WORLD IS ROUND

Repeated listens to this newest effort from Believe lead me to conclude that after the disappointing debut effort from Karol Wroblewski on "This Bread is Mine", Believe has clearly rebounded in outstanding fashion. For my money this is the best of their four studio releases to date. The song writing is stronger, the instrumentation better balanced and the overall effort more intense and focused.

Throughout the melodies are brilliantly memorable as they swirl in and out of each track. Karol's vocal delivery is far superior here to what he offered on 'This Bread is Mine'. Witness the intensity of "Guru" or his similarity to Tomek Rozycki on "New Hands". And his lyric writing debut here is superb. Satomi's violin is better integrated here as well, more representative of her beautiful work on "Yesterday is a Friend". "So Well" serves as a prime example here. The brilliant complexity of "Bored" sits well beside the varying phases of the three part "World is Round" (the 'hidden' track on the digipak is part 3).

The gorgeous integration of the sitar with Gil's guitar playing on "Poor King of Sun/Return" leaves me begging for even greater development of this direction when it is time for the follow up. Reminding ever so slightly of early King's X ... without being as heavy. Overall, an absolutely brilliant return to form. I could not have asked for more!