Comments for Evans, Chris and Hanselmann, David, Stonehenge

Released towards the end of the great era of progressive concept albums this one is a consistently listenable and interesting package. While there is no real orchestration the use of extensive keyboards, acoustic guitars (and some electric solos), bass, drums and percussion still create a magnificent, textured sound, with David Hanselmann`s incredibly versatile voice managing to sound like a many different vocalists (if the additional guest Hebrew bible reading and vocoder part were not enough). Hanselmann`s range is quite stunning as he effortly sails up to extremely high notes (he sounds sometimes like Jon Anderson), but the sensible direction of the album has him singing some songs in his warm lower range as well. Overall, it`s comparable in many ways to the first few Alan Parsons Project albums, albeit a smaller production in execution. It is commendably literate and erudite in its use of the works of different writers pertinent to its theme (such as Blake), which sound less pretentious than you might anticipate (don`t think of "This is Spinal Tap"). The sound also totally avoids falling into any heavy metal or celtic sounds (which might seem appropriate today), instead using its own unique sound. Very enjoyable. (Ian C. Thomas)