Search - Wigwam :: Fairyport

The masters of 70's Finnish progressive rock ... but

Lethe | Milan, Italy | 03/13/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was their fist progressive attempt (after two issues), a song based progressive rock with elements of jazz and classical music ...BUT THE RIGHT RATE SHOULD BE 3 STAR AND 1/2, AS THE LAST 17 MINUTES SUITE - A NOISY ANSD SLOPPY LIVE JAM - IS QUITE WEAK AND NOT USEFUL!!Moreover the piano and the organ are always the dominant instruments here and I don't like this situation very much; nevermind, because stunning tracks such as "Hot mice", "One more try" or "Gray trators" are the best example of their symphonic influence within their music, sometimes in the vein of The Enid...the songwriting is good and the keyboardplayer Jukka Gustavson has been always the progressive soul of Wigwam; while on the opposite Jim Pembroke represents the lightest and less interesting side of the band !!
Good, even though not completely essential,70's finnish progressive rock album ..."

Finlands incredible double album

Cervello | 09/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A pretty incredible double album which in fact was a major step forward from their previous album "Tombstone Valentine". Here all of keyboardplayer Jukka Gustavsons musical visions come together to form a sprawling and inspiring musical piece. One must not forget the important contributions bye bassplayer Pekka Pohjola or the songs penned by Jim Pembroke, the singer. The slightly quirky, more complex songs were made and arranged bye Gustavson and the more straight forward tunes bye Pembroke. The main ingredient is jazzy prog with lots of Zappa influence but also other bands like Caravan. The fantastic opener "Losing hold" introduces their powerful sound, followed by Pembrokes touching pianoballad "Lost without a trace". Then comes the titeltrack with its tight arrangements, backed up by hornsection. After that follows more complex tracks by Gustavson. Pohjolas instrumental "Hot mice" is indeed one of the strongest tracks here. The long live track "Rave-up for the roadies" (17:20) smokes all the way through, Jukka Tolonen on guest guitar does some realle marvellous work here. This is one of the best finnish albums and the obvious starting point if you are interested to check out WigWam."

Forgotten melodic prog classic

Riku Simonen | 12/25/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the finest forgotten prog albums of the 70's, Wigwam as its best. More progressive than later Wigwam albums and more understandable than "Being". It has truly beautiful prog songs and last song is cool prog version of Sibelius classic "Finlandia"."