THE GARDEN

My first encounter with Unitopia happened years ago, from this very album, which was casually playing in my friend's car when he was giving me a ride. I still remember that 'I Wish I Could Fly' was playing and I was really mesmerized by the duo of guitar and flute, which somehow made me think remotely of the 'Firth of Filth' from Genesis' 'Selling England by the Pound' (predictably, any flute, used in progressive music, makes me think of either Genesis or Jethro Tull, depending on the extraction of sound). And, even though the rest of the 'I Wish I Could Fly' didn't impress me that much, my friend proposed playing the album from the very beginning, claiming that this is so far, the best Australian prog rock band for him.

To be honest, I am grateful that back then I took his advice, bought the CDs next week and dedicated myself to listening to 'The Garden'. Which I love till today. Well, some parts of it.

The thing is that there is a great BUT with this album. The BUT begins when 'Give and Take' starts playing. For me this song signifies that the Australian authentic magic came to an end and commercial melodies are coming to spoil the impression, which was so carefully built throughout the first hour of the album. Yes, the arrangement is still very professional. Yes, the sound is still great. Nevertheless, it feels like the band has already planned creating a double album and didn't want to refuse this idea even after realizing that there is an obvious lack of an original music material (and, to my honest opinion, the same approach took place when 'Artificial' was created, as it lacks original and rich diversity of melodies. I am also surprised 'Artificial' is ranked higher by the Progarchieve users, as, for my humble opinion, 'The Garden' demonstrates better the composing talent of the band).

To sum up, I am rather critical to the CD2, even though my claim for 'bitter disappointment' in the first paragraph is, of course, exaggeration. Exaggeration, which is coming from an idea that the title song, 'The Garden' (with its interesting composing paths, which include a combination of fragile and touching melodies, masterly followed by the aggressive guitar invasions and, later on, some impressions of a tropical summer jungle or jazz), and 'Angeliqua' (which, with its sensitive intro somewhere from Sahara Desert, sets a mood of mystery and intrigues you to find out what is it about that woman, and hits you in your face with first guitar riffs) are setting a very high benchmark for the rest of the album. A benchmark, which, in my opinion, wasn't reached by some of the pieces of the second Unitopia album. Still, my ranking would be a 4 for absolutely great, rich, inventive arrangements and professional sound, which, for me personally, makes worth listening CD2, even taking into account the critics written above.

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