Introduction/Heaven/Hell/Fugue In D Minor/The Dream
Self titled debut album from the British progressive band Gracious. Their music featured tracks of extended length in which some critics considered that they had overreached themselves.
“This is one of those albums that are all over the place. Some call it messy or unfocused. Some may call it pompous and overreaching and it's obvious that at times this does seem like an amateurish attempt to create something grander than is actually realized.”
“The music meanders through different genres ranging from heavy psych to mellotron drenched symphonic prog, and even from ragtime to medieval folk music with a whole track devoted to a classical fugue. These come and go and ramble and twist and turn and you never really know where they are going, which is part of the charm.”
“Side A is really nice, melodic and accessible, especially Introduction and Heaven. With Hell they felt compelled to create a spooky quirky messy recording, but to me it's still within likable boundaries. Side B is much less interesting; it has more ambition than substance, but a track of 17 minutes is over the top for the ideas at hand.”
“A worthwhile album, especially on the freak-out moments, which are top notch. This band was capable of wonderful pop melodies when the mood suited them.”
“Their debut was a careful mix of classical piano/harpsichord/mellotron work with bluesy electric/smooth acoustic guitars and dreamy vocals, creating an album consisting generally of complicated structures.”
“Semi-commercial prog rock, featuring vocal harmony and some hard rock passages. Overall, it suffers from substantial inconsistency.”
“If patchy and eclectic were synonymous this would be a masterpiece. That said, this is an album of fairly good musicianship, blessed with several good passages, or tracks, which deserve an attentive listen.”
“Their debut still carries strong reminders of the psych era but pushes onward into classical territory, resulting in a nice blending of various styles in a rock format.”
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