YOU HAVE A CHANCE

This album reminds me of a HARRY NILSSON album with some vocal tendencies toward IAN ANDERSON. While the band uses some instruments typical to progworld (synthesizers, mellotron, organ and woodwinds), I don't find much to warrant this as prog (the STYX-like 'Dance of The Sun, The Remark, Birth of The Light' (6:16) (8/10) being the exception). And even the 'folk' element is rather slippery--the 'Some Stories' bookends, 'Clumsy Grace' and, maybe, ''til The Morning Came' might qualify. The proggiest parts of this album, outside of the above mentioned 'Dance',' occur in parts of the instrumental song, 'We All Stand in Our Broken Jars' (5:33) (8/10), and the brief symphonic part of the pleasant piano solo song, 'A Safe Haven' (3:40) (8/10), the synthesizer in 'Knight's Wow' (4:00) (7/10), and, of course, the GENESIS passage in the second half of 'Mellow Days' (9:39) (8/10). The vocals--and their harmonies--are unremarkable except for their similarity to Harry Nilsson. The acoustic guitars (and ukelele) play is quite monotonous and repetitive. The album is, however, well recorded and well engineered and has a nice packaging product. However, I find too little here to satisfy my prog sensibilities.

3.5 stars rated down for lack of originality and lack of true progginess.