0446. David Ackles
American Gothic

This one took me by surprise! The description "folk rock" for me has strong connotations to The Flying Burrito Brothers, but the title track American Gothic blasts off like a Brel-song with a narrative of a delusional marriage delivered with dramatic overtones [fact check: cool, I'm not the only one to think of Brel when I listen to this! okay, this wasn't as much of a fact check as an "I'm with it"-self check].

Recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra it's an album of as intricate as well as at times possibly overwhelming music. And while not all of the songs are as great as the first track (like Love's Enough and the religious praisal of Family Band), and even though some of them are dangerously near sounding like Laura Nyro-type showtunes, there's a line Ackles just won't cross.

By the way, the final song, ten minute epic Montana Land, sounds like the theme for a western TV series that could have knocked Bonanza right out of its time-slot.