Flash Out Of Our Hands (1973) [j. Edition 2010]

Dutch/Mexican symphonic/progressive metallers STREAM OF PASSION will release their new album, "A War Of Our Own", on April 18 via PIAS/Rough Trade. The CD is described in a press release as "the result of the struggle the band had to endure after they decided to part ways with their record label and continue on their own path."

King Crimson opened 1970 scarcely in existence as a band, having lost two key members (Ian McDonald and Michael Giles), with a third (Greg Lake) about to leave. Their second album - largely composed of Robert Fripp's songwriting and material salvaged from their stage repertory ("Pictures of a City" and "The Devil's Triangle") - is actually better produced and better sounding than their first. Surprisingly, Fripp's guitar is not the dominant instrument here: The Mellotron, taken over by Fripp after McDonald's departure - and played even better than before - still remains the band's signature. The record doesn't tread enough new ground to precisely rival In the Court of the Crimson King. Fripp, however, has made an impressive show of transmuting material that worked on stage ("Mars" aka "The Devil's Triangle") into viable studio creations, and "Cadence and Cascade" may be the prettiest song the group ever cut…