A PLACE IN THE QUEUE

I guess this is quite an enjoyable album for people who like the older progressive rock music like King Crimson and Yes. To me it doesn't really make sense that a band releases an album in 2006 sounding like it has been made some 30 years ago.

Musically I must give those guys some slack, because I must admit A Place in the Queue has some fine moments, but I personally don't find Andy Tillison's voice all too amusing. After a while I simply get bored by it and I personally also can't relate to the lyrics either. To me the music too often sounds like "easy listening music", also known under the name of "elevator music".

Take the 1st track In Earnest for example. To me the 1st ten minutes are pure "elevator music" and the song only stars to get interesting during the second half. At 10:30 we get some great instrumental part which I could listen to for the next 10 minutes of this song easily, but the first half of the song has already ruined it for me. Therefore it is very difficult for me to really get into The Tangent's music.

Conclusion: if you like older progressive music and an album that is "easy to listen to" A Place in the Queue might be an album to your taste. If you like more variety and are in for a bit "more recent sounding" and/or heavier music I would stay away from it.

For the reasons mentioned above I can't possibly rate this album higher than 2 stars. It is probably closer to 2.5 though.