THE END OF DAYS

A minor entry among the US bands participating in the Prog revival of the country, Mind Furniture came from San Francisco Bay Area, propably from Redwood City, and featured a 5-piece line-up with Rick Andersen on bass, Brett Barnett and Evan Langert on vocals/keyboards, Greg Miller on drums and Scott Bullerwell on guitars.For their first album ''The End of Days'' though they were helped also by Bill Estes, Robert Shanney and Chris Ogburn (of Puppet Show fame), all playing lead guitars and Paul Harrison on bass.This was released as a private press in 2000.

The sound of Mind Furniture was a mixed bag of Classic Rock, light AOR and Progressive Rock with plenty of melodic vocals but also strong instrumental sufficiency, close to the style of STENCIL FOREST.Actually the short ones are rather straightforward with good dual guitar moves, commercial vocals, nice solos and a fair amount of keyboard workouts, pretty typical US Heavy/Classic Rock in accesible format but quite enjoyable.The longer ones are a whole another story.While the vocal parts sound pretty similar to the previous tracks with an easy-going flavor, the instrumental passages are really competitive and demanding, including some great breaks, lots of changing themes and a a strong array of keyboard mannerisms.The rather Neo Prog-ish synth waves are supported by some nice surprises like the grandiose church organ themes and series of good keyboards passages of something that appears to be either a Mellotron or an string synth, nevertheless having a deep inspiration.Even some sung-parts are sounding like the lighter side of ECHOLYN, while these tracks breeze a fresh air of pleasant feelings with their overall structure.

A very decent release overall.Not very complex but not awfully catchy either, ''The End of Days'' keeps a good balance between more accesible tunes and proggier, long arrangements, that can satisfy even an experienced ear.Recommended.