ANYMAN

This is a great prog cd with lots of melodies, a variety of styles (all within the prog genre), and expertly played and recorded. Very close to five stars.

I'm not sure I see the "Lamb", "Tommy" or "Wall" references cited in other reviews on the web, but this is clearly a concept album, albeit with a loose and somewhat vague story line. The lyrics are very modern and American (no giant hogweeds or astral travelers here!), humorous at times, searching and inspiring at others.

Despite the word "orchestra" in their name, the band is a traditional guitar, bass, drums, keyboards (huge variety) type of prog outfit. The best band references I can come up with are Glass Hammer (great keyboards!), Echolyn (harmonies and song structures), and a little Spock's Beard (via the Beatles) thrown in. The second song has a Genesis "Counting out Time" vibe to it. (Hey, there's a "Lamb Lies Down" reference!)

The album is 64 minutes long with 18 songs, so you don't get any traditional prog epics here. But so many precious gems of a shorter nature! Lots of virtuoso bass playing (important for us Chris Squire fans!), and plenty of the polyphony that differentiates progressive rock as the best music around today.

If you can find this, buy it. Highly recommended.