Happy the Man - Crafty Hands. 1978 USA-Washington D.C.

In 1978, every American band on a major label were looking for their next - or first - radio hit. Not Happy the Man. In fact, Crafty Hands is even less commercial than the debut. Of course the conclusion to such antics was predictable, and they were booted off the roster over a "3 martini lunch" as the band recalls. At least they went off in style.

Though the album is arguably more progressive oriented, that doesn't necessarily translate to better in my book. But the debut is a high bar to hurdle, and I'm afraid they ran right into it. There are once again three types of music to be found here. One is a majestic, classically oriented symphonic sound, with occasional Asian scales interspersed. Like a cross between The Enid and mid 70s era Jade Warrior. You'll hear this sound on the opening two tracks, the closer, and 'Open Book'. Then there's the twisted, technically oriented prog rock as found on the debut, and these are represented by 'Ibby It Is', 'Steaming Pipes', and 'I Forgot to Push It'. Which leaves the odd track out. It's the only one with vocals this time, and an unusual sound for Happy the Man. 'Wind Up Doll Day Wind' takes a page of out of the Trick of the Tail playbook, and infuses it with a modern energy and instrumentation. By God if Happy the Man didn't predict the neo prog movement by four years or so. Not something I'd ever associated HTM with before, but a close listen revealed something new.

In the end, a very good album. Borderline 3.5 to 4 stars. Going with the latter, figuring one good craft(y) beer will take it a half star further anyways.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Arista. Single sleeve. Purchased from a friend in 2014. My first copy goes back to finding at a record store in Ft. Wayne, Indiana way back in 1992. It had the usual cut corner (my current copy finally does not), and I sold it when the first Japanese CDs came out. At one point I had four copies of this album - this LP and three different CDs: The original Japanese, the Japanese mini, and the Esoteric version. The latter had excellent documentation but terrible sound. The other two sounded fine but no documentation (in English that is). So the winner and champion is? The original LP. Ha. The rest are sold off.

9/23/92; 10/14/16; 4/7/17 (new entry)