IT REMINDS ME OF THOSE DAYS

Clearly, there are spelling issues with this group. I guess it's no fault of the group, but most likely the translator didn't quite get it. It Remainds [i.e. Reminds] Me of Those Days is the second and last album by keyboard power trio Social Tension, led by the highly-skilled keyboard virtuoso Nobuo "Kodomo" Endoh. I concluded that their debut Macbethia was a masterpiece. How does their sophomore release compare? Well, it's not quite as good, one of the biggest problems being that it is too short.

It starts off with "Evil Intention," a very odd song compared to their previous output. It's radio-friendly and sounds like Deep Purple without guitars. Imagine that. Still, I like it. The vocals are in Japanese and I don't find this a distraction in the very least. It has some great bass playing by bassist Masahiko Ota.

The second track is the most important piece of this album, the title track. Note that the title track is also spelled wrong using "Remains" instead of "Remainds" from the album title, of which both should be "Reminds." This track has a combination of ELP and Genesis influences. The ELP influences are much smaller than on their debut album. It contains an interesting section that sounds like a psychedelic wipe-out complete with weird keyboard noodlings. Other sections of the song contain some great keyboard and bass playing. The bass work on this album is an improvement over their debut.

The rest of the album contains three short songs. "Childish Concerto" is a short instrumental with some very exceptional keyboard work. Really nice stuff here. "Waltz" doesn't have the energy of the previous tracks, but has a more romantic feel to it from the flute-like keys and harpsichord. Social Tension ends the album with the energetic instrumental "Out of March," containing some great keyboard work and showing some ELP influences.

I would really like to give this something between four and five stars, although I am leaning closer to four stars. It's not quite as good as Macbethia and it's too short. On the flip side, the bass playing is better and they have shed some of the obvious ELP influences. If it had only contained one more 10-minute or so energetic keyboard-dominated instrumental, I would have easily given it five stars.

This was Social Tension's last album and that's too bad. They were really coming into their own with this album, shedding the ELP influences and developing a sound of their own. In 2000, a compilation called "It Reminds Me of Macbethia" was released that contained the entire Macbethia album and the two best tracks from this album. Their last studio release gets a well-deserved four stars.