4TH

Finnegans Wake's fourth album is a textbook example of the definition of chamber rock ( or as I call it chamber prog) and is one of the most enduring example of the newer wave of such Belgian bands. Their first albums were somewhat a bit between Canterbury and Avant prog or Univers Zero , fusing rock rythms with serious music. By this fouth album, gone are the rather clumsy Canterbury influences and sloppy production jobs and we are really dealing with a prime example of rock music interacting with classical chamber music. This gives us the listener some ravishing and orgiastic moments but also (rarely) some more awkward uneases (but really nothing to be afraid about), but on the whole a very enjoyable album.

This double album will ke you a while to digest everything on it ( I certainly have not by the time of writing this review) , the influences ranging from contemporary classicalflute playing on rock drumming leading into frenetic high energy rock to going back to calm pastoral string quintet chamber orchestral music. Awesome job!! But this is an acquired taste but there are moments when you can hear that my buddy Henry Krutzen an his music ex-partner Aucremanne (but present as a guest) have also listened to the more adventurous Steve Hackett Oeuvre and sometimes Crimsonian guitars make an appaerance over a Satriani solo(Tapoica Com Pimemta closing off disc 1). The music stays mostly melodic and if dissonances there are, they are not frequent. The jazz influences are still there but really not as frequently as on their previous albums.

If you are inclined towards classical music (other than the huge symphonic orchestras) and enjoy the better known Univers Zero, this may just be your album of the year.