BRIEF NOCTURNES AND DREAMLESS SLEEP

Spock's Beards's eleventh studio record "Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep" was released earlier this year and features these guys on the instruments: Alan Morse on guitar, Dave Meros on bass, bass pedals and keyboards, Ryo Okumoto on keyboards, Ted Leonard on vocals and guitar and Jimmy Keegan on drums and some other musicians. It feels like the band with this album had great ambitions and on some of the tracks the reach rather far towards that goal. The cover picture has some beauty with a blue sea over which a little boat is hovering. The album without its bonus tracks is 55 minutes which is a good time for a pleasent listening.

First to the good things about this music. The arrangements are well done and intelligent. They have caught the symphonic gloss of keyboard sounds and adequate guitar and bass virtuosity. The music is also varieted so you'll don't get tired of it. I like four of the records seven tracks. "Waiting for me" is perhaps the most symphonic and best one with an irresistible ground theme musically. "Something very strange" is also a very good track which begins slow and spheric and evolves to a great symphonic track with good instrumentation. "A treasure abandoned" is varieted and it is the albums very best track with a beautiful melody and grand symphony. "Afterthought" takes, as Spock's Beard" has done before inspiration from Gentle Giant's vocals plays. This is a well done and funny piece of music.

The bad things with this music is the vocals and lyrics with I have problem with. I think they should have been sung in another way to please me. The melodies in the vocal parts of this album isn't as good as the instrumental ones. They don't feel as genuine as the could have. The beginner "Hiding out" is quite lame and poppy and the second one is worse: "I know your secret" is boring and especially the vocals do a very none progressive work. The worst track is "Submerged" which in no way can be considered progressive rock and it's not good rock either.

As a conclusion these three lame tracks together with vocal parts I don't appreciate very much this could be a four star record. Though, the other four songs have a lot of symphonic splender and great instrumentation som I will give it three solid stars for that. If I most recommend one track I'll suggest "A treasure abandoned". But avoid "Submerged" for your own best.