ARTIFICIAL

Crossover, Neo, Symphonic? A little bit of each here and there. Crossover because there are a few tunes which are just straight ahead commercial songs like Yes' more straight ahead stuff. A bit of Neo because it has an 80s/90s sound and Symphonic because there are some extended passages of noodling (ala Floyd) and film-score music.

These days, Australia produces good original music in the form of singer/songwriter pop/rock and folk music and an occasional good band, but a lot of today's Aussie music is dance pop, R&B and rap following the US and UK mold (or is that mould). Whilst most Australians would profess to 'like' Pink Floyd (because "Wish you were here" and "Learning to Fly" gets played on the radio), not many would be aware of new prog like Unitopia.

I think Unitopia have smoothed out their sound with this album and it all fits together now. The guitar work is excellent as it's lost it's metallic flavour but still employs the technique. Lyrically and melodically it's catchy, mature and lush. Musically, all members have a chance to shine.

This is a strong album although you won't hear anything that hasn't been done before, you'll actually hear ALL the influences clearly! As one of the almost 100 (or was that 50?) people who turned out to see them in Sydney recently I can say they put on a good show and it's great that Australia can produce some world-class prog. Just a pity it isn't more appreciated.

This is and excellent addition to any prog rock music collection, but I think they can stretch a bit further with their next album.