FEARS

The weakness of sound and lack of originality of "Hologram" can not be found here. And the lack of a clear direction and irregularity of "More Grains of Sand" is clearly missing in "Fears". The musical direction of "Fears" is sharply orientated, having a mixture of the best Neo-Prog from the 80's and 90's, but with a stronger feeling and more power than other similar bands like Collage or Pendragon. If you like Arena, you'll surely love "Fears".

But while in Arena the keyboards of Clive Nolan are the clear protagonist, here the principal part is for Marco Cerulli. His guitar melodies and instrumental passages are just great! For example, the beginning of The Missing Spark makes me have goosebumps. This man is really talentous in making touching guitar passages! Just like Lele Hoffman, but not so Mike Oldfield sounding and more diverse. Another good example is the beginnig of Fear, or the really talentous acoustic Daisies on the Sunshine.

The rest of the band makes a great role too, sounding really better than the previous releases of the band. The powerful drums of Pietro Duca became a signature of the band here in "Fears" and in the later "Alone". In Fearless he sounds powerful (a song clearly in the vein of Arena...), making a good pair with the bassist Andy Thommen. This consolidated musical rythmic section is the trademark of Clepsydra, together with the passionate vocals of Aluisio Maggini.

Best tracks: Soaked, The Missing Spark (among the best songs of the band) , Fearless (I love this Arena-like power!), The Cloister (beautiful and misterious track) and Fear (awesome guitar melodies)

Conclusion: despite I consider that "Alone" is a slightly better album than "Fears", I think that the third album of the band is also an obligated purchase for every Neo-Prog lover. It's full with beautiful instrumental passages, long and clever melodic progressiosn, it has a cristal clear production, and here can be heard a band reaching its madurity and a outstanding musical level. Strongly recommended.

My rating: ****

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