UK

You would think that putting together a group of super talented prog artists would make an album of pure oneupsmanship. Wrong! This is a total group effort and one of, if not the best prog album to come out in the waning moments of the 70's. Right from the start, "In The Dead Of The Night" blasts with Jobson's excellent keys and Bruford's amazing drumwork. This album is as well drummed by Mr Bruford as any he has done before and since, just flat out phenomenal, (check out "Presto Vivace and Reprise" and you'll know what I mean). I'm not too familiar with Alan Holdsworth's work, but on this album he shreads the heck out of his guitar, yet at the beginning of "Nevermore" he picks acoustically so fast I can't even imagine how quickly his fingers must have moved, UNREAL! The only member for me who doesn't stick out is Wetton. I'm not a big fan of his vocals. He tends to strain quite a bit at times, about to either crack or croak. He needs the multiple layering he received on the ASIA albums. But the star of this album is Jobson. He's not mentioned much in the pantheon of keyboardists, yet here he's the king with his great use of his multiple keyboards and his mastering of the electric violin. Listen to his keys on "Alaska", it brings chills literally. One of the great things about this album is how catchy the choruses are mixed with the incredible instrumentation. There's not many bands that can pull off that type of mixture well; YES, GENESIS and KANSAS just to name a few could, yet with all the ego's in this band it's amazing they were able to pull it off so well. Is this the last classic symphonic prog album of the 70's? For arguments sake I'll open up the floor to you all....is it?.. or is there another? Just a tad under 5 stars...make it 4.75!