I can't remember the exact circumstances of how I learned about Toronto's Small Wonder, but I think I may have been searching for mellotron on ebay, when this album showed up. Never heard of it. I went over to the ever reliable Planet Mellotron, where Andy had four T's on it, which is a very significant amount. He wasn't fond of the music, but since the album was being offered for something like $2, I figured what the hell. This was back in 2014, long before my thriftin' days. But this isn't something you'd likely find in that scenario either (and it would probably cost more - like $3 lol). A portion of my original scratch off notes stated: "Small Wonder's debut is a straightforward mid 70s AOR album. The songwriting is pretty good, the vocal harmonies are in the higher register similar to many bands of the era (think a very poppy Yes for example), and there is some real talent displayed on the instruments. It's very much like half the albums that came out in 1976, and were played on the radio incessantly. How Small Wonder didn't catch on can only be explained by the sheer glut of albums that were similar." On reflection, that's pretty accurate. I would take it a step further and suggest that it reminds me of Starcastle's Citadel without any prog rock epics. But it sounds like a prog album. The instrumentation includes woody bass, violin, and an arsenal of analog keyboards, most notably the aforementioned Mellotron along with copious amounts of Moog. Obviously these guys were prog heads, that showed up way too late for the party, and had a go at AOR instead. The tunes are well written, and honestly they should have made a mark in their day. I find myself enjoying this one much more than on original impact.
Ownership: LP: 1976 Columbia (Canada). Single sleeve. Online acquisition (2014).
3/7/14 (first listen); 6/2/21 (review/new entry)
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