Alan Simon - Excalibur IV: The Dark Age of the Dragon (2017)
EAC Rip | FLAC (image+.cue, log) ~ 524.35 Mb + 66.05 Mb (Scans) | 01:13:04
Folk Rock / Celtic | Country: UK | Label: Babaïka Productions - EXCAL-4-CD
EAC Rip | FLAC (image+.cue, log) ~ 524.35 Mb + 66.05 Mb (Scans) | 01:13:04
Folk Rock / Celtic | Country: UK | Label: Babaïka Productions - EXCAL-4-CD
The first reference I saw to Alan Simon was the credit on Sonja Kristina’s recent anthology – it’s the track that’s also included here called ‘The Passion’. Then an Alan Simon compilation arrives to add to the stack of promos. So where does he come from?
In truth for nearly 25 years, Simon has peddled a strain of Gallic prog, mostly evidenced in the Excalibur series of which this is the latest development. He’s also collaborated with the likes of Roger Hodgson (Supertramp) although remaining an essentially Franco phenomena.
Excalibur IV is an ambitious project which brings together – virtually – a cluster of “name” musicians to add credibility. So we get John Helliwell (Supertramp) on saxes, Martin Barre on guitar whilst Michael Sadler (Saga), Bernie Shaw (Uriah Heep) and Moya Brennan (Clannad) add vocals on various tracks. Tull/Barre fans should be warned, though, that Martin doesn’t let rip and his contribution should be viewed as supportive rather than centre stage. Even on a couple of excellent instrumentals.
There is a gentle Celtic theme underpinning the project as you might expect and reinforced by the presence of both Brennan and the legend and fellow countryman that is Alan Stivell.
Musically, it is very well executed and beautifully orchestrated. Stylistically, the widescreen prog proportions of Alan Parsons comes to mind and tracks like ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ sung by Roberto Tiranti (ex-Labyrinth) and the two Moya Brennan pieces are strong enough when taken out of context. I shall now treat that compilation, hidden in the stack of promos, with more respect and anticipation. ~ Review by David Randall
Track List:
1 The Wings Of The Dragon
2 Alone
3 Stonehenge
4 I'm Not The Only One
5 Calling For You
6 Don't Be Afraid
7 Silver Moon
8 Dreamers
9 The Last Lament Of A Fairy
10 The New Times
11 Forget Your Sorrow
12 The Fifth Season
13 The Passion
14 I Will Be Forever
15 Behind The Mist
16 You Don't Know
17 You Are The Sunshine
18 There Is Someone
19 Dun Angus II
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 24. December 2017, 13:02
Excalibur / The Dark Age of the Dragon
Used drive : Optiarc DVD RW AD-7260S Adapter: 1 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:59.55 | 0 | 26979
2 | 5:59.55 | 4:20.37 | 26980 | 46516
3 | 10:20.17 | 3:34.61 | 46517 | 62627
4 | 13:55.03 | 4:13.57 | 62628 | 81659
5 | 18:08.60 | 4:18.21 | 81660 | 101030
6 | 22:27.06 | 4:16.65 | 101031 | 120295
7 | 26:43.71 | 3:22.46 | 120296 | 135491
8 | 30:06.42 | 3:24.04 | 135492 | 150795
9 | 33:30.46 | 2:47.15 | 150796 | 163335
10 | 36:17.61 | 4:22.38 | 163336 | 183023
11 | 40:40.24 | 3:53.11 | 183024 | 200509
12 | 44:33.35 | 2:57.45 | 200510 | 213829
13 | 47:31.05 | 3:29.44 | 213830 | 229548
14 | 51:00.49 | 4:12.39 | 229549 | 248487
15 | 55:13.13 | 3:51.42 | 248488 | 265854
16 | 59:04.55 | 4:54.41 | 265855 | 287945
17 | 63:59.21 | 3:20.41 | 287946 | 302986
18 | 67:19.62 | 2:52.14 | 302987 | 315900
19 | 70:12.01 | 2:51.54 | 315901 | 328779
Range status and errors
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Filename C:\Мои документы\Excalibur - 2017 - The Dark Age of the Dragon.wav
Peak level 99.3 %
Extraction speed 4.4 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 5C2B4C29
Copy CRC 5C2B4C29
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
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Track 2 not present in database
Track 3 not present in database
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Track 14 not present in database
Track 15 not present in database
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.4
[CTDB TOCID: uUsgJz0s06ePF_qm9Cap85ZASBo-] found
Submit result: uUsgJz0s06ePF_qm9Cap85ZASBo- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
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3 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
4 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
5 | (1/2) Accurately ripped, or (1/2) differs in 29 samples @04:17:43-04:17:44
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7 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
8 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
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10 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
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16 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
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19 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum D72F824ED8A1287CFE4A21CDE9D69081D6D831413AC86E37103D34D5ACEBCBDC ====
EAC extraction logfile from 24. December 2017, 13:02
Excalibur / The Dark Age of the Dragon
Used drive : Optiarc DVD RW AD-7260S Adapter: 1 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:59.55 | 0 | 26979
2 | 5:59.55 | 4:20.37 | 26980 | 46516
3 | 10:20.17 | 3:34.61 | 46517 | 62627
4 | 13:55.03 | 4:13.57 | 62628 | 81659
5 | 18:08.60 | 4:18.21 | 81660 | 101030
6 | 22:27.06 | 4:16.65 | 101031 | 120295
7 | 26:43.71 | 3:22.46 | 120296 | 135491
8 | 30:06.42 | 3:24.04 | 135492 | 150795
9 | 33:30.46 | 2:47.15 | 150796 | 163335
10 | 36:17.61 | 4:22.38 | 163336 | 183023
11 | 40:40.24 | 3:53.11 | 183024 | 200509
12 | 44:33.35 | 2:57.45 | 200510 | 213829
13 | 47:31.05 | 3:29.44 | 213830 | 229548
14 | 51:00.49 | 4:12.39 | 229549 | 248487
15 | 55:13.13 | 3:51.42 | 248488 | 265854
16 | 59:04.55 | 4:54.41 | 265855 | 287945
17 | 63:59.21 | 3:20.41 | 287946 | 302986
18 | 67:19.62 | 2:52.14 | 302987 | 315900
19 | 70:12.01 | 2:51.54 | 315901 | 328779
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\Мои документы\Excalibur - 2017 - The Dark Age of the Dragon.wav
Peak level 99.3 %
Extraction speed 4.4 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 5C2B4C29
Copy CRC 5C2B4C29
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 not present in database
Track 2 not present in database
Track 3 not present in database
Track 4 not present in database
Track 5 not present in database
Track 6 not present in database
Track 7 not present in database
Track 8 not present in database
Track 9 not present in database
Track 10 not present in database
Track 11 not present in database
Track 12 not present in database
Track 13 not present in database
Track 14 not present in database
Track 15 not present in database
Track 16 not present in database
Track 17 not present in database
Track 18 not present in database
Track 19 not present in database
None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.4
[CTDB TOCID: uUsgJz0s06ePF_qm9Cap85ZASBo-] found
Submit result: uUsgJz0s06ePF_qm9Cap85ZASBo- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
2 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
3 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
4 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
5 | (1/2) Accurately ripped, or (1/2) differs in 29 samples @04:17:43-04:17:44
6 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
7 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
8 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
9 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
10 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
11 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
12 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
13 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
14 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
15 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
16 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
17 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
18 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
19 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum D72F824ED8A1287CFE4A21CDE9D69081D6D831413AC86E37103D34D5ACEBCBDC ====
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