Reviews

These guys think serious, they have a newsletter of their own, stuff for sale, strong following - all on the back of the only album. Must be a killer, one supposes and won't get wrong on hearing the music that comes unexpectedly etherial and pure proggy. It's even difficult to pinpoint "Faith" in the beginning for sticking a label on it. No need to dig the Seventies well - better go for the contemporaries as PENDRAGON and IQ who drink from the same source. What's on display is velvet keyboards and fluid guitar supported by jazzy rhythm section and voice bearing no signs of the genre pivotal singers. Folk dance bouncing at the start of "Don't Remind Me" may place the band in the TULL or GRYPHON category if not for hard rock manner applied. Maybe ballad too poshy but piano moves save the impression. A little dose of ASIA-like pop seems fitting as well which can't be said of all too theatrical title track with quite elusive melody. Acoustic piece "Timne" sounds as a compensation for all too complicated yet raw instrumentation of "Body Of Mine" - although the solo's extremely good. "Obsession" is contemporary progressive to the core, cold and oulandish with Frippian guitar licks across Daevid Allen madness hiding in the shadows and Robbie Williams-like pop warmth in vocal. Very eclectic up to losing the point but should be great on-stage.

"Bewildered Serenity" powerful start appears to be deceptive as the canvas the band opted to paint on is strangely coloured with shadows outshined by the light stretching to the crystal sky. All the changes and moves create the image outlined by the title. Richard Kaczynski's piano switch from classical scales to folk just like Emerson's machinery. Don't be surprised when Richard puts out a solo album in his original style that's far from Wakeman, Orford etc. That piano plays mighty "911" - what a treat! And next, ringing synthesizers get in with soulful "Chimes" filled with bass and a guitar solo remindful of Eddie Jobson's violin tricks in UK.

All the forces seem to be kept to the end of the album to get released in epic "C'est Pas Finit", a masterpiece incorporating many influences from the past to the stunning result. Prog, jazz, folk - all melts up to come up with some witches' brew. The music grows into you and prompts to play the track time and again and you still remain unfed. If that's the kind of material USHER are to present on the sophomore release, their newsletter threatens to turn glossy. So, bonus track titled "Iceberg" just underline there's more than meets the eye.

****

The end of the Nineties saw the power metal revival and KAMELOT seem to be obscure pioneers of the process. Their debut "Eternity" harking back to 1995 was a confident effort. The most impressive in the beginning come keyboards that lead into the title track but once the serene mood of intro gets cut with Thom Youngblood's guitar it becomes clear what we deal with - a top-notch heavy metal. With Youngblood a main composer no surprise vocal melody isn't as strong as guitar hooks. Mark Vanderbilt's voice sounds strong while approach not so imaginative and a little too theatrical as "Black Tower" shows. What's good is that KAMELOT don't pursue the speedy trend in the vein of "Red Sands" and stick to uptempo mini-epics, there's even some of "Holy Diver" spirit contained in "Call Of The Sea".

The first sign of tedium appears as early as track 4, "Proud Nomad", with too much of MAIDEN, a primary influence, herein. Well, that was the first KAMELOT work which is rather clear when energy oozing out doesn't compensate for the lack of good melody. Thus, "Fire Within" wins over blatant "Warbird". Musicianship's solid throughout anyway with the players' abilities glowing in acoustic lace of ballad "What About Me" and baroque-tinged "Etude Jongleur" with riff borrowed from PURPLE's "Hungry Daze". If "Eternity" was KAMELOT's hungry daze, they survived and prospered deservedly.

***

Looking at the artwork and at the band's name you may only wonder what kind of music they play. Seems like metal? You cannot be more wrong as SPACED OUT work out a top-notch instrumental jazz-rock. Exquisite and clever to the core. The reference point immediately coming to mind is WEATHER REPORT, mainly due to the fact that the primary instrument here is bass, pumping and swinging as that of great Jaco. Well, REPORT were more than only late Pastorius and a little bit heavier and versatile than SPACED OUT, but it's the band's debut in the end of the day, isn't it? The mastermind behind this Canadian combo is Antoine Fafard who plays bass and operates programming. From the opener "Green Teeth" you feel trapped in this fluent improvisation led by fantastic guitar in the vein of Alan Holdsworth, that's underpinned by synth splashes. Murky in approach comes "Toxic" with everchanging tempo commanded by bass lines. Jazz fans might put it in the "easy listening" category while those into prog would be fascinated if they like Wetton/Holdsworth interplay of UK.

A certain classical music scales pop up here and there and there's even something from baroque in "A Freak Az", a really spaced out thing. Bass soloes alongside guitar in laid-back "Magnetyzme" followed by quality prog ballad "Delirium Tremens", guitar pretends a sax in atmospheric "The Fifth Dimension" - and here you start to simply float downstream. So no surprise on introduction of African polyrhythmic structures with "Futurosphere" and "Starless" vibe in "Glassosphere". The band touch more down-to-earth rather than spaced out base here yet it really doesn't matter.

*****

Having in mind the band's name, what's on the cover is undoubtedly wishing well. Use your imagination and the music strikingly accords with images conjured up. Your drift is predictable, not music so the opening track's titled "Critical Strike". A minimalist thing throughout. Piano splashes come in followed by guitar soundscapes while it's neither Cale nor Fripp you may think of. You don't muse at all, floating downstream thoughtlessly. An ebb that's what it is, the ripples sometimes calm, sometimes throbbing fiercely. More jazzy appear "Lucky Stones" and "Empty Field", ambient tunes that bear soft vocals in the vein of "Atom Heart Mother", guitar may show some resemblance to Steve Howe's yet altogether an approach spacey. In "Coin In The Water" phased guitar weaves an Oriental motif and the drums kick in to punctuate the fluctuation. An acoustic guitar you hardly might expect to peep in when "Erased" starts; the title track makes all the band's mechanics crank up. Two short pieces, "Passing Days" and "I'm Going Far Away" add nothing to the picture and at that point it becomes unfocused. Thus, "Distant Place" seems too distant to perceive where it's at. If "Beneath Her Eyes" an answer, it's persuasive.

****

On the twentieth year of IQ presence in the world they've reached their peak - no doubt. Without diminishing the band's previous work, it's quite natural concluding that "Subterranea" is IQ's magnun opus. All the experience accumulated, the quintet introduced new elements to this work. "Overture" serves as it ought to - setting the mood but Martin Orfords managed to entwine strong piano part in bombastic guitar/organ canvas, making the piece majestic and close to the RENAISSANCE "Prologue". Well, that's what it actually is. Next, Peter Nicholl's voice comes to the fore with short yet intriguing "Provider" and many would think of Bob Catley here. No pause, the drums cut in to punctuate synthesizers lines and, melody retained, there's "Subterranea", the main theme. Note Mike Holmes' funky guitar. Witness a parallel? There was many a funky guitar on "The Wall" - in "Brick Pt 2", say. Having another double album - the conceptual, too, about hard world - it may be difficult to avoid comparisons. "Subterranea" appears to be different, more light and not as depressive. Sax, for instance, only underlines the album's jazziness. The songs are stitched seamlessly, one flowing into other and though catching the story line doesn't come easy, the music's great. Pure prog in places - in "Sleepless Incidental" it oozes roght from the title.

In the interim before establishing new singer in the ranks Canadians MYSTERY decided to put out a compilation of songs from the band's three albums. One can say for sure they've come from Eighties hard rock yet with no poodleness of that era. Vocal approach, catchy harmonies and instrumentation of "Destiny?" point very likely to URIAH HEEP. As the Brits, MYSTERY balance on the verge of hard rock and progressive. No big difference between their albums - the band recorded their debut "Mystery" being already a self-confident unit. Piano and riffage combination of "Theatre Of The Mind" comes as catchy as big hits of WHITESNAKE. Gary Savoie's voice and Michel St-Pere's guitar licks keep you on your toes. Even more so in majestic ballad "Before The Dawn", not mushy despite all the expectations.

Ballads play an important role in the band's canon though somehow don't feel tiresome - maybe thanks to acoustic guitar's presence as in orchestrated "In My Dreams", a little cliched and sentimental but enjoyable. "Black Roses" with its flute beauty appears remindful of KANSAS and a bit of late TULL - OK, who cares until you soar above the noise and confusion? What irks is that there's too many ballads all in a row on to melancholy "The Inner Journey (part II)". The ealiest of all, "Cinderella", a typical Eighties "riffs-cum-keyboards" rock, gives a good insight into the MYSTERY background. Moreover, "Submerged" has rock'n'roll section interpolated, Gary even puts on a Coverdale mask while Michel switches between Blackmore/Page influences. Unfortunately, "Shadow Of The Lake" in its 15 minutes stretches for an epic format, although the potential just isn't enough for it - even with great musicianship.

After this compilation MYSTERY still remains a mystery - especially in terms of what will be next.

****1/5

The powerful metal opus from professionals. Ian Parry works his lungs out and Patrick Rondat runs his fingers around. The two know their business well to keep the overall presentation balanced while Dirk Bruinenberg's drumming sounds too mechanical to be irritating. The first track, "Icehouse", doesn't stand out and hardly serves to set the mood. From the guitar attack of "Force Majeure" situation gets better: nothing new to the style but now it's melodic and many would feel the urge to join the chorus. The MAIDEN influence aside it's a joyous ride. Tempo's more imaginative in "Behind The Tears" and it's now that's easy to tell what part of material comes from the previous guitarist Henk Van Der Laars - the most melodic part. "The Great Charade" an illustration. The vocal melodies are by Ian Parry though which means his and Rondat's personalities clash rather than complement each other.

Was Dio a mentor for creating a love song of "'Til Eternity", there's his seal on this semi-ballad semi-rocker. By Patrick and Ian, by the way. A high point of the album with VANDEN PLAS' Gunter Werno's organ given a good spot. Organ gets changed for piano and there's another ballad, "I Believe", featuring magical acoustic playing from Rondat. If only Patick pulls his nylon strings more... But he opts for sitar on title track too raw to catch. OK, we were warned the fruit's forbidden.

***1/5

It's not easy to approach the band you never before listened to beginning with live album. On the other hand, this casts a certain objectivity, doesn't it? IQ impress, indeed. There's not much original for the classic prog rock afficionados but who of our Seventies heroes still plays in the same vein? CAMEL?

The band cuts in softly with the title track of 1985's "The Wake". GENESIS ghost present with Peter Nicholl's vocals while arrangement is different. Melody gets brighter with "Darkest Hour" and rest of the then fresh material - 1993 saw promoting the "Ever" album and IQ dropped down just two songs off it. Fans obviously were slightly surprised to hear such atmospheric songs. Despite musicians having butterflies in their stomachs, interplay between Mike Holmes and Martin Orford comes perfect while each of these key figures sounds very original, with no overt parallels to their predecessors in the genre. All the nervousness was gone with "Widow's Peak": sure everybody concentrates to deliver the IQ masterpiece properly. Audience feels privileged to be welcomed into wonderworld of yesterdays - comparisons unavoidable though they no way demean the IQ's verve. Pete's voice is restrained a bit and such is the band's habit to retain energy to put it out little by little to a greater effect.

John Jowitt's bass adds another dimension to keyboards-woven Eastern ornament of "Nostalgia/Falling Apart At The Seams". Not knowing of the Nicholl's temporarily absence from the IQ ranks, one can never tell he wasn't the original singer on that pairing. And what a beautiful medieval dance Martin comes up with!

"The Thousand Days" gets delivered in a quite monotonous way but it's all compensates with dramatic "Leap Of Faith". On the contrary, "Human Nature" demonstrates progress of progressive rock (how else can you put it?) into Eighties with influx of pop and funk. And as if IQ made excuses they head into the most acclaimed song of theirs "The Enemy Smacks". Smacks - and smokes. But everything is extremely logical - the stitching of old and new music. And the most logical - "No Love Lost". It wasn't lost in 1993 and isn't now.

****

Poor John! CRIMSON fans want him to be more proggy, UK fans demand from him to be more foggy, HEEP fans ask him to be more rocky and ASIA fans would like to see him more cocky. So what? The new album would be a gift not for aforementioned categories but for Wetton admirers. And the album is very good - even without bonus tracks included on the Japanese variant entitled "Welcome To Heaven", the only low point being the CD duration. No fillers though, just the songs to enjoy.

From the intro lines of "Heart Of Darkness" one can assume "Sinister" tends to be melancholic as "ArkAngel". But no, it's a work of a man who gets his kicks just of living. The song comes with powerful arresting chorus in the ASIA vein - a top-notch pop rock carving a niche in your ears and in your mind for some good days. Jim Vallance and John keep all the instrumental duties for themselves leaving John Mitchell of Wetton's touring band to play guitar solo, good but not as bouncing as piano part. What's upsetting is that there's none of that pumping bass which holds a melody in itself, a trademark now down in the mix. "Say It Ain't So" appears a typical Wetton tune, simple and joyful, yet a little pompous. "No Ordinary Miracle" starts not unlike "Emma", with 12-string strumming, but develops into mighty McCartney-esque ballad, highly pleasant given a full band treatment with Jim Peterik and Martin Orford on board.

Song titles never were John's strong point but they serve good to sing along to. "Where Do We Go From Here" is no exclusion - especially with drive and acoustic guitar that keep up this not so memorable tune, which seems designed to contrast with "E-Scape", a short instrumental co-written and played by Wetton, Robert Fripp and Ian McDonald. The three worked together for the first time since 1974's "Red". Nothing special to Fripp's soundscape drone while McDonald's flute sings extremely beautiful - well, as usual. Wetton plays keyboards on that one so it's closer to Fripp's solo stuff.

And at last here's a great drumming on the album (the one of "Say It Ain't So" just irritating) with certain Greg Bisonett coming in for "Another Twist Of The Knife". Those cymbals are fantastic, complimenting Dick Wagner's guitar licks. Yes, the same Dick who worked with Alice Cooper. Uptempo piece that makes you dance - surely, a stage favourite. John's singing comes so jaunty, one doesn't pay attention to akward rhymes he came up with. All the JADIS sans John Jowitt lend their hands for piano-driven ballad "Silently", co-written with Rod Stewart's cohort Kevin Savigar and, thus, a bit mawkish - fortunately, the arrangement makes the tune sound more progressive.

If you think the title says all, you're far from truth as all the material here is original, no covers. Maybe that's good - at least, that's Martin's solo debut and a chance to hear him apart from his bands and projects, although all his friends are present here. With a little help, you know...

"The Field Of Fallen Angels" comes delivered by full JADIS line up plus David Kilminster, who worked with Orford in John Wetton's band. Wettons seems to heavily influence Martin's singing, comparisions between the two in terms of vocals are unavoidable. Pure prog rock is the opener, lead by flute in the beginning and then by bagpipe - Orford set to get close to traditional music here and the result is somewhere near CAMEL. You can easily imagine it in orchectra treatment until all the band breaks in. Seventies' feel, yes, - even Wakeman's keyboards manner reproduced - but somehow the piece's more fresh than IQ's output while remindful of Manfred Mann's "Crossfade". Voice not strong but fitting for the music and if it conjures Wetton - especially with that punctuated bass by John Jowitt - here he is, on "A Part Of Me", a good rock track while not up to usual Wetton's stuff. Liveliness throughout thanks to Martin's playing, Kilminster's hooks and Paul Cook's tambourine.

"Quilmes" may sound familiar to those following Orford as this pure piano piece in Prokofiev's vein was released previously in live version on Wetton's "Hazy Monet - Live In New York". A wonderful work Wakeman would be proud of! That's what stands for "Classical Music" in the title. "Popular Song" would mean piano-driven "The Days Of Our Lives" with soaring sax solo, it sounds not unlike QUEEN, the masters of pop - listen to Gary Chandler's guitar lace. There's a majestic chorus many other artists would tuck to the end of an album - a sign of Martin's self-confidence. "The Fusion" appears to be a powerful instrumental kicking off as a baroque piece played on Harpsichord unless Michael Holmes attacks with Steve Howe-influenced hooks - and then there's a magical interplay of two guitars and piano.

ASTRAL GROOVE was a project of now renowned Finnish guitar player Lars Eric Mattsson. And the project was good and solid treading the beaten path of classic hard rock. Many would liken this material to Malmsteen's as not only Lars' licks drink from classical music sources but also Bjorn Lodin's throat makes one think of Jeff Soto. Well, "Heart Of Stone" deserves high appraisal starting not unlike Santana's samba and boasting of imaginative beat. The accord between guitarist and singer is striking and there's a certain problem because once they're trapped by standard moves, as in "If I Could Fly", none of them appears able to break the frames. And when you have 16 tracks in rather same vein it becomes tedious - even though sometimes the band introduce a sort of metal waltz of "Can't Find A Way" with symphonic tones in it or sincere blues "Merry-Go-Round" featuring harmonica. Well, all the songs are short, at least, with just two over 5 minutes, with one of them, "King Of Lost Dreams", a pure filler based on Grieg's motifs. There are some bleak stuff, yes, "Not Fooling Me", say.

It's just a shame that such great performers gave up to metal cliches - ballads "Lonely Child" and "Until We Meet" sound mawkish despite all the guitar singing while "World Is Burning" banal despite the folky inserts. Funky "President" is of more interest. OK, that's unpretensious and, thus, good. Even more so with "Tango In Sane". It is.

***

Another dimension? Is MATTSSON a band now? Are we "dealing with an institution", as HEEP put it? Likely so, although at the helm stands the experienced pair of Lars Eric Mattsson and Bjorn Lodin. With some names in guests' sleepers present.

Oh, familiar Dickinson moves when "Hell" breaks free from the acoustic icing. The same old story of diggin' someone else's stuff. This time Lars' guitar is even more speedy - but who doubts the boy can play? More imaginative and slower comes "Crash And Burn" adorned with pompous keyboards and supplied with Patrick Rondat's solo while the second solo keeps reserved for Mattsson himself. The two worth each other yet the piece comes to a halt very abruptedly. After this, metal rumbling of "Don't Change My Mind" appears to be just irritating and isn't saved even by Erik Norlander's synth solo. Violin sounding like a cello kicks in "Angel Blue", a sentimental yet solid ballad, which shakes while not sends shivers down your spine.

Filled with cliches - that's what is to be said of overall feeling from "Burn The Witch" on. Well, it's kept on the surface mainly due to Par Lindh organ services. More and more Yngwie in with "Don't Lose Your Patience" - what a bore! And keep your calm regarding lyrics and titles like "Save My Soul". Grrrrrrrr! Thankfully, the title track is instrumental combining parts slow and fast and stitching 'em oh so well. And what could you expect of "Road Of Babylon"? A certain Manfred Mann's tune taken a go at or Blackmore's one? A bit of this, a bit of that and a bit of CINDERELLA's "Gypsy Road".

From the early Seventies prog seems to come "Wait For The Angels". But, onto the end of the album, they hardly will come, the angels. The wailing sax to reggae of "Cry No More" notwithstanding.

**1/5