From Amazon.co.uk
Other bands had done folk rock and progressive rock; Gryphon did progressive folk, a concept so extraordinary that nobody else had even contemplated it before (or since, we might add). Formed by a bunch of graduates from the Royal College of Music, the band's musical eclecticism produced such a weird hybrid that Gryphon--a mythological mix of eagle and lion--was the only sensible choice of name. Their eponymous first album mixes traditional tunes with original compositions, all performed in ultra-complex arrangements by the multi-instrumentalists on recorders, assorted guitars, keyboards, and the utterly unique sonority of bassoon and crumhorn (the latter an antiquated precursor of the former). However, Gryphon's second album,
Midnight Mushrumps, is their finest hour, consolidating and extending the band's captivating soundworld. The title track, originally conceived as a ballet by composer Richard Harvey, is a 19-minute suite of breathtaking musical boldness and well worth the price of this two-album disc alone. (Post-Gryphon, Harvey went on to compose film scores and other orchestral music, including a guitar concerto for John Williams). Subsequently, Gryphon never could surpass the achievement of this album, but thanks to this CD reissue their audacious fusion has now been rescued from the mythological fate of their namesake.
--Mark Walker
