The English progressive rock band Pilgrym released in 2004 a very fine debut album entitled Pilgrimage. One can describe the music on this album as neo-prog that sometimes reminds me of Pendragon. However, Pilgrym use a lot more vintage keyboards. The fine mellotron and Hammond parts played by Andy Wells brought many prog heads into higher spheres. Since that release, I’m patiently waiting for their second album, but the long expected The Great Divide has not been released yet. Only a short EP saw the light of day in 2007. Most tracks on this EP are demo versions and remixed versions of early recordings. The band’s new bass player Creedy recorded some new bass lines for Black Sun, which originally appeared on Pilgrimage. In the meantime, he found the time to record a solo album. The music on Privileged Vagabond however, cannot be compared to Pilgrym at all. Creedy wrote and performed all ten tracks on the acoustic guitar, so the music sounds very relaxed and mellow, no neo-prog at all. Most of the time Creedy accompanies himself on the acoustic guitar, which gives the music a touch of folk-rock. Occasionally he sings and plays percussion and tablas. Creedy has a fine distinctive voice that reminds me of Andy Tillison (Tangent), but apparently, he realized that the sound of a voice and a single acoustic guitar might become boring. Thus, he asked Andy Wells, who also produced and engineered the album, to include some extra instruments, like accordion and bass pedals, to colour the music. The fine sound of the mellotron, several synthesizers and the vintage Hammond organ certainly made this album more enjoyable and they slightly move the music in the direction of progressive rock music from time to time. Most of the songs on Privileged Vagabond are well worth listening too, but I must admit that I had some trouble to keep focused throughout the album. One hour at most, but preferably less would have been enough. I must confess that this new CD of a Pilgrym related release didn’t stop me from dreaming of a real new Pilgrym album. So, please don’t keep me waiting any longer. *** Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
