MELROSE

Here goes TD, attacking another decade. I just hope that it will be better than the way they closed the eighties ("Lily On The Beach"). It was not a friendly way to say goodbye to this period actually?

I tend to be indulgent for TD, and the first two tracks from this album are quite good to be honest. Very good sax play for the opener and title track, and some beautiful ambient moments peppered with great electric guitar from the Froese gang to make a highlight of "Three Bikes In The Sky".

This album is also longer than usual (almost an hour). And even if we are not close from the ethereal of let's say "Desert Green", a track as "Dolls In The Shadow" holds sufficient ambient keys to please my old ears.

I would have wished some more "tribal" sounds during "Yucatán" but instead, some programmed percussions aren't really working well but this is compensated by an emotional guitar break. Not too bad at all shall I say. So far, so good?

Most of the compositions sound fresh and are well crafted. Much better than the previous "Lily" which almost brought me in despair. The simplistic and repetitive "Electric Lion" is OK while you are on the meditating side of things. But this fully new age oriented track is a good antidote to stress, believe me. This album flows nicely from one track to the following without any mistakes so far. The "lion" even roars at mid-time in the form of another very good guitar part.

Some more upbeat at times "Rolling Down Cahuenga" (but with no harm even if this is not the highlight from "Melrose") and somewhat electro-pop as well but mixed with heavenly keys ("Art Of Vision") are available.

The longest rack for this album (but short in terms of TD epic) is "Desert Train" which is a good summary of what one can obtain from this album: synthetic beats, computerized drumming BUT great keyboards moments for sure.

"Melrose" is a diversified album that is quite pleasant to listen to. Not a masterpiece of course but yet a pretty decent work. The closing "Cool At Heart" is again all tact and passion. A wonderful way to say goodbye.

This work is quite a (good) surprise after having experienced the worse. A fine entry into the nineties by all means and a quite neglected album. Three stars (seven out of ten for sure).