GIANT SKY II

When multi-instrumentalist Erlend Aastad Viken from Soup released the debut album from this project in 2021 it was to almost universal acclaim with many prog critics and reviewers rating it very highly indeed and putting it in their top lists of the year. Of course there is always someone (me) who doesn't share the joy, feeling there was a lack of continuity and direction, and must confess to not being too surprised when I thought the same when I listened to this. I am aware I often do not share the views of others, but I keep listening and wondering if it is just me (which is why I have tried so hard to enjoy Marillion over the last 35 years, but still feel they have lost their way since they dispensed with the tall Scotsman).

There are bits of this which are truly brilliant, but others which feel way too much like "prog by numbers", and while Jean Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield are obviously huge influences (and I admire both of them immensely), this again lacks the clarity of thought and vision to carry off what is undoubtedly a huge project. I count sixteen guests on this, with only two of them not credited with individual tracks (which presumably means they were involved with vast majority), but even with some real drummers we also end up with tracks which sound as if they were programmed and all the worse for it. There are times when this seems almost as if it is a demo, with a feeling that with more care there would be much more depth, but as it is, it is often shallow with a production which seems to have rendered everything one-dimensional and not enough bottom end. I guess I will be in the minority again, but this is certainly not for me.