PHILLIP THE EGG

This album doesn't have much singing which I must say is a positive. This album mixes the Magic Bus formula up a bit with more attention on instrumentals a decent amount of which have an edge to them which counterbalances the asinine vocals (their actually better on this album in my opinion).

Opening with a Caravan form two-songs-smushed-together song Mystical Mountain i Twelve Kings ii, Philip the Egg has a good beginning. The first part of the song features the bands signature vocals but without the excessive harmonies so it's somewhat pleasant. Then the song heads into an angular instrumental which is replaced by lone piano chords that are in turn replaced by crimsonesque buildup and pay off. There's even an organ solo towards the end, fabulous, no more sunshine and rainbows.

Fading Light is a chill jazz fusion track and it's good, comes in perfectly on the album, thumbs up.

Trail To Canaa is more in line with the previous albums by Magic Bus although the guitar/organ definitely go harder.

Zeta is a song I could do without due to somewhat annoying chanting.

Distant future is alright, I think everything this song says is done better on mystical mountain and Kepler 22b.

Kepler 22b is a delightful instrumental track with nice changes that manage to flow naturally yet abruptly.

Kalamazoo is a short spacy track around acoustic guitar.

Yantra Tunnels as the name suggests is an eastern sequence soundscape at least for the first half, the rest is aggressive rocking.

Overall this album is an improvement over the previous albums for me as it brings a darker edge that I would like to see expanded upon. 3.5/5