THE INNER DRAGON

A lush, symphonic work, "The Inner Dragon" reminds me a bit of "Strinkadenn Ys" by Breton band "Seven Reizh". They differ in that Silver Lining uses a lot of spoken word, they speak/sing in English, their story is a complete fabrication as opposed to the telling of a legend, and they use violin, played with ease and flair by Annie Morel, as a primary interest. But here as there, passages are dominated by keyboards and sometimes heavy yet melodic guitars, and a Celtic wave is always crashing around us.

Thierry Sportouche came up with the concept and wrote the lyrics and sang. His voice is great for singing but a bit heavily accented during the spoken sections, which tend to drag a bit and are a bit too much of a direct throwback to the 1970s when voice overs were de rigueur. They can't always be easily programmed out, but the music that often follows helps lend credence to the story. For instance, "Opaline" proceeds rather slowly for minutes, and I lost a bit of patience, praying that it would reach some sort of denouement and cut loose a bit. And boy does it, with stellar lead guitars and violin backed by heavy rhythm guitars carrying on for the latter half and showing what the band is capable of. "The Morning Dew" follows on from this logically, with particularly succinct and intertwined violin and guitar lines. "Castaways" again requires us to listen to some narration before one of the more powerful vocal segments appears, along with a sparkling violin theme.

"Desert Gates" is a relatively short track but is one of the true highlights, as the nearly ambient guitars float atop world rhythms. "A powerful wand" is also compact but much more energetic, and the violin and bass guitars really flourish. My favourite is probably "Lovestalgia", thanks to a lovely nostalgic melody which initially features Sportouche in mellow mode singing a romantic ode, and then picks up as the violin is re-instated. In general I would say that if you dislike violin in rock you might want to stay away from this album, and even if you like it, it may only suit certain moods, such as when you don't mind a certain sameness that creeps in here and there.

There are many silver linings to this dragon if you get to know its inner self. For a debut it is very strong, and, in spite of some of the aforementioned weaknesses or "acquired tastes", I am rounding up.

Silver Lining has been a silent favorite ever since I got my grubby hands upon its release. While I am no fan of spoken parts in between symphonic interludes (unless there is comedy, like operetta), I can only waive such maligned thoughts when realizing that this is a project led by a prog magazine music critic/editor Thierry Sportouche of Acid Dragon. The original progressive movement was targeted towards eventual annihilation by frustrated non-musicians, led by the late Lester Bangs in 1977, introducing instead the lovingly Wagnerian "the Sex Pistols", the obvious "the Vibrators" and the fittingly named "the Damned". Mellotrons replaced by bags of vomit! What injustice! But guess what? We are baaaaack! So our admittedly modest prog editor decided to reverse 33 years of injustice by putting together this unusual concept album, daring the impossible by handing the lead to the violin, knowing full well that only a handful have ever been successful: Ponty, Goodman, Lockwood, Jobson, Tsuboy & Cross, among others. Annie Morel (yes, a female virtuoso!) is a splendid player, full of verve and élan, soaring over the usual prog stalwarts on keys (the delicate Pascal Indelicato) and electric guitars (the clever Nicolas Mourashko). "Opaline" has enough proggy rudiments to crawl up there with the "Spectral Mornings" of the Prog World, a sultry instrumental excursion into sheer bliss, with Morel fiddling uncontrollably while dueling with a lofty guitar flight that would make Hackett proud. All the tracks sort of blend into another, interspaced with the accented narrative which can and often does detract from the overall quality but when the mikes are turned off and the band kicks into a groove, this is some of the finest symphonic prog you will hear anywhere, with massive swaths of melancholia, melodic hooks that immediately grab your senses and a resounding violin that adds so many emotions to the mix. "Castaways"," The Morning Dew", "The Inner Dragon", "Lovestalgia" all the main tracks offer up some fresh excursions on a fairy tale-like ride that evokes the child in all of us. I just hope their next offering will concentrate on the music and less on the narrative. This is another winner from France, who have been dishing out some fine prog lately. I am looking forward to finding the DVD ,for seeing is believing. 4 puffs of fire

To sumarise this album in one word: captivating

Silver Lining is the project of Thierry Sportouche ex Anoxie, the editor and critic of magazin Acid Dragon, formed in 1998. The release so far a single album in 2004 through Musea records and is a winner in every aspect. Symphonic prog is the main musical style to be found here, but aswell combined with some spare passages of folk and even celtic momements. I have this album for a couple of years now and every time I"m siting down and heare it is a total delightful journey. For me two piece stands as simply killer, Opaline with some magnificent violin parts and guitar aswell, realy fantstic piece, I reraly like the epic fell of the piece, and The Morning Dew again tot notch, the rest are in same manner, elegant full of intristing arrangements. Instrumental passages are sheer briliancy, the violin has a very proeminent role here, for that reason insome places remind me of Kansas, only vague but similarities are. Pieces like Inner dragon or Opaline makes to feel proud that bands with such talent exists and keeps the flag high in prog world. The album as far as I understand is a concept developed by Thierry Sportouche himself with spoken words section and all the ingredients an album must have in this case. So, a highly recommended album with captivating moments that makes a real enjoyble album from start to finish, The inner dragon makes proud the prog rock genre and must be praised as much as possible because desearve it. 4 stars easy, one of the most pleasent albums I've heared in lat years.