IMAGENESS

Finnish progsters bringing shades of MARILLION, ILUVATAR and RUSH to life with excellent musicianship. After reading so many mediocre reviews regarding their debut album I had very low expectations going into this one, but it always pays to have an open mind. "Imageness" is a neoprog album with swirling keyboards and excellent guitar, bass and drum interplay. At times they get out of the Prog musical formula and tend towards a more straight forward rock 'n roll sound which still seems to work quite well. Songs are well written and are played with great energy and feeling. "Sequels" is an epic track (26 Mins) and is a fine listen offering a multitude of theme and mood changes throughout. Lead vocalist Tommy Eriksson sings in a similar style to that of Geddy Lee (RUSH) or Glenn McLaughlin (ILUVATAR) maintaining a fairly high pitch in his delivery. Many folks have criticized Eriksson's vocals but to be honest I kind of like them... seems to fit the music. Overall I think "Imageness" is a grand album full of progressive roots