FIREWALL

I ran into this band by accident, had never heard of it. I'm totally unfamiliar with their previous older work. So i did not know what to expect from their latest album "Firewall". First of all: i don't agree with the 'Crossover Prog' style they have been labelled with. In my humble opinion this is a more Heavy Prog/Hard Rock style with symphonic elements. In general i think there are not much progressive influences in the music. Most songs have a modernised hard rock feeling. They are not composed very complicated, but there is a nice airy feeling, enhanced by the beautiful guitar and strong keyboard play. Especially the guitar play lifts the music to another level.

The first song, Welcome to the Show, kicks in wit a heavy rythm and soon Reinhard Schröter picks up the vocals with a voice that sounds as a polished version of RAY WILSON. When the guitar and the keyboards join in, thbe music really grabs me. Save the World takes over with the same nice hard rock edge.

Then there is a love ballad-ish song, Love in Vain. This one doesn't stand out for me. Into the Moments, All This Time, Firewall and Virgin Zone all go into the direction of a poprock song, sounds very nice buyt nothing special though. Thirst in my Heart starts with a short chorus. This is a more relaxed song with a saxophone playing halfway.

The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back is a nice song wih beautyful mood changes. Then comes my favourite track of the album: the live version of Look at Your Neighbour. With almost seven minutes the longest track and it is enjoyable every minute of it. Ramses lets us hear that they can play live as tight and vibrant as in the recording studio. The guitar and keybords really stand out here. Not complicated, straightforward and very very good. After three minutes a wonderful guitar solo starts off. With my eyes closed i can even imagine that i am listening to an early number of URIAH HEEP. Nice!

The X-Mas Song sounds as mellow as the title suggests. The next song, Back to the Glades, again really stands out. It is all instrumental and has a pretty space rock sound.

Thre last song is a 'soft version' of Look at Your Neighbour. Here the vocals are from Herbert Natho, the original vocalist from the seventies. My suggestion would be to skip that song. I am not familiar with his performances in the past, but his voice does not fit the rest of the album.

Overall i would say that Ramses has made a nice flowing album with two strong tracks to start with: Welcome to the Show and Save the World. Then the music becomes more into the direction of poprock. That all changes with The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back and the live version of Look at Your Neighbour. It would have been better to drop The X-Mas Song and the short version of Look at Your Neighbour. Then the cd could have ended strong with first the instrumental Back to the Glades, followed by the live Look at Your Neighbour. 3,5 stars from me, rounded up to four because i really enjoyed te better tracks.