WANDERLUST

I can still remember the time I checked out lots of neobands at the same time listening to PA's streamtracks just to find out what were the better bands of those I didn't know yet. And this very band Little Atlas came out as one of the very best. And that's pretty surprising since I'm an "old school" neofan so with lots of guitar- and keyboardsolo's (like Pendragon and Clepsydra for instance) and I can tell you Little Atlas is nothing like that at all. It's even a boarderline neo case leaning towards eclectic prog. This was very notable on their successor Hollow, my first experience with this American band. Let's say Little Atlas is 70% neo and 30% eclectic prog, so slightly less accessible than most neoprog and a bit more profound.

I even feel Little Atlas has resemblance to Echolyn, another band that's leaning towards the eclectic prog subgenre. But on the other hand LA also has obvious neo characteristics like highly melodic instrumental contributions even though they are not really extended. In the end I like this style pretty much but I also believe this predecessor of Hollow is really the better album of the two and probably Wanderlust is the best of all four releases looking at the ratings. All songs on here are great and several even excellent.

So where I had almost a headache making up the rating for Hollow and decided for the three stars ultimately, this time the choice for the rating is not hard at all. This is a full blooded 4 star case and highly recommended for almost all progfans. Mainly the fans of Echolyn could have another fine discovery with Wanderlust (or Little Atlas in general).