SPOCK'S BEARD

'On A Perfect Day' is the album's opener, and it's a stellar track. Everything is great: the entire vocal department shines, everything played by every instrument is played with clear purpose, every melody fits together with the perfect sort of defined fluidity. 'Skeletons At The Feast' is an above-average instrumental, very proggy but lacks purpose and begins to sound like an elaborate jam after a while.

Then it begins. With 'Is This Love?' and 'All That's Left', we see Beard drift into semi-icky poppish songs that don't come across well.

Once the listener is fed up with these selections, 'With Your Kiss' begins. Yum. It's a great song with definitive movements, very emotional, and the introductory vocal melody is top-notch. 'Sometimes They Stay, Sometimes They Go' is a surprisingly interesting song that is reminiscent of 70's blues-rock (sorta) and wins with a subtle twist on convention.

Then it begins. Again. 'The Slow Crash Landing Man', 'Wherever You Stand', and 'Hereafter' fail to impress, often being too simple, too cheesily written, or just too boring. There's nothing wrong with simple songs, if they're done right, and this is not the case with these tracks. The off-tempo arrangement in 'Wherever You Stand' sounds like Beard tried too hard for a fresh song but did not succeed.

The epic that follows, 'As Far As The Mind Can See', is an excellent suite, and joins the opener in style and true progressive style. The highlight is 'They Know We Know', an excellent piano driven, anthemic piece. The closer 'Rearranged' has a very stadium sound, and turns out very nice, witha good vocal melody in the chorus. It contains itsself, giving a mini-epic affect to the listener, with the occasional wince at a cheesy lyric but an overall uplifting feeling.

After all, it's a delicious album, if listened to correctly. The production value is excellent, the arrangement, songwriting and depth of musicianship is ace on the good songs, but the album is tainted by some substandard pop ramblings. Verdict: it's worth it, buy the album if you're a fan, and if you're not, I'm sure you'll find it interesting and uplifting.

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