THE FRIENDS OF MR. CAIRO

We all know who Jon Anderson is (one of the geniuses behind Yes)... I am a big Yes fan and also enjoyed his work on Olias... and Vangelis is very famous too as one of the main electronic composers + I liked his work with Aphrodite's Child.... So I had big expectations about this album....

This record is really nice but don't keep your expectations really high, if you are looking for a good album (after buying all Yes and Olias...) for some Jon Anderson appreciation this is the right one. Now track by track:

I'll Find My Way is a good opener and one of the vocal highlights of the album (I told you not to have high expectations)... 3/5

State of Independence is a boring 7 minute song with a nice crazy jazzy intro....but that's about it.... really repetitive...... 2/5 (and I am being kind)

Beside is better than the previous track with a nice piano performance (one of Vangelis' highlights) and Jon's voice is great as always but by the middle of the song (although it is only 4 minutes long) it gets a bit boring and repetitive... 2.5/5

The Mayflower is a very mellow and nice song. The vocals get more interesting while the keyboards are less repetitive than before... 3/5

The Friends of Mr. Cairo is a fun piece of music and a highlight of the album (besides the cheesy sound effects ala detective movie) 3/5

Back To School is another fun, but rather forgettable, song. This time in a 80's synth pop style... 2.5

Outside of This closes the album with some more nice Vocals but boring music... 2

Total: 2.57...It is right in the edge between 2 and 3 stars. Sort of a good album but it should interest more to Anderson and Vangelis fans than to general prog fans...

2 stars for a nice but forgettable album... recommended for Vangelis fans (if they have most of his other albums) and Anderson fans (again if they already bought all of Yes and most of Jon's solo albums).