THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Well, it seems my tastes are different. I listened to mostly-praised albums from Marillion and IQ (Script For A Jester's Tear, Fugazi, Brave, Dark Matter, Frequency) and the only album I generally liked was IQ's "Frequency". As I'm a die-hard fan of Pendragon and Arena, I decided to give Clive Nolan's other collaborations a try. So here we go.

My first impressions with this album were positive, but it was after reading the lyrics while listening for the second time that I really liked it. It grew on me very quickly and I can now ignore its shortcomings and listen to every song without skipping. The album starts with the acoustic-guitar-driven "A Matter Of Perspective". Clive Nolan's voice is very interesting and as others said, while his vocal range is not wide and he sings safely, he sings with a passion that you can't ignore. The song has just the right length with a chilling closing which drags you into the album, where "The Hunger" attacks. An energetic song for sure. The chorus is full of confidence as opposed to the next song, "Dreams Of The Ferryman" which is in my opinion one of the best songs of the album. I simply love that sense of prostration, "Mercy! Please don't do this to me!". Then comes the "Half Moon Street", with a dark intro. The drums are overt and strong, which enhances the mood of the song. "When The World Turns To White" is a promising song with a very, very beautiful violin solo at the first minutes, performed by Clive Nolan himself. The violin and harpsichord-like keyboards give the first part of the song an old feeling. After some hopeful moments, we have "The Waking Hour" which is one of those dark, yet happy songs with a sense of numbness. The album's title track, "Through The Looking Glass" is where Clive Nolan really shines in his singing. Very emotional! And a very emotional song indeed, with powerful guitar solos and drumming. Definitely another highlight of the album. "Mind Games" resumes the first track and closes the album like it started. There's a bonus track called "So The Music Stops" as well, a piano ballad which is nice.

I really enjoyed this album. But I give it 4.5 stars actually, because I think it could have been darker and more melodic with more engaging songs and more solos.