THE WHIRLWIND

Some reviewers of this album have already pointed out that Neil Morse's lyrics are so overtly evangelical as to make the atmosphere of the album pious and trite. After a listen through, I can only confirm this assessment. Admittedly, I had hoped to encounter a musical and lyrical experience with sparks of messianic force. That is, of course, a very tall order, but my experience of progressive music is that there are such possibilities. "There's an angel standing in the sun, and he's crying with a loud voice, 'This is the supper of the mighty one'. The Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Has returned to lead his children home, To take them to the new Jerusalem." I have rejoiced to those lines delivered at the final climax of Genesis' "Suppers Ready". The boys from the Charter school were, of course, brought up in the heart of Christendom. They worked with their material (Christian symbolism, but also myth, fairy tale ...) in a manner that empowered me to explore the interworkings of my own Christian/Western moudling. I find that this continues to hold true for many of my favorite exponents of progressive music today. When I listen to Kino's wonderful prog-pop tune "Perfect Tense", I am uplifted to recall singing in choir, experiencing something that went beyond the walls of the church, when John Mitchell sings: "He talks to me in mighty arcs of monotone / My faith revered, it shrinks beneath the heavy drone / And catapulted upwards by the sound / And splinters heaven bound, again, return to me."

"The Whirlwind", though, does not achieve anything approaching these qualities, which I personally cherish in my relationship to progressive music. Much of the music sounds generic and the lyrics are one tiny step away from pious propaganda. I just don't get into the dancing mood when listening to "And you are dancing with eternal glory / There's a reason you're here, this is not by chance / When the giver of life / Is asking you to DANCE!" If the music were unfettered, I might get over the cheesy lyrics, but there is an inhibition at work that the music either contains or triggers for me. Actually, I find that Morse's voice sounds nasally constrained during many sections.

I remember having an ambiguous relationship to the music of Kansas, because they often skirted going flat on their citings of Christian symbolism. But "Carry on my Wayward Son", for example, manages to stay so musically sharp that the biblical referencing works just fine. Not so with "The Whirlwind".

It may be unfair to have tried to enjoy "The Whirlwind" while I am also discovering "The Underfall Yard" of Big Big Train. Now that's what I'm talking about! We are invited to explore the black waters below Winchester Cathedral with the diver who had to secure the foundations in the dark: "Two worlds apart, the people say their Sunday prayers. / Music fills the vaulted space; / the organ covers up the hammer falls. / But the water's edge is closer than you think, / You can see it in his staring eyes, the dripping shell, / the lower parts of hell are just beneath you." Such a song takes us somewhere with this Christian symbolism, both lyrically and musically. Fabulous! In comparison, "The Whirlwind" is wimpy.

I do have tickets to a Transatlantic concert. I will do my best to overcome the cleft between my preferences and whatever they might have to offer. The cover of "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" on the extra disk of "The Whirldwind" is great. I hope they play something from Genesis.