SHATTERED IMAGE

Second official album as La Tulipe Noire finds the Greek band with a few line-up changes.Lead singer Lena has stepped down and a new female singer, Ina, takes her place behind the microphone.Drummer George F. quit also, as he played drums in only two tracks, to leave room for newcomer Nick Kassavetis, while apparently this was also the last contribution of guitarist Yiannis Barkoulas to a La Tulipe Noire work.Chris Tabouratzis offered his guitar texts in a few tracks.Recorded at the Groove Studios in Athens, the album, entitled ''Shattered image'' and dealing with the feeling of hope, was released in 2000 on Musea Records.

This was a tremendous comeback for the Greek band, as the new album finds them extremely mature, inspired and executing every single detail with passion.New singer Ina adds her own touch with her angelic vocals and the composing duo of Hyde and Alix had transformed their potential to reality.La Tulipe Noire played now a grandiose Neo Prog with obvious MARILLION influences and lots of Classical/symphonic tendencies, characterized by emphatic synth soundscapes, poetic lyrics, tight structures and good use of changing tempos, as there are plenty of laid-back melodies supported by more powerful and flashy performances.The band had always a dark, symphonic mood within their structures, but this time the atmosphere eventually makes sense, recalling epic works by MARILLION such as ''Misplaced childhood'' and ''Fugazi''.Kontakis' guitar melodies are extremely beautiful and the female lyricism in the album is an absolute highlight, definitely among the excellent female-fronted albums of the early-00's.The longer tracks with their sinister keyboard parts and the edgy guitar moves come also close to the monumental works by ASGARD: Music full of tension, finesse, haunting moods and poetic underlines.The production is better than on the first albums, but it certainly could get some improvement.

Excellent, dark and lyrical Neo/Symphonic Prog with ethereal female vocals.An absolute must-have for fans of early MARILLION and the likes.Highly recommended.