Send "Mike Batt " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 It’s been a quarter-century since British composer Mike Batt recorded this album, based on Lewis Carroll’s poem of the same name. The album has never seen a proper release here in the States, and in England it’s only been available as part of Batt’s archival boxed set. The record has a long history that includes some false starts and a few short issues and rapid-fire deletions. Not that this is the kind of thing that would set an American audience aflame. The Hunting of the Snark and Batt remain deeply British, but it remains difficult to deny the charms inherent in this project. The source material is decidedly rich, storied, and appropriately enigmatic while the composer has distinguished himself in his native land via a series of well-received and strong-selling releases that span just over 40 years. Inspired in part by a long sea journey of his own as well as by Carroll’s poem, the album first took shape in 1984 and includes performances from George Harrison, former King Crimson member Mel Collins and violin master Stephane Grappelli, plus vocals from Roger Daltrey (in fine form), Julian Lennon (then still a newcomer), Art Garfunkel, and Captain Sensible. The London Symphony Orchestra provides the bulk of the musical backdrop, while Sir John Gielgud and John Hurt narrate. On pieces such as “The Escapade” and “As Long As the Moon Can Shine”, Garfunkel demonstrates with incredible ease that his reputation as a superb singer shall forever remain intact while Daltrey’s performance (“The Pig Must Die”) suggests a tragically underused dramatic ability. Captain Sensible’s contribution, “The Snooker Song”, is fantastic and reminiscent of King Herod’s big number (“King Herod’s Song (Try It and See)”) from Jesus Christ Superstar. In American musical theater, overstatement and ornamentation reign supreme, while neither appear during the 55 or so minutes of Batt’s composition. The music gracefully supports the vocalists, and the vocalists support the material in a fashion that suggests a true ensemble cast. That said, Deniece Williams’ performance occasionally comes across as saccharine. The penultimate number “Dancing Towards Disaster” is a prime example. In an otherwise subtle and well-conceived piece, this track tries a little too hard to be contemporary and as a result comes up dated––smacking as it does of Chess, a piece that opened the year that Batt began work on Snark....full text |
| Allmusic |
| Mike Batt stepped into Jeff Wayne's realm of expertise with this progressive/pop work (sometimes referred to as The Hunting of the Snark), based on Lewis Carroll's nonsense poetry. The Hunting of the Snark recalls Wayne's The War of the Worlds with its all-star cast and enveloping concept. It isn't done on quite so grand a scale, and it lacks the propulsive narrative thrust of Wayne's work, but it has an opening rock/orchestral section and an introductory piece -- "Children of the Sky," sung by Batt -- that's about as catchy and lyrical a piece of pop/prog rock as had been heard this side of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Indeed, the mix of synthesizers, orchestra, and amplified rock band will recall that album, as well as works such as the all-star version of Tommy (featuring the London Symphony Orchestra) from the early '70s, and both albums share the vocal services of Roger Daltrey. Joining the Who's vocalist are Art Garfunkel and Deniece Williams (who harmonize beautifully on the appropriately titled "A Delicate Combination"), Cliff Richard (who delivers a very Victorian-style theater vocal performance on "The Bellman's Speech"), and Julian Lennon, with John Hurt and Sir John Gielgud providing narrative links. It's a little pretentious but also very engaging for those who like this sort of literary-based rock adaptation, and it ends up being quite charming -- and it certainly deserved a better fate than the relative obscurity to which it was prematurely consigned....full text |
| Blurt-online |
| A mystery in the U.S., Mike Batt is a name well known in England from his masterminding of beloved ‘70s children's show the Wombles, his production and songwriting work for other artists and his stature as the official composer of the Conservative Party. His status in the British music industry in 1985 was such that he was able to pull in some big names for his musical version of Lewis Carroll's beloved nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark. The original piece, like most of Carroll's work, is short on plot and long on dreamlike imagery and wordplay, and Batt sensibly doesn't try to impose a hard storyline on it. (At least not at first - apparently Batt expanded the original concept into an ill-regarded full-length stage musical later on.) The songs link thematically, but more by a sense of romantic whimsy than narrative backbone. Batt recruits a diverse cast to play the characters. Roger Daltrey, then working more as an actor than a singer, plays the Barrister, channeling his rock god persona into a pompous music hall performance on "The Pig Must Die." Art Garfunkel portrays the Butcher, the de facto romantic lead, singing prettily but with little emotion on "The Escapade," though he nails "As Long As the Moon Can Shine." Julian Lennon, three years into his brief stardom, gives voice to the Baker - in context of "Midnight Smoke" and "The Escapade," he sounds even less like his father and more like a singer finding his own sound. Then in between stints with the Damned, Captain Sensible plays his usual jolly nutjob as the Billiard Marker with his showcase piece "The Snooker Song" ("I'll be snookering you tonight"). Deniece Williams, clearly the only formally trained singer in the bunch, takes on the Beaver, bringing a sense of dignity to the unfortunate double entendre "I came as the Beaver upon this escapade," providing a love interest for the Butcher and having the most fun with "Dancing Toward Disaster." In what was likely considered the biggest coup at the time, Batt pulled in Cliff Richard to be the Bellman and actors Sir John Gielgud and John Hurt to split the narrative inserts that bind the songs together. George Harrison contributes a guitar solo to the opening anthem "Children of the Sky," which, it should be noted, is sung by Batt himself....full text |
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