RE|FLECTION

Gerd Albers and Peter Koll released 'Tales of a Hidden Dream' in 2015 and continue with 'Reflection'. A reflection on the world in which we live, so a lot of questions! From this album 20, I say twenty singers, musicians have come together to finalize this disc after 8 years and 3 recording studios, in other words we could expect small well shaped pearls!

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The personal result is rather mixed with neo-prog advances, stratospheric guitar flights, synths that are a little too withdrawn, well-made breaks with piano and sax worthy of a SUPERTRAMP and crescendos that are too sluggish, too conventional and especially too great inequalities between each title!

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At the musician level, the fact of quoting members of SEVEN STEPS, FROST, ARENA, FLAMING ROW, SUBSIGNAL, TOXIC SMILE gives the opening to a proven musical potential. What about on the turntable? A colorful musical melting pot with very good instruments, a plus on guitar and sax and slightly offbeat vocals with female voices à la MOSTLY AUTUMN and especially AYREON. Male voices that are not singular enough and too linear. I would say that takes away some of the charm of the titles. In short, I'm not going to dissect this album by targeting such a sax or guitar solo at such a moment that made me think of...!! Or such a song with its break worthy of such a group that made me go to the lands of PROG! Because if I tackle it, I will make you imagine that this concept sails on the sounds of the 70s, 80s with a little of the 90s and 2000s and that we get lost in it a little like that!

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No, I'm going to play the game of warning you that this concept album, there is none for me, but only reminiscences of sounds of the aforementioned groups, there we find them in each title! That the voices prevent you from really diving (really my negative point for this album with too many changes which lead to discontinuity over time even if I "heard" Peter GABRIEL at a moment!!). But only the instrumental atmospheres (ah that sax in the intro of "Worried Citizens"!!, that clarinet on "Fear of Loss" and her Genesis voice!, those riffs on "First Disorder" and "Inferno" and that flute on "Struggle and Agony" interspersed with almost prog metal riffs are worth a second listen! That the little musical ballad "Last Horizons" is well worth one of AYREON and that the last two titles are eyeing squarely towards a structure ... of AYREON stronger!

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In the end, I would say that if we expected a concept, we will be disappointed! If we were expecting prog, folk, metal or symphonic flights, we will get our money's worth and our time's worth! That this CD gives pride of place to reflection as other concepts have done long before this realization! But let's give more to the riffs, the sax break, the voice of the three guests and a very good quality recording!