HALLOWEEN

I do not get it. This album has been hyped up as one of the best ever symphonic prog albums of all times. Well, I disagree.

The album starts with a children voice I am sure someone else has copied from this band because I have heard it before. Maybe a BBC TV programme. Then the album moves into a landscape populated by ELOY. The music is pedestrian and almost new-age. The mood is dark. Then a MIKE OLDFIELD and PINK FLOYD like theme kicks in and. Some distorted guitars, flutes and a beautiful choir are added to the mellotrons. The vocals are excellent too. I cannot fault the musicians here.

My main gripe is the lack of variety and details. New-Age music is not my thing and I feel that this album is pretty close to being New-Age. For me, good symphonic prog is what the likes of GENESIS and ELP is doing. They are filling their albums with details and quirks. I have been listening to this albums ten times now and I am still searching for details and new angles to this album. I cannot find them. Not even with the volume turned up to eleven.

The good thing about this album is that the music is beautiful at times. The vocals are heavenly. The choice of instruments are excellent. But the music does not make the earth move for me. And that is the hallmark of a classic. This album is not a classic. But I am by no means dismissing it. This album has some really beautiful passages. It is one of the albums worth buying (but I am not selling mine !). I may even like this album more in five years time. Or even in one years time. But at this moment; it does not move the earth for me. Sorry !

3.5 stars