SONGS FROM THE LIONS CAGE

1. Out of the Wilderness shush, the killer intro, bang the dull riff, the keyboard pad, shush, I'm listening; in short, neo from the 80s but boosted, louder, more jerky, leaning towards prog metal, a superb evolution; and then the solemn drum rolls, the MARILLION-style guitar, the symphonic flight and John's voice goes everywhere. In 1995 I knew that prog had really been resurrected; well Keith shows a maddening face with his solos too, no coincidence 2. Crying for Help I for the first interlude, acoustic guitar arpeggio that cleans the speakers, an interlude that smells of the prog spirit like the chapters of SAGA 3. Valley of the Kings and its majestic intro that I had found on COLLAGE from 94, a group that had also given me a big slap in the face; a song that smells of Fish in the distance for the phrasing, Mick's pad is clearly audible and Clive's keyboards remind us of the good memories of PENDRAGON, are they going to split? The variation with choirs recalls the sounds of the great GENESIS, we have here the grandsons of the mother movement, we have to follow; Gregorian choir break or almost, the voice becomes even more Fishian, the military beat, we have quite a few beautiful prog clichés in there; the explosion is meant to be soft and full of energy, showing that the sound of the 90s has evolved well, we are not on a copy/paste but on a new neo-prog; the finale in the pure progressive tradition with the music that swells divinely, excellent 4. Crying for Help II with the royalist harpsichord and its recorder that goes with it for the saving interlude showing that the instrumental parts are a plus with them 5. Jericho with Keith's solfege intro, John contenting himself with following, the plus of a prog group precisely; the rise is gentle; bang abrupt break and the verse swells, a guitar solo comes to chat, dark, melodic and melancholic, pure beauty. Bang third level with the keyboard flight then the evil break with the dark riff, we are off to a well-polished major album. The finale on an umpteenth festive flight, enthusiastic with sovereign choirs, still excellent 6. Crying for Help III for the variation on the electric piano, a few waves of the evanescent 10CCs, a dark, ethereal climate with the piano in reverb, in echo, in variation, how many times have I used the replay; and this phone that rings, pick up, well now it's another number, ah I recognize ... ARENA, magnificent intro for

7. Midas Vision that explodes in the ears with the monstrously stereo pad, the stressful guitar and the jumping keyboard; ah this guitar that suddenly spurts out, only Steve from MARILLION did it as well, he wouldn't be missing here; the sublime, syrupy, melting solo; it starts again, Mick shows his drumsticks. A radio edit with a progressive musical concentrate at the top; choirs in bulk for the finale 8. Crying for Help IV with various keyboards for the space for Clive and the song sung finally; an easy air in pure love song, the slow ones were starting to be corny. Another guitar solo, yes you guessed it by dint of talking about it ... Steve from MARILLION coming to put his mark on the final solo, amazing 9. Solomon and a little dancer in the intro, symphonic with a break from the 3 minutes; spatial, Rotheryan guitar spleen, warm keyboard, from Olympe;. The neo guitar swells, the bass upsets the dikes, the voice overwhelms the ears; the next break goes on some over-vitaminized prog metal with velvety keyboards so as not to scare too much, a long hypnotic intoxicating rise making the head nod and it's off with some majestic, fruity Jim from SAGA then the keyboards on YES, GENESIS, the guitar on MARILLION, all the clichés are there. Madness at its peak, a 5* for sure with the agreed finale anyway bringing the lost sheep back to safety, John bewitching and Keith launching a last melting solo, the slap.

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