Inhaling Green takes our hero even further than his previous album Straight On Till Morning which was definitely one of 1993's hidden gems. This new project sees Nick expanding his horizons in a variety of ways.

The album opener Velociraptor is, unlike its title, no dinosaur of a track; instead it is a Hi Energy start to the proceedings with a superb synth rock track which even Genesis legend Tony Banks would be proud to call his own. This is in turn followed by the filmic beauty of Free The Spirit, which definitely belongs on a soundtrack somewhere if there is any justice - film producers take note! Nick manages to weave the sounds of a variety of instruments into a delightfully whistful whole.

The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea is another track which deserves to be in a film. Certainly there is a mixture of drama tinged with romance to this one and I am sure that someone will eventually set lyrics to it at some point, turning it into a delightful song. As Nick himself said during our interview, Cantus is the album's first Disco Diva track, with a space aged introduction and infectious rhythm track which to my ears can best be described as "The Pet Shop Boys meet Enya" and this would be a HUGE hit on the dance floors if released as a single.

Conquistador harks back to a more melodic time and is "High Noon meets The Magnificent Seven" - an austere track full of the pride and passion of Old Spain. Dixon Hill is the Swing band track, which for some unknown reason reminds me of the theme tune to the Eighties detective series Shoestring. This is in turn complimented by the delightfully romantic Veil Of Sighs whose main theme echoes the classic Are You Going To Scarborough Fair tune without being in the least derivative. The flute is simply gorgeous, and the accompanying guitar and keyboards are delightfully understated - a classic!

Nick's "four on the floor" version of Van Der Graaf's classic Theme One is still as infectious as the original was all those years ago, and this is almost Oldfield-esque in places, and a suitable companion for Cantus. The album's title track and magnum opus (or should that be Magnus opus?) rounds off the album, beginning with Anatomy Of The Mind which is a delightfully atmospheric piece that weaves a spell of magic over the listener, and which echoes in the vaults of the mind long after it is over. Stripping Of The Flesh is an infinitely more strident piece accompanied by another infectious bass rhythm and an eerie vocalisation which in turn leads into the final piece of this suite; Weighing Of The Souls which continues the theme with a truly awesome keyboard fanfare echoing back to the halcyon days of "progressive" rock at its finest, and the haunting vocal mantra combines with some superb playing to draw the album to a highly satisfying close.

Copyright Alan Hewitt, The Waiting Room, 1999