THE CROSS & THE CRUCIBLE

3.5 stars. This is a concept album about how science and especially religion have affected mankind's behaviour and attitude throughout history. I must admit i'm not a big fan of a lot of the lyrics especially the start of "The Cross & The Crucibe" where they suggest man made God up. It's always about the music with me though and this is really good.

"The Big Bang" builds with sounds then calms down as it stays spacey. Reserved vocals and piano 2 1/2 minutes in. "The Cross & The Crucible" is one of my favourites, i'm pretty impressed with the bass player (Graeme Murray) who is very upfront with his Rickenbacker. Some good guitar in this one too.Vocals 3 minutes in. Some choirs in this one as well. Heaviness late with chunky bass and scorching guitar. "For The Greater Glory" is not a song i'm that into really. It's ok though. It's the orchestration early that I don't like. I'm reminded of MARILLION late though.

"Who's To Blame" is a mellow track with acoustic guitar and reserved vocals although it does get fuller. It's ok. "The Blinding Darkness" is another favourite of mine. Spacey to open before it kicks in after a minute.The guitar is prominant. It settles when the vocals come in. Excellent guitar solo before 4 1/2 minutes. "Towers Of Babble" has a pastoral intro before kicking in around a minute. Vocals 2 1/2 minutes in. Check out the organ 4 minutes in.The guitar after 5 minutes in fantastic. Synths come in. Another good song. "Generations" features strummed guitar and reserved vocals. Some soaring guitar before 4 1/2 minutes in this mellow track. "Midas Touch" opens with over a minute of sampled spoken words. A good rhythm follows with some outstanding bass as usual. A catchy tune. "Celebration !" is an upbeat song with positive lyrics as if mankind somehow is going to be fine on their own.

Anyway musically this is quite good just not worth 4 stars in my opinion.