NRG: NO REASONS GIVEN - VOLUME 1

This is the first official release from this great singer/songwriter who sadly died in 1996. His music is to localise somewhere between Rock, Pop and Prog.

Many songs here are influenced by Synthie-Pop. But 'Wings of time' for example is really Prog with heavier guitar work. 'Staring into nothing' also is a great song - but in a better version appearing on 'The shaming of the true'.

And what a surprise: the bonus tracks are also in a good condition: 'If ever rain will fall' reminds me on Genesis. 'Masques' is my favourite.

This release is very interesting to hear because far away from mainstream. But nevertheless: 'Thud' and 'The shaming of the true' are on a higher level. All songs are free to download on the homepage ...

I hope to go more in depth with this review in near future. But I feel this is an overlooked gem and deserves much more attention. It is solid throughout and remarkable when you understand its story. The world lost a true great who was just finding his legs when Kevin Gilbert died. It took a long time for me to check this album out as I was under the impression that it was an early work and nothing I had came across indicated that it was anything exceptional. But my goodness, it is fantastic! I have it various playlists and over the past year or so I have often found myself drawn to it, grooving on it and constantly checking "who is that?" To me, it sounds a bit like an ABWH album that was never made (and actually better than ABWH!) mixed with dashes of Peter Gabriel and a general consciousness of Prog and pop art forms. But this is a very creative effort, not derivative, though as I am indicating, you hear the influences. That's fine and true of practically everyone but what one hopes for is for the artist to make it his own and reveal his/her own unique creativity. It's here in spades. There was true genius in Kevin Gilbert and I kick myself for waiting this long to listen to it. I've heard of it for a couple decades+. There are moments when youth shines thru but throughout it is passionate and exciting in its creativity and performance. A very worthy and unique addition to one's library.