BORDERLINE

One thing you can´t really accuse french band Mirage of is sameness. Their so far 3 albums are quite different from each other, their sound always evolving somehow. And. alas, that does not exactly mean for the better. While Songs From The Green Sofa is a tremendous improvement over their debut, this new offer from this very interesting group somehow failed to excite me as much. It is like they want to have their own sound, whatever it takes. But I really enjoyed more their early Camel-like approach of the first two discs.

Don´t get me wrong, Borderline does have very good moments. The group is not totally removed from their past, but the new songs are leaning much more towards average jazz rock/fusion than to the symphonic/neo/jazzy mixture they were so good at. The music is a lot less melodic and takes much more time to really sink in. After repeated lsitenings I can say I liked most of what I heard, and yet it does not have real memorable tunes, if you know what I mean. I don´t have the same willingness to push the repeat button like I had when I hear A Strange Place and Songs From The Green Sofa. I can´t point my finger at what is wrong (Production? Songwriting? Arrangements?), but the guitars are heavier. the new material is less interesting, the vocals are duller and the general feeling is that the band is going to be one of those "all skills and no heart" type of jazz rock records I really don´t like.

Of all the tracks here I guess the Pink Floyd-ish Nothing Stops Me is a highlight.

Conclusion: A good, if not outstanding, CD. A bit of a letdown considering their previous works. Still. a 3 star affair. Barely.