ADOLESCENCE OF AN ANCIENT WARRIOR

One of the weaker offerings from the sympho-prog explosionette in 1980's Japan. Fairly flimsy synth-oriented sympho-prog, bordering on neo-prog. Singing bass player Hideaki Murata tries for that Gabriel-esque theatrical thing, but he doesn't have the pipes. The title song is an attempt at the "multiple voices" thing a la "The Battle Of Epping Forest", and is a complete joke. Lyrically, it's totally laughable, with even worse English lyrics than Novalis' notorious BANISHED BRIDGE. "Gabble" especially. And Murata's mush-mouthed delivery is no help.

The low point is a short vocal song with electronic drums whose title I can't replicate here: its title is the concatenated "ng" glyph found in the pronunciation key to some dictionaries. It's followed by the instrumental "Plug Cord II", which is probably the album's highlight, along with the surprisingly lively "A Low Value Counting Clock". The album's "epic"-the thirteen minute "Against The Wind-is predictably disappointing, just pointless and meandering.