PRESENTS OF MIND

When you deal with a TILES album,usually you know what to expect...''Presents of mind'' doesn't deliver something groundbreaking or extraordinary but this is generally a very good effort...From the very start it is obvious that the band has chosen the RUSH way of creating prog rock,which is in my opinion one of the most difficult styles of progressive rock,by the mean that this is a rather radio-friendly style of music but at the same time the music must be based in their prog roots...And TILES have done it very well...The album is full of accesible moments along with some more complex ones due mainly to the great work of Chris Herin in the guitars,banjo(!) and keyboards...I consider as best tracks of the album the excellent ''Taking control'' with the nice banjo sound along with ''Safe procedures'' which is balanced between some heavy and some complex guitar lines...As a minus I would notice Paul Rarick' vocals which sometimes remind of JAMES LaBRIE making some tracks sounding close to DREAM THEATER,but TILES have nothing to do with prog metal...Overall this is another nice effort by TILES but I'm still waiting for their true masterpiece contribution to prog rock...3 stars...