A PLACE IN THE QUEUE

Third and, up till now, Tangent´s best CD. Although losing two of their Flower King´s connections, guitarrist Roine Stolt and drummer Zoltan Czörsz, the sound got more symphonic and improved with each release, regardless of the line up changes. Andy Tillson is surely one fo the most creative and insightful prog songwriters to emerge from England since the 70´s. The man is simply a genius and is surrounded by some of the best musicians around. The ironic note is seeing Jaime Salazar replacing Czörsz on the drums (when Salazar was himself replaced by Czörsz in the Flower Kings).

The CD is, like its precedors, a wonderful mix of old and new prog. spiced with some jazz and avant gard influences here and there (Yes, King Crimson, etc et tal). The difference now is that the music became more intricated, bolder and better with time. And, quite unsual, Tillson´s lyrics are as precious as the music itself. The playing is flawless as you would expect from such a team of brilliant musciains. Production is also top notch.

Of the songs the only weak track is DIY Surgery, not surprisingly the sole tune Tillson did not write himself. Fortunatly this turkey is very short. On the other side we have two fantastic epics (In Earnest and the title track), plus some shorter tunes that are varied and very pleasant. The odd song here is The Sun In My Eyes, a wonderful piece of fake disco, with a humorous lyric. It is nice to see that Tillson is capable of writing a simple song and make it work as fine as the complex epics. With apologies to my fellow reviewers who think In Earnest is the best track here, I still found A Place In The Queue to be the Tangent´s highlight, as much as Stardust We Are is for The Flower Kings.

New millenium symphonic prog music at its best. 4,5 stars.