THE COSMIC BACTERIA'S EXPERIENCES

LONGSHOT began their prog trip in 1994 in the commune of Villefranche de Rouerge as a one-man project behind multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Michael Reese.Reese was so much attracted by a science-fiction novel of his friend Thierry Gulleminot,that he decided to adapt it in a trilogy under the name LONGSHOT...a concept story about a runaway,which escaped from the jail of Alpha Centauri,but was killed by a deadly cosmic bacteria,named ''the dark fear''.For this first part he recruited Michel Altmayer on drums,ex-member of the Zeuhl band ''Troll'',later to record with symph progsters ''Atoll''.So this first part entitled ''The cosmic bacteria's experiences'' was released in 1997 in only 500 copies due to problems with the band's distributors.

The truth is that such kind of a concept seems too ambitious to be created by just one person.Though the album is good in general,it fails to capture my whole attention from the start to the end.The same atmosphere dominates the whole album and it lies somewhere between melodic prog in the vein of CAMEL or even OSIRIS (the Bahrain band) and the guitar- driven prog of JADIS...and actually the guitar work in here is often remarkable with nice riffs and some intricate melodies,while at moments it becomes quite complex with great breaks.The album is balanced between instrumental themes and song-oriented tracks and I could say that it stands well in terms of composition and arrangement.However the digital keyboard sound is somewhat plastic and additionally a bit low in the mix,the compositions seem to last a little bit longer than they should,while what really spoils the whole effort are the distorted,spacey vocals of Reese,which sound at least accented,amateur and at times even hilarious.

For devoted fans and collectors of melodic Neo Progressive Rock,this would be propably a fine purchase...I wouldn't recommend it to lovers of more sophisticated and demanding rock forms...only 2 stars...