TREASURE ISLAND

Here's another new 'joint venture' project by Finnish progrock magazine Colossus and French progrock label Musea. The album delivers 3 bands from different countries, each plays one 'epic' composition.

1 - Gentlemen Of Fortune (25'39) by Velvet Desperados (Finland) : We can enjoy tasteful and melodic music that ranges from in general mid-tempo and swinging to compelling and bombastic (like the final part that evoked Urish Heep during Salisbury). The band uses a wide range of instrumentation, from saxophone and trumpet to harmonica, guitars and even the bagpipe. But the focus is on the blend of Keith-Emerson inspired Hammond organ work and lots of woodwind instruments (like Chicago), a pleasant combination if you like it.

2 - The Shore And The Breathing Night (24'40) by Floating State (Italy) : This is a nice composition but it lacks a spark, the only memorable moments are a flashy Moog solo, a wonderful and compelling part featuring sensitive guitar and soft Mellotron waves and in the end a Latin-American atmosphere with Spanish guitar runs, quite adventurous in comparison with the rest of this track.

3 - La Aventura En El Mar - The Sea Adventure (23'22) by Nexus (Argentina) : Here is the highlight of this CD, the Argentine progrock sensation Nexus. This track does not really sounds as a head-and-tail composition with a theme, it's more a serie of climates and accellarations. First the impressive and fat sound of the Moog synthesizer, then a mid-tempo with bombastic Hammond organ runs and propulsive guitar riffs, the interplay is exciting. The tempo slows down to bluesy with a sensitive 'cloud number nine' guitar solo, accompanied by beautiful strings and eventually we hear spacey synthesizer sounds and acoustic guitar runs, very creative. Suddenly a mid-tempo with bombastic keyboards, a fluent rhythm-section, quick Hammond organ flights and a slow wah- wah guitar solo with biting licks, this is Nexus too! The final part starts with the sound of the wind, then a gradually more lush atmosphere with the focus on an Emersonian synthesizer sound that finally slowly fades away.