JANUS

Aunt Mary's third and final album is an odd beast. The heavy psych I remember from their debut is still there, but they seem to have tried to spice up their sound by borrowing extremely heavily from the most popular prog acts of the time. In particular - as in the songs Path of Your Dream and For All Eternity - the band will from time to time do their absolute best to sound as much like Yes as they possibly can, though other influences do creep in - some quiet acoustic passages a la Trespass-era Genesis here, a few Keith Emerson keyboard lines there.

But it's the shameless Yes mimicry that really stands out, and that's a shame, because it overshadows some of the more original aspects of the album, such as the sinister Nocturnal Voice. On balance, I have to give this only two stars. It's a competently performed album that shows promise, but the fact is that there's a thin line between paying homage to your musical influences and just trying to hitch a free ride on their success, and Janus crosses it at a couple of points with gusto - and more than that (and this is the greater sin) it doesn't do so in an interesting way.