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REVIEW OF - SONGS FROM THE BILSTON HOUSE"
MARC (PROGGNOSIS)

At the same time I got Guy Manning's latest album Number 10 (2009), I also received his previous from two years back : Songs From The Bilston House.

I enjoyed Number 10 (see my other review) but I consider Songs From The Bilston House to be even better. Great Prog/Pop compositions with a hint of Canterbury and Jazz. Of all his solo albums I think that this is perhaps his best or near to it. Even Guy's singing sounds better to me. On some tracks at least, he manages to find a voice that fits pretty well with the music, even though at his best he can only be an average singer.

Hopefully someday, like Steve Hackett, Chris Squire or Andy Latimer (to name a few), Guy Manning will realise that he is a brilliant composer and performer... but not a lead singer. If he does, I would even suggest he put out a "best of" album with invited guest vocalist. I would run to my local CD to buy that one.

Still, Songs From The Bilston House is an album that should be interesting to any Prog lover. If you are not familiar with him, I would recommend that you visit Guy Manning's Myspace page and check him out.