MARINE MENAGERIE

When a band takes 5 years to record a bad album, they're either lazy or just don't have much to offer. Ain Soph appears to suffer from both of these problems , having released just 2 albums in the decade of their existence prior to "Marine Menagerie" ; moreover, neither of these albums were particularly spectacular, although "Hat and Field" did feature considerable improvement over their yawn- inducing debut. However, "Marine Menagerie" should put you right back to sleep, as it confirms Ain Soph's tendency to write the most boring music imaginable. What's more, the last 3 compositions (and possibly others) , which take up most of the album, are old material ( "Variations..." is apparently featured in it's original, pre-"Story of Mysterious Forest" recording , although the other 2 appear to have been re-done). What further proof of a creative crisis would you need?

Anyway, there are a couple of semi-positive things to be said about "Marine Menagerie" : "Little pieces part 3" is the best in the series, "Ride on a Camel" has some neat slide guitar licks from Yozox Yamamoto, and I also find the original version of "Variations..." presented here to be better than the one on "Story..." : the first half is practically unrecognizable, featuring an intense approach with a fast, strong beat and totally different keyboard and guitar work,which I find far better than the clumsy and atrociously boring ideas on the other version; then comes the jazz soloing section - the "Story" version wins this time, as it features more consistent and less random improvisation, but overall I still prefer the one on "Marine Menagerie". Unfortunately, all that stuff is good only by Ain Soph standarts, and "Marine Menagerie remains a completely uneventful experience. Try "Hat and Field" if you're into Canterbury, but steer clear of this one.