THE SUN ALSO RISES

You know how there are some CD covers that immediately catch your eye and you think, 'Gee, that looks like a good CD'. For one reason or another, this CD cover reminded me of Arena (Breakfast in Biarritz), even though the artworks had nothing in common. It was just the presence and the ambiance of it, nothing more. But after having read the CD booklet, it then became clear; both covers were designed by Mattias Norén (www.progart.com).

'Does the cover compare to the CD within?' is what I hear you asking. Well.yes, and without a doubt! I know that it's still early in the year, but I can imagine that this album will be on a lot of Christmas wish lists. This is one hell of an album! Why? I'll tell you why.

The intro of this album lasts 27 seconds. If someone can draw your attention in 27 seconds and then provide you with what you can further expect, then you'll definitely be curious, and rightly so.

For twenty years long, the Klazinga brothers (Gerben(music) and Joop(lyrics)) have been collecting material for this concept album. They've been working for almost two years on 'The Sun Also Rises' together with Dutch prog musicians (among others, Gijs Koopman, ex-Cliffhanger), and it shows. These are songs that were not just slapped together nor are they trivial or meaningless songs.

The keyboards and guitar immediately catch your attention and can be placed in the same context as Arena, Pink Floyd, RPWL, IQ, Pendragon, Camel etc. The compositions really only have an atmospheric connection with these other bands. The voice of Mark Smit reminds you of Yogi Lang (singer of RPWL) and in no way may Gerben's keyboards be considered inferior to that of Clive Nolan! The guitar solos of Peter van Heijningen are especially fantastic. All of the elements (mellotron, flute, Hammond organ, guitar solos etc.) of a good prog album are processed in it, without losing sight of neither the melody nor the composition. This album keeps the right balance between musical power and technical know how. There's so much quietness and feeling, yet plenty of rawness and strength to keep everyone's attention. The Dutch are blessed yet again with another symphonic (progressive) rock band. Hopefully, they'll continue with this line up and then we'll soon have the opportunity to see them live on stage.

'The Sun Also Rises' from Knight Area contains such wonderful, progressive music. For me, this band deserves to be awarded. I'd like to personally bestow the honor to this album (the first one this year) and crown it as the 'Mega-Awesome CD'. You must've already ordered this album by now :-)

Review by: Jany (9/10) Translated by Jennifer Summer

I'm very pleased with the constant waves of positive critics on Prog Archives about the Dutch progrock, from EARTH & FIRE, FOCUS and FINCH to NICE BEAVER, ODYSSICE, TRIANGLE and, last but not least, the highly acclaimed AYREON. A few months ago I witnessed a gig from KNIGHT AREA near Amsterdam, I was stunned by their compelling progrock and their professional attitude. No wonder that they got a contract from the famous USA progrock label The Laser's Edge and I was told by their bass player Gijs Koopman (I know him as a fan from his former band CLIFFHANGER) that KNIGHT AREA already sold more than 8000 copies from their debut-CD "The Sun Also Rises", an incredible performance by this very promising new Dutch progrock band! If you listen to their music, you soon will be delighted by the wonderful sound in the vein of mid-GENESIS, MARILLION, IQ and PENDRAGON. The 10 melodic, alternating and tasteful progrock compositions feature lots of majestic Mellotron waves and flashing synthesizer runs (the back cover from the booklet shows a picture from the sensational Minimoog) and sensitive electric guitar soli along beautiful instrumentation with flute, accordion and acoustic guitar. In my opinion this CD (50 minutes) is a splendid 24-carat symphonic rock album that deserves a worldwide recognition. By the way, KNIGHT AREA will perform on the annual Nearfest progrock festival in the USA on July 10th (along with Le ORME and KENSO). I hope you will be lucky to get a ticket because this festival was sold out within half an hour! Anyway, I'm sure KNIGHT AREA will impress many progheads on Nearfest!

Satisfying but unsurprising.

Sometimes you browse in a pile of used cds and finally this super cool artwork catches your eyes. After admiring the great cover you wonder: 'Man, if only the substance could match the retainer'. And then you pop it in. And you smile. Cashier slides your card, Ka-ching, thank you very much, have a nice day.

Oh my day got nicer the day I bought Knight Area. The band's name scored high on the cheese-o-meter in my head. But nevertheless, I gave the band a chance considering the fact of the beauty of the package. After that, I realized that maybe the band's name was settle in consequence of the choice of the cover. Anyway, congrat's at Mattias Noren for a delightful package.

Enough with superficial marketing jibberish; is the record decent ?

Yes.

But don't expect anything new or a great cavalcade of sonic originality. We are on well known ground. Knight Area could be compared to a bunch of guys climbing up the mount Everest. They planted their flag on top, but many did the same throughout the years before and will do in the future. But it's still an appreciable effort. You listen to this when you feel like not feeding your brain anymore. Pop the plug in your head and just fill up on good choruses, catchy Ayreon keyboard lines sprinkled with tiny Pink Floyd marshmallows.

Altough the record is not reinventing the wheel, I still do feel attachement to it. Could it be the soft piano, the sharp guitars, the dreamy Camel flute, the vocals that reminds me the good ol' days of New Order? This is like a blend of Camel, Ayreon, New Order and Pink Floyd. I do feel attached to all those bands, so hearing the best of all those is pretty comforting. I didn't waste my money but I shouldn't count on the replay value too much since it's rather short (50 minutes).

Overall amateurs of New Order, Ayreon and Pink Floyd will certainly find something to chew for days.

Entertaining, precise and gets to the point. Great for a quick fix.

3.5 stars. I have to agree with everyone else, the cover art is just amazing !

The record opens with the way too short "Beyond", it sounds so good yet lasts but 27 seconds. "The Gate Of Eternity" is one of the highlights for me, opening with reserved vocals and majestic mellotron. I can't believe how good the accordion sounds on this song, it really adds to the appeal. There are some good guitar solos as well. Another favourite of mine is "Conviction", it's dark and heavy and the vocals really shine on this one.There is a keyboard solo, as well as some scorching guitar. "Mortal Blow" has some great female vocals, and there is this heavy bass and drum melody that comes and goes.

This record is good, just not as good as I thought it would be. I still recommend it though.

Since I extensively started to listen to music, some thrirty six years ago, I have NEVER heard a piece of music that only last for twenty-seven seconds that could be as interesting as "Beyond", the opener of this magnificent album.

A few months ago, I have added this album to the huge thread Erik (Neuteboom) had started on the forum in respect with symphonic jewels. I mentioned to him my admiration for his so small country (The Netherlands) for having generated so many incredible great bands. He tried to consolate me as a Belgian (we don't have the tenth of them) that we produced some wonderful chocolates and the finest beers in the world. So, music to The Netherlands and beers to Belgium. I guess I'll have to live with it !

"Beyond" flows nicely into "The Gate of Eternity" is just a marvel of symphonic music (but so is the whole album). So wonderful, so gentle, so nice, so...Still, at times this number shows a very powerful sound as well. So, it is not only symphony : it rocks as well.

The following number, "Conspiracy", is more in the neo-prog genre. Rather heavy, with lots of keyboards (but there are two keyboards players in the band). A poppy and easier song. Very melodious vocals. Same orientation for the instrumental parts of "Forever Now". Very strong bass line and solid drumming for this rather rocky number. Keys are imposing as well.

The title track is fully symphonic and majestuous. It is a very peaceful song for most of it. The end though is very much "Cinema Show" oriented (to say the least). Another very good track. "Conviction" sounds very Gilmouresque during the intro. It then flirts with some heavier sounds (like "Conspiracy"), but vocals are always very sweet.

I was lucky to have seen this band on stage (Spirit Of 66, of course) in October 2005. They opened the second day of a prog conference with La Maschera Di Cera and Riverside. What a day it was (thanks again Francis)! They were very enthusiast on stage, very friendly off-stage. Truely nice people. Mark Smits always trying to speak some phrases in French to introduce the songs. A nice attention for the audience. So, yes : the band is also good while playing live.

"Mortal Brow" is another nice composition. Aerial vocals performed by Stephanie Lagrande. A highlight of this album. The mood is more spacey here at times but, as usual, the instrumental passages (keys again; we won't get so many guitar breaks on here) sounds very much Genesis like. But I think lots of people love Genesis, right ?

"Moods Inspiring Clouds" is somewhat lighter. An excellent vocal part during the chorus provides me a lot of emotion. One of the catchiest melody on this album. At last we'll get a fantastic guitar solo (one of the very few ones). Emotion is on par with the vocals. One of my favourite songs on this album. Very inspired indeed.

The structure of " A New Day at Last" reminds me the one of "Firth Of Fifth". The middle part is almost as grandiose as its glorious predecessor (one of my three Genesis fave). This number has all the ingredients of the most brilliant symphonic prog. Maybe only one remark : it should have been longer.

"Saevis Tranquillis In Undi" closes this excellent album ina peaceful and very quite mood. It's time to sit back and remind all those good musical moments.

If IQ, Genesis and Pink Floyd are amongst your favourites, you definitely need to give a try to this very good album. It might maybe not be categorized as a masterpiece because it probably lacks in originality but it is a damned good album that I have listened many, many times during the last two years.

I hope that Knight Area will have a long career so that we can enjoy their beautiful music for a very long time. Four stars.

I was told this is a Neo Prog masterpiece ;)

I like Neo very much despite everything it has done to me. This time it has brought me a nice CD by a Dutch band KNIGHT AREA (said to be GENESIS-influenced). I won’t call them GENESIS clones because they’re obviously not; they are rather ARENA/IQ/ FROST soul mates, they play the same way accessible and hard-edged Neo Prog with short but varied songs supplied with wonderful performance and sound. To be honest, nothing special – this is the time when personal tastes speak. I had the same feeling about recently reviewed new GALAHAD album – everything is on its right place but it doesn’t click on me EMOTIONALLY. As on GALAHAD, there are few good songs (and one is very good - “Mortal Brow”) for me, and I know, that hundreds of progheads will enjoy this album a lot; much more than I did. And do you know what? This is GREAT!!! This is great when you have an opportunity to try, an ability to choose and make preferences. This is what it’s all about in Prog: listen, enjoy and then tell us how do you feel it. Recommended!!!

Behind the first release of KNIGHT AREA hides Dutch musician Gerben Klazinga,who -along with his brother Joop- worked steadily but slowly on this project for almost 20 years.The conditions had matured around 2002,when Gerben and Joop entered their own studio to record some keyboard and drum parts of the work.The two brothers were helped by a lot of well- and lesser-known Dutch prog musicians and the result was ''The sun also rises''.Named after the street where the studio was (''Ridderbuurt'' means KNIGHT AREA in Dutch),they signed on Laser's Edge label and debuted in 2004.

Extremely well-produced and with a superb clear sound,''The sun also rises'' is an excellent work deeped in melody with elements coming from both the neo and symphonic rock movements.Many parts will remind you of MARILLION with awesome guitar playing and slow-downed atmospheric keys around.On the other hand there a lot og groovy parts filled with fast-played synth solos and strong guitar parts,closer to the sound of PENDRAGON and JADIS.Most of the compositions are sung by Mark Smit,a great singer with a fantastic and very emotional voice.Additionally you will find plenty of grandiose symphonic keyboard work in this album,mainly in some superb instrumental passages,ready to please even the most demanding symphomaniac out there.So all we can say is:''Worth waiting!''.''The sun also rises'' is an album,which almost reaches the maximum in terms of musicianship,performance and production.Absolutely essential for fans of pleasant and dynamic music adventures!4 shining stars!

Because the latest by Knight Area (Under a new Sign) was recently in the store I bought that one first. I was so much impressed that I went after this one as soon as possible. Again I was absolutely not disappointed but problem is that this debut had to be a double masterpiece to beat its successor and I have to admit, it isn't.

Still this is very good, I already had read some reviews and they were very promising. Why is it less ? It's just that the songs are less impressive, it could also be my preference for longer tracks that makes the difference again. On the other hand, the best track on this album is Conviction and that is not really long. This song has everything I look for in prog in general and in neo prog particularly. It has a lot of energy, great keyboards, great guitar and very good melody. It's only a little bit short in length but this also proves that I'm not simply obsessed by tracktimes but that the music always comes first. This is a very compact song and it's simply perfect, maybe even better than the best tracks on Under a new Sign !

But just about all the other tracks are very worthwhile as well (first two minutes of Conspiracy !) and it's just that I got to know the other one first, gave that one 5 stars, have to admit this is (slightly) less and round it down to 4, but it's actually worth 4.5 stars.

Excellent album with solid composition!

I am practically newbie as far as Knight Area concern as I only knew the band couple of months ago when a friend of mine introduced me to this 'The Sun Also Rises' album. It was not much I expected at first because of 'neo-prog' label on the kind of music this band plays and the fact that there have been many bands in this sub-genre. So was the case when I first spun the album as it sounded typical neo-prog where keyboard and guitar are dominant in the composition. But on the second spin I found the music was very interesting especially on brave guitar solo during interlude section or in between musical segments. Not only that, the keyboard also plays critical role in putting it all together in a solid composition throughout the album.

It has come to my attention, actually, that when we talk about neo-prog there are basically two categories. The first category is the kind of music that early Marillion (Fish era) plays where there are basically putting more high energy (refer to songs like 'Assassing', 'Garden Party', 'Forgotten Sons', 'He Knows You Know'). Pallas ('Beat The Drum'), IQ ('The Wake', 'The Darkest Hour', 'Tunnel Vision') and Arena ('A Crack In The Ice', 'Welcome to The Cage') may fall into this category. The second category is those bands who play in mellow / slower tempo music in moody, ambient style like the music of Camel. Bands under this category are Pendragon, Red Sand, and Knight Area. Under this category, the music is much digestible for wider audience because it has stronger pop nuances.

Below writing describes my thoughts on the music of Knight Area in this album with some comments on some tracks ?

The opening overture 'Beyond' (0:27) sets an excellent tone for the whole album as it starts with an ambient music featuring Latimer-like guitar playing. It flows nicely to the next excellent track 'The gate of eternity' (7:21) which starts with an ambient style followed by melodic vocal line accompanied by guitar fills and long sustain keyboard work at background. I have to admit that the opening vocal line here is quite catchy and sometimes reminds me to the music of Symphonic Slam. What follows is a stunning guitar solo in the vein of Marillion's 'Sugar Mice' guitar interlude but in much slower tempo. You can imagine how slow the music is as compared to Marillion because 'Sugar Mice' is basically a mellow track in 'Clutching At Straw' album.

'Conspiracy' (5:38) brings more energy to the music with keyboard-drenched intro in an interesting musical part. Even though I do not quite like the part when vocal starts to roll but this song is excellent that you may recall the keyboard part is in the vein of Marillion's 'Garden Party'. 'Forever now' (4:21) runs in faster tempo and the music is something similar with Camel style with more portion of keyboard work. The keyboard solo is in fact very good, especially when it's combined with skillful guitar playing. The title track 'The sun also rises' (5:51) is an instrumental piece in mellow style. 'A new day at last' (5:12) starts with a catchy piano solo followed with melodic vocal line backed with stunning guitar work.

I can recommend you to have this album, especially if you love the mellow side of neo-prog and stunning guitar solo combined with keyboard. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild ? GW

Indeed, cover of their albums is always nice (so far nice should I say?). Music is also very good, but I had a hard time writing this review. So let's continue with something nice:

This is perfect example of modern Neo-prog (even in case for example Conspiracy there are synths similar (or even the same) that Pendragon and Arena are using, but after all I don't wonder, when Clive Nolan is in both bands, but anyway), with strong emphasis on melodic part of music. Not as dark as Arena and not as over-synth as Pendragon is. Hm, no terribly long song here, all of them are from 4-7 minutes. Quite balanced album, I like that. Also good is that most of these songs are completely different and have a good chance to be remembered after a while. I listened this three months ago and still was able to remember bits and flashes of this.

5(-), very special Neo-prog.

Knight Area - The Sun also Rises (2004)

The Dutch symphonic/neo progressive rock band Knight Area quickly became one of Holland's main progressive attractions. Whilst making some solid neo-prog records, the band has an excellent live performance. Finally a band that blessed itself by acquiring a talented sound-crew that would ensure live success, even at the point that this was a seven-men band. Not only did Knight Area have the right sound, they could easily perform the material played in the studio and had several members that looked good on stage.

The debut album 'The Sun also Rises' was one of my first progressive rock records and I can still listen to it today, thought my shift to 'classic prog' has had huge influence on my musical tastes. On the debut, Knight Area was more like an extended project then a band (just look at that list of musicians). The compositions are however solid and the band succeeds in combing a modern sound with intelligent, original song-writing that still have that sticky effect that makes the listener want to return. The vocals of Mark Smit are often in the higher regions, and he surely is one talented vocalist for progressive rock! When listening to this album I miss some of his power he unleashed during the liver performances, but it's still great. The guitars of Peter van Heijningen are strong and some of his melodic lines are daring and give the music a welcome seriousness and toughness. Otherwise, the band has a slight tendency to loose itself in slight cheesiness (something a lot of people seem to like more then me).

Songs that stand out for me are the epical 'The gate of eternity', the strong instrumental title track (I like the multi-section approach), 'Conviction' and 'Mortal Brow'.

The album was recorded at Knight Area's own studio, which also is a professional studio for other bands. I myself am not too fond of the midi-keyboard and digital guitar amplification approach, but the music sounds full and clean.

Conclusion. This is a strong debut for one of my home-country finest modern progressive bands. I recommend it to fans of neo and symphonic progressive rock. Big three and a halve stars.

Knight Area's debut album is a dark and intoxicating slab of neo-prog reminiscent of a fusion of the likes of Arena and post-Ever IQ. What particularly impresses me is that despite not really having a consistent lineup on any of the songs - at this stage Knight Area was pretty much a Gerben Klazinga solo project with a small army of guest musicians helping out - there's a very consistent and coherent style from song to song, a testament both to Gerben's songwriting and to the careful production job the album benefits from.

On the whole, most fans of neo-prog will welcome Knight Area as a brand new band playing a fairly purist style of neo-prog. At the same time, I find that the album doesn't quite stand up to repeated listenings - there's a lot of bombast here as Knight Area try to assert their prog credentials, the vocals are a little shaky, and the songwriting is not as tight as it could be.

Recently I realised I haven´t written a review for Knight Area's debut album, even if I had this CD early on. For some reason I did not give the attention it deserved. I guess I had too many new bands to check at the time (I had rediscovered prog music in 2002, so I had a lot to catch up). Anyway, this dutch band then produced great stuff in the following years and got a well deserved fame as one of the best neo prog bands to appear in the new millennium. But last week I found this CD and decided to give it a proper listening and I was quite surprised with what I heard.

For some reason I have always thought The Sun Also Rises was a kind of good, but derivative record, with the band still finding its way. Upon listening to it after all these years I found that this reasoning was wrong: although one could hardly called the music here challenging, the sound was already very much their own by the time they decided to put their stuff on record. Looking at the credits we see a band that was changing members during the recording of this album. However, the album flow is very even and you can´t tell the struggles they might have been facing. With absolute no fillers, Knight Area delivers a CD that is full of great songs, beautiful melodies and tasteful arrangements. I really love those Hackett/Gilmour/Rothery-like emotional guitar solos, the Banks-ish keyboards sounds, the tight rhythm section and their strong sense of melody. Mark Smit may not be the best singer around, but his delivering is more than adequate and quite convincing. Although the music here is not that original, their songwriting is far superior than most bands and it is no wonder they delivered so many excellent records in the next years.

It is hard to point a highlight, since the whole CD is beautiful and strong, but my favourites are the powerful Conspiracy and the fantastic title track with its guitar/keys duels. With a very good production for the time, The Sun Also Rises is one of the best debuts of any neo prog bands I´ve seen in many years. And I´m glad I had the opportunity to rediscover this gem I had forgotten in my collection. If you like fantastic melodies, vintage sounding keys and superb performances you can not miss this one.

Rating: 4,5 stars. Highly recommended!