A STREET BETWEEN SUNRISE AND SUNSET

In getting ready for their new release "Into the Night," I thought I would review one of my most intriguing albums, "A Street Between Sunrise and Sunset by Satellite. This is an album that exemplifies how an artist is able to create atmosphere in their music. On every listen I hear something new. It is a well crafted album and Wojtek Szadkowski has created music that sounds very original. This is the first album in a 3 album series to be completed with "Evening Games" and soon "Into the Night." When I think of this release, I think of mellow, relaxing and well crafted music. This has great production as the sound quality is fantastic. You can hear everything very clearly, one of the best produced albums I have heard. There is definitely an electronic element that is present which actually enhances the overall experience. Song by song review:

1) The Evening Wind - Starts with sounds from a busy street in the middle of a city to create a mental picture of urban life, much like the album cover. The music kicks in and great textures are layers are present. Great acoustic guitar and piano along with the vocals of Robert Amirian make this song a pleasant listen and a wonderful opener. 8/10

2) On the Run - My favorite song from the album. It starts off slowly with soft vocals but incredible atmosphere is soon created with piano and keyboard. Some might find it too lengthy at times, but I love the build up of this song. Once the drums start it is a feast for the ears. There are so many elements to this song it's hard to catch everthing at one time. Great guitar work at the 3:10 mark which is something that might get lost in this album as it is very keyboard driven as a whole. Love the break at 5:10 and the tempo change as it begins to go in a different direction. One of my all time favorite moments in progressive music comes at the 10:20 mark and lasts for 2 minutes. It is hard to fully explain in words how beautiful this section is, pure musical bliss. The song ends as expected with a guitar driven outro. Incredible performance! 10/10

3) Midnight Snow - Nice clasical guitar opening followed with vocal sections and a very soft feel to this song. Very pleasant and soothing. 6/10

4) No Disgrace - Starts off with a strong burst of keyboards and then picks up a much faster pace. The album needed something like this, something with a quicker tempo to mix things up a bit. Great break at 3:10 and we find a nice guitar solo with orchestra elements in the background. Nicely done. Nice ending as it reverts to how it opened with the nice, strong keyboard. To sum of this song in one word: Nice 7/10

5) Not Afraid - Opens with distorted, background guitar sounds to give it a darker feel when the vocals begin. We then hear an almost jazzy type of tempo with bass guitar taking the lead. A good change from the rest of the album. 7/10

6) Now - Another opening along the same lines as the opening track. Very atmospheric and a lot of energy to begin with. Then the vocals bring back a more relaxing element. At this point of the album it begins to feel like more of the same unfortunately. This is the one thing that keeps this release from reaching masterpiece status. The songs are not varied enough from one to the next. Don't get me wrong, this is still a very good song. There are some excellent prog elements within. I just can't tell if I have heard this already in the previous songs. 7/10

7) Fight - A bass guitar and drum opening.then the predictable soft vocals begin again. More of the same? Yes. Not bad, but I think this ground was covered earlier. Nice acoustic guitar section is what saves this song and makes it a tad different. 6/10

8) A Street Between Sunrise and Sunset - The title track, this has to be good right? This begins with the vocal line from the third song "Midnight Snow." Pretty much a standard Satellite number here.. keyboards with guitars. This song is a bit lengthy and could have been shaved a few minutes. I think I am starting to hope this album ends soon, which is not a good sign. 6/10

9) Children - Nice piano intro and light percussion. Sounds different than what we have heard. Oh wait, here come the light vocals again. I think we have heard this one already too. Then something new.the sounds of outside crickets or something with.oh just skip it. 3/10

OK, in summing up, I think this is a very strong release with beautiful moments found throughout. My only gripe is that the songs all sound the same after listening straight through. Once you get to song 8, it almost becomes work to listen any longer This albums is great in small doses, which how I usually listen to this. "On the Run" is brilliant! The highlight of the album for sure and I can't say enough good things about that song. But once you get to the 6th song, you want to listen to something else with more variety. And it does not help that all of the song run into each other and you cannot make the distinction of where a song ends and begins without looking. My recommendation is to listen to the first 5 songs, then return to listen to the rest another day to avoid Satellite overdose. Despite the 2nd half repitition, I give this 3.5 stars and I will round it up to 4 on the strength of "On the Run." An excellent addition to any prog collection!

May prog be with you!

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