Okay well here's my take on the album. Strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a bumpy ride! No hate mail after this, please...
1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in? A lot heavier than expected, almost Zep-like. Quite raw I found.
2. What did you think of the opening tracks? Did not like the first one much at all. Second, “Armworth”, and third “Myopic void”, a lot more down my street. The opener had too much of the heavy rock about it, few if any keys, whereas the next few were a little more keys-driven. Nice guitar too, very laidback, slide-ish. Liked it.
3. What did you think of the later tracks? Well then it went into “Mesmerisation eclipse”, which I didn't like at all, followed by “Raging river” which was little better. Sort of got a feeling of Purple's “Highway star” in places on that song. Never really recovered after that for me.
4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions? At first, not really, but as the album wore on I got to accept his style more, though I never got to actually like him as a singer. Initially I thought he was more suited to southern rock or something of that nature. I can see how Purple decided to replace him: couldn't exactly see him singing “Child in time” or “Speed king”...
5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not? Mostly, but considering there are supposed to be
two piano players, I hear very little in the way of keys. It's a bit heavier, raw rock than I would expect from a band labelled as progressive. Even the short instrumental, “Thousand days of yesterday (intro)” was guitar-driven, albeit acoustic. Finally got to hear some piano in “As the moon speaks” but it was quickly brushed aside by acoustic guitar. Nice enough track though. Didn't like the faster ending, however.
6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)? A lot worse.
7. What did you think of the lyrical content? It was a little hard for me to make out, but I don't think I was sufficiently interested to concentrate really.
8. Did you like the instrumental parts? Some, but not all.
9. What did you think of the production? For an album produced in the early seventies it's probably typical of the style but I found it a little muddy, a little heavy-handed in places.
10. How well do you already know the band/artist? Not at all; was not even aware of their existence till now.
11. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to? Heavy rock really; don't see the progressive elements here.
12. On repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?n/a as as I only listened to it the once, but probably wouldn't give it a second spin personally.
13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one? Really don't have one. Maybe the intro to “Thousand days of yesterday”, but even then, not really impressed.
14. And the one you liked least? Probably “Mesmerisation eclipse”, but there were more than one.
15. Did the fact that this album is a debut/sophomore/middle period or later period allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated? No. I don't know the band so I had few preconceptions coming to it, except I expected more in the way of progressive rock. The fact that it's a debut here doesn't really enter into it. Evans had been in Deep Purple, the other two in Iron Butterfly and the drummer had been with Johnny Winter, so they're not exactly amateurs coming to this.
16. Are you now looking forward to hearing other albums by the band/artist? Absolutely not.
17. Did you get, thematically, the idea behind the album if there was one? Wasn't interested enough to bother.
18. Did the album end well? Well, it ended!
Thought it was ending well but then that big fretnetic guitar and drum thing at the end, meh, ruined what could have been a decent ending. So no, it didn't end well.
19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved? Utilise the keys more, have some slower songs/passages. Felt it was very much on the heavy side of heavy rock, not so much of the progressive (I know, I've said that once or twice before).
20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss? I have to say, I really don't care enough to answer that question. I was just waiting for it to come to an end so I could put the experience behind me.
Overall Album Rating: 4/10 (sorry US!) Not my thing at all.