The Clockwork Fable
| The Clockwork Fable | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Album Cover for "The Clockwork Fable" | ||||
| Studio album by Gandalf's Fist | ||||
| Released | 01 May 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2016 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 3:14:02 | |||
| Label | Independent | |||
| Producer | Dean Marsh | |||
| Gandalf's Fist chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Clockwork Fable is the sixth regular studio album by the English progressive rock band Gandalf's Fist. Released on 1 May 2016,[1] it is a three disc spanning rock-opera interspersed with a professionally acted radio play between the actual songs. Each disc of the record serves as an individual element of a traditional three-act structure.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Babyblaue Seiten (de) |   [2] |
| Classic Rock Magazine | [3] |
Classic Rock Magazine's Geoff Barton wrote "a conceptional tour de force, it reduces Rick Wakeman's The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table to the level of a Chas & Dave Cockney knees-up." in his review in issue 224, awarding it 9/10 Points.[3]
Prog Magazine's Steve Pilkington writes "[...] Imagine The War Of The Worlds if it had been tackled by Ayreon rather than Jeff Wayne and you’re halfway there. Indeed, Arjen Lucassen’s just one of the guests here, along with Blaze Bayley (Iron Maiden), and prog-savvy actors Mark Benton and Zach ‘Gremlins’ Galligan. [...] this is a career-defining, magical epic."[4]
Fireworks Magazine writes "[...] lengthy progressive epics [...] nothing short of stunning. [...] If you love 70s prog with an eye for Jethro Tull, Genesis and the Pop leanings of Greg Lake, the 80s update the likes of IQ, Galahad or Twelfth Night provided, or even the more pointed stabs of Porcupine Tree, you'll find them all here. As you will a slice of Prog Metal technicality and hefty helping of intrinsically British NWOBHM fret fury – and obviously the storytelling of War Of The Worlds. [...] an album that genuinely deserves to be given the accolade of current and future classic. Conceptual, progressive rock, genuinely doesn't get better than this."
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Dean Marsh, except where noted. All Lead vocals by Dean Marsh, except where noted.
| Disc One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
| 1. | "The Traveller and the Lighter" | 4:13 | ||
| 2. | "Shadowborn" | Hollick | 6:51 | |
| 3. | "The unminable zone" | 2:32 | ||
| 4. | "The Lamplighter (Parts I-VIII)" | Marsh, Hollick | 15:58 | |
| 5. | "In the Cavern of the Great Cog" | 3:52 | ||
| 6. | "The Great Cog" | Marsh, Hepe | 5:15 | |
| 7. | "The Shadow rises..." | 5:52 | ||
| 8. | "The Capture (Including the Song for a Fallen Nightkeeper)" | Severn, Marsh | 6:51 | |
| 9. | "Waiting for Exile" | 7:05 | ||
| 10. | "Eve's Song" | Hollick | 8:27 | |
| Total length: | 67:00 | |||
| Disc Two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
| 1. | "A Sermon for Shadowmas" | 7:18 | ||
| 2. | "Victims of the Light" | Oberlé, Marsh | 7:31 | |
| 3. | "Old Friends, new Enemies" | 7:18 | ||
| 4. | "Ditchwater Daisies" | Marsh, Hollick | 5:32 | |
| 5. | "De-ranged" | 3:54 | ||
| 6. | "The Lamplighter (Parts IX-XIII)" | Marsh, Hepe, Severn | Lucassen, Hollick, Severn | 6:59 |
| 7. | "In the Name of the Spy" | 8:16 | ||
| 8. | "The Bewildering Conscience of a Clockwork Child" | 15:45 | ||
| 9. | "Escape!" | 8:45 | ||
| 10. | "A Solemn Toast for the Steam Ranger Reborn" | Marsh, Oberlé | 8:45 | |
| Total length: | 71:14 | |||
| Disc Three | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
| 1. | "The oldest Flame" | 7:18 | |
| 2. | "The Lamplighter (Parts XIV-XV)" | 7:31 | |
| 3. | "Flight for the Surface" | 7:18 | |
| 4. | "The Climb" | Marsh, Hollick | 5:32 |
| 5. | "At the Summit" | 3:54 | |
| 6. | "Fight for the Light" | Marsh, Dying Seed | 6:59 |
| 7. | "Quest for Power" | 8:16 | |
| 8. | "At the Sign of the Aperture" | Bayley | 15:45 |
| 9. | "A Machine serves his purpose" | 8:45 | |
| 10. | "The Clockwork Fable" | 8:45 | |
| 11. | "Escape from Cogtopolis" | 8:45 | |
| 12. | "Through the Lens" | Hollick | 8:45 |
| 13. | "Epilogue - Oh Bugger!" | 8:45 | |
| Total length: | 71:14 | ||
Personnel
- Dean Marsh – 6 and 12 string electric guitars, mandolin, octave mandola, keyboards, lead and backing vocals
- Luke Severn – lead and backing vocals
- Stefan Hepe – drums, percussion
- Christopher Ewen – bass guitar
- Guest musicians
- Melissa Hollick - lead and backing vocals
- Dave Oberlé - lead and backing vocals, Bodhran and Tan-Tan
- Arjen Lucassen - lead vocals
- Blaze Bayley - lead vocals
- Matt Stevens – 6 and 12 string electric guitars
- Voice actors
- Mark Benton
- Zach Galligan
- Paul Kavanagh
- Bill Fellows
- Tim Munro
- Paul Barnhill
References
- ↑ Martin Kielty (2016-03-21). "Teamrock News: Gandalf's Fist reveal The Clockwork Fable guest list". teamrock.com. Retrieved 30 Mar 2016.
- ↑ Kohlruss, Thomas. "The Clockwork Fable". Babyblaue Seiten. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- 1 2 Barton, Geoff. "Prog Round-Up July 2016". Issue 224 - July 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ↑ Pilkington, Steve. "Gandalf's Fist: The Clockwork Fable album review". Teamrock.com. Retrieved 18 June 2016.