SECOND NATURE

Here's a question to consider....Does great musicianship automatically guarantee an album of progressive music?? Now, I think everyone will agree that the answer to that question is an unqualified..NO, because progressive music traditionally required superb composition, an attempt to incorporate non-conventional instruments and production techniques, blah, blah, blah....you know....all of the above. Here are four undisputed instrumental giants and...ahhh....a new guy with a very pleasant voice. Fine....so they've got the playing part covered but have they satisfied us on the other level?...you know...the blah, blah stuff? Well....yes and no. What I'm hearing on this and the first album from FC is pretty much, straight ahead melodic rock albeit played by exeptional dudes. That said, the opening track is a fine composition that really does cover a lot of sonic territory and can very sensibly be described as a piece of progressive music. The remaining tracks however are most definitely not. So...what to do? This.....accept yet another entry into the Progarchives that arguably should not be here. Second Nature is a great album and I will listen to it quite a few times but....and here's the test....will I look forward to loading the album 20 years from now, the way I do Close to the Edge or Nursery Crime?....an unqualified....NO.....3 stars for the first track and the hints of prog littered about the rest of the album.