THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Spock's Beard perfectionated their style here, and toghether with a great production, they released another brilliant album, full with memorable songs, both the long and short ones (ok, the longer are better...) Neal Morse's singing improved here, offering us the first album with all his vocal power... His singing is just marvellous through the album... And luckily his lyrics were far of the religious themes!

Ryo Okumoto has also more protagonism with his keyboards... His playing is not always in the surface of the music, but his ambiences and constant background melodies are fundamental for the deepness this album has.

Musically is not really different of all the Spock's Beard's album with Neal Morse... Not so epic-oriented like The Light, and a little poppier than Beware of Darkness, but similar in style. The main difference is that the long tracks here are all incredible... The Good don't Last, Harm's Way and Flow are among the best long tracks Spock's Beard have ever made. The poppy and acoustic feeling of the first track is really pleasant, while the jazzy Harm's Way's keyboard backgroud is remarkable, like its epic last part... And Flow closes the album briliantly, with a brilliant funky middle part and beautiful guitar final melodies!

The short tracks are also remarkable... I specially like Cakewalk on Easy Street, a rythmic rock song with a nice piano work, and June, maybe the best acoustic Spock's Beard efforth, with marvellous vocal melodies.

Best tracks: the three longer ones, Cakewalk on Easy Street and June.

Conclusion: brilliant third Spock's Beard album, full with good songs, and a must for every fan of the band... Because toghether with V, this is the best this band has made in my humble opinión. Brilliant in composition, production, interpretation... And an excellent addition to every prog collection. And if you haven't an album of these people, The Kindness of Strangers is a perfect point of entry. So if you like commercial progressive rock, a bit pop oriented, with some complex passages with influences but always accesible... This album is made for you!

My rating: ****

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