Trollheart

Buckethead may not be God, but he's up there beside him


Artiste: Buckethead
Nationality: American
Album: Electric sea
Year: 2012
Label: Metastation
Genre: Instrumental/classical
Tracks:
Electric sea
Beyond the knowing
Swomee swan
Point doom
El Indio
La wally
La Gavotte
Bachethead
Yokohama
Gateless gate
The homing beacon
Chronological position: Thirty-fifth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Where's the mad shredding? Hey, this is nice!
Best track(s): Swomee swan, La Gavotte, Yokohoma
Worst track(s): Negative on that one, son!
Comments: You can all laugh at me, but after suffering through Neal Schon's indulgence-fest "The Calling" recently I swore I would never listen to another guitar instrumental album, yet this one was on my ipod and I'd heard good things about Buckethead from among others, Mrd00d, so I decided to give him a chance. Truth to tell, I wasn't expecting much: I mean, how good can a guy who calls himself Buckethead and wears a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head (hence the name) be, really? To say I was stunned by what I heard is a total understatement. This album is full of gentle, introspective, almost classical (in some cases literally) music played by the guy on a succession of guitars, and yet despite there being nothing else but guitar music --- no keyboards, no percussion --- it never once flags and never sounds in the least boring. Mr. Schon, please take note!

Every track is great, and yet most of them while quite similar are very different. The title, and opening track, is a mixture of lovely acoustic and smooth electric guitar, while Beyond the knowing (apparently an instrumental interpretation of one of his earlier songs) is pure classical guitar played in a laidback yet intense way. I love the way this is such an intimate album that you can hear Buckethead's fingers sliding along the strings; there's no other instruments or heavy production to overshadow his playing, and you really do feel like he's almost in the room playing right beside you. Swomee swan, one of the standouts even if I don't know what the title means, leans a little more into the harder end of the spectrum while still remaining relatively calm and gentle, while Point doom has an almost medieval tint to it, before it takes off into some quite incredible displays of dexterity on the Spanish guitar.

There's a real sense of the Mexican and those old western cowboy style movies to El Indio and he even tackles good ol' Bach, not once but twice, with La Gavotte and the cleverly-named Bachethead, though essentially they're both pretty much the same piece of music, just played a little differently. I'm not that naive to think this is how all of Buckethead's music sounds: I know he works in various genres, and some of his albums could be not to my liking at all. But I'm definitely more open to listening to his music now than I was before I hit "play" here.
Overall impression: Surprised, delighted and much more impressed than I had expected to be. Blown away, in fact. Another four-cookie album!
Intention: I need to hear more... now!

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Old school metal: hop on board!


Artiste: Devil's Train
Nationality: Unknown
Album: Devil's Train
Year: 2012
Label: Edel/Ear Music
Genre: Hard rock/Heavy metal
Tracks:
Fire and water
Devil's train
Roll the dice
To the ground
Forever
Sweet devil's kiss
Find new love
Room 66/64
Coming home
Yellow blaze
The answers
American woman
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Great harmonica to start off, then the guitars kick in and the ride begins!
Best track(s): Devil's train, Roll the dice, Sweet devil's kiss, Room 66/64, Coming home
Worst track(s): Nah, no passengers on this train, hombre!
Comments: Sometimes you just decide to try an album because the title is cool, yeah? And who would not be impressed by a metal band with a name like Devil's Train? The only real problem I have here is that I can't tie down an actual nationality for this brand new band: seems it's made up both of former members of Mystic Prophecy, who come from Germany, and Stratovarius, who are of course Finnish. Either way, they actually sound American, something of a common trait with many new metal bands coming up these days. Not a bad thing --- you can get a bit tired of the harsh German accent, let's be honest, and these guys sound, on this first outing, like they could give some of the bigger US bands a run for their money.

Others have commented that the band fall between the stools of hard rock and heavy metal, and indeed I'd agree. Were you to meet them in a bar, they'd probably be stretched out lazily across both, occupying both the bluesier, heavier end of the former with the cutting edge of the latter. With people like Jorg Michael and Jari Kaneulainen of Stratovarius and of course founder member and vocalist of Mystic Prophecy R.D. Liapakis in attendance, you probably know what to expect.

You'd be wrong.

Whereas both those bands practice essentially power/speed/thrash metal, Devil's Train hurtles along on rails of classic hard rock and the kind of metal typified by bands like Saxon and early Tygers of Pan Tang. There's a great bite in the guitar work of Laki Ragazas, and RD's vocals while not screaming definitely punch your face in, in the most enjoyable way possible. Power rockers like the title track, Roll the dice and Room 66/64 (see what they did there?) are pretty much the order of the day, and the pace hardly slackens at all right through the album. You really do feel like you're on a headlong ride to the sweetest hell imaginable!

There are the metal crunchers too, like To the ground and Yellow blaze, and if anyone thinks that the opening guitar riff from Forever sounds like Bryan Adams's Run to you, I agree, although this song is nothing close to that big rock hit. Great vocal performance from RD and soulful guitar from Laki, and there's almost a tinge of AOR to this, which is no criticism of Devil's Train, just shows how versatile they can be. They also get a superb anthem in Coming home as well as a ballad ... nah, just kiddin'! No slow song on this album. THIS train don't slow down for no-one, man!

Ain't that how we like it?
Overall impression: Powerful debut, blows some other major bands away and I reckon these guys have a really bright future ahead of them. If you like old-school hard rock mixed with some serious metal you better climb on board while there's still room! Already booking my ticket for the return trip!
Intention: Nothing I can do but wait for the next album, and keep playing this one.

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Needs a little bit more bite


Artiste: Texas
Nationality: British (Scottish)
Album: Hush
Year: 1999
Label: Mercury
Genre: Rock
Tracks:
In our lifetime
Tell me the answer
Summer son
Sunday afternoon
Move in
When we are together
Day after day
Zero zero
Saint
Girl
The hush
The day before I went away
Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: "White on blonde"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Continuing on...
Best track(s): Summer son, Move in, Saint, Sunday afternoon
Worst track(s): Not one
Comments: I only own the one Texas album; you'll no doubt be unsurprised to find it's "White on blonde", certainly their most successful in terms of commerciality, with five hit singles taken from it and heralding something of a renaissance and rebirth for a band who were, prior to that album, known for "I don't want a lover" and that was about it, outside of their fanbase of course. Now I enjoyed "White on blonde" very much indeed, but just never went any further with them. I loved the single "Summer son", which is on this album, the album itself the followup to "White", but I never made the decision to buy the album, can't tell you why.

Now I'm listening to it streaming, for the first time, and I have to say it sounds pretty damn fine. I really don't know Texas output prior to that big album, so I can't say if this one follows or deviates from their usual sound, whether "White" was a change in direction for them (though I think it may have been, introducing something more of a pop sound into their mostly harder rock songs) but this one certainly builds on the success and sound of that album, and it's almost a direct continuation of "White on blonde".

There's a great sense of summer about this album, and that's not just because of the hit single Summer son, because the opener and the next track both conjure up the same images, with a real boppy, almost light sound that's as easy on the ear as singer Sharleen Spiteri is on the eye. Seems like Texas found the winning formula with "White on blonde" that had been evading them for six years since their debut. Riding on the resurgence in interest in the band engendered by that million-selling album, "The hush" got to the number one spot again and gave the band two top ten singles.

Another thing they explored on the previous album was a great affinity for soul music, and here it is in evidence again, especially on songs like Sunday afternoon and When we are together. A lot of the album is lazy in the very best way, the sort of thing you throw on your ipod to take to the beach or the park; doesn't bear up to close scrutiny, the lyrics ain't that deep but damn is it good to listen to and chill out to. Of course, most of us could listen to Sharleen sing the phone book, and she's definitely the lynchpin of the band, but it would be unfair to label her as fluff, cos she really can sing, and make you listen. Pure honey.

There's hardly a bad track here. Move in is smooth as silk, while When we are together is pure motown soul, and there's even another little instrumental interlude as on the previous album. It's actually hard to pick out ballads, as much of the album is soft and laidback, but Saint is a little more relaxed than other tracks, with some really nice expressive soft guitar and tinkling piano, and the title track is dreampop at its best.
Overall impression: A great successor to "White on blonde", maybe a little too laidback without any real punchy tracks, but a great album nonetheless.
Intention: May dig further. Maybe.

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Warning! Could be habit-forming!


Artiste: Lacuna Coil
Nationality: Italian
Album: Dark adrenaline
Year: 2012
Label: Century Media
Genre: Progressive Metal
Tracks:
Trip the darkness
Against you
Kill the light
Give me something more
Upsidedown
End of time
I don't believe in tomorrow
Intoxicated
The army inside
Losing my religion
Fire
My spirit
Chronological position: Sixth album
Familiarity: "Karmacode"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Didn't like this at first, but definitely grew on me
Best track(s): Give me something more, End of time, Intoxicated, My spirit, Losing my religion
Worst track(s): Nothing
Comments: Lacuna Coil are one of those bands I've heard of but not heard much from. The only album of theirs I've listened to all the way through is "Karmacode", and while I did enjoy that I wasn't impressed enough to seek out the rest of their catalogue. I bought this more to see really if they had improved much from that album. At first I didn't think so; initially this sounded very much like "Karmacode", but as I listened and let it wash over me the thing improved in leaps and bounds, to the point where I had no hesitation in pushing play again once it had run the once, and have listened to it several times since.

I like the combination of vocalists Andrea Ferro and Christina Scabbia. Unlike many acts that utilise this sort of setup Lacuna Coil don't really subscribe to the idea of having one sing the lead and the other join in at the chorus; the vocals seem to be shared equally and equitably between the two, resulting in a sound that, though it should really end up lost in the flood of similar bands, manages to stand out and be somewhat unique in flavour.

One other thing that characterises Lacuna Coil's music seems to be hard, banging guitar and a sense almost of anger in the lyrics, or if not anger then maybe passion. They certainly seem to throw themselves into their music, mind, body, heart and soul, and it comes through especially in tracks like the standout End of time and My spirit. They also avoid the trap many progressive/goth rock artistes fall into, of writing epic songs that are too long: only one track here is over four minutes, while the closer is the longest by far at almost six. On "Karmacode" they covered Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the silence", and there's another cover version this time out. They've chosen REM's Losing my religion and manage to breathe new life into the song. Perhaps a strange choice, given what they could have taken from Michael Stipe and the boys, but it's a great reinterpretation of the old classic.
Overall impression: Much better than I had originally thought it would be. Definitely improves with repeated listens.
Intention: May look further into this band now.

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Short, scary and certainly not sweet


Artiste: Theatres des Vampires
Nationality: Italian
Album: The Cult of Lamia
Year: 2012
Label: Aural
Genre: Goth metal
Tracks:
My winter storm
The lost grace
Apart
Chronological position: Ninth album
Familiarity: Ze-ro
Interesting factoid: This is shown as a movie soundtrack, but I can find virtually nothing about it.
Initial impression: Very cinematic, very dramatic, reminds me of Kamelot, Edenbridge, Within Temptation etc.
Best track(s): I wouldn't really try to pick out favourites when there are only three tracks. All very good though.
Worst track(s): See above.
Comments: As a fan of Anne Rice's vampire novels I couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out a band called Theatres des Vampires, but the album I chose, being their latest, is quite an oddity, even for them. First off it's apparently from a movie soundtrack, though I can't find out anything about the movie. Second, it's got a mere three tracks on it, and we're not talking two at twelve minutes or more, or anything. Total running time is just over ten minutes!

Mind you, they pour a lot into those ten minutes. Very epic, very dramatic, very effective. Great grinding guitars and some spooky keyboards with the sort of operatic female voice you expect from most of these bands and a growling, not quite gutteral (but nearly!) male voice accompanying her. You have to love the female singer's name --- Sonya Scarlet --- though the male voice I can't get any info on; both keyboard player and bass player, and indeed drummer, are all credited with backing vocals, but as I say there is very little information on this album so I can't confirm too much.

What I hear I like: very gothic, very dark without being black metal (which is apparently how TdV started out), quite progressive in places. Great guitar work allied to some laidback piano and of course violins, though probably made on the synth. Apparently they've just been banned from Venezuela for unknown reasons, which I assume is something to do with how they dress and the fact the sing about and act like vampires --- just shows you how difficult some people find it to separate fantasy from reality! They're not actually vampires, senor!

As for the album, I'd say it's a good if short introduction to this band; just a pity there's not enough tracks on it. Even most EPs have more than three...
Overall impression: Certainly live up to their name, if the lyrics are a little hard to make out at times.
Intention: I'm intrigued enough to go look for a few more of their (hopefully longer) albums.

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Another Irish band just on the cusp, and yet...


Artiste: Royseven
Nationality: Irish
Album: You say, we say
Year: 2011
Label: Roadrunner
Genre: Alt-rock
Tracks:
We should be lovers
I need to know your name
You say, we say
Channel 103 on my TV
No romance
The big blue
Dance, dance, dance
Killer
You can't hide that
Every line's the last one
Walls
We march on
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Lots of power and punch, very upbeat and very commercial.
Best track(s): We should be lovers, No romance, The big blue, Dance dance dance, Walls, We march on
Worst track(s): Killer, I need to know your name
Comments: Another Irish band I know little or nothing about. It's somewhat interesting that they're a sextet, with singer Paul Walsh concentrating only on vocals, so there's a lead and rhythm guitarist, bass player and drummer and keyboard player. What I hear so far is a little so-so, a little generic, kind of the Script meets Snow Patrol, but without the solid individuality of either really. It's not bad music, I just don't see anything too much to get excited about just yet.

There's a slight sense of Slade about the title track, with a touch of Doctor and the Medics thrown in, and there's a ton of energy in No romance with some serious keyboard action then everything slows down for the ballad, and it's a good one. "The big blue" is a beautiful, fragile little piece that successfully breaks up all this uptempo, high energy rock. But soon we're back to it, and if I have a criticism of this album it would be that a lot of it sounds quite similar. But it's not a bad album, not at all.

I like Walls, it has real character and sounds different to most of the rest of the album, but it's a small divergence in an album that's a little short on ideas, or at least has the ideas but doesn't really seem to know what to do with them. The seeds of some great songs, certainly, just not properly cultivated, I feel. Maybe their third album will be better.
Overall impression: I feel they could have something, but have not yet realised their true potential.
Intention: Keep an eye on these guys.

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Bon Jovi go Country? Sorry?


Artiste: Bon Jovi
Nationality: American
Album: Lost highway
Year: 2007
Label: Mercury Nashville
Genre: Rock/AOR (with jest a sprinklin' of Country...)
Tracks:
Lost highway
Summertime
(You want to) Make a memory
Whole lot of leaving
We got it going on
Any other day
Seat next to you
Everybody's broken
Till we ain't strangers anymore
The last night
One step closer
I love this town

Chronological position: Tenth album
Familiarity: Everything; I have all their albums
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Country? I don't hear it...
Best track(s):Lost highway, I love this town, Seat next to you, (You want to) Make a memory, Whole lot of leaving, Everybody's broken, (Why are you surprised I'm listing most of the album? I'm a Bon Jovi fanatic: if you know me, you know that!) The last night, One step closer
Worst track(s): We got it goin' on
Comments: Surprisingly, given my devotion to this band, there is one album of theirs that I have never listened to all the way through, and it's this one. Partly that's because of the country influence on the album, which many Bon Jovi fans have jeered, and partly it's just because I only got it relatively recently, to complete my collection. I've heard a few tracks off it, in rotation on a playlist, but never played the whole thing through.

I don't see a huge country influence on it as it opens with a big hard happy rocker in the title track and it continues in Summertime, big punchy drums from Tico Torres, a sort of half-rap style but not so much that you'd call it such, kind of more the sort of thing The Script tried on their third album recently. Great ballads as ever, as in the orchestrally-driven (You want to) Make a memory, as well as the usual good-time songs such as closer I love this town which just brims with energy and enthusiasm, and Any other day, which rocks along nicely in the usual Bon Jovi territory.

This album is however unique in the Bon Jovi canon in having not one but two duets on it, the first of which comes in We got it goin' on, where they enlist the services of Big and Rich, featuring country superstars Big Kenny and John Rich, and here you can really start to hear the country sound coming in, not surprisingly. Can't say I love it though; probably the first track on the album I haven't loved. So far. I kind of hear the ghost of country again in Seat next to you, but come on! The guys aren't breaking out fiddles and steel guitars and singing about farms and ranches and horses. I don't see a massive difference between this and their usual output (stow the usual "yeah it's all the same ****" jokes please) --- not sure who that is on the female vocals, but as Hillary Lindsey co-wrote the song maybe it's her?

I hear more country in Till we ain't strangers anymore but then again that's not surprising, as Jon's dueting with LeAnn Rimes here, so she's bound to bring something of herself to the song. By and large though, it's still a recognisable and basic Bon Jovi ballad. As indeed the entire album is totally recognisable and categorisable as a Bon Jovi album. Country? Pfft! They're a long way from going down that route.
Overall impression: Country? I don't see it...
Intention: Waiting for their new album. Roll on ... ooh! Ooh! It's out now! Excuse me...

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Enchant fail to impress again


Artiste: Enchant
Nationality: American
Album: Wounded
Year: 1997
Label: Magna Carta
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Below zero
Fade 2 grey
Pure
Broken
Hostile world
Look away
Armour
Distractions
Missing
Chronological position:Second album
Familiarity: "Juggling 9 or dropping 10"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: So-so and then gets better
Best track(s): Fade 2 grey, Pure, Look away
Worst track(s): Nothing's bad, per se, just that apart from the above tracks it's all pretty boring
Comments: I tried out Enchant last year sometime in the not-recently-repeated "Unwritten" slot, and have to say I was less than impressed with the album I chose, the one noted above. Well, that's not quite fair. It was okay, but I felt it could easily have fit into the "Meh" section. Just didn't grab me as anything special. Maybe it was a bad example, so here I am giving this band another chance. I have to say I don't jump up and down at the first track, but the second is a lot better, with some atmospheric opening guitar and an impassioned vocal, touches of early Rush in there I feel. Maybe a bit overlong at eight minutes, but then, many of the tracks here exceed seven.

Pure is a nice acoustic ballad, though I wonder at again over seven minutes will it come across as stretched too far? Nice so far though. Seems to have lasted the course. The next one though just kind of drifts by, another seven-minuter but it fails to grab me. I'm probably being unfair to Enchant, but I usually expect something in the music to get a hold of me and take my attention, and here I'm just not feeling it, the same almost as the other album of theirs I reviewed --- and that was a full review. Trouble is, there's nothing here that's under six minutes, and most of them are well over that. No short songs can make it very hard to keep the interest, unless the long ones are VERY good. Even Marillion learned this lesson with their second album, great as the debut was: they shortened their songs down and were able to connect better with sections of their audience.

I also feel the production here is very raw and muddy, either that or the vocalist isn't very good, and I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. But there's definitely times when the solidity of the sound is impaired, and it just sounds very skeletal. Nice guitar solo in Look away, but overall I'm not seeing anything that really marks this album out from the huge slew of prog rock bands out there. It just doesn't stand out. I don't know what it is. The music is decent, the singing's good but I'm just struck by a sense of deja vu: when I was reviewing "Juggling 9 or dropping 10" I felt the same sense of apathy and a desire to get to the end of the album. It's the same here. Just not keeping my interest.
Overall impression: I have to say, overall pretty much meh.
Intention: Not sure if I want to give them a third chance now.

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Pyrrhic victory?


Artiste: The Divine Comedy
Nationality: Irish
Album: Victory for the comic muse
Year: 2006
Label: Parlophone
Genre: Pop/Chamber pop/ Whatever you're havin' yerself!
Tracks:
To die a virgin
Mother dear
Diva lady
A lady of a certain age
The light of day
Threesome
Party fears two
Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World
The plough
Count Grassi's passage over Piedmont
Snowball in negative
Chronological position: Ninth album
Familiarity: "Casanova", "Liberation", "Promenade", "A short album about love", "Bang goes the knighthood", "Fin de siecle"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Quite similar to his early work such as "Promenade" and "Liberation"
Best track(s): Mother dear, A lady of a certain age, The plough
Worst track(s): Count Grassi's passage over Piedmont
Comments: Despite touching on this in my "Beginner's Guide" some time ago now, it's one of the few Divine Comedy albums I haven't listened to all the way through. As I say above it reminds me of his earlier works, certainly the opener, which bops along nicely, mind you that changes (and of course if you're a fan of Hannon you get to expect this) with the second track, a sort of country/bluegrass bopper with banjo and accordion, and then piano leads in Diva lady with a certain soul/funk vibe, with elements of early Santana in there too. Oh yeah, you get something for everyone with the Divine Comedy!

Whether he's playing uptempo chamber pop, the likes of the opener or relaxing ballads as in A lady of a certain age or The light of day Neil gives everything he has, and you never get any less than one hundred percent from him. I can't think of any of his albums from which I've come away disappointed. I like the variety, though some of his, shall we say, more comedic songs like Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World can be at times a little wearing. Still, it's good to know that in general you can pop on a new DC album and expect to like it.

Great characters populate the songs of the best songwriters, and Neil Hannon is no exception. The disenfranchised wife in A lady of a certain age, the man trying to find his place in the world in The plough and the eponymous Count Grassi all bring his songs to life and invest the listener in them, even if I don't like the last one. His quirky sense of humour comes through in Threesome when we all expect a little risque, cheeky song. What we get is a delightful little upbeat piano solo, then recalling Tonight we fly and Going downhill fast his version of the Associates' Party fears two is barely recognisable from the original hit. That's how to do a cover! Trilling piano and labouring tubas and trumpets throw the old pop song into a chamberpop setting, while The plough is almost cinematic in its scope and breadth.

Not, to be fair, one of the best Divine Comedy albums I've ever listened to, but even then, Hannon's worst can often be better than some of the best work of other artistes.
Overall impression: I've heard better but it's a decent album.
Intention: Ah well I love the Divine Comedy, so nothing will stop me listening to them.

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A national treasure that was almost lost forever


Artiste: The Enid
Nationality: British (English)
Album: In the region of the summer stars
Year: 1976/1984
Label: EMI
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Fool
The Tower of Babel
The Reaper
The Loved Ones
The Demon King
Pre-dawn
Sunrise
The Last Day
The Flood
Under the summer stars
Adieu
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero, but I've heard about them
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Mystical, magical, relaxing.
Best track(s): Fool, The Reaper, The loved ones, Pre-dawn, Sunrise, The last day
Worst track(s): None
Comments: Would it be overreacting to say that to compose an album based on the Tarot could be an exercise in bad luck? Of course it would, and yet this album seems to have been dogged by the worst luck possible. The debut album from the enigmatic band known as The Enid, it was supposed to have vocals but then their singer took his own life just before the album was due to be recorded, and remaining members had to quickly make the decision to release it as an instrumental one. Then, after failing to generate great sales, EMI deleted it from their catalogue. In 1984 The Enid re-released it themselves, and after poor quality bootlegs had been circulated they convinced the label to allow them re-record and update it in 2010.

So essentially there are three versions of the album; the original one (which if you have it is a collector's item now) the re-released 1984 version (which I'm using here) and the remastered 2010 effort. Based as I say around the idea of the Tarot, the original song titles were changed for the 1984 release, making them less obviously to do with the Tarot, with the original seven tracks being extended to ten and substantial changes made to the arrangements of the 1976 songs. I like the opener with its mystical sound, and The Reaper doesn't really sound as ominous as you might think, with some nice acoustic guitar and some tolling bells, some nice fluty sounds and a powerful guitar solo.

As might be expected, The loved ones is a sumptuous but simple piano piece that really reminds me of Rachmaniov, one of my favourite composers: just beautiful. It's quite amazing how Robert John Godfrey can make the piano such a heartfelt instrument, a thing of beauty in that track and then on the next make it almost demonic! That's real talent for you. I'm not completely familiar with the Tarot --- I know of it, and my sister can read it --- but I did previously review a slightly similar project by Dark Moor (imaginatively called "Tarot"!") so I can appreciate what The Enid are doing here, symbolising various cards and aspects of the Tarot through music, somewhat similar to what the great Gustav Holst did back at the beginning of the last century.

Sunrise is the first track wherein I can hear proper progressive rock elements; prior to this a lot of it has been what I would term classical/prog really, but here the keyboards really speak in a Yes/Genesis/ELP way. Going back to that, there's again an almost "Bolero" feel to The Last Day, quiet soft marching drumming and gentle horns until some powerful guitar and a rising background melody punches the whole thing up to a real cinematic level. It breaks into some fine progressive work then and finishes really well with an explosive title track which then slips into a little piano piece aptly titled Adieu.
Overall impression: Very accomplished, very impressive. One hell of a debut! Glad this wasn't lost forever, no thanks to shortsighted EMI executives!
Intention: I'd certainly be interested in hearing more of their music now.

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