THE JEWEL

We have a neo prog album of the mid 80's here. It definitely sounds like Marillion, as revealed by the numerous moog solos and the clean & melodic electric guitar sound. However, the drums and bass are much more complex and faster, sometimes falling into a marvelous fusion style. The lead vocals are very emotional, unique and insistent; also there is always this floating fresh & urban texture of keyboards that lightens the rest of the music. Those 2 elements contribute to enhance the overall value of this record. On "Alaska", the most fusion track, just listen to the fretless bass and the fast drums: they fit well with the pleasant floating keyboards and guitar solos: it is absolutely delightful! Check for the best track on this record: "Circus": it is amazingly progressive and the sustained echoed guitar solo combined with the powerful bass and fast cymbals are speechless! The only bad thing is that the sound was recorded too strongly, so that the cymbals sound is distorted.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!