CLEAR BLUE SKY - DESTINY – 1971 (UK) heavy progressive

The first two songs on the album, the title-track and Pick Up, are simply wonderful, by all means. Especially impressive is that they not only follow the vein of the best tracks from the previous album, but also show a logical compositional development in comparison with them and, most importantly, in terms of diversity of themes and arrangements. There are more than enough progressive things in Destiny and Pick Up to regard them as real progressive killers, though the presence of brilliant keyboard parts and solos (by an unknown yet very talented keyboard player) on the title-track makes it a winner. (To this very style Hawkwind came in 1974 on the "Hall of the Mountain Grill" album.) In all other respects Destiny and Pick Up are like twin progressive brothers, whose place is exactly at the head of the album's track-list. Although other songs are also very good on their own right, the first two tracks surpass all of them in all senses. In other words, the further development of events on "Destiny" isn't too rich on events as such, as it was the case with the previous album, too, when The Journey To the Inside of the Sun was just finished. In respect of musical progressiveness, tracks 3 to 6, Bottom of Your Soul, Follow the Light, Back On the Road Again, and Vagabonds, have more or less the same characteristics as Mystify, Tools of My Frade, and I'm Coming Home from the swirled with Vertigo's indifference (to its real status) "CBSII" album. The only detail (which is major, though, - with regard to the band's firm style, formed already during the "Out of the Blue" recording sessions), that differ from most of the "Destiny" tracks from the "CBSII" album almost as a whole, is the presence of a solid number of elements that make up the Space Rock sound. Of course, it also feels great to hear John's wonderful solos (as well as a lot of other musical moves) firmly backed by his own heavy and strong riffs. The closing three songs of original "Destiny" album are the shortest tracks here. The 7th track, When I Call Your Name, with another invisible guest (or were these two guests just ghosts?), performing a couple sax solos, is the most mellow song on the album, whose stylistic "sister" may be the previous album's closing track. Both the following songs Waiting for the Day and Killing Time structurally are, in itself, similar to the Four that go right after the two opening masterpieces, but there is too little playing time in each of them to stretch a more or less large-scale musical palette.

John Simms - guitars, vocals
Ken White - drums
Mark Sheather - bass
1 Destiny
2 Pick Up
3 Bottom of Your Soul
4 Follow the Light
5 Back on the Road Again
6 Vagabonds
7 When I Call Your Name
8 Waiting for the Day
9 Killing Time

A great step forward (return to form, keeping in mind "Out of the Blue"?) that the band took on the first two tracks of "Destiny" is, unfortunately, marred with a series of more accessible songs in the way typical for Clear Blue Sky's previous album, though I really like this good, original, hard-edged proto-progressive. There are, however, as many as three songs that are too simple to these ears on the band's third album (tracks 7 to 9), so even counting Could This Be the Way, I can't estimate "Destiny" higher than just a very good album and only as a whole. Actually, I think at the time of "Destiny" the band already showed signs of stagnation. Destiny is the word. But Destiny loves those who can find the strength to bounce back and the return of the mighty Clear Blue Sky is really glorious

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/247612/