Alpha

I avoided this album for many years, mainly due to the bad reviews of it. It is not nearly as strong as the debut and far less rocking and progressive. Strange mix too, with Howe and Palmer very low in the mix. The whole album sounds like it is in the background! Yet....I still think this is a good album. I really started listening to it a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. Besides the wonderful lead off track Don’t Cry, my favorite songs are on the second half of the album, songs like Eye To Eye, True Colors and Midnight Sun. Lots of catchy vocal melodies by John Wetton, who is in very good voice here. It would have been nice to hear more of Steve Howe on this, whose guitar playing was such an integral part of the songs on the first album. However, I still like this album.