SNOW

The parallels between this album and the last Gabrie-era Genesis album, "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", are clear - both are double concept albums, both are centred in New York both were the bands sixth album, and the lead singer left after each album.

The parallels end there, for while The Lamb is one of my all time favorite album, featuring great melodies, a bizarre story, and really unique music, well ...

Snow makes me understand all the retro-prog hate out there.

I've actually had this album for about two years and never listened to it. I got it around the same time I got Day Into Night, being certain I would love this band, and after Day Into Night failed to impress me I kind of ignored this one for a while. But when I stumbled across a video of "The Light" on youtube, and found myself enjoying it, I figured I would finally give the band a second chance.

Truthfully, the music here isn't terrible. There are, in fact, some pretty good tracks - I like it when the band creates a heavier, darker sound. The problems that plague this album, though, really hurt it. And these albums are evident throughout most of the two hour production, making it very difficult for me to listen to the whole thing.

In all honesty, by the time that "Open Up The Floodgates" Comes around, I am ready to turn it off. And that isn't even the end of the first disc!

Again I'd like to state that this music isn't terrible, and if you're a huge fan of modern symphonic prog, you'll probably like it. It contains everything one expects from the current leaders of the genre, but almost nothing that they expect from the past masters. There are long instrumental flourishes, lots of singing, a strong concept, and it is long!

I think this is my biggest complaint. It's long, and not hugely varied. On their own a lot of these songs stand out just fine, but as an album, it's a lot of the same thing to take in. And they have the bad habit of stretching songs out beyond where they should be. Can you imagine how terrible The Lamb would be if Counting Out Time were 8 minutes long? Yet "Open Up The Floodgates" is a perfect example of a song that's like that - it says what it has to say in 1 minute, then goes on for another 5.

Truthfully at this point I've only gone through the album a couple of times, and it's rare for me to want to review an album after so few listens. I try and get as much as I can out of the album first. But in this case, the good parts often last too long, and even when they don't, they just aren't enough to make me want to trudge through the bad parts