ILLUSIONS ON A DOUBLE DIMPLE

The album begins with "Illusions On A Double Dimple", a rather Genesian suite that opens as sad as possible. Fritz starts the album by being almost entirely the protagonist of what happens: a succession of failures viewed ridiculously. The instrumental method is heavily symphonic and prioritizes the keyboards. The bass and drums simply accompany the rhythmic changes and the madness of the electronic piano with neatness.

The instrumental section called "Triangle" is probably the first step of the album, where the frenzy delivers the quality we expect after such a pessimistic introduction. The percussion comes into its own a little more in these moments and the backing vocals serve as passages. The song gradually raises its level, and by part IV ("Illusions") has captured us on an island of carefree defeat, but with that hidden optimism so characteristic of human beings that is almost always due to the frustrated dream of happiness that can never be fully embraced with our hands or our soul.

Apart from its verses and its lyrical concept, the entire song gives a sense of rebelliousness when its instrumental parts arrive, due to the fact that everything is constantly changing places. The hammond in the final minutes seems to say that nothing has a solution any more, by means of wild and spectacular sounds, as if a madman was giving a circus performance as funny as it is embarrassing. The bass lines at times remind me of Richard Sinclair's technique and his muffled notes.

I think this is a song that cannot be modified in any way. It has an attractive structure and brings strength and emotion to this fine work.

We move on to "Mister Ten Percent", the second and last suite of the album (this one more inclined to ELP's entire discography) starts electronically presenting an instrumental mess not easy to digest. Both the first and the second epic consist of 6 parts and last about the same length. In certain aspects I see this side very different from the other, but what doesn't vary (and what gives the album its essence) is the prominence of the keyboards and their crazy chaos.

The hammond, in the way it's played here, inevitably reminds me a lot of Keith Emerson in ELP's middle period, especially Brain Salad Surgery. This song has more instrumental length than the previous one, and that allows for a different kind of artistry and creativity to shine through. Unexpectedly an electro-acoustic guitar emerges in the middle of the suite (beginning of the V-part "Lucky Girl" composed by Helmut K'llen) to change its course and sing about a little girl dealing with her dramatically exaggerated little problems. The transition to part VI "Million Dollars" is fantastic, but the whole thing becomes less and less original. Not only in the keyboards but now also in the vocals there is a grey imitation of Greg Lake that leaves a lot to be desired towards the end of the song. After two long epics, the long-awaited ending fades in your mind as sadly as almost the entire album.

Almost three quarters of an hour of professional performances and a more than satisfactory production, but without a defined style, no album can thrive. It sounds as symphonic as I've rarely heard, and that's why it's such a shame that they didn't get off the ground enough for this album, because I think it could have been a truly memorable piece of work.