STAINED GLASS STORIES

Yes and Yezda Urfa are perhaps the closest reference points, but Cathedral have their own character and it's too bad they have been forgotten in time. If they would have stayed together, and kept writing, they may eventually have became a great band.

'Introspect' moves through many different moods and is quite epic in scope. By far this is best song on the album. Many of the heavier passages feel similar to Yes (think Gates of Delirium) especially in the excellent Rickenbacker bass lines. To my ears the vocalist sounds like an American version of Derek Shulman (Gentle Giant).

The opening section of 'Gong' is more experimental with quite complex timing shifts that remind somewhat of Gentle Giant. Wonderful acoustic guitars enter backed by mellotron and cymbal crescendos that lead into the best past of the song: another bass-heavy section of Squire-esque playing followed by a Genesis-like guitar solo sections played over excellent Moog Taurus bass pedals... quite an impressive sound, but the song wanders a bit and never seems to find it's destination.

Those first two songs are the apex of the album and the rest are not quite as good and are marred by less-than-spectacular vocals in places. The album has a good sound on the surface, and they use all the right ingredients, but the songwriting is not as deep or as accomplished as some other American Symphonic Prog bands such as Yezda Urfa and Fireballet. I can only give this record a 2.5 rating.