Depending on the format in which you first hear this album, you probably will come away with a different impression. In my estimation, listening to it in the order as presented on the original LP is preferable. The Musea CD however "front loads" what would appear to be the ear grabbing prog epic as it were, that of the title track. It's either that, or they were trying to mask the album's true opener 'Life in Our Hands'. For anyone who enjoyed Sebastian Hardie or Windchase, 'Life in Our Hands' is not an egregious opener, but rather one direction Millo has always pursued. As I wrote in my Four Moments notes, Millo is a true romantic at heart, so it comes as no surprise to hear an AOR styled number opening the album. But this is Millo after all, and so it's definitely "proggy AOR". Had this been heard by record executives in America in 1979 - and most assuredly it was not - then I could see it obtaining well earned radio play at the time. 'Mary's Theme' is yet another Millo avenue - that of jazz fusion. It's a fine instrumental, calling out his Camel influence, but I also hear Nova in this track (minus the sax). 'Quest Theme' is a different pursuit, more classically influenced with acoustic guitar and flute, but not folky at all, and is a style one might hear in late 70s Spain for example. 'Harlequin and Columbine', however, is best skipped over. Sounding like a Broadway play interlude, it's the kind of music one would hear in the dead-zone mid hour of a 70s variety show like the Carol Burnett Show. Cornball and a waste of time really. 'Castaway' gets things back on the rails, and is yet another departure for Millo. This is the only true solo track, yet Millo plays many instruments including drums. To my ears it sounds like what the French were doing in this era - a type of funky jazz electronic prog - something akin to Georges Grunblatt or Patrick Vian perhaps. 'Sogno d'Amore' brings back the lineup of 'Mary's Theme' and is similarly very good.
That gets us to the album's closer (or opener haha), the lengthy title track. To me, it's as if Millo consolidated all the ideas of the above tracks into a multi-part suite. This is why I feel it's more effective as a closer. That is to say it works best as a summary rather than as a table of contents.
The CD includes an additional track 'Rebecca' (sister of Rosanna per chance? See Four Moments...), and is yet another fine song in the Windchase tradition. Overall... an excellent album.
Ownership: LP: 1979 Polydor. Gatefold. Online acquisition (2014). This replaced the Musea CD which was my fist copy (2000).
2000; 11/9/18 (new entry)
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