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Review:
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They were founded back in 1981 and split in 1989, but
reformed in 2006 inspired by a Yes concert and at long last
released their début album. The singer bailed out and so
they recruited Jannine Pusch who has an incredibly versatile
voice, it's like listening to a compendium of famous singers.
The band is therefore reborn for this brand new release.
Opener 'Guns R Us' with it's groovy Mars like motif is like
a heavier cross between ELP and Marillion with Jannine sounding
like a female Fish. The funky 'Free Fall' is like Grace
Jones gone prog, then onto the lovely 'White Princess' where
Jannine turns into Kate Bush backed by Marillion with ELP
making an appearance. On the next one, 'Another Part' with
it's delightful piano, she sounds like Carly Simon, with
a touch of The Carpenters and Pink Floyd. By this time I'm
thoroughly impressed and really enjoying the music, but
then things take a turn for the weird with the 3 part 'Vision
of Cassandra', fair enough they are a prog band after all,
but it stays weird for the full 12 minutes of 'Vision' and
for the following couple of numbers, it's like Barbara Streisand
and Bette Midler being lost in a surreal nightmare, it's
so far out it's sideways. I'm really scratching my head,
what's going on? 'Path of Mercy' is far more like it, a
Marillion/Pink Floyd/ELP type dramatic number that could
have come off The Wall. 'The Last Tear' start like a gentle
torch song with Jannine as a whispering Marlene Dietrich
over gentle piano and Pink Floyd, the song then blows up,
and it ends up in the West End. The other baffling thing
is the cover art which must be one of the most boring covers
of all time, what were they thinking? If you enjoy top quality
classic melodic prog then this is a real treat, but unless
you like the avant garde you might want to skip the Cassandra
tracks. Should be readily available from most decent stores
from the 28th of January, on reflection I will give it 8.25
out of 10.
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