I've really had
serious difficulties with the review of this album! I normally really like
progressive rock, and I don't mind it sounds like something that was made in the
seventies. Bands like Gentle Giant, earlier Yes and sometimes Frank Zappa comes
to my mind listening to this band - all stuff I like, so why can't I get through
this album without the feeling that this somehow just doesn't work for me? I
have given this one several spins, thinking that it might be one of those
albums, that has to grown on you,
and the Swedes
stands for me in general to make some good and very professional music,
but I still feel lost somehow...
It's a lot of
going back and forth through themes and moods, but the close to 77 minutes gets
very long for me, they don't really seem to go anywhere, but just circling
around something I can't find out what is - to me they don't "get to the point"
and take off, so to speak. Maybe they should have cut down the length of the
album and the individual numbers (six of them around 10 minutes or more), and
concentrated more on writing some more catchy riffs and melodies - none of those
who are on this album catches me while listening, and doesn't stick afterwards
either. They sometimes start playing something, that sounds like it could
develop into something interesting, but then they break it up with some slow and
introspective noting, speak or odd rhythms, dragging it all down again.
Everybody is
obviously very good at handling their instruments, but maybe they should take a
little break, and do something in a quite different style, not to just playing
the same patterns they know by heart? And for my sake, they could cut down a bit
on the Hammond too; it's a bit too much all over the place for my taste.
They have a
great sense of humour, depicted in their lyrics; I like that - a good quality in
rock these days.
The production
is very clean and sounds retro at the same time, nothing to put a finger on
there.
But all in all
- the music counts the most for me, and I'm sorry to say this, but this was a
disappointment for me - the German word "langweilig" (dragging boring) seems to
be the best for describing my impression of this album, and the feeling I have
when the the music stops is... well, nothing really.
Nice cover
though.
