SEMPRE E OVUNQUE OLTRE IL SOGNO

A very big mouthful, the new Pandora album is. It is like opening a pandora's box (sorry, I could not resist this pun...... shame on me !).

It has therefore taken me a long time to really digest this album. Mostly because this album is so complex (a big mouthful). The basis of this album is RPI. But this album also detours into symphonic prog. The Cinema Show extracts midway through the album really underlines the Genesis and Selling England By The Pound influences on this album. But you can also add a lot of really heavy ELP influences here in addition to a lot of fusion and prog metal influences too.

The songs here are both long and complex. They are also full of contrasts and colours. This album has the concept album feeling. But to my knowledge, it is not a concept album. The sound is modern and very much 2010-11. But the origins of this album is very much the 1970s and the early RPI scene.

It takes a long time to get under the skin on this album. But what then opens up is a great album and one I really treasure. The same goes for the elegant packaging, btw. I am not overawed by everything on this album. But the overall quality is great. So without further ado.....

4 stars