this CD and it's worth the inconvenience since it's such a good record.