Shadowfax
Watercourse Way

Born from the will of the late Chuck Greenberg, the "chicagoans" Shadowfax made a name for themselves during the eighties for their seminal production under the aegis of the Windham Hill label. Through the works "Shadowfax" and "Shadowdance," respectively from 1982 and 1983, they contributed to bringing luster to the (already more than excellent) Windham catalog and achieved, among other things, a fair amount of success among enthusiasts.

In 1985, the record company decided to reissue their debut album, which had already been released under another label (and different artwork) back in 1976: "Watercourse Way" shows a band, already refined by four years of perfection, grappling with progressive rock. The Atlantic Ocean is immense, but the echoes of British prog are significant; the Americans, however, learn (as always) to shape the formula their own way. Thus, on one hand, their geographic origin saves them from the overwhelming presence of their cousins (and from consequently being seen as anonymous or derivative), while on the other hand, they strive in their own way to create something unusual through heavy fusion influences: the result is anomalous compared to the stylistic features of the time, a bastardized instrumental progressive immersed in naturalistic atmospheres, with the addition of fantasies certainly drawn from Tolkien's literary works (from which the group's name is inspired).

In the album, crafted by the percussion, lies the thick and continuous coating of a sophisticated rhythmic texture, supported by a full-bodied bass and, at times, obsessive keyboards. On this initial, robust stream, the electric guitar slips in and creates unpredictable patterns in "The Shape of a Word" and "Linear Dance." A surprising bucolic interval (seasoned with medieval echoes) follows in "Petite Aubade," whose solfeggiations pave the way for the stratospheric, powerful yet fluctuating "Book of Hours," perhaps the exemplary song of the album. Preceded by the naturalistic and dreamy "Watercourse Way," the second side ends with the heterogeneous "Song for my Brother", a sort of hybrid rock ballad that deviates from what was heard in the previous tracks.

A work that might be immature from an expressive point of view, but technically superb. A fundamentally atypical work, the expression of a sort of impure prog but certainly free from compromises. Will lovers of Albion prog appreciate it?